Nigel Farage has a bombshell plan to “copy the Liberal Democrats” at the next election.
At Reform’s first party conference since they came third in the general election popular vote, the leader told crowds that they needed to take inspiration from another party.
Nigel Farage will take inspiration from the Liberal Democrats (Image: Getty)
Farage said to boos: “I never thought I’d say this, but we have to model ourselves on the Liberal Democrats.”
He praised the Lib Dems’ election practises, from branches to leafletting “despite the fact they’ve not got any policies at all”.
The Reform leader pointed out that they’d managed to win 72 seats in parliament despite winning fewer votes thanks to clever targeting
Nigel Farage spoke at the Reform party conference (Image: Getty)
Farage told Reform members that now is the time to capitalise on public disillusionment with the main parties.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a time where there has been greater disenchantment in the two big parties that have dominated our political life for the 100 years,” he said.
Farage said next year’s English local elections are “our first big test of fire” to push for success in the 2029 general election.
“I promise you, the sky is the limit,” he added.
The Reform leader also announced that he is giving up some of his shares in the party, which has so far been a limited company in his control.
Farage announced that he is giving up some of his shares in the party, which has so far been a limited company in his control.
According to Politico, crowds were all sporting merchandise supporting either Reform UK or Donald Trump.
During this year’s election, Reform got four million votes across the country, winning seats for five MPs, including leader Nigel Farage.
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Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner say they’ll no longer accept free clothes
Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner have all announced that they will no longer accept donations of free clothes.
Downing Street confirmed the move just hours before the party’s top brass convene in Liverpool for its annual conference.
Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will no longer accept clothes donations (Image: Getty)
It comes after a scandal hit senior figures in the Labour Party this week as it was revealed the PM has accepted the most donations out of any Member of Parliament in recent years.
According to a league table put together by Sky News, Sir Keir has received two-and-a-half times more in gifts and hospitality than the next highest MP, accepting £107,145 worth of gifts, benefits, and hospitality since December 2019.
The freebies were listed in Parliament’s register of MPs’ interests in line with Commons rules. The Premier League has given Sir Keir almost £40,000 in football tickets, and is one of the largest providers of hospitality to the Labour leader.
He declared £12,588 in gifts ranging from four Taylor Swift tickets worth £4,000 during the election campaign, to Euros final tickets valued at £1,628, and several Arsenal match tickets exceeding £6,000 in total.
The row began over the weekend after it was revealed Labour peer Waheed Alli gave the Labour premier large sums for his work wardrobe, including £2,435 worth of glasses and £16,200 worth of work clothing.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner also has accepted clothing donations, to the value of £2,230, Sky News reports.
Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, received a total of £7,500 from a donor called Juliet Rosenfeld from January 2023 to May 2024 that was used to pay for clothing, people with knowledge of the gifts claimed, the Financial Times reports.
It is understood that they were registered as donations “to support the shadow chancellor’s office”.
Sir Keir Starmer said security concerns meant not accepting Arsenal hospitality would have cost taxpayers a ‘fortune’ (Image: Getty)
But the Prime Minister has continued to insist it was his right to accept “hospitality” to watch Arsenal, as security concerns mean he can’t watch in his normal seat at the Emirates Stadium.
“If I don’t accept hospitality, I can’t go to the game,” Sir Keir said earlier this week. “You could say: ‘Well, bad luck.’ That’s why gifts have to be registered. But never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”
Sir Keir has even faced critcism from within his own party, with Baroness Harriet Harman saying last night that the Labour leader’s “doubling down” on the clothing row was making it “worse”.
Harman, who sits in the House of Lords, stressed that it was not a “hanging offence”, but suggested the PM should be open about having made a “misstep”.
