While Reform UK are making preparations to form a government, many argue that they are fundamentally unprepared and their attempts to do so will be a disaster and damage Britain.
Reform UK preparations for government
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has established its general election campaign headquarters in Millbank Tower, historically associated with Tony Blair and David Cameron, signalling the party’s serious bid for power. After leading opinion polls for months, Reform is professionalising, focusing on disciplined messaging, policymaking, media monitoring, internal morale-building, and courting donors. Tools such as a Commons voting tracker aim to counter claims of Farage’s inactivity as an MP.
Farage’s inner circle, including Danny Kruger and strategist Zia Yusuf, is preparing for a “conservative revolution”, similar in scale to Thatcherism’s break with post-war politics. This will include pre-written legislation, plans to shrink the civil service, sell government buildings, and exert influence over the Cabinet Secretary. This approach is inspired by Trump’s “Project 2025”, to seize early momentum and limit civil service obstruction and the courts. Farage’s proposed cabinet will mostly feature business leaders and experts, echoing Donald Trump’s approach. Reform is considering appointing most ministers from the House of Lords rather than its new MPs, arguing this would provide expert, full-time ministers less dependent on Whitehall. This would break 200 years of convention and risk a constitutional crisis. Reform has deprioritised electoral reform in favour of dominating first-past-the-post.
The party faces internal challenges, such as MP Sarah Pochin’s controversial racist remarks, while Lee Anderson focuses on populist messaging. Reform is building a research unit, recruiting young talent, and studying Downing Street’s media operations, including plans for a female press spokesperson and live-streamed briefings.
How Reform UK are unprepared for government
Nigel Farage and Reform UK are completely unprepared for government despite presenting their 2025 Birmingham conference as a transition from fringe movement to credible governing party. The event was heavy on spectacle but almost entirely devoid of workable policy, revealing that Reform remains a “media stunt” rather than a serious political force. Remove the slogans and the scapegoats, and what remains? Hardly a concrete plan for Britain or a clear vision for its future. Instead, it’s a movement driven by grievance and suspicion, powered by wealthy backers, a coalition of contradictions that claims to represent working people while serving the interests of billionaires.
Theatrics Over Substance
Farage’s performance relied on populist showmanship: dramatic staging, patriotic décor, and headline-friendly slogans like “stop the boats in two weeks.” No practical mechanisms exist behind these claims, no treaties, legal changes, or diplomatic strategies. The conference looked like a professional production, yet offered no credible policy framework.
Policies That Collapse Under Scrutiny
Reform delegates passed motions such as re-examining all asylum cases and repealing the Climate Change Act, but these ideas are completely unworkable:
- Reopening every asylum file would require huge staffing increases, legal resources, and years of effort.
- Repealing the Climate Change Act would cause severe international repercussions, especially with the EU trade agreement.
- Neither proposal included costings, timelines, or legal planning — things essential to actual governance.
Reform’s would-be ministers appear to believe government works like social media: make a bold statement, assume results happen overnight.
Farage’s proposals are shallow, contradictory, and incoherent
He suggests appointing cabinet ministers from outside Parliament for accountability, yet insists authority must remain in the Commons, a clear contradiction. He criticises ministers for frequent reshuffles and lack of expertise but offers no coherent alternative, praising US-style appointments while disparaging the House of Lords, which he also wants partly elected. Misunderstanding quangos, he rejects them entirely. Farage’s ideas resemble incoherent online debates rather than a credible prime ministerial plan. Even Farage admits they “need to be debated more clearly.” His slogan “How could we do worse?” oversimplifies governance, but his lack of coherent thinking means he will be worse.
Lack of ideological coherence, internal discipline, and organisational stability
Ben Habib, a former party insider, describes Reform as a protest movement driven by Farage’s personal brand rather than clear principles. Public contradictions, such as differing positions on the burqa between MPs, highlight the party’s incoherence. Farage’s own inconsistent stances on immigration, fiscal policy, and the Union, along with a wide-ranging personnel mix, reveal opportunism over ideology. Internal conflicts, like the Pochin-Yusuf spat, show a breakdown of discipline. Rising polls raise stakes, but without a coherent philosophy, consistent policies, and robust structures, Farage is unfit to govern.
A Line-up of the Same Old Figures
Rather than showcasing “new blood,” the conference relied on former Conservative MPs like Nadine Dorries and Andrea Jenkyns, portrayed as politicians seeking relevance rather than credible administrators. Their track records in public office provide little confidence. A particularly troubling moment was the standing ovation for Lucy Connolly, recently jailed for inciting racial hatred. Reform’s proposed “Lucy’s Law,” designed to protect such speech, was described as a distortion of free speech that excuses hate.
RUK’s Got (No) Talent
Reform’s electoral momentum masks a profound vulnerability: without experienced, disciplined, high-calibre figures like Zia Yusuf, the party risks collapsing into populist factionalism. If Reform wants to evolve from a protest movement into a governing party, securing and attracting elite talent is not optional. Despite the party’s rising poll numbers and Farage’s growing national profile, Reform lacks the elite talent, policy discipline, and internal coherence needed to transform itself from a protest movement into a credible governing force.
The party cannot function as a serious political force without attracting highly skilled people to run departments, craft policy and prepare for government. Can Farage recruit individuals capable of becoming credible chancellors, foreign secretaries or home secretaries? For Cowley, this is Reform’s central weakness: the energy is there, but the expertise is not.
Authoritarian Tendencies & A Real Threat to Effective Governance
Reform’s rhetoric about defending free speech is contradicted by their exclusion of critical media outlets from the conference. This selective openness signals an authoritarian impulse: free speech only for supporters, not for independent scrutiny.
While some may dismiss the conference as theatre, Reform’s lead in the polls means their lack of preparation is dangerous. Governing requires the ability to negotiate treaties, manage budgets, write workable legislation, and run institutions, none of which Reform has demonstrated.
Reform confuses entertainment with governance, and voters must recognise the risk of handing power to a party built on slogans rather than practical policy.
STOP REFORM UK 