Reform UK: Radical Party or the Tories 2.0?

For Robert Jenrick, the day began just like any other. On 15 January 2026, he entered Parliament as the Conservative shadow justice secretary. He exited as Reform UK’s sixth MP. Over the course of a few hours, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch caught wind of a document detailing Jenrick’s planned defection. She acted quickly to expel him. He acted quicker to announce he had joined Reform. The party was soon barraged with criticism for accepting the former Tory minister. Throughout Reform's history, one question has haunted the party. To what extent is it a reincarnation of the Conservatives?

On 20 January 2019, Nigel Farage announced the creation of the Brexit Party. His intention was to establish a political party which advocated for a no-deal Brexit. Amid a period of intense instability over Brexit, Farage’s party served as a catalyst for the resignation of Theresa May. Thereafter, May was replaced with Boris Johnson and a general election was held in December 2019. Rumours of an electoral alliance between the Conservatives and Brexit Party circulated. Ultimately, Farage agreed his party would not contest the 317 seats held by incumbent Tory MPs. His decision propelled the Conservatives to win a landslide victory.

By early 2021, Farage rebranded the Brexit Party to Reform UK. He was succeeded by Richard Tice as its leader. Throughout Tice’s leadership, Reform campaigned on a broader platform to reduce taxes, lower immigration and oppose net-zero. In the leadup to the July 2024 general election, Farage returned to lead Reform, branding the poll as “the immigration election.” Reform won 14% of the vote and 5 seats. Following the election, Farage promised to professionalise Reform by improving its vetting process for selecting candidates and altering its ownership structure.

Farage first urged Conservative councillors to defect to his party in autumn 2024. “A huge number of them genuinely agree with us and what we stand for,” he claimed. Nearly 200 former Tory councillors have since defected to Farage’s party. Incumbent Conservative MPs Danny Kruger, Jenrick, Andrew Rosindell and Suella Braverman also joined Reform. Finally, numerous former Tory MPs and ministers shifted. 

Reform declare themselves as the populist opposition to the political establishment. How then can they accept dozens of defectors from the Conservatives? Critics of Farage’s party alternate between describing the party as an existential threat and a remake of the Tories. Which is more valid?

In this article, I’ll explore Reform UK - the radical political party or revamped Conservatives?

Radical party

Radicalism is the belief that there should be great or extreme political change. 

At the last general election, Reform promised to end all non-essential immigration, halt small boat crossings and leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR.) On tax, they pledged to increase the personal allowance to £20,000, reduce corporation tax and increase the threshold for VAT. Elsewhere, Reform claimed scrapping net zero would lower energy bills and hoped to deploy stop and search units across Britain. Meanwhile the Conservatives committed to lower national insurance rates, using the Rwanda scheme to deport asylum seekers and left open the possibility of leaving the ECHR. 

The contrast was stark. Reform’s policy was more fervent and its rhetoric more ardent than the Conservatives. Coupled with attacking 14 years of an unpopular Tory government, Reform used its policy platform to act as the radical right-wing party.

In September 2025, Reform proposed the scrapping of Indefinite leave to remain (ILR), an immigration status which allows individuals to stay in the UK without a time limit. They also published plans to deport 600,000 migrants by offering aid to nations such as Afghanistan. By October 2025, the Conservatives made withdrawal from the ECHR official party policy. They also promised to establish an ICE-style removals force. Fundamentally, both parties now offer severe plans to deport asylum seekers, although they disagree on how that will be achieved.

On welfare, Reform launched plans to cut the benefits bill by £50 billion per year in August 2026. They would abolish Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the health element of universal credit, replacing them with a single payment. Elsewhere, the Tories aim to reduce the welfare bill by £36 billion per year through restoring the two-child limit, an end to benefits for foreign nationals and stopping disability claims for lower-level mental health conditions. At their 2025 conference, Badenoch unveiled plans to oppose net zero by repealing legislation related to climate change. At the beginning of the Iran War, both parties eagerly supported drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea. 

Reform took sharper stances than the Tories on immigration, welfare and energy. As a result, the Conservatives have moved to the right in an attempt to regain Reform voters. Nonetheless, Reform’s policy proposals are bolder. Furthermore, they do not follow a 14-year period in government defined by drastically less radical party policy.

Since the Victorian Era, the Tories have acted as a core component of the political establishment. Instead, Reform claims to be the tribune of “alarm-clock Britain.” When Farage was the subject of intense media scrutiny over a £5 million gift, he declared himself the victim of an “establishment stitch-up.” Farage’s clear, direct communications style was the catalyst for the party’s rise following the 2024 general election. Although party grandees dine in London’s most expensive clubs and were schooled at its most prestigious institutions, Reform present themselves as the radical outsiders.

