For the staid and serious British political scene, it was a rare sight: music playing, balloons floating, fireworks splashing down… This was the debut large-scale annual conference of the emerging Reform UK party in Birmingham.
During the annual meeting on September 20th to 21st, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, expressed that his party has passed its youth and is now “adult”.
The party’s goals are clear: reform the organizational structure, attract a large number of members, compete for multiple seats in local elections next year, and aim to send Farage to 10 Downing Street in 2029 as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Reform UK was previously known as the Brexit Party, founded by Farage in 2019. The Brexit Party swiftly rose to prominence that year, winning 29 out of 73 UK seats in the May 2019 European Parliament elections, making it the largest party from the UK in the European Parliament.
In 2020, the Brexit Party rebranded as Reform UK. However, the party has never become a significant political force domestically in the UK, with Farage himself having unsuccessfully run for Member of Parliament (MP) seven times.
Ultimately, in the July general election, the Brexit Party disbanded, garnering 14% of the vote share, making it the third-largest party in terms of vote share in the UK. Due to the UK’s “first-past-the-post” electoral system, Reform UK only managed to secure five parliamentary seats, breaking previous records nonetheless.
Reform UK was initially established as a limited company. In the process of transitioning to a professional political party, Farage completely overhauled the party’s structure, returning ownership to the members and adopting a constitution that transformed the party into a non-profit organization, granting members the power to participate in governance.
The party has stated that it now has approximately 200 local branches and is currently training local leaders to establish more branches. These local branches will focus on campaigning in target areas ahead of the local elections in May next year.
Reform UK’s chairman, Zia Yusuf, told the BBC, “We are seriously considering becoming the governing party in the next term. The new constitution and structure will shoulder this mission.”
Yusuf is a young entrepreneur who sold his tech startup last year for over £200 million, making him one of the financial backers of Reform UK.
He also revealed that some Conservative Party members have expressed interest in joining Reform UK. He mentioned that negotiations are ongoing with potential donors.
According to the party’s reports, from April to June this year, Reform UK received donations totaling £2.6 million, significantly less than the Labour Party (£28.7 million) and the Conservative Party (£16.3 million).
Key policies of the party include immigration issues, tax reduction, and reforming the UK’s National Health Service. Curbing immigration is a centerpiece of Reform UK’s platform, suggesting a temporary halt to “non-essential immigration”.
A senior party insider indicated that opposition to “Net Zero” is likely to become a key position for the party in the next election.
Though Reform UK portrays itself as a mainstream party aiming to win the next election, many of its conservative viewpoints have been depicted by some media outlets as “extremist.”
For example, during the annual conference, Lee Anderson, Reform UK’s Chief Whip, stated in his speech, “I want to reclaim my country,” as he criticized the biased reporting of mainstream media.
He also criticized education in his speech, alleging that schools mislead children about gender identity and argued that immigrants arriving in the UK by small boats are “invading our country.”
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe targeted the issue of gender identity, claiming it poses mental health issues for young people.
The first day of Reform UK’s activities drew a full house, with the five MPs and other speakers receiving warm applause from the audience.
According to a recent survey by JL Partners, one in four Labour Party voters is considering supporting Reform UK.
With the next election still far away and numerous variables at play, everything remains uncertain.