Reform UK

Reform UK
LeaderNigel Farage
Deputy leaderRichard Tice
ChairmanDavid Bull
TreasurerNick Candy
Founders
Founded23 November 2018; 7 years ago (2018-11-23)
Registered5 February 2019; 7 years ago (2019-02-05)
Headquarters83 Victoria Street
London
SW1 0HW
IdeologyRight-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Political positionRight-wing to far-right
Colours    Aqua, white
SloganBritain Needs Reform
House of Commons
8 / 650
London Assembly
1 / 25
Councillors
969 / 18,645
Scottish Parliament
17 / 129
Senedd
34 / 96
Website
https://www.reformparty.uk

Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom (UK). Created on the 4 January 2021 from the Brexit Party after it was reorganised into Reform UK in 2021. It was led by Nigel Farage until March 2021 when Richard Tice became leader until June 2024 when Farage returned to the position.

Many of its members were formerly of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), with Farage having led UKIP from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016, as well as from the Conservative Party.

On 6 January 2021, the party was re-registered as Reform UK. Farage stepped down as leader in March 2021, being replaced by party chairman Richard Tice but he became leader again on 3 June 2024.

2019 European Parliament election as the Brexit Party

Year Leader Share of votes Seats Change Position
2019 Nigel Farage 30.52%
29 / 73
n/a 1st

Reform Party

Before the general election on 8 December 2019, the party's leader Nigel Farage said that, after Brexit, the party would change its name to the "Reform Party", and campaign for changes in the electoral system and structure of the House of Commons.

In October 2020, Farage and Tice said they had gone to the Electoral Commission, which handles elections, to rename the Brexit Party to 'Reform UK', and said that the party would campaign against more lockdowns (because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and that would seek to reform parts of UK Governance, including the BBC and House of Lords. In a report, Nigel Farage said he and the party supported the Great Barrington Declaration, which tries to remove restrictions and let the lower risk people be infected and become immune and unable to infect the elderly and vulnerable or cause them to die.

A poll by YouGov said that the amount of voters with a good opinion of Nigel Farage and those with a negative opinion of COVID-19 lockdowns was at about 7% of voters. The charity Reform, which has the domain name reform.uk, had complained to the Electoral Commission about the name change, saying that it could be hurting its reputation through name confusion.

On 6 January 2021, the party's name change to Reform UK was approved by the electoral commission.

In January 2021, Reform UK gained representation in the Scottish Parliament when former Conservative and then independent MSP Michelle Ballantyne joined the party and was named Reform UK's leader in Holyrood by Nigel Farage. She lost her seat in May 2021.

Lee Anderson joined Reform UK on 11 March 2024, becoming their first MP.

Reform won 5 MPs at the 2024 general election.

Reform UK is still run by a Limited Company, which has Nigel Farage and Tice as Directors.

On 7 March 2025, Reform UK withdrew the party whip from one of their five MPs, Rupert Lowe, after referring him to the police because the party alleged that he made threats of physical violence to its chairman, meaning he now sits an independent MP.

Policies

Representation

House of Commons

Name Portrait Constituency First elected Became Reform UK MP Party at election Notes
Lee Anderson Ashfield 12 December 2019 11 March 2024 Reform UK First Reform UK MP
Chief Whip of Reform UK (2024–present)
Chairman of Reform UK (2026-present)
Richard Tice Boston and Skegness 4 July 2024 Reform UK Chairman of Reform UK (2019–2021; 2024)
Leader of Reform UK (2021–2024)
Deputy Leader of Reform UK (2024–present)
Business, Trade and Energy Policy spokesperson (2026–present)
Sarah Pochin Runcorn and Helsby 1 May 2025 Reform UK First female Reform UK MP
First Reform UK MP to gain their seat through a by-election.
Danny Kruger East Wiltshire 12 December 2019 15 September 2025 Conservative Party Political Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2019)
Shadow Minister for Defence (2024)
Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions (2024–2025)
Robert Jenrick Newark 5 June 2014 15 January 2026 Conservative Party Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (2018–2019)
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (2019–2021)
Minister of State for Health (2022)
Minister of State for Immigration (2022–2023)
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice (2024–2026)
Shadow Lord Chancellor (2024–2026)
Treasury spokesperson (2026–present)
Andrew Rosindell Romford 7 June 2001 18 January 2026 Conservative Party Shadow Minister for Home Affairs (2007–2010)
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (2024–2026)
Suella Braverman Fareham and Waterlooville 7 May 2015 26 January 2026 Conservative Party Home Secretary (2022–2023)
Attorney General for England and Wales
Advocate General for Northern Ireland (2021–2022)
Education, Skills and Equality spokesperson (2026–present)
Nigel Farage Clacton 4 July 2024 – 8 July 2026

