Nigel Farage's Reform UK's rise in London 'a threat to main parties'
Is Reform UK on the rise in London?The party, led by Nigel Farage, says it has quadrupled its membership in the year since the general election, where they won five seats, including one for Farage in Clacton.Reform UK had the third-highest vote share in the country at the 2024 election - just over 14% - with half a million more votes than the Liberal Democrats. According to polling, London has a smaller share of Reform voters, but it has a higher share of people who say they would consider voting Reform in the future.
Not far from the capital, Reform has control of Kent County Council, which had long been Conservative.Reform UK also has its first London Assembly member, Alex Wilson, who was elected in May 2024.
London politics expert Prof Tony Travers told the Politics London programme that the party "could do very well indeed in some of the outer London boroughs, particularly I would say those that voted Leave in the Brexit referendum, so Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Bexley, Hillingdon, even Sutton".He added: "Those are the places I think they could well do a lot of damage to the incumbent parties."Laila Cunningham, a Westminster city councillor who last week defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK, told Politics London that her residents "would always point to how they were let down by the previous Conservative administration and how they wouldn't vote for them".She added: "Honesty, I think, is really lacking in politics now and I just couldn't defend their record."
Cunningham said Reform UK were "serious about getting this country back on track, they're serious about cutting immigration, cutting crime, cutting waste, cutting tax and people say that's right wing but that used to be mainstream a few years ago".Deirdre Costigan, Labour MP for Ealing Southall, told Politics London that Reform UK's "key policy seems to be a massive tax cut for the rich".She added: "How are they going to pay for that tax cut? The only way of paying for that is to cut public services. So, we'll have less police on the streets of London and we won't have an NHS."Conservative London Assembly member Alessandro Georgiou told the programme that Farage "is a tax-and-spend socialist, if you take what he says". Watch the full Politics London programme on BBC iPlayer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Moment crowd of women's rights campaigners dressed in Niqab-style veils ripped them off to declare 'free your face' in provocative London protest
This is the moment a crowd of women's rights campaigners dressed in Niqab-style veils ripped them off as they declared 'free your face'. Up to 75 protesters gathered in London 's Hyde Park this afternoon for a Let Women Speak (LWS) event, spearheaded by campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker. The group, dressed in black veils with 'free your face' printed on them, walked through the park in unison, holding placards that read 'free speech for women' alongside black balloons printed with 'women: adult female'. Stopping at the popular Speaker's Corner area, Ms Keen pulled out a white ladder to stand in front of the crowd, stating: 'what we are doing here is something that women in the Middle East cannot do and that is to remove the veil.' The group then ripped off their veils in unison to the sound of passionate cheers and whistles, while others chanted 'free your face'. Ms Keen, who founded the #LetWomenSpeak movement and leads the Party of Women, said that the group had gathered as an 'act of solidarity with all of the women who have to live behind the veil because their husbands, cousins and brothers are too weak'. The events, which often take place across the country, see women take to the stage to talk about a variety of issues that affect them. Speakers are often known for their gender-critical views and the group also campaigns against using female-only spaces. One rival protestor shouted from the crowd 'women should be at home', but this did not deter Ms Keen. She continued: 'Four weeks ago, I received stories from women from all over the Middle East who have had to live behind the veil since they were 12 years old. 'In the UK, all over our cities we are seeing more women wearing the veil. As a free woman, I do not think this is acceptable. This is what happens when a man cannot bear for women to be free. 'If a man cannot control himself when he see's a woman's face, then he should wear a mask'. Ms Keen, who proudly stated she is 'not a feminist' added: 'I say no to the veil, no to the Niqab'. Speaking directly to a counter-protestor who criticised her for 'spreading aggression against men', she quipped back: 'f**k you'. Another woman who took to the stage to speak, added: 'We live in a free society so we do not want women being told what to do and not being allowed to live their lives. I cannot stand by and not say anything about this'. Meanwhile, another protestor, dressed in a necklace that spelled out 'women', tearfully struggled to get her words out. She said: 'You can make your choices, but they have to be free choices and the veil is never truly a free choice. Please for the sake of your sisters, choose freedom.' Founded in 2018, the LWS group was formed in response to proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA). Described as a 'bold, international movement' the protestors say they have worked to 'spark a global awakening around the importance of defending the rights of women-adult human females'. Ms Keen, dubbed 'one of the world's most recognisable defenders of women's rights', finished her passionate speech by declaring: 'The reason we created this movement is because so many men are frightened of our voices. 'Today we say for women all over the world, free your faces. And to the men who subject them to it, we say f**k you.' After the event, Ms Keen told MailOnline that the inspiration for today's speech came from an 'off the cuff' comment she made to two women who were wearing a Niqab at Speaker's Corner last month. She said: 'There were two women and I just said "free your faces ladies, free your face and liberate yourselves".' Ms Keen says a video of that moment was seen 24 million times across social media platforms and inspired a wave of Middle Eastern women to share their 'heartbreaking' stories. She continued: 'These women reached out to tell me things like "I haven't had the sun in my face since I was 12" or "I'm living a life of servitude because the mask is one thing, the niqab is one thing, but actually I don't feel like a complete human being".' Ms Keen said some women even revealed they were not allowed out in their garden and that the biggest thing they had to look forward to was going to the cafe alone. She is now vowing to keep pushing the message forward to stop women from being 'imprisoned' by the Niqab, despite pushback from some protestors. 