Is Ben Habib the Racehorse Nobody Saw Thundering Down the Track?

Walk down any high street, wander into any pub, and the talk is the same: “They’ve had it, mate. Starmer has absolutely had it.”

Labour is nosediving at record speed, plummeting to depths not seen since the Black Death of British politics. It’s a government loathed even more than Gordon Brown’s boom-to-bust era.

The numbers don’t lie. Sixteen per cent in the polls… not just a stumble, but a collapse of biblical proportions for a government only a year in. Keir Starmer’s Labour machine has corroded into a scandal-ridden, tax-grabbing, entrepreneur-freezing husk. Angela Rayner shuffles off stage left under a cloud of tax-dodging ignominy. Rachel Reeves is caught padding her CV and floundering on the most basic of economic principles, the Laffer Curve among them. Mandelson resurfaces with his Epstein baggage (again). The whole outfit resembles a cabal of charlatans that even Machiavelli would cross the street to avoid.

Meanwhile, even though there are some excellent Tory MPs (and yes, full disclosure – I am still a Conservative Party member), there are still too many Lib Dem types in their ranks and the Conservative Party brand seems to be on political hospice care. Nineteen seats projected? A rump so tiny it could squeeze into a minibus and still leave room for the shopping bags.

So yes, the electorate has turned. But here’s the question some are starting to whisper in SW1: is Ben Habib the dark horse charging up the rails?

Advance UK, a newborn foal of a party, has signed up over 35,000 members in just a couple of months. That’s not a whimper. That’s a roar. Habib’s speech, delivered at the Unite the Kingdom rally last weekend, swells with raw energy. All week it’s been pinging through WhatsApp groups, climbing the algorithmic vines of Twitter, threading itself into Facebook arguments between old mates who swore never to discuss politics again.

Nigel Farage, once the singular lightning rod of populist energy, now finds himself nervously eyeing the rear-view mirror. Rumours swirl of him using his GB News clout to clip Habib’s wings. But banning a man from TV in 2025 is like banning rain from Britain… the conversation finds its way in, whether through TikTok clips or a cheeky I’m a Celeb type cameo that could introduce Ben to millions, just as it once did for Nigel.

But here’s the thing: Habib is not a Nigel clone. Yes, he’s as sharp an orator, but more cerebral, more disciplined. Less bomb-thrower, more surgeon. He cuts, he probes, he challenges. And crucially, he comes across as very decent… honest, principled, moral. If Farage is the pint-swinging pub-goer with a crowd around him at the bar, Habib is the sober, clear-eyed chess player setting out his next five moves.

In the next few years, I think the political chessboard could look something like this: Kemi Badenoch gone… blamed for the Tories doing diabolically in next spring’s local elections. Rob Jenrick facing off against James Cleverly or the comeback queen, Penny Mordaunt, to hold the Tory remnants together… with the members demanding Jenrick. (And let’s be honest: if the Tories are to survive at all, it has to be Jenrick.) Nigel Farage still leading Reform, a machine that may have peaked too early. Keir Starmer will be gone. Andy Burnham having wangled his way in will end up at the head of the Labour corpse. And then, striding into the ring, Habib… on a roll, carving out at least 15 per cent of the vote, splitting Nigel’s base, and negotiating coalitions like a statesman. Probably with the Tories.

And do not, under any circumstances, rule out a certain tousle-haired, Latin-quoting, Churchill type figure lurking in the wings, waiting to reclaim the stage. Yes… Boris himself, back in some capacity, as ringmaster.

In another year or so, people will wake up and realise Boris had been PM for barely five months before Covid struck. With a hijacked Conservative Party, a country held to ransom by lefty lawyers and trade unions at every turn, and a global pandemic crashing through the door, I still believe the man did a good job with what he knew at the time. And let’s be honest: if you still think he spent lockdown scoffing cake at parties, you probably get your news from the Guardian.

The truth? The only ones partying were the civil servants… under the watch of Sue Gray, then a close ally of Keir Starmer and soon to be his Chief of Staff. I’m still amazed she managed to turn the tables, dodging the bullet by marking her own homework on Partygate and framing Boris in the process. Boris’s greatest mistake was trusting her.

But that’s by the by. The fact remains: Boris is still the greatest statesman since Churchill. And for every loudmouth who loathes him, there are a hundred ordinary Brits who adore him. Walk down any high street still today and he’s treated like a rock star. Little old ladies drop their shopping bags to rush in for a cuddle. Kids swarm around, phones out, begging for selfies.

And to be honest… we need more of that. The whole country is sick of managed decline. The British people yearn for energy, morality, leadership, patriotism… a voice that cuts through the fog of corruption and compromise. They yearn for figures like Boris. He could yet save his party. And could Ben Habib play his part in that revival? Could there be a Tory/Advance coalition strong enough to see off Reform? Habib may not yet dominate the headlines, but he too offers all of the above. He’s also close to senior Tory figures and they respect him. In the WhatsApp groups and smoky backrooms of the nation, his name is already on the lips of those who matter.

So is he the racehorse no one saw coming? You can feel the thundering hooves already.

Watch this space.

By Claire Bullivant