According to Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, the AfD has failed for years to clean up its ranks with regard to questionable views. This was the statement made by the head of the right-wing populist British party Reform UK when asked about his reaction to the controversial SS statement made by the former AfD lead candidate in the European elections, Maximilian Krah. “I have been thinking for years that the AfD needs to clean up its ranks,” the 60-year-old told the German Press Agency at the weekend in Frinton-on-Sea, England.

Before the European elections, Krah told reporters: “I will never say that everyone who wore an SS uniform was automatically a criminal.” The ID group in the European Parliament, which includes Marine Le Pen’s French Rassemblement National (RN), excluded the AfD group. After the election, the AfD MPs decided not to include Krah in their delegation. Reform UK also recently parted ways with a candidate because he had drummed up support for the right-wing extremist British National Party in the past.

Farage sat in the EU Parliament for decades for the Ukip party and is considered the driving force behind Britain’s exit from the EU. He is therefore also known as “Mr. Brexit”. At the beginning of the month, he surprisingly announced his candidacy for a mandate in the parliamentary elections in Great Britain on July 4. On Monday, he wanted to present his party’s election program.

According to polls, Reform UK is only a few percentage points behind Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservatives. One poll even showed a narrow lead for Farage’s party.

However, due to the pure majority voting system, in which only the candidate with the most votes in each constituency enters parliament, Farage and his colleagues can only hope for a few seats in the House of Commons. The social democratic Labour Party with its leading candidate Keir Starmer is expected to win an absolute majority.

Farage’s declared aim is to replace the Conservatives with a conservative movement under his leadership. His role model is former US President Donald Trump, with whom Farage says he is friends. If he wins a mandate, he will be the de facto opposition leader in view of the disputes within the Conservatives, Farage said in an interview with dpa.

In five years, the office of Prime Minister is also within the realm of possibility, Farage continued. He did not want to say whether he had coordinated with Trump. He never commented on private conversations with the 45th President of the United States, Farage said. “But he seems quite benevolent,” he added.