Rod Stewart comes out in support of Reform UK and Nigel Farage

SINGER Rod Stewart has said that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is “coming across well” and that voters have “got to give [him] a chance”.

The former Faces frontman came out in support of the hard-right party leader in an interview with The Times ahead of his set in the “legends slot” at Glastonbury on Sunday.

The London-born Stewart, who is known for playing up his Scottish heritage, was asked where he saw the UK’s political future heading.

He said: “It’s hard for me because I’m extremely wealthy, and I deserve to be, so a lot of it doesn’t really touch me. But that doesn’t mean I’m out of touch. 

“For instance, I’ve read about [Prime Minister Keir] Starmer cutting off the fishing in Scotland and giving it back to the EU. That hasn’t made him popular. 

“We’re fed up with the Tories. 

“We’ve got to give Farage a chance. He’s coming across well.” 

He added: “What options have we got? I know some of his family, I know his brother, and I quite like him.”

Asked what Farage stood for other than “Brexit, tightened immigration policies and unrealistic economic promises”, the singer said: “Yeah, yeah. But Starmer’s all about getting us out of Brexit and I don’t know how he’s going to do that. 

“Still, the country will survive. It could be worse. We could be in the Gaza Strip.”

The remarks signal a stark departure from Stewart’s previous attacks on Farage.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage pictured during a visit to ScotlandIn 2024, after the Reform UK leader suggested that the West and Nato were to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Stewart said: “I’m outraged and dumbfounded that Farage blames the West for the war – is he suggesting that Nato is the aggressor here?

“Nato’s purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means, not to start a war on paranoid [Vladimir] Putin’s Russia. 

“Shame on you Nigel."

In a previous interview ahead of his Glastonbury set, Stewart revealed that his former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood will join him on stage and said he will have three different guests coming on, plus an orchestra.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he added.

“And it is a different gig. It’s like when you’re playing a cup final: you’re trying to treat it like another game. But, of course, it’s not. It’s special.

“It’ll be glamorous, it’ll be sexy.

“And we’ve got a little orchestra coming on to play with us. And we may have some bagpipes.”

Stewart’s best known solo songs include Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?, Every Beat Of My Heart, and Maggie May.