When the Nigel Farage circus comes to town
A packed US -style election rally in the heart of Swindon as Reform takes centre stage
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The sea of turquoise threatening to engulf Swindon
By Jamie Hill
All hail the turquoise messiah.
There’s no denying Nigel Farage.
Whether you think of him as a common sense saviour of the people or a divisive far right snake oil salesman who preys on his supporters’ worst fears and prejudices, you would be hard-pressed to find a more influential politician in British politics over the past two decades.
And so, on a rainy and windy Thursday evening the Nigel Farage circus rolled up to The MECA in Swindon town centre for the ‘Reform Will Fix It Tour’ local election rally.
Despite having a ‘Will Fix It’ slogan reminiscent of dare I say it Bob The Builder or even someone called ‘Jim’, this did not deter about 750 supporters from gathering at the venue in anticipation of seeing their idol.
Reform have been chucking a lot of money at Swindon in a bid to take over the borough council at the forthcoming local elections taking place on Thursday 7 May.
It’s going to be an important election as every seat is up for the vote. All 57 of them.
And as far as the Reform party is concerned there is no expense spared in trying to grab as many of those seats as possible.
You’ve already probably received the personalised letter sent out to every household in the borough through Royal Mail. That in itself would be enough to make you wonder how they are keeping The Electoral Commission happy with their strict election spending cap per candidate.
But now on top of this, you have this American-style rally with money oozing from every pore. An audio-visual spectacular which would definitely have cost a pretty penny, especially on top of the rumoured £10,000 venue hire. There’s probably a loop-hole that Reform will be taking full advantage of, that as it was a paid-for ticketed event it somehow falls outside of the election costs. We’ll have to wait and see how all this is reported to the Electoral Commission, who demand political party expenses transparency. But that will be a tale for another day.
Across the road from the venue about a hundred protesters gathered. All there to convey their disgust that such a divisive event was happening on their doorstep.
One protester, Nick Johnson of Old Town, said: “Farage’s a one-trick pony who spreads hate and misinformation with no real plan for the future.
“We’re all here to prove we’re stronger together and to spread hope, not hate.
“Reform have no home in my home town.”
Inside the venue, the word ‘hope’ was bandied about a lot.
The schtick of the Reform campaign is that ‘Britain is Broken’ and they’re the only ones to ‘Fix It’ - but not in a ‘Jim’ way we’re assured.
There were glimpses of Reform’s Great White Hope Nigel Farage before the event, surrounded by what seemed to be a US Secret Service-style band of goons, who at one point physically blocked a reporter from being able to ask their dear leader a question.
The actual event kicked off at just after 7pm and it started snazzy and stayed snazzy.
At first we had Darren Grimes presenting what seemed to be a daytime TV show format but in a style reminiscent of Hi-Di-Hi, as he wandered the crowd talking to various sycophants.
The Reform councillor for Durham County Council ended up sat at what seemed like a news desk to interview a token ‘young person’ (yes, Reform are down with the kids despite the age demographic of the 750-strong audience being mostly over 65) as well as Gorton and Denton by-election loser and GB News presenter Matt Goodwin - famous for his unpalatable views on well… everything.
Following this, we then had a parade of Farage support acts including Reform chairman David Bull, followed by East Wiltshire MP and former Tory Danny Kruger - who seems to be ignoring the fact that only 10% of the voters in his constituency actually voted for the party he defected to in the Autumn, leaving 90% disenfranchised.
One interesting thing that the Right Honorable Danny Kruger surprisingly mentioned was his admiration for Labour MP Will Stone’s push to make Swindon a centre of the drone industry and he also praised the Labour borough council’s plans to improve the town centre.
It has to be said they were all good orators. Able to keep their captive audience enraptured despite them not actually saying anything of substance.
And then we had the main event. The greatest orator of them all, with speaking skills not seen since about 1945.
Our Nige finally took to the stage.
His man of the people persona was on full display. During a tight speech he managed to allude several times that he was still the bloke that it would be lovely to have a pint with. It’s definitely hard to deny his charisma.
At one point he even told the audience that he didn’t have to be doing this and that, it’s only because they really needed him that he’s stepped up for the country. A hero who would rather be in the pub or presenting misinformation on GBTV.
But it was the same old sinister messaging underneath the charm.
It was the usual talking points underlining the messaging of the previous speakers with the now tired culture war hit points.
The BBC was one target - (despite Nige actually owing his household name status to appearing on Question Time multiple times as well as various Have I Got News For You appearances even before he actually became an MP 20 months ago).
Addressing the audience Mr Farage said: “The atmosphere is incredible, and I know that something remarkable is happening in this town - and do you know what? Something remarkable is happening in this country.”
“I think we’ve woken up to the fact we’ve been badly led by weak leaders who don’t believe in Britain, who don’t believe in the British people, who are gutless, filled with cowardice, prepared to put the ideas of international courts and the woke elite and the views of the BBC.
“We’ve been led by weak people, not prepared to stand up for this country and for its interests.”
Net ‘Stupid’ Zero was another target, with the leader at one point even blaming The Government for wasting money on alternatives rather than concentrating on fossil fuels and somehow even laying the fact that petrol prices are going up at Keir Starmer’s door, rather than at the door of his mate Trump with his ill-thought out ‘kill as many people in Iran but have no idea how it will all end’ campaign.
The Labour Government was also another easy target for them.
And so were The Conservatives, with their failed immigration policy (ignoring the fact that one of the former Home Secretaries instrumental in that policy has now defected to Reform) and their failed housing policies (ignoring the fact that one of the former Housing Secretaries instrumental in that policy has now defected to Reform).
