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LONDON: Anti-immigration party Reform UK opens its annual conference in Birmingham on Friday with hard-right leader Nigel Farage seeking to draw a line under a damaging row over a £5 million ($6.7 million) "gift", amid falling popularity ratings and a fresh police referral over party donations.
Farage, 62, has said the money, from British cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne, was for his security, and that it was received before he was elected and therefore did not need to be declared to parliamentary authorities. The donation is being probed by parliament's sleaze watchdog.
Hours before Farage was due to address the conference, Reform was reported to police following fresh claims in a Channel 4 News broadcast containing undercover filming. A spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police said the force was "aware of media reporting... involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling", adding that it would "assess this matter and any information provided to us". Reform denied any wrongdoing and said it had been the victim of a hoax.
The Brexit figurehead, who has been eyeing the keys to No 10 Downing Street, is seeking to maintain the momentum that saw Reform chalk up significant success at May local elections. Until late July the party had led Labour in the polls for more than a year, but has now slipped behind. Deputy leader Richard Tice is also facing allegations that he failed to declare financial gifts.
Farage remains Reform's most recognizable figure, with the party's rise closely tied to his political persona as a plain-speaking, anti-establishment populist. Its main focus is anti-immigration policy, in particular ending the arrival of thousands of irregular migrants by small boat on England's southern coast.
Farage had been the "big asset for Reform for some years" but was now "looking pretty vulnerable", said Paul Whiteley, professor of government at the University of Essex. "And it all arises from these scandals: taking money, the five million. It's making him very unpopular," he said. Following the ouster of Labour prime minister Keir Starmer, Farage is now the "most unpopular leader of all the major parties", Whiteley added, although there did not appear to be "any prospects of a challenge to his leadership".
An Opinium poll last month gave Farage a net approval rating of -28, with new Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham on +11. Reform hopes to establish itself as the ruling Labour Party's main challenger on the right. It currently has just eight seats in the 650-seat Westminster parliament despite securing 14 percent of the vote at the 2024 general election. Center-left Labour has had a bumpy two years after replacing the Conservatives, who had been in power for 14 years.
"The issue of Farage's £5 million gift from a crypto-billionaire is a thorn in the party's side as well as Farage's," said Alia Middleton, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Surrey. She said there was tentative evidence the party may have peaked at the local elections, with its poll numbers falling particularly since Burnham became prime minister, and that there was a "real possibility" the investigation could result in a parliamentary suspension for Farage, leading to another by-election in his Clacton-on-Sea constituency.
Farage triggered a by-election there in July by resigning as the row over the donation intensified, pitching the August poll, which he won, as a "people versus the establishment" vote. But the mainstream parties boycotted the contest, leaving his main rival the joke candidate Count Binface while other leaders enjoyed a summer holiday.
"There's no sugarcoating it. It's been a really, really bad summer for Reform," said Sam Power, lecturer in politics at the University of Bristol. "The only thing that anyone was interested in was Count Binface... not the best look, frankly, if you're wanting to project yourself as a serious politician."
The conference will open with a tribute to veteran politician and party spokesperson Ann Widdecombe, who was found dead at her home in July, prompting renewed concern about lawmakers' safety. A man has been charged with her murder. French politician Jordan Bardella, president of the anti-immigrant, euroskeptic National Rally (RN) party, will also address the gathering ahead of Farage's keynote speech later Friday. — AFP
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