The old world is over. This is Nigel Farage’s time. That’s the message pressed by the Reform UK leader and his allies who are betting that the powerful brand of populism that
drove his successful Brexit campaign a decade ago can carry him all the way to 10 Downing Street.
“The world is changing,” Farage told Reuters as Reform starts fleshing out its party’s proposed policies, which include carrying out mass deportations, ditching international human rights treaties and slashing overseas aid.
He contrasted the comparatively warm welcome he’d received at the annual gathering of political and business leaders in Davos this year with the hostility he recalled in the past.
“I would say a third of the delegates I met there were genuinely interested in who I was, what I was, what I was trying to do,” he added. “And next year it will be 50%.”
Reform is riding high in UK opinion polls, with a significant lead over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governing Labour. The support has bolstered Farage’s case that the party,
which has existed in its current form for five years, could win power at the next election, due by 2029.
Farage said Reform’s plans would rip up what he sees as the orthodoxy of a liberal establishment responsible for “a progressive, woke ideology” that has left Britons ashamed of their country.
He compared himself to his friend Donald Trump, as well as Hungarian leader Viktor Orban and Argentina’s Javier Milei, as figures bringing “very, very big changes” to the world.
Traditional politicians are being left in the dust, Farage said in an interview at the launch of Reform’s manifesto for Wales in the city of Newport on March 5.
“Keir Starmer is stuck in a mindset that is 15 years out of date,” the 61-year-old added.
While Farage is a highly divisive figure in Britain, his campaigning and political acumen have seen him forge, from the crucible of the 2016 Brexit referendum, one of the most potent of the patriotic populist movements sweeping the globe.
He and Reform nonetheless face a stiff challenge to convince voters they are ready to lead the country, having little prior experience of government and counting only eight lawmakers in Britain’s 650-seat parliament.
Inflammatory rhetoric, such as talk of an “invasion” of illegal migrants, as well as allegations of racism that have led to several members being ejected, have turned off some voters who fear a Reform government would stoke division.
“Reform’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness – namely, Nigel Farage,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at London’s Queen Mary university. “He’s adored by those who are absolutely determined to vote Reform but hated by those determined to vote against it – and disliked and distrusted by far too many who might otherwise be tempted to move in its direction.”
Reform’s growing policy list, compiled here by Reuters from public statements and conversations with Farage and 10 current and former advisers, also includes plans to scrap diversity initiatives and net-zero targets, maximise oil and gas production, take the axe to Britain’s civil service and transform the country into a crypto hub.
