Is Nigel Farage like Donald Trump? Or is Donald Trump like Nigel Farage? Either way, the two are personally close and Farage’s performance at Monday’s press conference announcing his formal candidacy showed both could easily be drawing reference from a common campaign playbook.
Shortly after the announcement, Clacton voters told The Telegraph they did not like most ordinary politicians such as Starmer and Sunak – but they very much did like Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. Many people in the US clearly say the same about Trump.
It is easy to see why: Farage and Trump really are different communicators. The way they talk about politics is like the way people talk about politics in pubs and bars across their respective countries. They are highly opinionated; they are irreverent, even profane; and they talk about the most sensitive topics without any sensitivity – which is a breath of fresh air for many at this point in time. But there is more to it.
1. Eviscerate the political class
If there is such a playbook, chapter one will be titled: “eviscerate the political class”. For Farage began, as Trump invariably does, with a brutal attack on the political system as it stands. Farage eviscerated modern politicians for endlessly letting the public down, for betraying promises, for offering the same tired solutions, and for being essentially the same. Many voters are right to believe that “nobody in Westminster is on their side, nobody in Westminster even understands what they do”, he said. He claimed he was “cheated” against in the 2015 by-election in South Thanet, after which a Tory staffer was found to have created false spending returns, without the knowledge of others.
Both Farage and Trump position themselves as the antithesis of modern politics; they offer themselves as the embodiment of political change. Both men push this because they truly believe they are different. But the potency of their message has been helped by their opponents. Farage did not stand against Boris Johnson because Johnson himself was a very different sort of politician; Farage could not make his usual criticisms stick. But against Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, he can position himself as a genuine alternative to the tired old politics of Westminster.
2. Claim popular support
Crucially, both Farage and Trump talk as if they represent the mass of voters in their own countries. They talk as if they are the authentic voices of ordinary British and ordinary American people. To Farage, Sunak and Starmer represent the elites, just like Biden does in the US to Trump, while they represent the forgotten masses. Many political commentators get Farage and Trump wrong here. While there is no question that both men are divisive and actively seek to draw dividing lines, they do talk as if most of the public are on their side.
Furthermore, and this should never be overlooked, they both actively seem to like most of the voters they are speaking to. This sounds like an obvious point: surely all politicians do this? On the contrary, look at politicians like Kemi Badenoch, widely touted as a future Conservative leader – and someone whose position is theoretically strengthened by a Farage surge. Badenoch talks like a revolutionary; as if the world is against her and she is a lonely voice in the wilderness for change. Farage never, ever does this and neither does Trump. While they channel anger, they claim to be channelling the anger of those people they profess to hold affection for.
3. Champion patriotism
Their common playbook will also naturally include a chapter on patriotism and a vision of a better country that has been lost. Britain and America are radically different countries with distinct histories and cultures that both men use to their advantage. On Monday, Farage talked about the loss of a safe London. He also talked passionately about a loss of national pride – on this occasion asking, “Can you believe that a poll out last week showed that 52 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds don’t even know what D-Day is?” In effect, he is trying to evoke the loss of a time when there were common standards and common belief in the decency and morality of Britain. Expect a lot more on this if he is elected.
Trump, on the other hand, is more likely to talk about the loss of America’s industrial power and its respect on the world stage. This gets to the heart of his calls to “Make America Great Again”.
4. Belittle your ideological enemies
While Farage could reasonably claim to be a co-author of a Farage-Trump playbook, there is one chapter that surely relies on the former president’s style: belittling ideological enemies – those you will never convert. There was a moment at Farage’s press conference that was entirely characteristic of Trump. He gave an exaggerated yawn during a question from a Guardian journalist, who was beginning to ask about his attitude to democracy. Farage mock apologised for nearly “dropping off”. The message was hardly subtle: “You don’t like me, I don’t like you – and I don’t care what you think.” The scene could have been at a Trump rally in West Virginia, with a reporter from The New York Times. We will see a lot more of this; Farage has clearly been emboldened by Trump’s behaviour on the campaign trail.
5. Focus on voters’ core priorities
While their content is different, Farage and Trump unashamedly tap into the past, attempting to show a nostalgic view of what their countries were once like. While there is an approach to campaigning common to both – and a shared style – you cannot ignore the importance of issues to both men. They are not popular purely because of the way they speak, or the nostalgia they evoke; they are popular because of the issues they talk about. For such different countries, the issues they talk about are remarkably similar: immigration is top of the list, but they also regularly talk about tax and crime. On Monday, Farage declared that this was the “immigration election”, adding: “We have to build a new house every two minutes just to accommodate those that are legally coming into Britain.”
Particularly in Britain, it is inconceivable that Farage would have secured anything like the traction he has without his focus on these issues. Yes, he is a different sort of politician and a very good communicator. But Farage surged because people felt Labour wasn’t listening on immigration in their latter period in office in the 2000s, and then more recently because Sunak did not appear to be listening either.
In reality, there will be no physical playbook Farage and Trump share. But, borne of a close personal relationship and shared respect, there will be a virtual common playbook that exists in both men’s minds. Both are likely to ask themselves what the other would do in a particular situation. Notably, Trump joined TikTok earlier this week, following Farage’s success on the platform. As he became Reform leader, Farage had more than 600,000 TikTok followers, compared with 50,000 following the Conservatives’ account.
But, if anything, Farage has the easier task. Trump needs to win a national election; for Farage, success looks like something very different. Yes, winning a single constituency, but also winning a national vote share that justifies Reform’s position as the political class’s moral opposition and to the status quo of modern British politics. At this point, it is a reasonable bet that their common playbook will help Farage achieve this. For Trump, it is too early to tell.
James Frayne is a leading pollster and founding partner of research agency Public First
