Reform in the UK demands more members than the Conservatives

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The British Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, said that the number of its members exceeded the number of members of the Conservative Party for the first time, in a sign of the growing momentum of the modernized populist party that has only five representatives in Parliament.

repair The party had more than 132,000 members on Thursday morning, according to the party’s live online tally, surpassing the Conservative Party’s 131,860 members at the time Kemi Badenoch was elected as opposition leader last month.

“This is a huge, historic moment,” Farage said on Thursday. “The smallest political party in British politics has just overtaken the world’s oldest political party. Reform in the UK is now the real opposition.

A Brexiteer and now Member of Parliament, Farage He sought to capitalize on the Conservative Party’s worst defeat in history in last July’s general election, claiming in a press conference this month that the Tory brand was “broken”.

Islah has risen in the polls since the general elections, when it won five members of parliament with a vote share of 14 percent. Opinion poll averages this month indicate that he received 23 percent, which is not far from the Conservative Party, which obtained 25 percent, and the Labor Party led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, which obtained 26 percent.

Farage has also received support from defections in the Conservative Party and endorsements from powerful figures such as tech billionaire Elon Musk, raising concern in both the Conservative and Labor parties, although the next general election in the UK is not expected to be held before late 2029.

Farage has sought to boost the reform campaign on the ground, especially in areas where he won support in the last election, such as Essex, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Wales.

The party said it wanted to emulate the electoral tactics used by the Liberal Democrats, who have typically targeted smaller numbers of seats in local and national elections, and sharpen their messaging and political platforms for voters in those areas.

Islah is trying to recruit thousands of supporters who want to poll and collect data for the party, as well as run as advisors in next year’s local elections. The party hopes to win hundreds of council seats in local elections in May, in addition to at least one mayor.

A Conservative spokesman said on Thursday: “A vote for reform next May is a vote for the Labor council – only the Conservatives can stop that.”

The fix received a boost this month when Farage met Musk in the United States He said the tech billionaire is considering making a large donation to his populist party.

A significant financial contribution could help turn around Al-Islah’s fortunes, allowing it to finance a massive expansion of its ground operations and an advertising campaign to further grow its base.

Several Conservatives have defected to the reform movement in recent weeks, including former Tory MP Andrea Jenkins, and the husband of former Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Former Tory donor Nick Candy also defected to the party earlier this month to become its treasurer and fundraising leader. He pledged to donate at least £1 million of his own money.

Labor has about 370,000 members, down from its peak of 564,500 in 2017 when a wave of people joined in support of then leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Liberal Democrats have about 80,000 members, while the Green Party has about 50,000 members.