Scarlett Maguire, director at polling firm JL Partners, one of the few pollsters to predict a clear Trump victory, said Reform would be able to say to voters: “You’ve tried the same old Conservative government, you’ve tried a Labour majority, now try us. We are actual change.”
Reform and its predecessor, the Brexit Party, were hampered in the past by a somewhat slipshod organization and a rag-tag band of candidates prone to making racist and extremist remarks.
In recent months, however, the party has been taking steps to professionalize its operation, building on its breakthrough at the last election when it won five seats at Westminster — the first they had won outright rather than from defections.
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s chairman, said: “We have the wind in our sails … and we’re going to continue with this momentum, continue to build a really effective ground campaign capability.”
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s chairman, said: “We have the wind in our sails … and we’re going to continue with this momentum, continue to build a really effective ground campaign capability.” | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
He claimed membership had surged to nearly 100,000 members from 15,000 this time last year, with “people from all sorts of backgrounds” putting themselves forward as potential candidates.
He confirmed Reform had set its sights on local and devolved assembly elections, hoping to make significant inroads in Wales and Scotland, before the next national poll.