Nigel Farage and the politics of spectacle: How populism thrives in modern Britain

Nigel Farage's recent visit to South Wales was, on the surface, another entry in the long catalogue of his provocative political theatre.

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Speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Port Talbot, a town still haunted by the decline of its steel industry, Farage made a series of characteristically bold and incoherent suggestions. He floated the idea of reopening the region's blast furnaces and even mooted a return to coal mining, remarking that "if you offer people well-paying jobs, many will take them," before casually acknowledging that mining is "dangerous."

It was, as ever with Farage, a performance rich in contradictions, devoid of policy coherence, and deaf to environmental or logistical realities. He admitted that reopening steelworks might be impractical, and building a new one would cost "in the low billions." Asked where new coal pits could be dug, he simply replied, "It comes down to geology," skimming over the small matter of modern housing estates and business parks now sitting atop disused coal seams.

None of this, of course, was designed to withstand serious scrutiny. As with much of Farage's political output, the real aim wasn't to propose feasible solutions but to create a spectacle—a nostalgic, headline-friendly promise of "reindustrialising" Wales that taps into public frustration and disillusionment. To critics, his remarks were laughable, even offensive. To supporters, they reinforced an image of a man unafraid to say what others won't.