Reform UK

Reform UK, also known as the Reform Party or simply Reform, is a right-wing populist and far-right political party in the United Kingdom. It has eight members of Parliament in the House of Commons, two members of the London Assembly, thirty-three members of the Senedd, seventeen members of the Scottish Parliament, two police and crime commissioners, and controls twenty-six local councils. It is to the right of the Conservative Party. Nigel Farage has been leader of Reform UK since June 2024. The party was co-founded by Farage and Catherine Blaiklock in 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating a no-deal Brexit; it won the most seats at the 2019 European Parliament election in the UK. The UK withdrew from the European Union in January 2020, and later in the same year the COVID-19 pandemic began in the UK. The Conservative government imposed a series of national lockdowns and Farage focused on anti-lockdown campaigning. The party was renamed Reform UK in January 2021. Farage stepped down as leader in March 2021 and was succeeded by Richard Tice. Classified as part of the radical right, since 2022, the party has campaigned on a broader platform, pledging to reduce taxation, limit immigration, oppose net-zero emissions policies and substantially reduce public spending. In March 2024, Lee Anderson, who was elected in 2019 as a Conservative MP, defected to Reform UK, becoming its first MP. In June 2024, Farage resumed the leadership. The party won five seats at the 2024 general election, the first time it had elected MPs.