The Guardian view on Nigel Farage: a serial loser looks to

The rightwing demagogue is seeking to replace the Conservatives by bringing about their defeat with the politics of xenophobia

Just when you thought that British politics had lost touch with reality, up pops Nigel Farage to say that he will be standing for parliament as a Reform UK candidate. Banquo’s ghost didn’t make a better entrance. Mr Farage has been haunting the Tories for more than a decade. This time he will contest Clacton in Essex, a seat once held by his previous party, Ukip. Yet Mr Farage is a serial loser: he has been rejected seven times by voters in six constituencies over two decades.

Reform UK’s leader, who is also its majority shareholder, has influence over rightwing, socially conservative voters. That frightens the Tories, some of whose supporters like the sound of Mr Farage’s antediluvian views. His parties have fomented rage, paranoia and xenophobia. He can claim to have been responsible in large part for Britain’s departure from the EU, a historic mistake for which this country continues to pay a heavy price. His Brexit party’s indirect electoral impact, say academics, was substantial: in splitting the leave vote in Labour seats, Mr Farage cost the Conservatives around 25 gains from Labour in 2017.