Dominic Cummings, former chief adviser to Boris Johnson, has asserted that Nigel Farage could "definitely" become prime minister at the next general election. This statement emerged from a wide-ranging interview with Sky News, where Cummings revealed he had met with and advised the Reform UK leader on a strategy to move from a "one man and an iPhone" operation to potentially entering Downing Street.

Cummings outlined that Farage's path to premiership hinges on a significant transformation of Reform UK. He suggested that Farage must detail "how Reform is going to change, how Reform is going to bring in people, how it's structurally going to alter, what it's going to build, how it is going to do policy, how it can recruit MPs." According to Cummings, such a strategic evolution would trigger a "huge surge of interest and support."

While acknowledging that Reform UK, in its current "one-man band" state with "Nigel and an iPhone," could win a substantial number of seats (50, 100, or even 150), Cummings emphasized that this model is insufficient for winning an overall general election. He stated, "they can't win an overall general election and have a plan for government and have a serious team able to take over in Downing Street and govern and control Whitehall with one man and an iPhone."

Cummings also offered a scathing analysis of Mr. Farage's personal appeal, attributing Reform UK's rise more to widespread anti-establishment sentiment than to Farage himself. He described Reform as "a vehicle for people to say: 'We despise you, Westminster. We hate both the old parties, we hate Whitehall, we hate the old media, we hate the whole f***ing lot of you.' And Farage going up in the polls is the expression of that core feeling."

The former Number 10 aide was equally damning in his assessment of the Conservative Party, declaring it might be "dead" and beyond salvation. "It's quite possible the Tories have just, kind of, crossed the event horizon and actually aren't salvageable," he remarked, questioning the assumption that the party will inevitably find a way to turn things around.

Furthermore, Cummings predicted the imminent ousting of the Conservative Party's current leader, Kemi Badenoch, possibly before the end of the year. He claimed that "There's already people who are organising to get rid of her, and I think that that will work. If it doesn't work this year, it will definitely happen after next May. She's a goner, so there's going to be a big transition there."