Nigel Farage wraps himself in the Union flag, but the moment voters rejected him, he ditched British values and reached straight for Donald Trump’s playbook – cry cheating and trash the result
Nigel Farage likes to wrap himself in the Union flag, pose as the champion of “British values”, and lecture the rest of us about patriotism. But the moment democracy delivers a result he does not like, the mask slips.
The leader of Reform UK did not even bother with the pretence of statesmanship. Within minutes of the Gorton and Denton by-election result being declared, the self-styled patriot had already lunged for his hero’s handbook. Lose a vote? Scream cheating. Question the system. Poison the well. The Donald Trump playbook, followed to the letter and followed fast.
This by-election was undeniably a bad night for Labour. Losing a seat it previously held is serious and demands honesty, not excuses. Voters sent a message, and Labour must listen. That much is beyond dispute. But what happened next was not about Labour’s defeat. It was about Farage’s exposure.
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Reform UK did not surge. It did not sweep the board. It did not even come close. Farage’s star candidate, Matt Goodwin – a man with all the warmth and charisma of a Dalek on standby mode – was comfortably dispatched into second place by the Greens’ Hannah Spencer, without so much as a recount-worthy wobble.
Comfortably. No recount drama. No marginal cliff edge. Just a clear verdict from voters. And Farage could not handle it.
Instead of accepting defeat – the bare minimum required of anyone who claims to believe in democracy – Farage and his flunkie Goodwin lashed out, alleging “sectarian voting and cheating”. The Green Party was right to hit back, calling out the accusation for what it was: reckless, unfounded and dangerous.
In Britain, claims of electoral fraud are not pub banter. They are serious allegations that strike at the heart of democratic trust. Farage made them anyway, with no evidence and no shame. It was not a slip of the tongue. It is who he is.
He has spent his entire political career posing as the supposed defender of democracy while treating it with contempt the moment it disobeys him. He demanded referendums. He demanded votes. He demanded that “the people” be heard. Just look at his role in Brexit. But now we see the fine print: the people are only right when they vote for Nigel Farage.
When they don’t, they must have cheated.
The speed of his response tells you everything. No attempt to understand why voters might have rejected his message of division and grievance. Just an instant accusation. It was almost impressive in its predictability. You could practically set your watch by it.
This is what happens when Trumpism is imported wholesale into British politics. Farage is not borrowing policy ideas or campaign techniques.
He is copying the most corrosive instinct of all: delegitimising elections themselves. Trump lost in 2020 and told America the vote was stolen. Farage lost and immediately suggested the same. Same ego. Same bitterness. Same disregard for the consequences.
And the language he chose matters. “Sectarian voting” is not a neutral phrase. It is a deliberate smear against communities – a way of implying that some voters’ choices are less valid because of who they are. It is not democracy. It is the politics of resentment and exclusion, wrapped in a cheap Union flag.
Farage loves to talk about British values. Well, here is one: in Britain, when you lose, you accept it. You shake hands, regroup, and try again. You do not accuse voters of wrongdoing because they had the audacity to reject you.
What makes this episode even more damning is that the winner was not Labour but the Greens – a party Farage routinely mocks and dismisses. Spencer won not by tearing down institutions or crying conspiracy, but by persuading people. That is how democracy is supposed to work. Farage’s inability to accept that is not a flaw; it is a feature.
Yes, Labour has taken a blow. But Reform UK has been shown up. When tested, their movement offers nothing but grievance, paranoia and imported culture-war nonsense. No answers. No humility. Just blame. And this is why Farage’s behaviour matters beyond one by-election.
Voters in south east Manchester have spoken, clearly and unequivocally. They did not just reject a candidate, but the Trump-style politics of grievance, conspiracy and permanent outrage.
When Trump fan boy Farage reached for claims of cheating within minutes, he showed exactly how quickly he will undermine democracy when it refuses to serve him. Baseless accusations of rigged votes corrode trust in the ballot box. They tell people outcomes are fixed and anger matters more than argument. We know where that road leads, because we have seen it in America.
Farage claims to love Britain. But the moment British voters told him “no”, he tried to discredit both them and the system that gave them a voice. It is not patriotism. It is petulance, and Manchester just sent a clear message that Trump-style politics are not welcome here.
Stop looking back in anger, Nige. Manchester clearly didn’t want to put their life in your hands.
