Labour urges Rishi Sunak to rule out offering Nigel Farage US ambassador job

 

Labour urges Rishi Sunak to rule out offering Nigel Farage US ambassador job

 

Some Tories reportedly want Farage to be given post if he agrees not to play any role with Reform UK in election

 

Peter Walker Deputy political editor

Fri 29 Mar 2024 12.44 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/29/labour-urges-rishi-sunak-rule-out-offering-nigel-farage-us-ambassador-job

 

Labour has called on Rishi Sunak to rule out the mooted idea of appointing Nigel Farage as ambassador to Washington in return for him not standing in the general election, saying this could imperil international unity against Vladimir Putin.

 

Farage has previously said the west should consider negotiations with Russia over Ukraine, and is a noted supporter of Donald Trump, who has argued the same.

 

Some Conservative MPs are calling for Farage to be given the US post if he agrees not to play any role with Reform UK in the general election, according to reports.

 

While he founded the successor to the Brexit party, Farage has a limited day-to-day role. However, many Tories fear that if he returned to frontline campaigning, he could push the party higher in the polls, compounding an expected general election defeat for the Conservatives.

 

He has yet to say what he will do at the election, but there has been speculation he could stand in the Tory-held seat of Clacton, which formerly had an MP from Ukip, when it was led by Farage.

 

In a Sky News interview on Thursday, Richard Holden, the Conservative party chair, declined to rule out the idea of a deal with Farage. Asked several times if he could be made Washington ambassador, Holden told Sky News: “What Nigel Farage does, and the Reform party, is totally up to them,” adding: “All I would say is, it’s irrelevant to what people are talking about on the ground.”

 

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, said: “Rishi Sunak’s weakness leaves him pandering to the extremists in his party. Rishi Sunak must put national interest before the Conservative party. No secret negotiations to keep the Farage wolf from the Tory door. Rishi Sunak must rule out this dangerous and desperate deal that risks threatening international unity against Russian aggression and undermining vital support for Ukraine.

 

“If the prime minister refuses to publicly rule out such a desperate deal, it will be clearer than ever that Rishi Sunak is too weak to act in the national interest.”

 

A series of recent polls have put Reform, led by Richard Tice, at 10% or above, with a YouGov survey putting them at 16%, only five points behind the Conservatives.

 

Reform has scored at 10% or above in some recent byelections, a performance that makes it unlikely it will secure an MP in the general election – with the potential exception of Farage – but sufficient to take enough votes from the Conservatives that they could lose more seats to other parties.

 

Before the 2019 election, the Brexit party stood aside in Tory-held seats, notably helping Boris Johnson.

 

Downing Street has been approached for comment.