10 things Reform should do RIGHT NOW

My thoughts on the growing revolt against the elite class (with more EXCLUSIVE pics)

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Source: Stuart Mitchell

There has never been as much space in British politics for Nigel Farage and his self-described People’s Army as there is today. Just look at what’s happening in the country and looks set to stay this way for the next five years.

We’re going to have a Labour government and a Labour prime minister that are already widely unpopular.

We’re going to have spiralling levels of illegal immigration because Labour has no serious plan for stopping the boats.

We’re going to have rising levels of legal immigration, too, because nobody in the elite class is serious about slowing the pace of rapid demographic and cultural change.

We’re likely to have more lawlessness, riots, communalism, and disorder on our streets, if the summer is anything to go by.

We’re going to have a stagnant economy with big debt, big tax, big regulation, low growth, and declining GDP-per-capita.

We’re going to have an intensifying cultural revolution, with woke ideology and a parallel crackdown on free speech continuing to go mainstream.

And we’re going to have much higher levels of ‘volatility’ in the political system than we’ve had at any time in the postwar period, with the old tribal allegiances and loyalties to the old parties breaking down.

This is already making our politics much more fluid, chaotic, and unpredictable than it used to be. This is why we just went from a massive Conservative majority in 2019 to a massive Labour majority only five years later —because voters are much less “sticky” than they used to be.

And this is also why, looking ahead to 2029, we could just as easily go from a politics in which the Conservative Party is the dominant force on the right to a politics in which Nigel Farage and Reform become not just the primary vehicle on the right but one that is genuinely extending its appeal across the political landscape.

But to do that, Reform will need to change.

While there is ample demand in the system for an anti-establishment alternative, much like there is demand for an alternative across Europe, Reform will need to make a few changes if it is to supply this demand with a credible, competent, and coherent message and organisation.

This will also be crucial if Reform is to manage what new parties often struggle to manage —the transition from what we might call “the breakthrough period” to what we might call “the consolidation and growth” period.

Many parties take off but few end up enduring over the longer term.

As two professors of politics who helped set up and run the Social Democratic Party in the 1980s —Anthony King and Ivor Crewe—once observed, new parties often surge into the sky like a rocket only to fall out of the sky like a stick.

So, with that in mind, and drawing on more than a decade of working in this area, here are 10 things I think Reform and the People’s Army will need to do if they are to genuinely fulfil their potential in British politics, realigning not just the right but the entire political landscape.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I’ve also included some more exclusive behind the scenes pictures courtesy of photographer Stuart Mitchell who is tracking this revolt in real time. Do follow him on Twitter.

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1. Target the Red Wall. Now.

At the general election, Reform finished second in 98 seats and in 89 of these it was second to Labour. 60 of these seats were in northern England. 13 were in Wales. In comparison, the Brexit Party only finished in second place in 3 seats in 2019, while UKIP finished second in 120 seats in 2015 but, because of the Brexit referendum in 2016 and all the chaos that followed, never really had a chance to develop this into a fully-fledged strategy for the following election. Reform now has this chance.

These second places point to the future breakthrough areas for Reform (though note only some do as Labour’s majority in some of these seats is enormous —see point 4). This means opening up a second-flank in the Red Wall, northern England and also Wales, making it clear to voters this is what is going on.

Reform cannot simply be seen as an anti-Tory party. It must be seen as an anti-system party. It must target not just the 20-25% who remained loyal to the dying Tory brand at the last election but the 40% who didn’t vote at all and a big chunk who voted Labour in the heartlands, often out of sheer exasperation with the Tories. Which is why it must open up this second flank very quickly and very loudly, to communicate this strategy to voters.

Reform should be thinking about some kind of leadership tour through these areas as a data-collection and visibility-raising exercise, as well as holding spring and annual conferences in Labour seats. Labour. Labour. Labour. Everything must be about gunning for Labour.

This is important, too, because the 2025 local elections will mainly be in Tory areas, not Labour ones, so Reform has to build and maintain a relationship with voters in these northern areas, as well as in Wales, which will be critical in 2026. Reform should be breathing down Labour’s neck all the time and making it impossible for the Tories to return as a viable force in these areas. Some of its strongest local branches should also be in these areas (see point 4).

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2. Make it younger.

When Nigel Farage returned as leader of Reform, he said he would lead the party for five years which was the right thing to say because it brings stability, certainty and reassures donors. And he is Reform’s main asset (see point 6). But he also said something just as interesting —he wanted to push forward a new generation, he wanted to START to pass the baton down. This is important because Reform’s electorate is, well, too old. It should be younger, especially when you compare and contrast its electorate with ‘populist’ parties across the continent, which are more popular among younger voters. Reform’s following leans toward the over-50s; many other anti-establishment parties have no such slant in their support.

Source: Stuart Mitchell

There’s no doubt Farage has connected with younger voters on TikTok, etc. I saw this first-hand in Clacton where he was literally mobbed by young people. BUT when it comes to actually voting most of Reform’s voters are still over the age of 50.

This is not a problem when it comes to the 2029 general election because older voters are more likely to vote but it will be a problem over the longer-term. There are also lots of people in their twenties, thirties, and forties who want to play a role in this counter-cultural revolt and who could, in theory, make Reform look more fashionable/based/on trend/etc.

Currently, for example, only 15% of 18-24 year-olds and only 21% of 25-49 year olds have a favourable review of Reform. This will need to change if that the party wants to go from 14% to 30% of the national vote.

And it needs to happen sooner rather than later with the development of an organised youth movement and social media that makes Reform look more in touch with Gen-Z than the old parties. There’s no reason this cannot happen given large numbers of Zoomers are worried about mass immigration and a specific issue this links directly into (see point 9).

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