Nigel Farage, the architect of Brexit, believes that the Liberal Party needs to become more conservative and assertive to win the upcoming federal election.
Next month, the former UK politician turned TV host will visit Australia as part of his speaking engagements. He believes Scott Morrison lost because the Liberal Party became too centrist and pro-large state.
Mr. Farage attacked “woke” culture in an interview with Daily Mail Australia, warning that conservative movements in western democracies must resist attempts by the hard-left to “destroy everything our countries have ever stood for.”
He characterised Australia’s response to the Covid pandemic as “absolutely hysterical” and forewarned that the “uninspiring” Anthony Albanese would keep Australia’s “very, very strong level of big state” in place while doing nothing to help small businesses.
The Liberal Party has been battling internally over how to approach the 2025 election ever since Scott Morrison was defeated on May 21.
Moderates want a soft touch that embraces climate change action to win back city seats lost to teal independents, while conservatives want the party to move right, present a “strong alternative,” and appeal to the outer suburbs and regions.
As the leader of the UK Independence Party, Mr. Farage successfully pushed for the UK to leave the European Union and insisted that the Liberals under Peter Dutton must pick the first option.
He claimed that “conservative parties and movements lose elections when they cease to be conservative.”
“They actually tend to win when they become more assertive and conservative.”
Despite the fact that progressive voices from our capital cities predominate so much of the discussion, the average person does not want society to become even more polarised or for their children to be taught to be ashamed of their past.
And more assertiveness is what conservative parties need to do.
The Coalition government supported some of the longest lockdowns in history during the Covid-19 pandemic, prohibited entry for its own citizens, supported crippling state border closures, and increased the national debt to almost $1 trillion.
In Australia, the Liberal Party held power for a considerable amount of time, but Mr. Farage claimed that they lost because they lacked assertiveness, were heading in the wrong direction, and had grown too large a state.
They lost because they weren’t conservative enough.
Mr. Farage claimed to be aware of the difficulty posed by the six seats the Liberals lost to the teal independents in affluent areas of Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.
But he thinks Boris Johnson’s resounding electoral triumph in 2019 offers a model for a victory on the right.
“Take a look at what happened to the British Conservative Party in 2019. He said that it was stumbling along, unable to deal with Brexit, the notion of enforcing border controls, and strict immigration policies.
But once Boris was elected as a conservative, the Tories gained their largest majority in 40 years.
The Johnson government’s decline in the polls after tax increases and a record-high national debt, according to Mr. Farage, should serve as a signal to other centre-right parties.
They were elected as conservatives, but they entered office as liberal progressives, and they drastically reduced their popularity. They are no longer a party, he said.
According to Mr. Farage, adopting a more conservative stance will convince those who may not otherwise vote to show up at the polls on election day.
Despite obligatory voting in Australia, only 89% of registered voters participated in the 2022 election.
In contrast, 93% of eligible voters turned out for conservative Tony Abbott’s resounding victory in the 2013 election.
There are some individuals out there who don’t often cast ballots, but Mr. Farage said that conservative ideas and philosophy may inspire and push them to do so.
“And for that reason, we had Brexit.” The attendance was at least 10% larger than any expert had anticipated.
Despite all surveys indicating a vote to stay in the EU, over 52% of UK voters chose to do so in 2016. A record high 72% of people showed up.
Mr. Farage will explain to his Australian listeners that the growing sensitivity to social problems like race and gender equality presents a challenge to all English-speaking countries.
According to his comments to Daily Mail Australia, “the English-speaking globe, and in particular the Five Eyes group, have an enormous lot in common in terms of shared history, culture, and the difficulties that we confront.”
“Now we are facing an attempt to destroy everything our countries have ever stood for, the history of our nations, an attempt to tell our kids they should be ashamed of our countries, to tell our kids if they are people of colour they are victims, if they are white they are the offspring of oppressors.”
This hard-left effort, which has taken over our educational institutions, has a remarkable amount of sway in the media.
Words like “white privilege” were unfamiliar to me ten years ago.
Conservatives, according to the 58-year-old, are engaged in a “fight for the integrity of who we are, what we stand for, our communities, and the Judeo-Christian culture that is the foundation of all we have achieved.”
“Identity politics is meant to separate communities instead than bring people together,” he said.
“We were all created equal.” Either we treat everyone equally, or we may keep going down this terrible path of treating certain groups of people differently.
Mr. Farage criticised the incoming Prime Minister, saying that his Labor Party would “do nothing for free markets and free business.”
“He will keep the large state that exists in Australia at a very, very robust level.” The notion that the government is in charge and has the greatest knowledge,’ he added.
I don’t believe he will make a very motivational prime minister.
He believes that lowering the scope of government involvement is the greatest approach to strengthen the economy and raise living standards.
‘Supply-side reform, deregulation, and total radical change of the tax system, especially the corporate tax system,’ he commended US President Donald Trump for implementing.
It did result in a startling number of new firms and the development of riches. This thing really works,” he remarked.