But it was any mention of immigration, usually followed by the word ‘invasion’ (which is straight out of the far right playbook), that got the loudest roar from the crowd, which perhaps suggested the real reason why the majority of the audience have ended up going down The Reform rabbit hole.
This was definitely a national rally and although Swindon was mentioned a few times there was no detail or anything close to any policy on why a Reform council would benefit the town.
“A city centre being hollowed out, a population of Swindon that has risen by over 10 percent in 10 years. Do you know why? Because we opened the doors to mass immigration.”
Attacking Swindon Borough Council, the Reform UK leader said: “We look at Swindon and we see a microcosm of everything that is wrong with this country.
“Just think about this. The social housing waiting list in Swindon is 2,700 people. The average waiting time is four years. And yet this town is currently housing 562 young men who crossed the English Channel - living in Swindon.
“I’m sorry, but it’s plain bloomin’ wrong and it cannot be allowed to continue.”
He said of the council: “They are bankrupt. No wonder your Council Tax goes up by the maximum allowed every single year. Interest payments of tens of thousands of pounds every single day.”
And so Nigel geed up the crowd making them believe that the only ‘hope’ for Swindon and the UK was himself.
He said: “We have been a very great country. We still are a very great people but we’ve lost the sense of belief in ourselves, we’ve lost the sense of direction as a country in terms of where we need to go.
“I’m going to bring back the idea that a proper country controls its borders, and bring back the idea that the only priority for a British Government is to look after the British people themselves.
“We know that Britain is broken and we know that Britain needs Reform.
“We will take back control of our borders. There will be no more young men who throw their passports and iPhones into the English Channel [...] coming and living in this country at our expense.
“We will deport every single one of them. We will leave the outdated European Convention on Human Rights.
“We will end all Net Zero subsidies. We will make sure that this country produces all the oil and gas that it needs.”
Mr Farage added: “We will stand up and fight for what I call Alarm Clock Britain. People who get up in the morning and go out to work are being taxed more than they ever were, and the people living next door who get up at midday, smoke dope all day and are being paid on benefits. It’s got to end.”
‘Hope’ was a theme throughout. But rather than ‘Hope not Hate’ it was more ‘Hope through Hate’. A return to a white-washed insular Britain where the only people that benefit would be the billionaire backers hoping for deregulation and not one single benefit for one single person in the actual room.
One of the things that Nigel and his cronies kept pointing to was how successful they have been running other councils that they took over last year - ignoring the fact that the majority of them are failing with massive council tax increases, despite the opposite being pledged, and others losing councillors left, right and centre. Just look at what’s happened in Cornwall and Kent to get the idea.
Swindon is a bellwether town. What happens here reflects what happens in the rest of the country.
Reform offers simple solutions to complex problems with no room for nuance. Policies that sounds good from the pulpit but in practice have no chance of working.
If they took over our council it would be a disaster for the town. It would be a council devoid of rational thinking and it is something that we can only hope that the Swindonian electorate rejects.
Reform might be able to chuck more money than sense at their campaign for the town but the reality is, there is no substance to what they are offering.
The Farage circus has now left, let’s hope it’s not caused any lasting damage in its wake.
The Ink News Briefing
Abbey Stadium reopening urged - The rejection of a planning bid to demolish historic Blunsdon’s historic Abbey Stadium has prompted local campaigners to call for its reopening. Swindon Borough Council’s Planning Committee rejected an application to demolish the stadium, long the home of speedway and greyhound racing, for housing. Council officers had urged that the bid be rejected. Local Swindon Borough Council members, along with members of the public had long called for the plan to be halted and the stadium reopened.The planning meeting was attended by a group of supporters who were delighted by the decision. St Andrews councillor Jake Chandler said after the Planning Committee’s decision: “As Councillors for the area, we were delighted to see these applications rejected after a long campaign.” Full story here
Man who helped to build Swindon’s last two steam locos honoured - A man involved in building the last two steam locomotives in Swindon has been praised for his years of dedication to Wiltshire’s railways. In addition earning his place in Railway Works history, Horace Prickett brought heavy engineering education to Wiltshire.
Until recently, Mr Prickett was a director at community rail partnership TransWilts, and the role culminated in a long-standing career across engineering and education that has shaped the railways in the region. He entered the world of work as a 15-year-old apprentice in 1956, and the last 70 years have seen major changes in the railways across the country. Full story here
Wet Wet Wet to perform at Wyvern Theatre - Wet Wet Wet have announced a UK acoustic tour of intimate shows and will perform at the Wyvern Theatre on 28 May. Full Story here
Swindon schools have 48 new SEND places - A total of 48 pupils will be given dedicated Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) places at two Swindon primary schools by September 2026. Full Story here
A corner of poetry
With resident Ink poet Deborah Raikemay
Plane Speaking
Across the Downs the morning folds
Slow mist around the sheep and stones
While from Fairford bombers stretch
Their iron wings into the blue.
An orange man an ocean wide
Declares the world improved by pride.
The hedges keep their patient lines,
Dry-stone and field as they have been;
Old barrows holding deep root pines,
The chalk horse fading through the green.
Their engines bruise our English air
No choice - for they were ordered there.
Over Wiltshire fields and Cotswolds stone
They fix upon another world
Intent on ending simple lives of people we have never known
And brewing, like a pot of tea
The despots clutch themselves with glee
To see that Force commands regard.
It isn't them who will 'die hard'
Not our circus, not our clowns
The drone, the boast, the keeping scores
This land is soaked with sights and sounds of
Other battles, other wars.
cdeb26
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