What is behind the rise in popularity of Reform UK – and is it a threat to the main parties?

After the populist, Farageist vehicle led by Richard Tice gained a respectable proportion of the vote in this week’s by-elections, Sean O’Grady looks at the origins – and the prospects – of a party that rose from the ashes of Brexit

Richard Tice claims that Reform is solidifying itself as the UK’s third-biggest party (PA)

The relative success of Reform UK in the latest pair of by-elections has confirmed that the apparent rise in the party’s popularity in the opinion polls isn’t an illusion. Reform’s deputy leader, Ben Habib, scored a respectable 13 per cent of the poll in Wellingborough, and the party also managed to attract a surprisingly high 10.4 per cent in Kingswood, a much less Eurosceptic constituency. In any case, Richard Tice, its leader, has confounded the sceptics. He says Reform is solidifying itself as the UK’s third-biggest party, adding that “it takes time to build a brand”. It’s also time to have a look at it...

What is Reform UK?

It’s fair to say it’s a rebranded Brexit Party (it may even keep “the Brexit Party” as part of its description on ballot papers). As the successor to the Brexit Party and the spiritual descendant of Ukip, it is a thoroughly Farageist vehicle, though Nigel Farage is not currently playing much of a role in its activities (despite being party “president” and majority owner). Therefore it is simply a populist offering, with Brexit, immigration, low taxes and scrapping net zero its predictable themes. It may not be a racist or fascistic organisation, but some of its followers might be inclined that way.