Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success

Thousands of activists from anti-immigration party Reform UK gathered to hear leader Nigel Farage at its annual conference on Friday, buoyed by its electoral breakthrough -- and eyeing potentially bigger prizes to come.

Reform UK won 14 percent at the July 4 general election, and now has five lawmakers in the UK parliament in London, posing an issue for the defeated Conservatives, who are seeking a new leader -- and political direction.

The party's MPs include Farage, an emblematic figure for the UK hard right, who took over the party leadership in early June and who now says he is eyeing the job of prime minister.

Hundreds of activists were already waiting outside the NEC conference centre in Birmingham, central England, before the doors had even opened.

More than 3,500 bought tickets, according to the party leadership, with conference-goers wearing ties and rosettes in the party's turquoise colour.

"I'm ecstatic," said Kim Steward, originally from Sussex in southern England who has been a party activist for more than two years.

"When I first joined the party, people didn't know the name," she told AFP, adding she was happy to be "part of a tribe".

For her, this conference is "the start of a massive shift" and an opportunity to "celebrate" the rise of Reform UK, which formed in 2021 out of the ashes of the Brexit Party.

According to its leaders, it has grown from a few thousand members to more than 80,000 in a few months, capitalising particularly on the malaise of the right-wing Conservatives during their 14 years in power.

On the main stage and in round-table talks, speakers attacked climate policies, a progressive movement which muzzles "freedom of speech", and "uncontrolled" immigration -- by far the main issue for activists.

- Only hope -

"We aren't controlling those coming in, whether that's legal or illegal," said Darryl, a 58-year-old pensioner from Devon, southwest England, who joined Reform in January. He declined to give his last name.

"Such an influx of people... has a knock-on effect for people already living here" in terms of housing, education and health care, after years of underfunding of public services, he added.

"It's fine bringing in people when we actually need them but to let all these boats come in, these illegal people, that has to stop," said Maxine Fothergill, a 61-year-old from Kent in southeast England, where undocumented boats in small boats are brought ashore.

Reform wants to send back those arriving on boats back to France and restrict access to welfare benefits for foreign nationals.

MP Robert Lowe got a standing ovation when he claimed that Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer "does not seem to understand the electorate's legitimate and growing concerns".

Farage, a Brexit figurehead and admirer of Donald Trump, was greeted with loud applause as he arrived at conference, hours before his keynote speech.

He is "our last hope" for the country, believes Steward.

"He's a man of his words" and he "will be taking the government to account" in parliament, she added.

- 'Sky's the limit' -

Almost all the activists interviewed by AFP praised Farage's "charisma".

He "speaks frankly", believes Ross Copeland, a 29-year-old who joined the party in June, having been disappointed by the Tories.

"He will be the best person to actually lead this country. And I honestly believe that he will be our prime minister by 2029," said Fothergill.

Farage himself told delegates that "the sky is the limit", pointing to critics who said leaving the European Union was an impossibility -- until it happened.

One of the party's challenges before this deadline is to "professionalise" itself, its leaders have acknowledged.

This was shown in the election when several of its candidates were disowned after previous racist remarks came to light.

Farage, the current majority shareholder of a party that has the status of a company, announced on Thursday that he was going to transfer ownership to members.

The party now has ambitions to make itself a permanently fixture in UK politics, having secured second spot in many constituencies, notably in working-class areas of northern England.

"This is when Reform really were just an amateur party. So in five years, with a more professional set-up, who knows what we can achieve. I think it is possible," said Lee Pierce-Jones, 58, from Manchester, northwest England.

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