London —
A political gamble looks like it has spectacularly backfired.
When British right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage announced he was resigning as a lawmaker and triggering a special election in the face of a swirl of allegations over personal financing, he sought the high ground, saying his constituents “should be the judges of my actions.”
Instead, rival parties united in dismissing his actions as a stunt, leaving his only opponent to be a garbage-can wearing comedian whose policies include forcing rule-breaking cyclists to ride unicycles.
The leader of the Reform UK party – which is topping most UK opinion polls –…