The tabloid has fallen head over heels with the idea of a Tory/Reform pact.
The Express – aka the Brexpress – has fallen head over heels with the idea of a Tory/Reform pact.
The newspaper’s front-page headline: ‘Tories call for Reform pact to save UK,’ excitedly champions the idea of a merger between Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform, suggesting that it’s the remedy for the country’s future.
The lead story dutifully parrots claims by Lord Mackinlay, a former Conservative MP and ex-UKIP deputy leader, that the only way to stave off the threat of another Labour government is for the right-wing factions to unite.
Enter die-hard Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, who claims that a Tory/Reform pact would be “devastating for the socialists” and could pave the way for a “truly Conservative coalition.”
Mogg goes as far as to encourage activists to collaborate ahead of May’s local elections, suggesting that informal local election pacts between the Conservatives and Reform would help “build trust” and highlight the common ground between the parties.
Fellow hard right-winger Suella Braverman also joined the chorus, calling for the right to “unite,” warning that “there isn’t space in British politics for two conservative parties.”
Meanwhile, a separate article in the Express went even further, with the headline: ‘How dream pact between Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage could cause a political earthquake.’
The paper draws an absurd comparison between a Farage/Johnson partnership and Real Madrid’s “Galácticos” – the star-studded football team that dominated football. The article posits that if these two figures, considered by the paper as the most significant British politicians of the past two decades, were to join forces, they would become an unstoppable electoral force.
“Farage, the hugely popular leader of Reform UK, is apparently willing to work with the former prime minister – the only politician who resonates with the public as he does. Together, they could become an unstoppable electoral force.”
The Express obviously hasn’t seen the poll that suggests Farage is what is putting people off voting for Reform. The paper also seems to have forgotten how Boris Johnson’s reputation was marred by scandal and controversy. He may once have been viewed (by some) as a lovable rogue, but he eventually morphed into a pompous, priggish figure who ended up alienating much of the nation – talk about selective amnesia.
Can you imagine a Farage/Johnson “mega-party”?
Both men thrive in the spotlight, so a partnership would likely end in a colossal power struggle, with neither willing to take a back seat. You can picture the ego-clashing chaos already – anything but igniting the right.
As for the state of the country…
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