4 July 2024 Reform UK Leader of Reform UK (2019–2021; 2024–present)
Honorary President of Reform UK (2021–2024)
14 August 2026 14 August 2026

Notes

  1. ↑ Elected as a Conservative in 2019
  2. ↑ Elected as a Conservative in 2019 and 2024
  3. ↑ Elected as a Conservative in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024
  4. ↑ Elected as a Conservative in 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024
  5. ↑ Elected as a Conservative in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024

References

  1. ↑ "View registration – The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Boscia, Stefan (27 April 2023). "Trump who? Farage's party cozies up to DeSantis as White House hopeful lands in UK". Politico. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Miori, Marta; Green, Jane (2025). "The Most Disproportionate UK Election: How the Labour Party Doubled its Seat Share with a 1.6-Point Increase in Vote Share in 2024". The Political Quarterly. 96 (1): 37–64. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.13504. ISSN 1467-923X.
  4. ↑ Hayton, Richard (2025). "To conserve or to reform? The reshaping of the right in British politics". British Politics.
  5. ↑ Shuttleworth, Luke; Brown, Katy; Mondon, Aurelien (2025). "The pretence of the cordon sanitaire: non-collaboration as a distraction from discursive congruence". Journal of Contemporary European Studies: 1–18. doi:10.1080/14782804.2025.2549800. ISSN 1478-2804.
  6. ↑ Soborski, Rafal; Garapich, Michał P.; Jochymek, Anna (2025). "Home-Making Through Deathscapes or How to Circumvent the Contradictions of Nationalism: The Case of Polish Far-Right Activists in Britain". Nations and Nationalism nana.13112. doi:10.1111/nana.13112. ISSN 1469-8129.
  7. ↑ Mayblin, Lucy; Davies, Thom; Isakjee, Arshad; Turner, Joe; Yemane, Tesfalem (2024). "Small Boats, Big Contracts: Extracting Value from the UK 's Post-Brexit Asylum 'Crisis'". The Political Quarterly. 95 (2): 253–262. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.13412. ISSN 0032-3179.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ "Councillors for Reform UK". Open Council Data UK. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  10. ↑ "Open Council Data UK (Councillors Breakdown by Party Latest)". opencouncildata.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "Rees-Mogg elected Brexit Party MEP". 27 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. ↑ "Party registration decisions". electoralcommission.org.uk.
  13. ↑ "Nigel Farage: Brexit-backing politician to quit as leader of Reform UK". BBC News. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  14. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-69082668
  15. ↑ "Farage promises Reform Party after Brexit". BBC News. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  16. ↑ View current applications Electoral Commission
  17. ↑ "It's time: From Brexit to Reform UK". ReformUK: The Brexit Party. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2020. Our party of Reform is the only political party that supports the Great Barrington Declaration.
  18. ↑ McDonnell, Adam. "Is there a market for Nigel Farage's Reform UK?". yougov.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Sleigh, Sophia (9 November 2020). "Reform think tank asks Nigel Farage to rethink Brexit Party name change". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "Party registration decisions". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  21. ↑ Michelle Ballantyne: Former Scottish Conservative MSP joins Nigel Farage's Reform UK | Politics News | Sky News
  22. ↑ "Small parties and independents big losers in Scottish elections". The National. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  23. ↑ "Ex-Tory MP Lee Anderson defects to Reform". BBC News. 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  24. ↑ Seddon, Paul; Nathoo, Leila (7 March 2025). "Reform UK refers MP Rupert Lowe to police". BBC News. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Wheeler, Brian (4 January 2023). "Richard Tice: Reform UK leader says he wants to wipe Tories out at polls". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  26. ↑ Narwan, Gurpreet (22 June 2024). "Reform UK's tax plans disproportionately benefit high earners, analysis shows". Sky News. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  27. 1 2 "Reform UK manifesto: a reaction". Institute for Fiscal Studies. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  28. ↑ Turner, Camilla; Gibbons, Amy (11 March 2024). "I want my country back, says Lee Anderson as he becomes first Reform UK MP". The Telegraph.
  29. ↑ Kendix, Max (2025-09-15). "Danny Kruger MP defects from Conservatives to Reform". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  30. ↑ "Robert Jenrick joins Reform UK after being sacked by Conservatives". BBC News. 2026-01-15. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  31. ↑ "Andrew Rosindell quits Tories and defects to Reform UK". BBC News. 2026-01-18. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  32. ↑ "Ex-Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman defects to Reform UK". BBC News. 2026-01-26. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  33. ↑ Mason, Rowena (7 July 2026). "Nigel Farage quits as MP amid scrutiny over finances". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  34. ↑ Gecsoyler, Sammy (14 August 2026). "Nigel Farage wins Clacton byelection in contest boycotted by every other major party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 August 2026.