Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and MP for Clacton, held two conferences last weekend in Newport and Exeter.
Having returned from the US after supporting Trump’s presidential campaign, Farage has shifted focus to the Senedd elections in 2026, saying it is the party’s “biggest priority” for that year.
He encouraged party members to put themselves forward in these elections in order to get more people involved and create a “people’s army”.
Reform UK had a moderately successful election result in July in Wales, coming second in 13 out of 36 constituencies.
Many people who support Reform UK are in search of change.
One attender of the conference, Andy Davies, said he was “fed up with the way Britain was going” and will “definitely” vote for Reform UK in 2026.
Another attendee said that he found the party appealing because of their “common sense approach”.
Early polling suggests that Reform UK could win 14 – 17 Senedd seats of the 96 available and could even beat the Conservatives to second place.
The party has also reacted to the news of Kemi Badenoch’s appointment as the new leader of the Conservatives.
Whilst still in America, Farage revealed a huge number of people had joined his party following the announcement of Badenoch’s victory, claiming former Conservative voters wanted more change and a different approach.
“There is going to be no change whatsoever,” he said when asked about the new formation of the Tories. “She thinks … she can bring [the party] together,” he continued, casting his doubts about how well the Tories would be able to realign their party.
The growth of Reform UK has been a big discussion in politics for the past year, with many concerned about the growth of the right wing in the UK.
“It’s becoming a pattern globally,” one student told The Student.
“More and more right-wing parties are becoming popular in Europe, and it could be a massive hurdle to social progress”.
“Nigel Farage” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.