Is Reform UK’s plan to get Farage into the No 10 impossible?

Speaking at this weekend’s annual conference, UK reformist leader Nigel Farage said his party had grown out of its adolescent tantrums and had now matured.

But party insiders know the party still has a lot of growing to do if it is to seriously challenge power at the next election.

They certainly don’t lack ambition – their aim is to make Farage the next prime minister.

But this isn’t Farage’s first rodeo.

When he was leader of UK Independence Party (Ukip), it was thought that smaller parties would break the Labor conservative mold of British politics.

There is no doubt that UKIP was hugely influential in paving the way for Brexit, but it has never become a significant force in Parliament, and Farage famously failed to win election seven times.

He finally succeeded in July’s general election, with Reform Britain doing better than his old party (which is still going) with five MPs.

But Reform’s 14% vote share was not much higher than UK Independence Party’s 2015 vote share.

UK reformists face many of the same problems as UKIP – an army of passionate but often undisciplined supporters and candidates who are used to Saying racist or strange things on social media. They admit they have no parliamentary base, an incomplete local branch structure and a general lack of professionalism.

Farage is keenly aware that to challenge real power he needs to appeal to a center of voters who have been turned off by endless scandals.

He vowed to increase internal scrutiny of candidates, telling reporters: “Voters punished us for having these bad apples. We couldn’t be clearer: If you’re a racist bigot, you’re probably going to be criticized by other people.” Attracted, but not us.

The word we kept hearing at the Birmingham conference was “professionalization.”

Farage even urged his party to take a page from the Lib Dems – something he has also told UKIP members – and focus on campaigning locally and winning parliamentary seats.

The first step in the professionalization process was to transform the Reform Party into a proper political party, rather than a limited company with a majority of its shares owned by its self-appointed leader.

At the start of the meeting, Farage announced that he would give up his stake in Reform UK Ltd.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the party’s conference, Reform Party leader Zia Yusuf said: “We are serious about being the next government in this country and our new constitution and structures will be suitable for that mission. “

He said senior Conservative staff at the party headquarters liked what they saw and expressed an interest in joining Reform Britain.

He said he was also in talks with potential donors who voted Labor but were “equally disappointed” with the party.

Youssef, a former banker who sold his tech startup last year for more than £200m, made a large donation to Reform UK during the general election.

A week after the election, he was appointed chairman of the party.

Reform UK reported donations of £2.6m between April and June this year, well behind those received by Labour (£28.7m) and the Conservatives (£16.3m).

The party will need more donations in the future to compete with its rivals.

Asked if he was in London to talk to big donors, Youssef said: “I can’t talk about names.

“But you’d be surprised by the diversity of people who are interested.”

From a “centre-left” student who was delighted to see President Obama elected, to a member of the Conservative Party, Yusuf has been on the road to reforming British politics.

The outcome of this episode will depend in part on Reform UK’s ability to expand and localize its campaign machinery.

The party said it already has about 200 local branches and is training local chairmen to open dozens more.

A few weeks ago, a workshop for constituency activists was held in London, where regional organizers were met at a party conference.

Tim Power is the campaign manager for the local branch in Wallasey, Merseyside.

Members voted to elect a leadership team and the chapter is looking for a permanent location to plan its campaign, he said.

“Nigel is like a magnet,” Ball said. “I can see that there is a desire and drive to push reforms across the country.”

The party said the branches would focus on campaigning in target areas ahead of local elections next May.

Reform UK aims to field hundreds of candidates and gain seats on county councils in targeted areas from Essex and Lincolnshire to Norfolk and Kent.

In 2013, when UKIP was at its peak, the party made real progress in county council elections. UKIP is the opposition party on Kent and Lincolnshire County Council, part of the coalition that controls Norfolk County Council.

“In terms of our ideas and goals, we will do the same thing,” a party source said. “But there are different issues.”

Immigration is a big focus. The party proposes a “freeze” on non-essential immigration.

Tax cuts and reform of the National Health Service are also key elements of the British reform package.

But a senior party figure said opposition to net zero emissions was likely to become an important part of the party’s policy stance, just like immigration policy at the next election.

“We know our general thinking,” another party source said. “We know our gut, but we have to try to connect our hearts with our heads.”

They added: “We want voters to come to us not just to bring a plague on other parties.”

Farage said winning hundreds of seats in next year’s local elections would be seen as a success.

But party sources tempered expectations of a UKIP-style rise.

“UKIP’s branch structure has been going on for 20 years,” one person said. “Our branch structure has been operational for 20 days.”

In addition to the upcoming local elections, the party has reason to believe that its political brand will have a wider market.

The party will organize conferences in Wales, Scotland and across England in the coming months. Reform UK is particularly interested in the 2026 Welsh Assembly elections because the voting system is seen as more favorable to smaller parties.

At the general election, Reform UK came in second place in 98 constituencies, with Labor winning 89 of them. Now, a recent poll from JL Partners shows that a quarter of Labor voters are considering supporting reform. However, there is still a long way to go before the next general election.

A senior party figure said the meeting was “a constructive moment”.

“We are acutely aware that we are not there,” they added. “We are not worthy of being a government yet.”

For all the talk of forming the next government, Reform Britain is still a long way from taking control of Parliament, let alone the country as a whole.

In the run-up to an election, its operations were sometimes haphazard, with candidates being disavowed for their comments.

If Reform UK is serious about making Farage Prime Minister, they will need a stronger party machine to satisfy their ambitions.