Nigel Farage, flanked by fake betting shops, shuttered pubs and overflowing bins, rolled into Birmingham on a JCB and declared war – not on Labour, but on the Conservative Party he once helped drag rightward.
“This is the most ambitious launch of any election campaign in history,” he boomed, to a half-empty arena dotted with “Make Britain Great Again” caps and a crowd heavy on older, disillusioned former Tory voters. Reform UK’s local election campaign was officially under way.
Farage’s message was blunt: I’m not mucking about. And he wasn’t. Arriving on a digger borrowed from Tory donor Lord Bamford, he looked more like a pantomime populist than a prime minister in waiting. But the real story here isn’t style. It’s substance. Reform UK is now polling neck-and-neck with Labour, with the Tories behind them. In Birmingham, a city buckling under the weight of council bankruptcy and bin strikes, Farage’s performance art hit a nerve.
His big reveal? Arron Banks – Brexit’s bankroller and scandal magnet – will stand as Reform’s West of England mayoral candidate. Banks himself admitted he’s unpopular in Bristol but hopes party chaos gives him a path to victory. It’s a bold move – or a desperate one.
Reform is targeting traditionally Tory territory in Durham, Kent and Lincolnshire. The crowd was fervent but not huge. Still, Farage believes he’s tapping into something deeper: cultural exhaustion, economic betrayal and political boredom. He’s riding the wave of discontent he helped create, now rebranded and TikTok-optimised.
But cracks are already showing. Farage’s clash with ex-MP Rupert Lowe has split the faithful.
And yet, for all the JCBs and theatre, Reform is no longer a fringe spectacle. It’s a serious threat to both major parties, with a message that’s resonating in towns that feel abandoned. Whether it translates into real power is another matter.
Because as Farage courts the faithful with fireworks and fury, the question remains: can Reform build something lasting – or is it all just noise echoing in half-empty arenas?
