Trump congratulates newly elected UK parliamentarian Nigel Farage, ignores Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Former US President Donald Trump celebrated the election of Nigel Farage to Britain’s parliament on Friday, while notably omitting any mention of the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party garnered the third-largest vote count in the recent election. However, due to Britain’s electoral system, the party secured only four seats, while Starmer’s Labour party achieved a landslide victory, sweeping into office.

“Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success. Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

Farage, a long-time ally of Trump, has been nicknamed “Mr. Brexit” by the former president. Trump has previously praised Farage, suggesting he would have been an excellent UK ambassador to Washington.

A staunch advocate for Brexit, Farage was elected to parliament on his eighth attempt. He has openly expressed his ambition to take over the now-main opposition Conservative party, which suffered a significant defeat to Labour.

“There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics, and my job is to fill it,” Farage stated following his comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England.

Farage’s success defies a broader rightward shift among Britain’s closest allies, with the far-right National Rally in France seeking power and Trump positioning for a potential return in the United States.

Farage’s victory is expected to strengthen his position as a prominent populist figure, advancing his long-term goal of a “takeover” of the Conservatives. Millions of Conservative voters appeared to have shifted their support to Reform, contributing to one of the Tories’ worst-ever electoral outcomes.

An initial exit poll on Thursday night stirred reactions by predicting Reform would secure 13 seats, far exceeding late-campaign forecasts that suggested the party would win only a handful.