Reform UK, the anti-immigration party, has become a major opposition force in Britain, according to its leader, Nigel Farage.
Nigel Farage claims his eurosceptic and anti-immigration Reform UK party has more members than the Conservative Party. The Conservatives have countered this claim, alleging data manipulation.
Reform UK’s website displays a membership count of 137,165. The Conservative Party reported 131,680 eligible voting members during last month’s leadership election.
“This is a landmark moment. The newest political party in Britain has overtaken the world’s oldest,” Farage posted on X Thursday.
“Reform UK is now the true opposition,” he added.
Newly elected Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Farage of “manipulating” figures. “It’s fabricated. It’s a fake counter designed to increase automatically. We’ve monitored it for days and they’ve altered the code to link to a different site as this has been pointed out,” she wrote on X. “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This deception is easily uncovered.”
Farage responded by offering an independent audit of membership numbers. “We understand your bitterness, upset, and anger at our emergence as the second largest party and the Conservative brand’s decline under your leadership,” he wrote to Badenoch.
“It’s an open secret within CCHQ that your membership figures are false,” Farage wrote, referencing Conservative Party headquarters.
Farage gained prominence leading the successful campaign for UK withdrawal from the European Union. He founded the Brexit Party in 2018, later renamed Reform UK.
The Conservative Party’s reputation has suffered from numerous scandals and internal conflicts, with four prime ministers between 2016 and 2024.
The Conservatives suffered a significant defeat in the July parliamentary election, losing to the Labour Party. Badenoch became party leader last month, succeeding Rishi Sunak.