Reform UK: what does it stand for?

 Nigel Farage has sought to distance himself from "bad apples" in Reform UK, after facing criticism "from across the political divide" for failing to tackle accusations of racism, which have "engulfed" the party in recent days, Sky News reported.

With voters set to go to the polls on Thursday, Farage acknowledged the past week "had been tough" but angrily denied he was "fanning the flames of prejudice" to further his political ambitions, as he doubled down on claims Reform UK had been "set up" by an exposé of racism and prejudice among activists. Rishi Sunak – along with other main party leaders – condemned the comments of Andrew Parker, a Reform canvasser, who was filmed as part of an undercover investigation by Channel 4 News making racist and derogatory remarks about the prime minister.

On Tuesday, Georgie David, the party's candidate in West Ham and Beckton in east London, announced she was suspending her campaign and defecting to the Conservatives because the "vast majority" of her fellow candidates are "racist, misogynistic and bigoted". It comes just two days after another Reform UK candidate, Liam Booth-Isherwood, announced he was also backing his Tory rival, accusing Farage of failing to "fundamentally address" allegations of racism and sexism in the party. 

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Reform has already dropped a number of candidates after alleged comments made by them emerged in the media. On Monday The Times reported Reform's candidate for Orkney & Shetland, Robert Smith, had previously called for Nicola Sturgeon to be shot and described JK Rowling a "wild bitch".

Farage was already on the back foot for his comments on Ukraine, but despite the racism row that has dominated the final week of campaigning, Reform "still appears to be in a strong polling position, which would indicate that the right-wing populist party could exacerbate a defeat looming over the Conservatives", said The Guardian.

What is Reform UK?

Founded by Farage in 2018 as the single-issue Brexit Party, the party rebranded as Reform following the UK's formal departure from the EU at the start of 2020.

Initially focused on anti-lockdown messages during the pandemic before pivoting to broader right-wing populist themes, Reform has surged in the polls over the past year. March marked a new milestone when Lee Anderson, formerly the Conservative member for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, announced his defection and became Reform's first sitting MP.

Farage has attributed the party's revived political fortunes to its ability to offer an alternative to a Westminster elite who "speak an entirely different language to those who live in the real world", said The Telegraph.

What are its main policies?

Reform UK has a populist agenda aimed at attracting voters from both the left and right who are frustrated with the two main parties and feel strongly about issues such as immigration and the costs of net zero.

In a column published in The Telegraph to announce the party's relaunch in 2020, Farage and former party leader Richard Tice vowed to take on "powerful vested interests", including "badly run, wasteful quangos", the BBC, the House of Lords and the Home Office.

Reform's manifesto – described by Farage as "radical" and "outside the box" – puts a hardline stance on immigration unsurprisingly front and centre.

Reform's flagship pledge is to "stop the boats" in its first 100 days in power as part of a four-point plan to curb illegal immigration. It would also take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights so it can use offshore processing centres for illegal immigrants and prevent them from claiming asylum. It will set up a new department for immigration and freeze all migration deemed non-essential.

Reform's healthcare plan would aim to cut waiting lists to zero in the space of two years, aided in part by introducing 20% tax relief on all private healthcare and insurance. The party would also exempt all front-line healthcare and social care workers – around two million people – from the basic rate of income tax for three years.

The tax burden has become "one of Reform's key attack lines" in the wake of tax rises under the Conservatives, reported The Telegraph. In a bid to bring it down, Reform would raise the income tax threshold from £12,571 to £20,000, exempting six million people from having to pay income tax, while raising the inheritance tax threshold to £2 million. These policies – along with plans to scrap VAT on energy bills, lift the VAT threshold on businesses to £150,000, and cut fuel duty and corporation tax – would be paid for by a £50 billion a year reduction in government spending, working out at around £5 in every £100.

On energy, the party proposes scrapping net zero plans and green levies to bring down energy bills, while increasing drilling for gas and oil.

It would introduce a patriotic curriculum in schools, while banning the teaching of "woke" and "transgender ideology". In contrast to Labour which plans to impose VAT on private schools, Reform would offer independent schools a 20% tax relief.

Other proposals include enforcing a two-strike rule for job seekers with benefits withdrawn after four months of unemployment or the rejection of two job offers, and the recruitment of 40,000 new police officers over five years.

Reform's manifesto promised a referendum on the current voting system and in what Politico said is "another pledge that brings Farage's party in line with many of the left", it also called for the unelected House of Lords to be replaced with a "much smaller, more democratic second chamber".

Will it impact the election?

 Over the past year, the proportion of Brits who intend to vote for Reform UK in the next general election has leapt from 5% to 17%, according to an MRP poll published last week by The Telegraph.

The return of Farage has further turbocharged the party's fortunes and exposure, with several polls, including that MRP "mega-poll", putting the party ahead of the Conservatives nationally. While the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system means this is unlikely to translate into more than a handful of MPs, the presence of Reform on the ballot paper could spell disaster for the Tories, splitting the right-wing vote and boosting Labour's overall majority. 

The return of Farage has further turbocharged the party's fortunes and exposure, with one poll published last week putting the party ahead of the Conservatives nationally for the first time. While the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system means this is unlikely to translate into more than a handful of MPs, the presence of Reform on the ballot paper could spell disaster for the Tories, splitting the right-wing vote and boosting Labour's overall majority.

Farage it seems is already looking beyond this election. "This is step one. Our real ambition is the 2029 general election. But this is our first big push," he told reporters and supporters at the manifesto launch.

The former Ukip MEP has "made no bones about his desire to see the Conservatives 'destroyed' and for him to pick up the pieces to shape the remnants of whatever is left in his own image", said the i news site.