Nigel Farage could set his stall out in Guernsey in a bid to win financial support for his political party.
The leader of Reform UK is planning a tour of offshore jurisdictions in an effort to find eligible voters and some extra financial support, the Financial Times has reported.
It’s reported that this will be ahead of the 2029 general election, where his right-wing party is hoping to secure additional votes.
No date for the visit has been given, but it has been mooted ahead of the UK’s local elections which are due to take place from this Thursday, 1 May.
Anyone in Guernsey, Jersey, or the Isle of Man that is eligible to vote in a UK election must have already registered to do so if they wish to take part.
Offshore voters
Recently there were some changes to the UK’s electoral law, which have expanded the ability of British citizens living overseas to vote in UK Parliamentary elections. This includes those residing in one of the Crown Dependencies.
It means a person living in Guernsey who was previously a UK resident and who was registered to vote there, or who previously lived there, can register as an overseas voter. This enables them to vote in UK Parliamentary general elections, however the rules for local elections are slightly different as, generally, you must be a resident of that specific local authority area.
However, if a person from Guernsey also owns a property in the UK, and that property is in a location where they are registered to vote, they may be able to vote in the local elections for that region.
This means there could be Guernsey residents who are able vote in the upcoming local elections, as well as the 2029 UK General Election.
According to the Good Law Project, which has cited the Electoral Commission, Mr Farage’s party is planning to win over some of those offshore voters.
“Reform has brought in more than £22.5m since 2019,” it reports. “Nearly £16.6m of that total – a staggering 73.5% – is linked to nine companies and individuals with offshore interests.”
Mr Farage has previously made similar visits to the Crown Dependencies while leading the UKIP and Brexit parties, in 2015 and 2019 respectively.
The Financial Times has also quoted Nick Candy, Reform UK’s Treasurer as saying: “We’ll do events in restaurants, people’s private homes and on yachts.”
The newspaper also suggesting that a tour of the Crown Dependencies could form part of a wider European and Middle Eastern tour for the leader of the right-wing populist party, which the FT says will target funds from wealthy offshore donors in other low-tax jurisdictions, such as Monaco, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
Mr Candy is reported in the FT as having stated that he “travelled to the UAE ‘every other week’ on business, and last week received a £100,000 donation from an expat there who has a UK-based finance business”.
Mr Farage has also made numerous personal visits to Guernsey.
In 2023, Mr Farage had said he might move to Guernsey if Brexit failed.