Reform UK conference latest: Nigel Farage attempts to reverse sliding poll ratings as donation row rumbles on
Reform UK's conference opened in Birmingham as Nigel Farage sought to shift attention away from funding controversies affecting himself and his party. Farage recently won a by-election in his Clacton constituency, called in protest at a Commons standards inquiry examining an undeclared donation from Christopher Harborne, and used a BBC interview on the eve of the conference to claim he faced a "complainant society" and would not get a fair hearing from MPs who had already decided he was guilty.
The conference comes as Reform UK has slipped to third place in the polls, its weakest showing in 18 months, after being overtaken by the Conservatives. A More in Common poll published on 1 September put the party on 22 per cent, four points behind Labour and one point behind the Tories, adding pressure on Farage to reverse the slide while the donation row continues.
- Reform UK conference began in Birmingham amid funding scrutiny.
- Farage claims unfair treatment over undeclared Harborne donation probe.
- Party has dropped to third place in latest opinion polls.
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Reform UK is the party led by Nigel Farage, which has grown in popularity in recent years by campaigning on issues such as immigration and dissatisfaction with mainstream politics. Farage returned to the House of Commons after winning a by-election in Clacton, but has faced questions over an undeclared donation from businessman Christopher Harborne, which is now the subject of a parliamentary standards inquiry. This row has been rumbling on in the background of the party's activities, including its annual conference.
The conference itself is a set-piece event where party leaders and members set out policies and try to generate positive headlines, and it is being watched closely because of Reform UK's recent standing in opinion polls. The party had been polling strongly for some time, but recent surveys show it slipping behind both Labour and the Conservatives, marking its weakest position in around 18 months.
This matters because opinion polls are one of the main ways commentators judge whether a party's momentum is holding up between elections, and Reform UK's rise has been a significant factor in UK politics recently. The combination of a slipping poll position and an ongoing donation controversy puts pressure on Farage to demonstrate that his party remains a serious electoral force.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of Farage's position argue that MPs' conduct inquiries can be slow, opaque and vulnerable to political point-scoring, and that a politician facing sustained media and parliamentary scrutiny is entitled to question whether he can get a fair hearing, particularly when rivals and critics have incentives to keep a damaging story alive. They see the Clacton by-election as a legitimate democratic test that let voters, rather than a committee, render a verdict on his conduct, and view repeated focus on donations as an attempt to distract from Reform's political rise rather than a good-faith accountability exercise.
The case against
Critics argue that transparency rules on political donations exist precisely to prevent undue influence over elected representatives, and that an MP under formal investigation for an undeclared donation should engage with the standards process rather than characterise it as a witch hunt or claim MPs have prejudged him. They see calling a by-election as a way of using public support to pressure or bypass parliamentary scrutiny rather than resolve the underlying compliance question, and argue that leaders of parties seeking power should be held to consistent standards of financial disclosure regardless of their poll ratings.