‘Get ’em Nige!’: Farage is mobbed by supporters as huge crowd watches launch of Reform UK leader’s bid to become an MP – as he hails Clacton-on-Sea as Britain’s ‘most patriotic town’ and warns Tories will pay a ‘big price’ for ‘betraying’ voters

Nigel Farage today praised Clacton-on-Sea as the ‘most patriotic’ part of Britain as he launched his bid to become the seaside town’s new MP.

The Brexit champion told a large crowd of local voters that the Tories had ‘betrayed’ their trust and warned Rishi Sunak he would pay a ‘big price’ at the July 4 general election.

Shouts of ‘get them Nige’ and ‘we love you Nigel’ came from the crowd as large numbers of Farage supporters gathered at Clacton pier.

The launch of Farage’s campaign in the seat of Essex came after he yesterday made a stunning U-turn on his previous decision not to stand for Parliament.

The 60-year-old has made a dramatic return to the political frontline and has also been installed as leader of Reform UK in Richard Tice’s place.

Farage’s campaign in Clacton – a constituency once held by Ukip when he was party leader – will be his eighth attempt to enter Westminster.

He will have to reverse a Conservative majority of 31,000 from the last election, with only minor changes in seats.

As he launched his campaign this afternoon, Farage referred to the city’s past support for Ukip when Tory defector Douglas Carswell was elected as local MP.

He said: ‘Without Clacton, Brexit wouldn’t have happened – so thank you Clacton!’

Farage vowed to be a ‘bloody nuisance’ in the House of Commons if elected in a month’s time.

Speaking at the meeting in Clacton, Farage said the Tories deserve to be punished for their ‘betrayal’ over Brexit.

Speaking at a meeting in Clacton, the leader of Reform UK said: “We have made an offer to the British people to regain our independence and control of our borders.

“But what happened? The Conservatives have betrayed that trust. They have opened the borders to mass immigration like we have never seen before.

“And they deserve a price for that, a high price.”

Mr Farage previously called for ‘zero’ net migration in Britain and defended controversial comments about Muslims.

The newly installed leader of Reform UK, who has sent Conservatives into panic with his return to the political frontline, said immigration has “exploded” in recent years.

The Brexiteer stressed that certain sectors of the economy would have to endure shortages in a bid to reduce the number of arrivals into the country.

Mr Farage claimed this would increase wages and ‘encourage people to learn skills rather than going to university and doing social sciences’.

He also risked sparking another row this morning in a fiery clash with BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Mishal Husain.

Mr Farage doubled down on his position that a growing number of British Muslims ‘do not subscribe to British values’, labeling them as ‘ignorant and offensive’.

He also defended the claim that there are streets in Britain where ‘no one speaks English’.

Challenged about his comments, Mr Farage replied: ‘I could now recommend the street in Oldham where no one speaks English.’

But he declined to comment on whether his own children spoke a second language when asked how he knew people in Oldham were not multilingual.

The 60-year-old has vowed to lead a ‘political uprising’ against the Tories and Labor following his high-profile announcement that he will lead reforms over the next five years.

In a round of interviews today, Farage launched a direct attack on the Tories over immigration figures and firmly ruled out a pact with Rishi Sunak’s party.

He told the BBC: “We have been betrayed by a Conservative Party to whom I provided significant assistance in 2019.

“We were told we were going to get control of our borders, we were told immigration numbers were going to drop, they have exploded.

“I feel betrayed by them, millions of voters feel betrayed by them.”

Farage claimed the Tories were ‘well past their sell-by date, the brand is ruined and they have already lost the election’.

He added: “We can’t continue as we are – we have to limit numbers.

“Our lives, our quality of life in this country, are being diminished by the population explosion.

“And if that means there are going to be shortages in some sectors, that means wages are going to rise and we’re going to encourage people to learn skills instead of going to university and doing social sciences.”

Mr Farage stated that his aim was to achieve ‘zero net migration’, which would leave ‘space in the labor market for up to 600,000 people’ to come to Britain every year.

The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics show that 1.2 million people migrated to Britain last year and 532,000 people emigrated from there.

This left a net migration figure of 685,000 for 2023.

In a later interview, Farage suggested that his long-term goal was to effectively take over the Conservative Party.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he could not support or try to lead the Conservative Party ‘as they currently are’.

But he added: ‘You can speculate about what will happen in three or four years. All I can tell you is that if the reforms succeed in the way I think they can, some of the Conservative Party will join us. – it’s the other way around.’

He pointed to Canada, where “Reform did a reverse takeover of the Conservative Party, changed its name and Stephen Harper – who was elected Reform MP – became Canada’s prime minister for a decade.”

He said: ‘I don’t want to join the Conservative Party, I think it would be better to join it.’

Mr Farage used an op-ed last night for The Telegraph to argue that the British are ‘furious’ at the way both Labor and the Conservatives have approached immigration.

He added that there is also “deep anger” at the speed at which public services are “disintegrating”.