'Speaker's Corner is a very unwelcoming place for women because the men are very loud and most women aren't,' Ms Keen continued. 'I happen to have quite a loud voice. Most women don't, so it can be a bit intimidating. But I was prepared. And I think it went really well and it was a spectacle. 'We always get pushback because there's some men that can't cope with women speaking. But those are really the men that we are very glad to hear women speak. So they start to understand that we're not stopping.' Ms Keen added that she wants to see the Niqab banned, saying: 'There's a rise in it being worn in various cities such as London, Birmingham and Bradford. 'I think we really need to think very carefully as a country. I'd like to ban the face covering. I think there's too many women that are forced to wear it for us ever to think that it's a choice.' Last October, up to 70 women gathered in Carlisle Park, Morpeth, Northumberland, for a Let Women Speak (LWS) event and were met with counter demonstrators who shouted through megaphones: 'Transwomen are women'. Branding Ms Keen a 'fascist', counter protestors shouted during the speeches: 'You're not radical, you're just d***heads.' They also blew whistles in an attempt to drown out the gathering and also shouted 'get off the stage' and 'get some new material'. But Ms Keen defended the group, remarking: 'Some women are coming to speak using some words, and some spoiled brats are trying to stop us. 'We just want to speak about our rights. We want to speak about our spaces, our sports, our children, our safety. 'Those people over there are from the elites and are trying to shut us up. Most of us are from relatively normal families who have to pay a mortgage, pay bills. 'They haven't sent us to a nice university to mess around with our fees and our grants and to come and harass middle-aged women.' The Labour party previously faced previous accusations of being 'undemocratic authoritarians' after a local party pressured a venue into cancelling a Conservative-run debate due to Ms Keen's attendance. The Tottenham Conservative Association was due to hold a debate on 'The Future of British Politics' in February last year, but the Clissold Arms pub in Muswell Hill, north London, told organisers yesterday that they had to cancel it after complaints. A letter sent to the pub by the Hornsey and Friern Barnet Constituency Labour Party executive committee, seen by MailOnline, said that 'Keen's events often attract other far right groups including neo-Nazi groups on a recent tour of Australia'. On her tour of Australia in 2023, men showed up to a rally in Melbourne and performed Nazi salutes, but she insisted they were not invited or welcome there. The letter accused Ms Keen of 'extremely transphobic views' and of harassing transgender people, adding that her attendance would create a 'dangerous and hostile environment for local trans people'.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Starmer: Foreign affairs delayed me dealing with welfare rebellion
Sir Keir Starmer has said he did not get to grips with the growing rebellion over welfare reforms earlier as he was focused on international affairs. He also said he took ownership for his decisions and believed as leader he should 'carry the can' when things do not go well. Advertisement The UK prime minister said he was occupied with the G7 and Nato summits and the escalating tensions in the Middle East for much of the past two weeks. He said he was 'heavily focused' on what was happening with Nato and the Middle East all weekend and that his 'full attention really bore down' on the welfare bill on Thursday. He defended the eventual U-turn, which came after more than 100 MPs launched a bid to kill the legislation with an amendment. UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference at the QEII Centre, London. Picture date: Thursday June 26, 2025. 'Getting it right is more important than ploughing on with a package which doesn't necessarily achieve the desired outcome,' Mr Starmer told The Sunday Times. Advertisement He said all the decisions were his and that 'I take ownership of them'. There have been reports that rebel MPs blamed Mr Starmer's chief of staff, Cork native Morgan McSweeney, for the UK government's approach. Mr Starmer said: 'My rule of leadership is, when things go well you get the plaudits; when things don't go well you carry the can. 'I take responsibility for all the decisions made by this government. I do not talk about staff and I'd much prefer it if everybody else didn't.' Advertisement Ministers had hoped the reforms would get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year, but the concessions made leave chancellor Rachel Reeves needing to find money elsewhere and point to possible tax rises in the autumn. On Saturday, the prime minister told the Welsh Labour conference the 'broken' welfare system must be fixed 'in a Labour way'. He said: 'We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won't, but we also can't let it become a snare for those who can and want to work.' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch will hit out at Mr Starmer as 'incapable of sticking to a decision' after he backed down on his plans. Advertisement Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch in conversation with Lord Moore of Etchingham during a Policy Exchange event in London. Picture date: Monday June 23, 2025. The reforms would only have made 'modest reductions to the ballooning welfare bill', but the prime minister was 'too weak to hold the line', the Conservative Party leader is expected to say in a speech next week. The UK government's original welfare package had restricted eligibility for Pip, the main disability payment in England, as well as cutting the health-related element of universal credit. Existing recipients were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition. Now, the changes to Pip will be implemented in November 2026 and apply to new claimants only, while all existing recipients of the health element of universal credit will have their incomes protected in real terms. Advertisement The concessions on Pip alone protect some 370,000 people currently receiving the allowance who were set to lose out following reassessment. As a year in office nears, more than half of voters think Labour has underperformed in that time, polling released on Saturday showed. The Opinium survey showed 54 per cent think Labour has done a worse job than expected, while 18 per cent think the party has exceeded expectations.
