Toby Young Toby Young

Why an ex-Spectator editor told me to back Reform

issue 15 June 2024

Toby Young has narrated this article for you to listen to.

When I told an ex-editor of this magazine that I was planning to write about why I’m voting for Reform he didn’t react as I expected. ‘For God’s sake, don’t write another of those more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger pieces,’ he said. ‘Make it a furious, tub-thumping endorsement of Nigel and his gang.’

When it comes to the ‘War on Woke’, Farage really means it – Rishi is all talk and no pedal pushers

I should say at once that this wasn’t Boris Johnson – although he does want Nigel Farage to win in Clacton, apparently. Why? Because if Nigel becomes an MP it will make his takeover of the Tories a more realistic prospect. That way, Boris can re-enter the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity and say to what remains of the parliamentary party: ‘The only way to stop Nigel is to back me.

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