🇬🇧Macron Snubs Farage During UK Visit - and He’s Right to Do So
French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting leaders with real political weight, not poll-chasing populists like Nigel Farage.
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So, in an entirely predictable and very amusing event, French President Emmanuel Macron will not be meeting with the far-right British ‘hero’ who has a possessive obsession with ending the European Union.
With Emmanuel Macron visiting the United Kingdom this week as part of a major state visit, there have been plans for the President to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer, King Charles III, as well as Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.
Of course, it’s entirely normal for a head of state to meet the major parties in a country they are visiting, especially those with longstanding histories and who have been actively involved in diplomatic efforts between France and the UK.
It’s also natural for a head of state to meet the leader of a party that is closely aligned with his own, as is the case between the Renaissance and the Liberal Democrats.
Not only this, but with an ongoing thawing of Franco-British relations under Keir Starmer’s premiership, with a large rapprochement coming in military and diplomatic affairs, as well as a growing closeness with the EU, these visits are important.
But that hasn’t stopped Nigel Farage and Co. from crying loudly about this “outrageous and deliberate snub” by the French president, who has not scheduled a meeting with the leader of the British far-right, and misinformation peddlers everywhere.
The president of Reform UK (RefUK) Richard Tice complained loudly about this in the following statement:
“Reform is polling higher than all of the other parties, and by denying Nigel a meeting with Macron, the Establishment is shutting its eyes to the lights of the Reform train that is coming.
If Macron was confident of his handling of the small boats issue, he would happily meet with Nigel.”
Now, firstly, Nigel Farage and his far-right circus have never shown anything but outright hostility to Emmanuel Macron, the French Republic, and the European Union, and this would give nobody any reason to speak to them whatsoever.
However, at this point, we have to all start asking ourselves this very important question:
Why in the name of the French Republic would President Emmanuel Macron meet with the tinpot leader of the seventh-largest party in the United Kingdom?
To make a clear point: there are many parties who have as much political power, if not more than Nigel Farage’s RefUK, such as the Scottish National Party, the Independent Alliance, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Green Party of England and Wales, and Plaid Cymru.
Yet none of these parties are actively complaining about this snub, because they don’t have an outsized ego and entitlement that makes them think they are the main characters in the history of the world.
Even if we were going to steelman Nigel Farage and Richard Tice’s complaint, you could argue that, as Emmanuel Macron has met with opposition leaders in the past, such as in Germany, Italy, and the UK, that he should do so, on this occasion, in the UK.
Which, in Emmanuel Macron’s defence, is what he’s doing in meeting with Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey.
While Reform UK has recently seen a notable rise in national polling, at times outpacing the Conservatives in vote share, its support remains geographically diffuse and has yet to translate into a meaningful number of parliamentary seats under the UK’s first-past-the-post system.
This polling momentum signals discontent within sections of the electorate, particularly towards Labour’s Keir Starmer as well as the Conservative leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, but does not, in itself, confer the institutional weight or diplomatic standing typically recognised in state-level visits.
Nor are polls ever a strong indicator of future performance, especially for a wholly populist party four years ahead of an election
Farage and Tice’s complaint happens to completely miss the point of how diplomacy works. Heads of state meet governments, not poll leaders, especially when that leader holds few seats in Parliament and little to no formal authority over the political situation.
The French President is under no obligation, political, diplomatic, or social, to indulge a political performer whose influence has historically peaked in headlines rather than in institutions. With the next UK election still years away, meeting Farage would not only be premature but diplomatically unserious, an act that risks legitimising spectacle over substance in cross-channel relations.
And let’s be honest. If Emmanuel Macron had agreed to meet Nigel Farage, the very same people now screaming indignantly about a diplomatic snub would have spent the week accusing him of selling out to the global elite by shaking hands with Brexit’s cheerleader-in-chief.
There is absolutely no version of this story where they don’t find something to scream about.
The reality is that this says far more about Farage than it does about Macron. With few seats in Parliament, no coherent policy platform beyond his usual outrage machine, and no serious political capital in Europe, Farage is not being snubbed. He is simply being treated according to his actual political relevance.
Macron is here to engage with the British government and the recognised leaders of opposition parties who have a record of real political engagement with France and Europe. He is not here to boost the media profile of a man whose legacy consists of one referendum and a series of failed and limited political revivals.
In an era where political spectacle often overshadows substance, Macron’s decision to engage with those shaping policy, not just headlines, is a reminder of how diplomacy should be done.
Farage might see himself as a kingmaker and political heavyweight, but France sees him for what he is: a sideshow.
Vive la diplomatie.
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Absolutely.
Yes, Reform is polling quite well but they seem to be having a real problem actually governing, ie running the councils where they have a majority. But, let’s just see how things develop in the next few years.
"Farage the Snoob"