Comedian Matt Forde on Starmer’s first year, Farage’s ‘potent threat’ and beating cancer

With the threat of World War 3, the NHS in crisis and immigration spiralling out of control, it might not seem like a time to be upbeat about politics, let alone laugh about it. But if anyone can find positivity among doom and gloom, it is political comedian and impersonator Matt Forde – because he found solace and hope in the darkest moment of all.

The newlywed comic was enjoying stand-up success, TV appearances and his Political Party podcast, where he interviews leading politicians, when he was suddenly struck with back pain at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Assuming it was sciatica, the famous mimic of Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer and many others visited a doctor, only to be told it was actually cancer growing on his spine. “There was a period where they thought it might have metastasised, and I knew that was bad were that to be the case, and I knew that would mean that perhaps my time is limited,” the 42-year-old from Nottingham told the Express in an exclusive interview.

Yet Forde speaks movingly of how staring death in the face was a surprisingly positive experience that lifted a weight from his shoulders.

“I think being forced to think about coming to terms with your own death, I found a really positive thing,” he explained.

“You obviously know you’re going to die [at some point], you just don’t want it to be yet. It just made me think that whenever the day comes, it’ll be fine.

“It definitely made me think, whenever it comes, I’m okay with it. And that is a lovely feeling of peace.”

After major surgery to remove a huge part of his spine, Forde had to learn how to walk again and now has a stoma, which means he has to wear a colostomy bag.

But following a year out, he is now back to a busier schedule than ever.

He recently finished his End of an Era tour stand-up tour and is taking his new Defying Gravity show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe between July 30 and August 24.

While there, he will also front four Political Party specials with Ian Murray, Joanna Cherry, Kirsty Wark and Sadiq Khan.

In his true optimistic fashion, the Nottingham-born comic describes his year of recovery as the best of his life because he ended it cured of cancer.

In contrast, Labour – the party he once worked for as a campaign organiser before turning to comedy – has had a past 12 months in power to forget.

The Government was humiliatingly forced to backtrack on slashing winter fuel payments, benefit cuts for the disabled, and a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.

While Forde agrees with much of Labour’s long-term agenda, such as building more nuclear power stations and slashing NHS waiting lists, he said: “I don’t think it’s the year they would’ve wanted.”

Yet he warned that “I feel like elements of the Labour Party are out of step with public opinion”, with a huge number of MPs prepared to rebel and paralyse the Government as a result.

Forde believes Sir Keir has “played an absolute blinder in the way he’s dealt with Trump” on the world stage, but added: “I think one of the risks is you hear what they do on health, you see what they do on foreign policy, and all of these things feel slightly disconnected. They don’t feel bound together by a theme or narrative.

“The real story here is Labour really failing as yet to seal the deal since winning the election.”

In contrast, Nigel Farage’s insurgent Reform UK has rocketed in the polls since the General Election.

“The collapse of the Tory party is the biggest single thing that’s helped them, really,” said Forde. But he cautioned: “Labour’s in real trouble if it thinks this is just a thing that’s happening on the Right. Reform is sucking up votes from all places.

“I think what Reform are really good at is talking about things that other parties don’t talk about.

“They’ve got a lot of energy and they’ve got, in Farage, a really wily, experienced political campaigner, and all those things taken together make them a highly potent threat.”

Yet if Labour is yet to seal the deal, so is Reform. One of Forde’s most amusing gags is imagining what would happen if the no-nonsense Lee Anderson were to be made foreign secretary – a job that usually requires deft diplomacy – in a future Farage administration. Reform still needs to prove it can assemble a top team.

Forde has picked up from his audiences on tour that “on the whole, most people really feel like Labour should be doing better”, but said “there’s still actually a lot of goodwill out there”.

He added: “The main reason, I think, is that people realise they inherited a mess and they kind of think they’ve got it within them to sort it out.

“They kind of feel like this first year should’ve been better, but we’re open to you getting on with it.” And in a tough five-word warning, he added: “So just sort it out.”

Forde’s best-known impersonation is of Donald Trump. He voiced the US president in the 2020 remake of Spitting Image.

As a former Labour staffer, does he feel a tension between Mr Trump’s politics and the good comedy material the US president provides? If he does, he thinks it is one that the public shares.

“Most people here [in the UK] would not want him in charge, but they find him very funny,” said Forde.

“It’s a real lesson for opponents of his. He is just so thoroughly entertaining, and obviously that is a huge part of his success. He really understands how to get attention, how to entertain.

“He’s funny, he’s brutal, he’s silly. He’s also emotionally vulnerable, which I think his opponents don’t always pick up on.

“He believes himself to be a good man, and he really tries to demonstrate that a lot in speeches.

“So he’s more complex than I think people would like to admit. But I think, same as everyone around the world, you can’t get enough of watching him.”

Mr Trump is Forde’s favourite impersonation to perform, alongside fellow Nottinghamshire man Anderson.

As a voracious observer of politics, Forde alights upon characters to impersonate by picking up on their mannerisms as they speak.

While he doesn’t hit pause and rewind to try to master every vowel and consonant, he says: “Every time you watch them, you’re in a way researching them, because you’ll notice a hand movement or a pronunciation or whatever it is.

“So the longer they are around, like Trump, the better the impression becomes, because you’re always just picking up the extra little ticks and movements and all the little touches.”

Forde says the challenge of political comedy is that “the work is never finished – you’re always having to write a new show about things that are happening right now”.

He has just finished the six-part Matt Forde’s Focus Group on BBC Radio 4, where he convenes a group of guests to dissect the trickiest political issues in front of a live audience.

“It’s the sort of thing I think that should’ve been around for a while,” he said.

“You have to have topical comedy shows that do deal with the things people are talking about.

“You can’t just ignore these things, You have to be able to talk about them. You also have to be able to laugh about them. So that was why it was such a thrill to make.”

Despite once working for Labour, Forde has clearly become liked and respected by politicians of all colours.

Many ministers could only dream of such an ability to reach across the political divide, although Forde says he will simply “take the p*** out of everyone”.

Yet if there is one strong Left-wing view he has, it is – unsurprisingly, given his personal experience – a passionate commitment to an NHS free at the point of use.

“When it’s stuff like cancer, the system is incredible,” he said. “You really feel like the awesome power of the state is focused on getting you cancer-free, getting you well and getting you the hell out of there.

“That is an amazing feeling – the resources the NHS can draw on, the brains that it possesses across the country, is just hugely reassuring.

“It doesn’t mean the NHS shouldn’t be reformed or that you don’t introduce innovation into it, or elements of competition.

“I just think, look at the other stuff that’s been privatised. Look at water. Look at rail. Do we really want to do that with our health? I don’t think there’s any appetite for it.

“I think that’s one area where things that Farage has said in the past are really going to bite him, because even people on the Right realise the value of the NHS because they’ve used it and their families use it.

“It’s one of the areas where Britain is really Left-wing. Change it, reform it – people realise it has its problems. Removing it from being free at the point of use – I can’t ever see the day.”

Tickets for upcoming shows are available at mattforde.com.