Reform UK conference – live: Farage admits ‘amateurism’ has let down party and takes aim at ‘bust’ Tories
Party leader takes swipe at prime minister Sir Keir Starmer
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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has admitted “amateurism” let down the party at the general election.
He told the party’s conference in Birmingham: “At that stage of our development, we weren’t big enough, wealthy enough, professional enough to vet general election candidates properly, and that amateurism let us down.”
Mr Farage said having Zia Yusuf as the new Reform chairman had already made “a massive difference” in making Reform more professional, promising that in future, Reform will vet candidates rigorously at all levels.
He insisted he did not “give a damn” who the next Conservative Party leader is because “the brand is bust”.
Meanwhile, a new YouGov poll has found most Britons have a negative view of Reform UK.
Some 39 per cent of people polled described the party as ‘extremist’ and ‘should not be near power’.
Nigel Farage relinquishes control of Reform UK
Nigel Farage has announced he is “relinquishing” control of Reform UK and giving up his majority shareholder position, just one day before the party begins its annual conference.
Reform UK Ltd is a registered company, unlike most other political parties, and was previously registered as the Brexit Party from 2018-2021.
Companies House lists party leader Mr Farage, and deputy leader Richard Tice, as persons with significant control, with the former currently owning more than 50 per cent of shares.
But in a video posted to X on Thursday, Mr Farage said: “I’ve now made a decision. I no longer need to control this party. I’m going to let go. We will change the structure of the party from one limited by shares to a company limited by guarantee, and that means it’s the members of Reform that will own this party.
“I am relinquishing control of the company, and indeed of the overall control of the party, it’s now going to be the members, and that, I think, is the right thing, and it’s the right thing because this conference marks the coming of age of Reform UK, and that’s something that I’m very, very excited about.”
The Independent revealed plans for wide ranging changes to Reform UK’s party structure in an interview with Zia Yusuf earlier this month.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full report:
Nigel Farage relinquishes control of Reform UK ahead of party conference
On Thursday, the Reform UK leader revealed plans to ‘let go’ of control over the party
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Farage insists his claims questioning ‘truth’ about Southport suspect have been ‘vindicated’
Nigel Farage has denied fuelling the Southport riots as his Reform UK party gears up for its annual conference in Birmingham.
In a video repeating claims that the suspect in the deadly knife attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class may have been known to security services, the newly-elected Clacton MP claimed “I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us”, just hours before rioters incensed by false online claims attacked a mosque.
But Mr Farage insisted on Thursday: “I asked a very simple question: can we please be told the truth? That was all. Can we please be told the truth?”
Speaking during an LBC phone-in, the Reform leader claimed his position had been “vindicated” by subsequent suggestions by the government’s terror tsar Jonathan Hall KC and Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile that authorities could have publicised information about the suspect more quickly to quell misinformation.
Mr Farage told listeners: “What I thought vindicated me wholly was Jonathan Hall, KC, who is the tsar for terrorism and rioting, backed up by Lord Carlile, Liberal Democrat peer – both said that the public, the government and police, need to level with the public.”
Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us on The Independent’s politics blog, where we’ll be bringing you the latest updates ahead of Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham.
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