.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
This is the last chance for Labour and the Tories to stay relevant
Although many voters will be horrified at the idea that Nigel Farage could become prime minister, Reform UK's consistent lead in the opinion polls means the prospect must be taken seriously. In his latest pitch, Mr Farage has struck an unlikely pose as the leader who can save our democratic system from an extreme right-wing government much more dangerous than a Reform-led one. His argument is nakedly self-serving. Mr Farage wants to build on Reform's growing support by making his party more respectable to voters who have not made the leap. He has distanced himself from the right-wing criminal Tommy Robinson, but said that, while he is not in the camp of Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer, he can 'see why he's doing well'. Mr Farage told The Sunday Times he hopes young men will turn to him to give them a voice 'because if I don't, you wait till what comes after me'. He added: 'Those who try to demonise me could be in for a terrible shock once I'm gone. That's why we say we believe that we are the last chance to restore confidence in the democratic system, to change things.' The Independent thinks voters should not be taken in by Mr Farage's attempt to make his distasteful nationalist-populist product more palatable. They should remember that the mask slipped when he called for the two-child benefit cap to be lifted; he said this should be limited to 'British families', excluding 'those that come into the country and suddenly decide to have a lot of children'. Nor has Mr Farage put away his dog whistle on immigration: he shamelessly twisted the words of Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, to claim he would prioritise the needs of Pakistanis – a tactic used by the very right-wing extremist groups the Reform leader purports to be better than. Reform MPs have also deliberately stirred tensions by calling for a ban on the burqa. However, both Labour and the Conservatives have lessons to learn from Mr Farage's latest attempt to invade their natural territory. He argued that Labour has 'become the party of the bourgeoisie, very middle-class'. Although Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers champion 'working people,' Labour has lost much of its traditional class-based support. Last week's British social attitudes survey reported that, even in last year's landslide, Labour won the support of only 30 per cent of people in semi-routine and routine occupations, compared with 42 per cent of those in professional and managerial jobs. Age and education have supplanted class as the main dividing line in politics: only 5 per cent of graduates voted for Reform, compared with 25 per cent of those with qualifications below an A-level. As The Independent reported yesterday, Britons earning more than £70,000 a year are more likely to vote Labour than for any other party, while 32 per cent of people in households with an income of £20,000 or less now support Reform, with Labour well behind on 19 per cent. Pendulum politics, when either Labour or the Tories do well and the other badly, appears to be over: five parties now register 10 per cent or more in the polls, with the Liberal Democrats not far behind the Tories and the Greens also making inroads into Labour's support. However, it seems Labour strategists want to preserve the two-party system by writing off the Tories as 'a dead party walking' and 'sliding into brain-dead oblivion,' as Sir Keir put it. Labour wants to turn the next general election into a presidential contest between Sir Keir and Mr Farage, hoping that disillusioned centrist and left-of-centre voters will hold their nose and back Labour to keep the Reform leader out of Downing Street. It's a crude tactic and, to work, will surely need to be coupled with some positive reasons for voting Labour, such as tangible improvements on public services and the cost of living. Sir Keir should think through the consequences of kicking the Tories while they are down. Although their leaders would never admit in public, both Labour and the Tories have an interest in the other doing better than they currently are. It would help the Tories if Labour's justified attacks on Reform's 'fantasy economics' damage Mr Farage's party, and Labour can show the government machine is not broken. It might suit Labour if the irrelevant-looking Tories get back in the game and prevent a Reform victory by splitting the right-wing vote. The public has voted for change three times and been disappointed – in the 2016 Brexit referendum and the 2019 and 2024 general elections. If Sir Keir cannot turn things round after his difficult first year as prime minister, the fear of many voters that mainstream parties are 'all the same' will be justified. Mr Farage, not an extremist party of the right or left, will be the beneficiary. Labour and the Tories are both drinking in the last chance saloon.
