Nigel Farage could “definitely” become Prime Minister at the next general election in four years’ time, says Dominic Cummings.
But the mastermind behind the 2016 Brexit campaign believes Reform UK has to build its pool of talent to get into power in 2029.
With the Tories in crisis, he believes they will “probably this year” replace their leader Kemi Badenoch who he described as a “goner”.
Asked if Mr Farage could be PM, Mr Cummings told Sky News: “It could definitely happen now, yeah, because the old system’s just so completely broken.
“If he does what I’m suggesting, and actually sets out a path for 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, etc.
“If he does that, then there’ll be a huge surge of interest and support into the whole thing.”
Mr Cummings, who was Boris Johnson’s top No10 aide before falling out spectacularly with the then Prime Minister, stressed that Reform had itself to reform so it is not so dependent on Mr Farage.
“Reform has been a one-man band. It’s been Nigel and an iPhone,” said Mr Cummings.
“They can win 50, 100, 150 seats with Reform as Nigel and an iPhone.
“But 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.”
Reform, which only has five MPs, has surged into the lead in the polls even overtaking the Tories in London, and is ahead of Labour which has seen its popularity plummet.
Mr Cummings, though, stressed the success of Mr Farage’s party was significantly due to a backlash against the established political system.
“Reform is 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’,” he argued.
“And Farage going up in the polls is the expression of that core feeling.”
On Mrs Badenoch’s future as Tory leader, Mr Cummings said: "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."
Mr Farage sought to march onto traditional Labour territory on Tuesday with a series of pledges in a speech in central London including scrapping the two-child cap and committing to the winter fuel payments for all pensioners.
He is proposing dramatically increasing the starting point for paying income tax from £12,570 to £20,000.
He is also advocating a transferable marriage tax allowance.
It would mean one spouse being exempt from paying tax on the first £25,000 of their income. The other would enjoy a tax-free income of £20,000.
But Reform faces searching questions over how it would pay for its spending plans, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies stressing that the income tax policy alone would cost between £50 billion and £80 billion, and warning this could mean significant cuts to public services.
Mr Farage’s party also claims it could save a staggering £225 billion over five years from axing net zero projects.