Where Reform and the Conservatives differ also is their base of support. Generally, Reform voters advocated for Brexit, earned low levels of education and work manual labour or blue-collared jobs. This contradicts with the older and professional demographic which support the Tories. Geographically, Reform voters are likely to reside in working-class areas, whereas Conservatives live in rural counties. 

Reform voters are hostile towards the Conservatives. One YouGov poll illustrated ¾ of supporters of Farage’s party have an unfavorable view of the Tories. In the leadup to the 2024 general election, one poll indicated that if Reform didn’t stand candidates, then 36% of its supporters would vote Conservative whilst 26% would not vote. Therefore it is unlikely that an electoral alliance between the two parties would prosper.

Wherever Nigel Farage goes, extremists follow. During his leadership of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), rank-and-file candidates and donors suggested they want to drive Lenny Henry out of Britain because he is black, bar women from the boardroom and claimed same-sex marriage legislation caused severe winter floods. A recent investigation by ITV into Reform depicts councillors and candidates describing Muslims as “parasites,” black children as “animals” and asserted King Charles III is a Muslim. The nature of Farage’s parties - vessels for opposing immigration and the establishment when others are not - make them vulnerable to extremists. The presence of extremists in Reform creates a dividing line between them and the Tories.

Tories 2.0

At some point in their lives, all 8 of Reform’s MPs were Conservatives. Farage was a member during his teenage years. Tice was a donor as recently as one decade ago. Pochin was a Conservative councillor. The other five were all sitting Tory MPs when they defected to Reform. Additionally, eleven former Conservative MPs and countless ex-MPs also joined Reform. According to Best for Britain, 188 former Conservatives currently serve as Reform councillors. 

At best some defections look like a desperate plea to revive a political career and at worst the defections are perplexing. In 2015, Ex-Tory Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi stated that he’d be “frightened” to live in a country run by Farage. Zahawi was unable to speak English when he fled from Iraq to Britain as a ten-year-old. As vaccines minister, he was responsible for deploying the COVID-19 vaccine. Five years later, a speaker at Reform’s conference claimed Zahawi’s vaccine was responsible for the cancers of King Charles and his daughter-in-law. 

Splinters have already formed over the presence of former Conservatives. “The quisling Tory Ministers who betrayed our country must never be allowed to seize control again,” wrote Reform’s shadow home secretary Zia Yusuf, himself a former Conservative, on X. The criticism is reasonable. The rate of net migration peaked at nearly 1 million people per year under the previous Tory government. Frustration with this surge is one reason why Reform soared. Accepting Jenrick and Braverman, migration minister and Home Secretary when more immigrants arrived in Britain than ever before, weakens the party’s credibility. 

The same principle can be applied to economic policy. As Reform’s shadow chancellor, Robert Jenrick announced plans to slash state spending by £80 billion per year. Why did he sit in a government which raised the national debt to the highest in modern history? So on and so forth. 

For former Tory politicians, the allure to join Reform is tempting. It could mean a second chance in government. For Reform, accepting defectors enables the party to present itself as a party of experience. Although Yusuf warned in early 2026 that former Tory MPs who join the party will not be prioritised as parliamentary candidates, the precedent is set. Two ex-Conservatives left the party and were appointed to Farage’s top team within one month of joining. 

In the past few months, high-profile departures from the Tories to Reform have dried up. Farage imposed a ‘deadline day’ of 7 May for defections. The idea was that Tories who had been nervously contemplating whether to defect to Reform would stop dithering and just do it. In reality, Reform failed to secure key targets such as Katie Lam, Mark Francois and Lord David Frost. 

Defections are disliked. YouGov estimated that 40% of British voters would view an MP who defected from the Tories to Reform more negatively. Another pollster described 9% of Reform’s support as ‘wobbly’ due to the influx of former Tories. Perhaps the onboarding of Conservatives at the beginning of 2026 is one reason why Reform is widely believed to have peaked. Nonetheless, the unfaithful four - Kruger, Jenrick, Rosindell and Braverman, who all became Reform MPs without the approval of their constituency - will have a profound impact on Reform UK. 

To an extent, the party is moderating. In their plan The First 100 Days Reform rolled back their pledge to increase the personal tax allowance to £20,000 - instead it will increase to £15,000. Outside of attention-grabbing stunts, Reform councils have focused on bread-and-butter issues such as potholes and debt. 

Ultimately it’s up to voters to decide whether to trust the same ministers they claim broke Britain.

Conclusion

Reform is a radical force. They propose the unthinkable, and perhaps undoable, on immigration, welfare and taxes. Their rank-and-file supporters and elected councillors differ vastly from their Conservative counterparts. On personnel, Reform emulates the Tories. On policy, the Tories emulate Reform. Regardless, Reform have made their mark on British politics.