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It hasn’t been a glittering 24 hours for Reform UK. To lose one senior official might be regarded as misfortune etc. However there was no sense of impending doom at the Reform conference in Birmingham – indeed, in his speech Mr Farage obliquely referred to recent events as ‘a little local difficulty’.
These events are not like other conferences. They’re a strange fusion between political frustration and high camp. Think Liberace does the Battle of Orgreave. Speakers are announced with rock music and spotlights, the audience are bathed in a strange blue glow, making the NEC seem like a cross between a day spa and a level on the Crystal Maze.
Outside the main speeches were interspersed with interviews and questions from the floor curated by none other than Jeremy Kyle. ‘Mouth on the mic’, puckered Kyle as an Alternative for Deutschland member with an unpronounceable name approached what Kyle was calling ‘the people’s mic’. ‘Not a clue!’ breathed Kyle as an aside while the German tried to ask a question about the defence of western civilisation.
The Phoenix Nights vibe of proceedings was taken to the next level as Lee Anderson performed a series of podium shout-outs. ‘I suppose I’ve got to mention Sarah Pochin. She’s looking at me over there. The Duchess!’ Whether Anderson knew that this was last used as an affectionate nickname by Jimmy Savile for his dead mother isn’t clear. Anderson flitted between various subjects: Sadiq Khan, his past sparring with Richard Tice, how he’d been voted the worst man in Britain by the Daily Mirror. Mentions of Lord Mandelson and Angela Rayner drew panto boos and hisses.
