The Reform UK press conference began a little behind schedule. Time in which Nigel Farage had gathered Zia Yusuf and a few others into a circle for a two-minute silence. A moment to reflect on the sad news from Hungary that Viktor Orbán’s 16 years as prime minister had come to a premature end. Orbán had had so much more to give the world. There would be no one left in the EU to block the €90bn loan to Ukraine. Will there be no one to think of Russia’s brave struggles against the west? It was a tragedy. The end of an era. Nige would now have to go it alone.
There’s a law of diminishing returns to these Reform press conferences. We now get two or three of them a week, each one promising to be of national importance. The reality is that they are no more than a chance for Farage to indulge his narcissism and get himself on camera once more. It’s the only time he feels truly alive. But the audiences are dwindling. They are no longer “must-screen” events for the main news channels. Reform’s idea of importance is the broadcasters’ idea of eminently missable. You can see the desperation in Nige’s eyes. He is in danger of becoming last year’s news.
