Nigel Farage has thrown down the gauntlet to the U.K. Conservative Party, challenging it to audit its membership after claiming that his party, Reform UK, has surpassed the Tories in numbers.
Over the festive period, Farage declared Reform UK the “real opposition” and unveiled a flashy membership tracker, boasting that his party had already eclipsed the Conservative Party’s membership total of 131,680, which they revealed during their leadership contest in November.
In a swift rebuttal, Conservative leadership contender Kemi Badenoch took to X (formerly Twitter), accusing Farage of “manipulating” the figures and suggesting that the membership tracker was rigged to increase numbers automatically. Farage fired back, offering to have Reform UK’s membership independently audited by one of the “Big Four” accountancy firms—if the Tories were willing to do the same. He also claimed to have received complaints from “many Tory whistleblowers” alleging that ballots during the leadership contest were sent to expired or resigned members. The Conservative Party, however, has yet to respond to Farage’s challenge.
Reform UK’s momentum has already caused a significant stir, particularly after the party won over 4 million votes and five MPs in the summer election, damaging the Conservatives in the process. Now, with its sights set on the Labour Party, Reform UK’s recent poll numbers have shown Farage’s party ahead of Keir Starmer’s Labour.
The spat between Farage and the Tories reached a peak during a Boxing Day fox hunt, where Farage, sporting a flat cap, invited GB News to witness his celebration of Reform UK’s alleged membership surge. He proudly announced that 15,000 new members had signed up, each paying £25 in just four days. To mark the occasion, Reform UK projected its membership ticker onto Conservative HQ, turning the street turquoise and blaring, “Merry Christmas, Kemi!”
Badenoch responded by questioning the authenticity of the numbers, claiming that Reform had “changed the code” to manipulate the data and accusing Farage of not understanding digital tools. Farage was quick to hit back, accusing Badenoch of being “bitter, upset and angry” over Reform UK’s rise and the decline of the Conservative brand under her leadership. He rejected the accusations of fraud, pointing to screenshots from Reform’s Chair Zia Yusuf as evidence of the membership surge.
While both sides bicker, critics argue that membership numbers don’t necessarily translate into electoral success. For instance, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn racked up 560,000 members but suffered a crushing defeat in 2019. The upcoming May local elections will be a key test for Farage to prove whether he can turn membership into meaningful political power.
Recent polling, however, suggests that none of the main party leaders are winning over the public, with Starmer’s favorability standing at -41, Farage’s at -34, and Badenoch’s at -31. The public’s disillusionment with the status quo may be the perfect storm for Reform UK to rise, with or without official membership figures.
