Key facts
- Nigel Farage denies doing anything wrong concerning undeclared donations.
- Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will use his party conference to adopt a serious tone.
- The party plans to unveil key pledges for the first 100 days of a potential Farage premiership.
- Jordan Bardella, president of the French National Rally party, is scheduled to attend.
- Farage's net favorability rating has dropped to -44.
Nigel Farage is set to use the upcoming Reform UK party conference to shift focus to policy and governance, moving away from a summer dominated by a novelty by-election opponent and questions surrounding his party's finances. The conference, described as the party's biggest yet, will feature speeches from Farage and his top lieutenants, including Robert Jenrick, Zia Yusuf, and Richard Tice, who will unveil "key pledges" for the first 100 days of a potential Farage premiership.
Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right French party National Rally, is expected to be a notable attendee, with Farage and Bardella having found common ground on issues like Channel crossings. However, the party faces challenges, including a slump in its polling numbers and a significant drop in Farage's personal favorability rating, which has fallen to -44.
Farage has been under scrutiny for undeclared donations, notably a £5 million contribution from crypto-entrepreneur Christopher Harborne, and support from convicted fraudster George Cottrell. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, asserting he has "done nothing wrong" and characterizing the scrutiny as an "establishment" effort. The ongoing investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner into the Harborne funding could potentially trigger another by-election for Farage.
The party also faces internal divisions, including public reprimands of spokespeople and the suspension of commentator Tim Montgomerie. Additionally, a splinter group called Restore Britain, formed by a sacked Reform MP, is drawing some support from the party's right flank. Despite these challenges, Reform officials express optimism about the resilience of their core support base, with polling indicating a stable base of around 20-21%.