Inside Farage’s plans to put Reform on an ‘election war footing’ ...Middle East

On Monday afternoon, Nigel Farage was welcomed with fireworks and dry ice to the stage of Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

While the Reform UK rally ended up being overshadowed by the drama unfolding in Westminster around Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, Farage’s speech included one striking line.

“I do today put this party on a general election war footing,” he declared.

The next general election must take place by 15 August 2029, and most MPs and political commentators do not expect one to be called until that year, despite the turmoil that has surrounded Sir Keir Starmer this week.

However, Farage painted a picture of how a cascading series of political and economic crises could thrust Britain into a national poll much sooner.

“This whole thing could just unravel,” the Reform UK leader claimed.

“Starmer goes, the party moves to the hard left, there’s a further exodus of capital and people from the country, the bond markets lose confidence.”

He added: “We will make sure that when it comes, whenever it is, that we are ready in every way to fight and to win that election.”

If an election were held today Reform would win, according to opinion polls which have put Farage’s party consistently ahead of the Tories and Labour.

But what exactly is Farage doing to put Reform on an election war footing?

‘No experience’ Reform UK candidates

The first thing, which he announced in Birmingham, was to open the portal for people who want to apply to be Reform’s future parliamentary candidates.

The party’s website states that “no prior political experience is necessary”, with Reform promising “free training from our Centre of Excellence” which will “continue once you are elected”.

However, it’s not all free: prospective candidates are informed there is a £250 application fee (those who are interested in standing for the Scottish Parliament or the Senedd must pay a £50 non-refundable fee).

This compares to the £75 charged by the Lib Dems, and £360 by the Tories – £110 for a due diligence and then £250 to cover the costs of assessment). Labour charge nothing.

A senior Reform source said that more a thousand applications had already been received, which, if correct, would mean that in less than a week more than a quarter of a million pounds has entered the party’s coffers – although this is likely to be spent on assessing candidates.

As well as earmarking parliamentary candidates, another personnel issue central to preparing Reform for an election is for Farage to name his top team for government.

Farage bracing to reveal his top team

The i Paper understands that he will unveil his first tranche of names next week.

According to party sources, Farage will not name a full prospective Cabinet, but rather his spokespeople for key policy areas, with further names to be announced in the coming months.

The biggest call will be who Farage picks to be his Chancellor.

The frontrunners for the position are believed to be Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, who has been busy working up economic policy across a range of areas, and Robert Jenrick, who defected from the Conservatives last month.

Tice would be a more popular choice with members as someone who has been involved with the Reform project since its beginning, and he can point to a lucrative previous career in business.

Jenrick on the other hand has the advantage of experience in government, including a stint in the Cabinet, as well as being a savvy media performer.

If he wanted to lean on prior experience, Farage could put Suella Braverman, a former home secretary, back in her old brief (Jenrick, a former immigration minister, could also get the job if Farage overlooks him for the economics portfolio).

Sarah Pochin, an ex-magistrate, would seem an obvious choice for justice spokesperson. Lee Anderson – dubbed “30p Lee” because of his claim that nutritious meals can be cooked for 30p – has been working as Reform’s welfare spokesman.

Picks could come from outside Parliament

Farage currently has seven MPs to choose from not including himself, but next week’s announcement will also include individuals who are not currently in Parliament, The i Paper understands.

The Reform leader has repeatedly said if he enters No 10 he would appoint people from outside of politics to the Cabinet.

The most straightforward way to do this would be by parachuting people into the House of Lords (Reform does not currently have any peers), although the party has also hinted at carrying out a more radical overhaul of government to allow figures from outside Parliament to serve as ministers.

While he is still planning to have MPs in his Cabinet, Farage has spoken of his admiration of the US system, in which only the president and vice-president are elected officials and all the others are appointees.

Just this week, Farage announced Simon Dudley, a former Tory chair of the Homes England quango, as a supporter.

For Reform, beginning to put flesh on the bones of a prospective Cabinet is a major step. A persistent criticism of the party is that it is a “one-man band” in which everything revolves around Farage.

‘There are people who could replace Farage’

Gawain Towler, who is a member of Reform’s governing board, told The i Paper that the party was growing its gene pool.

“We’re now starting to see people who are politically talented,” he said. “One of the questions that was killed by the last month is, ‘what happens if Nigel gets hit by bus? Who is there? Who can lead?’”

He said the spate of recent defections showed that, “oh, hello, yeah, there are people [who could replace Farage]”.

As well as personnel, Towler said the other side of getting on an election war footing relates to policy.

He claimed that Farage’s Birmingham speech – in which he touched on topics including immigration, welfare, net zero and tax – showed a new side to the Reform leader.

“He set out a broad vision for government. He’s not done that before,” he said.

Towler added that Farage was taking the speech so seriously he was “actually looking at his notes at times”, in contrast to his usual freewheeling style.

Policy is being worked up by Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, who has a team of between eight and 10 people at his disposal.

A senior party source said that the goal is to have a “plan for Government by the end of this year, start of next year”.

Farage’s prediction that an election could be imminent should be taken with a generous pinch of salt.

Even if there is a change of Labour leader, and thus prime minister, it is questionable whether a new prime minister would call a general election.

Triggering an election three years earlier than you need to when Labour has a working majority of 168 and is roughly 10 points behind Reform in the polls would be a brave decision.

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While some new prime ministers have sought their own mandate, such as Theresa May, who lived to regret calling an election, the circumstances were different (in May’s case, the Tories had a slim working majority of 17 and she correctly foresaw that steering Brexit through the Commons would be immensely difficult if relatively small numbers of backbenchers could hold her to ransom).

However, Farage’s words are still important. Partly, it is about maintaining momentum with a rolling series of announcements.

But the promise to put Reform on an election war footing also reflects his ongoing project to professionalise the party and convince doubters that it is genuinely a government in waiting.

Being ahead in the polls brings a new scrutiny, and Farage needs to ensure his party is able to answer the questions this poses, the key one of which is – could you actually govern?

Towler said: “Are we ready? No, not yet. But we’re getting there.”

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