Nigel Farage used to pride himself on setting the political agenda – for good reason. After his success with Brexit, he’s also the reason we’ve spent the last five years arguing about small boats.
But something seemed to slip this summer.
Attempted interventions were drowned out by scrutiny of his and Reform UK’s finances. He lost control of the narrative in his voluntary by-election, which ended with Count Binface winning more than a quarter of the vote.
With Sir Keir Starmer out as PM – and there can be little doubt Reform’s success in May’s elections played a large role in that – Farage has lost his top boogeyman.
His party has been dipping in the polls and is now neck-and-neck with Labour after a strong start from Starmer’s replacement Andy Burnham.
And the maelstrom surrounding the 2026 Reform UK party conference, which came to an end on Saturday, seemed to sum up this trend.
Even before Channel 4 broadcast its report on Thursday night, it looked like the conference could be overshadowed by an inflammatory post on X by the party’s wannabe home secretary Zia Yusuf.
He had responded to the news that a Somalian refugee was set to stand as Labour’s candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election by asking: ‘Do you understand what’s happening?’
Piers Morgan called Yusuf a ‘racist clown’. Top Reform figures were split on how to react – Robert Jenrick backed Yusuf’s sentiment, while Nadine Dorries called it a ‘nasty tweet’ and suggested someone take his phone away.
Nadhim Zahawi – the ex-Chancellor and Reform supporter who fled to the UK from Iraq with his family aged nine – has not yet publicly responded.
But ultimately, of course, it was the jaw-dropping televised sting operation that dominated the event.
It was the topic of almost every conversation at Birmingham’s NEC. There were even rumours that Reform had scrapped plans to announce a long-awaited defence spokesperson because of the storm – something the party denies.
Big moments designed to grab headlines, like the (meaningless) small boats agreement signed by Farage and French right-winger Jordan Bordella, were lost in the noise.
However, it’s worth pointing out there were signs of trouble at the conference that were unrelated to allegations over dodgy polling practices and illegal donations.
Farage’s speech on Friday was interrupted at least half a dozen times by protesters, one of whom appeared to have her hair pulled and head grabbed by older male attendees.
The entire day’s programme had been heavily delayed by threats of disruption from a group of demonstrators outside, and an embarrassing security lapse led to a small protest banner appearing during a Richard Tice speech.
More subtly, there was a theme that emerged in the speeches given on the main stage – the lack of a solid, bruising attack line against Andy Burnham’s government.
During that Friday speech, Farage suggested Argentinian President Javier Milei’s recent rhetoric about the Falklands could be blamed on Labour’s ‘weakness’.
He also blasted Burnham’s calls for greater public ownership of essential services, and Number 10 North for ushering in ‘bigger government, more taxes, and of course, more failure’.
Judging by the reaction, the crowd just didn’t seem anywhere near as passionately opposed to the new PM as they were to the old one – though of course, there’s still time.
Welcoming attendees back on Saturday morning, party chairman Lee Anderson went on an extended riff against Starmer – who will soon leave the House of Commons – and didn’t mention Burnham once.
By the time the next conference comes round in a year’s time, circumstances will no doubt have shifted dramatically again. Whether that’ll be in Reform’s favour or not, the jury’s out.
Just don’t expect oysters and Guinness to be on the menu.
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