Farage and Braverman to take part in populist-right forum

Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman are due to take centre stage at an ultra-conservative conference in Belgium this week, where they are expected to help galvanise Europe’s populist right ahead of EU elections.

Mr Farage, the former Brexit Party leader, and Ms Braverman, the former home secretary, are keynote speakers at the National Conservatism Conference today and on Wednesday, alongside Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the French polemicist Eric Zemmour, who came fourth in the 2022 presidential elections.

Frank Furedi, executive director of MCC Brussels, the Hungarian think-tank co-organising the event, praised Ms Braverman, saying: “She has been extremely vociferous on issues like migration and she’s been really in the forefront of promoting Western culture and civilisational ideals. Farage is there because he’s a good speaker and unusually charismatic.”

Some British Conservatives are lionised by certain European rightwingers for pulling the UK out of the EU – and for their tough stance against uncontrolled immigration.

Ms Braverman (inset), who was sacked by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, last November, remains a favourite among hardliners. A spokesman for Mr Farage – who loudly demanded leaving the EU during his 20 years as an MEP – said he expected him to urge the populist right to persevere before the European elections, even if their polling numbers were low.

“It’ll be along the lines, ‘You may be on 4 per cent now, but don’t give up – we didn’t,” he said.