Nigel Farage claims Reform UK has 200,000 members and has warning for Labour
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said the party now has more than 200,000 members and is aiming to overtake the Labour Party’s total of 309,000.
Speaking to delegates at a regional conference in Wiltshire, the Clacton MP called his party’s growth “truly extraordinary” since its founding in 2021 as the re-launch of the Brexit Party.
With the party’s live membership ticker displayed on a screen behind him, he said it was on course to become “the biggest political party in this country”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told delegates the party had more than 200,000 members. Pic: PA
“That’s our goal. That’s our aim. That’s our target,” he said.
Reform UK is already ahead of the Conservatives, who revealed in November that almost 132,000 members were eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak.
Referring to last year’s row with new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, when she doubted Reform’s total membership, he said the party “got people to come in and check and look at the back end, and it’s all absolutely legit”.
Reflecting on Reform UK’s rapid growth, he said: “In the modern world to have got here this quickly, isn’t it truly extraordinary?
“Doesn’t it show you something is happening in this country? People want real political leadership. They want real change. That’s what that tells you.”
The party polled more than four million votes in last year’s election, winning five seats, including Mr Farage’s Essex constituency.
Mr Farage, the former head of UKIP, had ruled himself out of standing but made a U-turn after saying he had a “terrible sense of guilt” for not offering to run.
In another sign of its growing threat to the main parties, last week, Reform UK came top in a poll of people who voted Conservative at the last election.
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch doubted Reform UK’s membership claims. File pic: PA
Switching his focus to their political opponents, he declared that “when we overtake [the Labour Party], we will be the biggest political party in this country”.
The Tories had “betrayed the country with open door immigration, increased taxes, with not delivering Brexit”, he said.
“A 10 million increase in the population of this country over the course of the last 20 years has devalued the living standards of everybody in this country,” Mr Farage added.
“It’s truly incredible. The wave of people that came under Boris Johnson from 2021, of the millions that came, only 20% are working or contributing. The rest are costing us, the taxpayer. It’s an outrage.”
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Spelling out Reform UK’s key platform, he said: “Anyone that comes here illegally will be deported. Simple as that.
“We’re the only party that says ‘no more population increase through immigration for many years to come’.”
Calling it “the one net zero I approve of”, he said the UK “hasn’t got enough houses, we can’t get GP appointments, our roads are completely overloaded, our infrastructure is crumbling”.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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