Something tells us the name ‘No Idea Nigel’ could end up sticking. The Reform leader endured a torrid time of it on Sunday morning, after he was pressed about an issue regarding one of the party’s new acquired mayoral positions.
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Nigel Farage comes unstuck during interview with Laura Kuenssberg
Asked about a range of subjects, including climate change denial and immigration, he was reminded about Reform’s obligations to run local councils following their sweeping gains in the Local Elections two months ago. However, it doesn’t seem like Nigel Farage had done his homework.
Laura Kuenssberg, who leads the BBC’s flagship political show, spent more than 10 minutes quizzing the politician who is currently the bookies’ favourite to become Prime Minister at the next election. She then chose to challenge him about some suspicious activity in Scarborough.
What has happened with Scarborough Town Council? Don’t ask Nigel Farage
The Town Council opted to give their Reform mayor a whopping 600% pay-rise. The numbers have raised eyebrows among those in local governance, and Farage was put on the spot about the figures. However, he dodged the questions six times, repeating the phrases ‘no idea’ and ‘I don’t know’.
‘No idea what he is talking about’
The own-goal seemingly scored by Nigel Farage was seized upon by his critics, with senior figures in Labour lining up and taking aim at the firebrand politician. Torsten Bell, the MP for Swansea West, accused him of only wanting to ‘whatever people want to hear’ at the time.
“So, Nigel Farage not only has no idea what cash would be required to deliver his own nationalisation policy, but he has no idea what it even is talking about ‘getting private money’ in. It’s almost like he just says whatever he thinks people want to hear at any given second.” | Torsten Bell
The Labour Party’s social media team also clipped the interview, to feature all the times Mr. Farage professed to not being in the know about the issue. Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, gleefully shared the video to his X profile – alongside a brief jibe at the ‘populist right’.