Are you worried about Nigel Farage?(Image: PA)
Reform UK are leading the polls, despite a policy platform of mass deportations, tax cuts for billionaires, and scrapping net zero.
The PM has vowed that 2026 “would be the year that Britain turned renewal into reality”, with a series of major policies set to come into force next year. This includes an increase in neighbourhood policing, the lifting of the two child benefit cap, a rail fares freeze and a planned cut in energy bills.
Despite the surge in the polls, it has been a rocky year for Reform UK. Mr Farage lost two of his MPs this year – Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock – and has faced calls to sack other people in his party. He has faced multiple racism rows – with his MP Sarah Pochin coming under fire over comments she made about ethnic minority people in adverts – and Mr Farage himself has been interrogated over racist and antisemitic allegations relating to his time at school.
In December, some 25 former pupils and one ex-teacher came together for the first time to express “dismay and anger” at the Reform UK leader’s reaction to the allegations in recent weeks.
In a powerful letter, the 26 signatories said it is “false” to suggest their allegations are politically motivated, as they “represent a broad swathe of professional backgrounds and political opinions”. They said Mr Farage’s recent denial “disturbs us” and said it is important people seeking high office “own their past”.
Mr Farage has repeatedly denied the allegations, with Reform UK suggesting the claims are part of a smear campaign against him.
If that wasn’t enough, in November Nathan Gill, Reform’s ex-leader in Wales, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison for taking bribes to spout pro-Russia lines in interviews and speeches in the European Parliament.
