Tory alarm as Farage takes control of Reform UK

Conservative fears of 'existential' threat as ex-Ukip leader returns and says he will stand as MP

- Ben Quinn, Pippa Crerar, Eleni Courea

The Conservative Party's faltering general election campaign suffered a potentially damaging new blow yesterday when Nigel Farage announced he intended to stand as an election candidate and lead the Reform party for the next five years.

The former Ukip and Brexit party leader said he would stand in Clacton, Essex, next month after changing his mind while spending time on the campaign trail. He claimed that he did not want to let his supporters down.

Farage will also take over as leader of Reform UK from Richard Tice, pledging to stay in post for a full parliamentary term. While his announcement poses an immediate threat to the Tory candidate for the Clacton seat, it may also energise Reform UK's national campaign, splitting the rightwing vote in other constituencies.

It also raises the spectre of Farage antagonising the Tories as they descend into a post-election battle for the soul of their party.

Farage's candidacy in Clacton, which was the first to elect a Ukip MP in 2014 and has a Tory majority of 24,702, will be his eighth attempt to enter parliament. He has failed every time so far.

In a further blow to Rishi Sunak, YouGov's first MRP constituency projection - before Farage's announcement showed Keir Starmer could win a 194 majority, bigger than Tony Blair's 179 in 1997.

It put Labour on 422 seats (+222 from the 2019 election, based on new constituency boundaries), the Tories on 140 (-232), the Lib Dems on 48 (+40) and the SNP on 17 (-31). A senior Tory said Farage's return was an "existential" risk.