The tone was set right from first entry to the conference hall near Birmingham, host to the annual conference of the far-right Reform UK party, on Friday, September 20. Access badges were issued by kiosks simply by entering the surname. "You can see how professional we've become," said a party member stationed at the entrance.
The priority is "professionalizing" the party and becoming a real "governing party," in order to win the British parliamentary elections of 2029, claimed Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in front of 4,000 enthusiastic delegates. This charismatic 60-year-old politician, ex-founder of UKIP (UK Independence Party, the driving force behind Brexit), already sees himself in Downing Street after successfully breaking through the glass ceiling of the Westminster electoral system (first-past-the-post, favoring centrist parties). He was elected MP at the July 4 parliamentary elections, along with four other Reform UK members.
"Now we have been told by the skeptics that we cannot achieve this. The same cynics said we could never escape the vice-like grip of the European Union," said party president and multimillionaire businessman Zia Yusuf. "We are going to build a grassroots, election-winning machine," he added. Farage has boasted that the party now has 80,000 members and 200 local branches across the country. It was created in 2019 but was inactive until May, shortly before the July election, when Farage decided to devote himself to it fully. Until then, he had prioritized his career as a TV presenter (on the conservative channel GB News) and spent much of his time on Donald Trump's campaign, of whom he is an unconditional supporter.
"This country is sick, we need a strong leader like Nigel Farage," said Helena French, an activist from the Louth and Horncastle constituency (north-east England). "The Reform UK candidate in my constituency came second with just 5,000 votes, behind the Conservative candidate [who won]," added the activist, all set to rerun the campaign for the local elections in May 2025. Reform UK also has its sights set on the 2026 regional parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland – two UK nations where the party's presence is virtually non-existent.
Kevin and Susan Boucher, a couple of Welsh activists, explained how they are preparing the selection of future candidates for the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament): interviews, background checks, etc. "Our candidates will have a good chance of getting into the Senedd, as the ballot is partly proportional, and people are fed up with Labour, which has had a majority there for 25 years," explained Kevin. "Nothing is going right in Wales, education levels have fallen and waiting times at hospital emergency departments are enormous," said Susan.
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