A Conservative MP has suggested introducing Nigel Farage to the House of Lords.
Jonathan Gullis, the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and member of the New Conservatives, told GB News that the former UKIP leader would be an “asset across the Blue and the Red Wall”.
“I’d love to see it, personally”, Gullis said when the prospect of Farage joining the Conservative Party was raised.
He added: “I think Nigel has a lot to offer”.
“Number one: he is a big voice on the key issues like immigration that we know are a huge number one, if not number two issue for Conservative voters particularly those in 2019 and particularly those in the Red Wall.
“Secondly, I think he is actually an asset across the Blue and the Red Wall. He’s able to communicate in a way many politicians aren’t able to. [There is] probably no one closer to having the ability other than Boris Johnson to be able to get a message across clearly and concisely.
“I really do hope that he comes forward and he joins — and I’d be very happy to welcome him.”
He added: “We do need to actually deliver on the tens of thousands and maybe, maybe just maybe, the Conservatives could put Nigel Farage in the House of Lords.
“I think he would take no nonsense; he would take no prisoners. He would call out the civil service for what they are at times, which are blockers to actual government policy and make sure that we deliver on the priorities of the British public.”
In his reshuffle last month, Rishi Sunak elevated David Cameron to the House of Lords, enabling the ex-prime minister to become foreign secretary.
However, Nigel Farage is a known opponent of the UK’s unelected upper chamber.
He recently told the I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! camp: “I went to the House of Lords about two months ago, a guy I served with in the late 90s and early 00s in Brussels invited me to lunch. I said, ‘What’s it like here?’ He said, ‘It’s the best retirement home in the country.”
“He said, ‘I get a taxi in every morning, I do a little paperwork, sign in for the money, go for lunch in the subsidised dining room’ and it’s old fashioned English food, it’s roast, it’s really cheap. They go into the House of Lords at 2.30pm for the opening of debates or whatever it is and then p*** off home, that’s it done!”
He added: ““It’s a throwback that needs modernising. It’s been stuffed full of people who have given parties money. Pretty corrupt stuff really. But for those that are in there, it’s a fantastic life.”
Earlier this week, the prime minister appeared to leave the door open for the former Brexit Party leader to make a return to the Conservative Party.
He refused to rule out the prospect, saying: “Our party has always been a broad church.”
He added: “My focus is consistently on delivering on the things that matter to people”.
A survey conducted by the Conservative Home website early last month showed 72.27 per cent of Conservative members asked say Farage should be admitted to the Conservative Party, should he seek membership.
23.53 per cent said he should not be admitted if he sought membership, while 4. 2 per cent said they “don’t know”.
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