‘I’ve been to many Reform UK rallies – this one is likely to be most weird one but’
The Mirror’s Sophie Huskisson gives her verdict on Monday’s Reform conference: ‘It swung from playground nastiness to pure pantomime, with no substance on policy or governing’
Nigel Farage’s ‘major speech’ turned out to be nothing more than showmanship(Image: PA)
I have been to many Reform UK rallies – but this one might have been the most bizarre one yet.
Remember the Jeremy Kyle show? The now-cancelled TV show where host Mr Kyle would use a mixture of nastiness and humiliation to entertain the audience. Well, it was a lot like that.
No, I’m not joking. Mr Kyle – who has spoken openly about voting for Reform and hinted that he could stand as a candidate for the party – burst into the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, where he lapped up the attention on stage as he railed against Keir Starmer and declared Reform as the saviour of our great nation. He then made his way to “Stage B”, which was set up with two armchairs much like his old show.
And for the next hour of my life, I watched a conveyor belt of mostly old Tories (now Reform MPs) all take a spin in the chair. Loudmouth Lee Anderson – the first Conservative MP to defect – can be credited for having the most outrageous segment.
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It began with him criticising his fellow Reform MP Richard Tice for being “skint” for not getting his fiancée (TalkTV journalist Isabel Oakeshott) an engagement ring. Mr Anderson and Mr Kyle then descended into personal attacks against the appearances of Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves.
After praising Mr Anderson’s “Rachel from Accounts” nickname for the Chancellor, Mr Kyle said Ms Reeves looks like “Richard III”. And when Mr Anderson questioned whether Ms Rayner could be the next PM if Keir Starmer quit, Mr Kyle said: “She’s had a makeover.” Mr Anderson replied that she’s “throwing her money away”, as a roar of laughter ripped through the crowd.
Next came Sarah Pochin’s turn in the chair, where the audience were forced to endure some ghastly sex jokes about Mr Farage. As Ms Pochin recounted winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election last year, she said: “It was the most incredible night of my life, actually winning.”
When a childish Mr Kyle asked whether she said that to her husband, Ms Pochin joked back: “To be fair, I did think he felt a bit of competition… I actually spent the night with Nigel Farage, but we’ll leave that there.”
And between all these weird chat show conversations, Mr Kyle would repeatedly shout “BREAKING NEWS: Keir Starmer is still Prime Minister”, before a dramatic boo erupted from the crowd.
Since the general election, Nigel Farage has pledged to make Reform UK a “serious party”. Monday’s event showed they were anything but. It swung from playground nastiness to pure pantomime, with no substance on policy or governing.
And when the Reform leader entered the stage – with an even more extravagant show of pyrotechnics and smoke machines than usual – his “major speech” turned out to be nothing more than showmanship. He talked down every part of Britain, saying everything was broken and claimed he could fix it all (without saying how). No major policy announcement, no new defections, no ‘Shadow Cabinet’ roles set out.
The only new thing announced was that a general election application link has been added to Reform UK’s website for people to apply to be a candidate. “May playground bullies sign up now,” I imagine it says.
