Farage says Reform gains are like Trump victory in US – but Badenoch dismisses ‘protest party’-Nhy
Nigel Farage has compared Reform UK’s surge in popularity with Donald Trump‘s presidential victory in the US – as his party squared up to the Tories with a rally in Kemi Badenoch’s constituency.
The North West Essex rally, which heard speeches from four of Reform’s five MPs, follows a spat between Conservative Party leader Mrs Badenoch and Mr Farage.
Mrs Badenoch dismissed Reform UK as a ‘protest party’ ahead of the rally, her and Mr Farage also clashing over Reform’s membership figures during the Christmas period.
She told broadcasters she was ‘not at all’ worried about Reform’s presence in her patch, adding that talking about Labour‘s farming policy was ‘much more important than having a rally about myself’.
Mr Farage, however, told Reform members on Friday night that the Tories ‘should be bloody scared of you’ as he spoke about the argument with Mrs Badenoch.
It comes as recent polling suggests the right-wing part has pulled level with, and possibly overtaken, the Conservatives.
A Techne UK poll put Reform in second place with 24 per cent, one point ahead of the Conservatives on 23 per cent and two points behind first-placed Labour on 26 per cent.
On the polling bump, Mr Farage told the audience: ‘I think also we’re beginning to see a wave that is crossing the Atlantic from the east coast of America, where Donald Trump, standing on a platform many of whose policies were not dissimilar to what we put to the British people in that contract last July, has won this incredible victory and got off to the most amazing start.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during the Reform UK North West Essex conference
President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on deregulation in the Oval Office of the White House
Leader of the Reform UK Party Nigel Farage poses for a photo in front of the audience following a rally on January 31
‘And even those people that don’t like him say, you know what? He gets things done.’
The Reform leader added: ‘People look at us and say “like Trump these people will get things done”, and believe me, we will.
‘This is not just going to be an earthquake in British politics. This is going to be the biggest historical political change this country has ever seen.’
In late December, Mrs Badenoch had disputed Reform’s claim that its membership had overtaken that of the Conservatives, accusing Mr Farage of ‘fakery’.
Reform strongly denied the accusation and said it was considering legal action.
At the rally, Mr Farage dismissed the prospect of a legal battle, and said the ‘next best thing was to come and visit and meet my fake members in the North West Essex constituency’.
‘You don’t look very fake to me. You look very real, and I tell you what, the Opposition should be bloody scared of you,’ he added.
Meanwhile, Mrs Badenoch today promised to ‘fight to honour the will of the British people’ as she warned that Brexit is in danger under Labour.
She said Sir Keir Starmer is not committed to Britain’s exit of the European Union and instead wants to edge back towards the freedom of movement of people.
Writing in the Daily Express to mark the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday she promised to protect Britain’s hard-won liberties.
The Conservative party leader said: ‘I am committed to fighting to defend our freedoms and protecting Brexit.’
‘We have always believed in honouring the will of the British people,’ she added.
Supporters applaud as Reform UK Party MP for Great Yarmouth Rupert Lowe addresses the audience during a rally on January 31
Mrs Badenoch today promised to ‘fight to honour the will of the British people’ as she warned that Brexit is in danger under Labour
Deputy Leader of the Reform UK Party Richard Tice addresses the audience during a rally on January 31
On Boxing Day a digital counter on the Reform website showed its membership tally ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Tories during their leadership election earlier this year.
Mr Farage said it was a ‘historic moment’ as he posted on X: ‘The youngest political party in British politics has just overtaken the oldest political party in the world.
‘Reform UK are now the real opposition.’
Mr Farage said as he lifted his phone in the air: ‘We’ve done it. We are through. How about that- the official opposition.’
The result came off the back of a successful year for Reform with the party claiming five seats in the general election in July, including Mr Farage taking Clacton.
The party also finished in second place in a whopping 98 seats and played a key role in splitting the Conservative vote.
Reform’s overtake of the Conservative Party’s membership numbers came amid claims that Elon Musk is poised to donate $100million to the party.
Mr Farage met with the world’s richest man at US President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December.
The meeting fuelled rumours that Mr Musk, the Tesla boss and owner of X, is ready to plough some of his estimated $300billion fortune into the British political party.
The South African-born businessman has been a fierce critic of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in recent months.
He has also taken a keen interest in the rise of Reform, having become friendly with Mr Farage through their shared links to Mr Trump.
Mr Farage revealed that ‘money was discussed’ in his meeting with Mr Musk, telling The Times: ‘We are in negotiations about whether he can help. He is fully behind this.
Nigel Farage speaking during the Reform UK North West Essex conference at Parklands Quendon Hall
Reform played a major part in splitting the right-wing vote at the general election in July with as many as two-thirds of the seats the Tories lost a direct result of this. Pictured: Lee Anderson
‘He is motivated enough by what’s going on in Britain to give serious thought to giving money.’
But Mr Farage added the ‘primary goal’ of the meeting was to discuss Mr Musk’s role in Mr Trump’s successful bid to be re-elected to the White House.
‘Our primary goal was to discuss what he did in the ground campaign,’ the Reform leader said.
‘There is no doubt his influence made a huge difference. I learnt a lot about voter registration.’
Last year, Reform played a major part in splitting the right-wing vote at the general election in July with as many as two-thirds of the seats the Tories lost a direct result of this.
In more than 170 of the 251 constituencies lost by the Conservatives, the Reform vote was greater than the margin of the Tories’ defeat.
This was the case in seats across the country, particularly in so-called ‘Red Wall’ constituencies snatched from Labour by former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson in 2019.
In one particularly stark example, Labour won Poole with 14,168 votes compared with the Tories’ 14,150.
But Reform hoovered up 7,429 of Right-leaning votes to finish third. Just a fraction of these voting Conservative would have kept Labour out.
It was a similar story in South Dorset, where Labour won with 15,659 votes to the Tories’ 14,611. Reform won 8,168 to finish third. Labour also won in Rother Valley with 16,023 votes, compared with 15,025 for the Tories.
