Farage insists Reform would have won by-election on UK-only vote | Politics | News
Nigel Farage and Matt Goodwin (Image: Getty)
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mr Farage said: “I firmly believe that among British-born voters Matthew Goodwin came first in last week’s election. I have absolutely no doubt about that.” Mr Farage, the Reform UK leader and Clacton MP, has since said his party would restrict the right to vote in national elections to British citizens and remove that right from residents with Commonwealth citizenship.
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Reform UK said Mr Farage’s belief that allowing Commonwealth citizens to vote “undermines national sovereignty” and leads to elections being fought on international rather than domestic issues is behind his plan to strip voting rights in national polls.
Asked whether he was concerned the policy could be seen as an effort to turn off voters unlikely to support his party, Nigel Farage said many other “normal” countries were already doing this.
He said: “For national elections I believe they should absolutely be voted on by British voters only.
“Otherwise we face a really, really adverse effect on our politics with people voting for Gaza rather than Gorton.”
Many other countries, including the United States and Japan, already limit citizens’ voting rights, Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said.
Mr Farage added: “We just want to be a normal country and normal countries protect their borders, protect their democratic systems, know what works and what doesn’t.”
The reform also seeks to restrict mail-in voting.
Currently anyone eligible to vote in UK elections can choose to do so by post, but under Reform UK’s plans this will be limited to the elderly, disabled people, personnel serving in the armed forces and those working abroad at the time of the election.
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Mr Farage warned on Monday about the “mass harvesting” of postal ballots.
“I don’t trust the mail-in voting system. I don’t trust the voter rolls,” he said.
The Reform UK leader has complained about postal voting in the past, including when Ukip lost the Oldham West and Royton by-election in 2015 and the Brexit Party lost the Peterborough by-election in 2019.
Reform UK MP Richard Tice questioned the validity of postal voting when his party’s candidate lost the Rochdale by-election in 2024, insisting the result should be a “serious wake-up call” for voters and those in power.
No mail-in voting fraud was proven in any of these cases, and none resulted in a conviction.
The reform also asked police to investigate claims of election fraud following reports of “family voting”, an illegal practice in which two voters use the same voting booth and potentially manipulate each other into voting.
Election watchdog group Volunteers for Democracy warned it was witnessing “worryingly high levels” of family voting in Gorton and Denton.
Commenting on Nigel Farage’s plans, a Green Party spokesman said: “This is dangerous and racist nonsense from a well-defeated party trying to legitimize the election. Donald Trump-style.
“In a democracy, everyone has an equal vote and we attracted voters from all regions, from all communities, including those who initially said they would vote for Reform.
“Farage has no idea who voted for him and who didn’t.
“And, as he said, he always knew they would lose. ‘If you don’t like the results of the election, change the electors’ has been the refrain of losers and anti-democrats for centuries.”
