It should concern progressives that there is now a concerted attempt to raise funds to make Farage PM, from some of the same sources who also donated to Trump.
A new Reform-linked think-tank is trying to raise more than £25 million in a bid to make Nigel Farage Prime Minister by 2029, raising funds from donors both in the US and UK, as it seeks to capitalise on the MAGA movement.
In a desperate bid to take the far-right Farage to number 10, the Times reports that the “Centre for a Better Britain (CBB) will plough the funds into the development of “radical” policy and draft legislation, polling, and the selection and training of parliamentary candidates.”
It goes on to add: “The think tank has launched an operation in the United States in an attempt to draw inspiration — and millions of dollars — from the populist Maga movement, which twice propelled Donald Trump to the White House. It has registered the entity in Dallas, Texas, with the US Internal Revenue Service.”
It should concern progressives that there is now a concerted attempt to raise funds to make Farage PM, from some of the same sources who also donated to Trump.
The chairman of the advisory board for the Centre for a Better Britain is James Orr, an associate professor of the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University.
The clamour to raise more funds for Reform comes after Electoral Commission records last month showed Reform failing to raise as much funds as the Conservatives, despite overtaking Badenoch’s party in the polls.
According to a Guardian report earlier this month, the biggest donor to Reform UK over the past year is the mother of the unpaid party aide and convicted fraudster George Cottrell.
Fiona Cottrell, an aristocrat and former girlfriend of King Charles in the 1970s, donated £250,000 in March, taking her total contributions up to £750,000 over the past year.
With Reform struggling, CBB has stepped in and is seeking to replicate the MAGA movement. It has set in place a number of fundraising target which includes raising more than £25 million by 2029, according to a leaked document. That includes £1.86 million ($2.5 million) from the US next year, rising to £3 million ($4 million) the following year and £3.7 million ($5 million) the year after.
The Reform threat is far from over, and as progressives we must do all we can to ensure Farage never reaches Downing Street.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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