Adam Boulton
Presenter at Times Radio and former editor-at-large of Sky News
A bit of a delay to build up suspense is to be expected, but Nigel Farage arrived nearly an hour late for his biggest set piece speech of the year at Reform UK’s annual conference. The Reform leader had a bruising morning, with two of his closest aides stepping down following a Channel 4 News investigation appearing to show them discussing ways of securing money from a US-based donor without breaching UK electoral laws. (Farage and his aides deny any wrongdoing). The donor was actually an actor in an undercover expose executed by journalists from the organisation, Verbatim – incredibly, Reform does not even seem to have checked that the wealthy donor flashing the cash actually existed.
Four months ago, as Reform UK rode highest in the polls, there was a widespread expectation that the UK could well be on course to a Farage-led government as Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats floundered. Since then, Reform, and specifically its once-charismatic leader, are the ones who have been floundering.
The “First 100 Days” theme of Reform’s Birmingham conference is designed to consolidate the impression that it really will happen: that after an election he predicted will be in spring 2027, Farage will be prime minister and in command of a majority.
