FTI Consulting UK Public Affairs Snapshot- Reform UK Conference 2025: The Next Step?

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage took centre stage at Birmingham’s NEC this weekend as his party gathered for its 2025 conference. Buoyed by the party’s success in the 2025 local elections, which saw Reform win 677 councillors, gain control of 10 local authorities, and secure two metro mayoralties, the mood in Birmingham was confident and celebratory as the party prepared to take “The Next Step,” the theme and slogan of the conference.

While Reform ostensibly held party conferences in 2023 and 2024, these events bore a closer resemblance to Farage’s national programme of rallies than to the annual conferences held by the established parties. This year’s gathering marked the party’s first attempt to offer delegates and commercial partners a more traditional format. A survey held ahead of the conference by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations found that one in five public affairs professionals planned to attend this year’s conference- twice as many as last year and more than planned to attend the Liberal Democrat conference.  

The style was there…

If there is one thing Reform has proven beyond all doubt it can achieve, it is putting on a show. In this regard, this year’s conference certainly did not disappoint. The venue, Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, provided Nigel Farage and his colleagues with ample space to accommodate a growing legion of loyal fans and supporters, and a stage capable of delivering a pyrotechnics-infused arena show, drawing more from US political rallies than from the comparatively understated British party conference. Operationally, the conference ran smoothly- despite Angela Rayner’s resignation as Deputy Prime Minister forcing the party to bring forward Nigel Farage’s conference address by three hours to capitalise on the news. 

Andrea Jenkyns, a former Conservative MP and now Reform’s Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, rushed onto the stage in a sequined jumpsuit, singing a song of her own composition, titled “Insomniac”. Former ITV star Jeremy Kyle toured the hall to provide in-house coverage, vox-popping delegates and interacting with Reform’s growing stable of senior figures. Delegates were treated to a surprise performance at the much-touted “Official After-Party” by The Jacksons, the remaining active members of The Jackson 5. The centrepiece of the conference, the defection of a former Conservative cabinet minister, fell slightly flat when it was revealed that the defector was not, as had been widely speculated, former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, but former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. Rees-Mogg did attend the conference, drawing a large crowd at a fringe panel, but insisted that while his daughter Mary had joined Reform, he had no plans to leave the Conservatives.

As many expected, the conference was not without its controversial moments. Headlines were captured by a claim made on the main stage by Dr Aseem Malhotra, a Reform-aligned cardiologist, that he had been told that members of the Royal Family’s cancer diagnoses were linked to COVID-19 vaccinations. A protester interrupted Nigel Farage’s conference address, before being swiftly bundled out of the hall as Farage shouted “Boring! Boring!”, a reference to a previous incident involving disruptive protestors. Lucy Connolly, the former childminder recently released from prison after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred on social media, took to the stage for an interview with Telegraph columnists Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, who introduced her as “Britain’s favourite political prisoner”. In the conference fringes, events were held rallying support against Digital ID, the Online Safety Act, the World Health Organisation, and Net Zero. These controversies, while predictable, jarred slightly with the broader message Reform was keen to project- that this is a party which is professionalising, preparing for Government, and ready to take “The Next Step”.

…but the substance?

The UK’s public affairs and business community was present at the conference, but in a lower-profile fashion than some had predicted, despite Deputy Leader Richard Tice’s ongoing programme of outreach to businesses. Commercial delegate passes did not reveal which organisation attendees represented, allowing corporates to scope out the conference without making their attendance obvious to inquisitive journalists. A commercial lounge, sponsored by Heathrow, was made available for business representatives, but no formal “Business Day” offering was provided- a core feature of the Conservative and Labour Party conferences. Few prominent businesses chose to sponsor stalls in the exhibition area of the conference (with JCB and First Bus being the notable exceptions), and the fringe listings were largely dominated by think tanks and pressure groups.

While this meant the conference had less of a business relations focus than other parties’ events, both Reform officials and journalists covering the conference said this was intentional, with the party keen to prioritise the experience of members above all. In this regard, the conference was undoubtedly a success, with a high turnout of what one sympathetic journalist described as “normal people”: party members, activists, and political enthusiasts. While, like all party conferences, this included Reform’s fair share of eccentric delegates, most attendees did indeed resemble Reform’s growing base of supporters- ordinary people. Many attendees had eschewed formal business attire and had instead came dressed as they would for any other weekend outing.

Reflecting this balance of attendees, policy discussion on the fringes, and in the conference bar, was relatively high level. While some fringes held by groups such as the Centre for Policy Studies, Popular Conservatism, and the Centre for Social Justice sought to map out Reform’s emerging political philosophy, there was little detailed discussion of policy issues outside of the structured panels held in the four open-air theatres provided by organisers.  Conversations were instead focussed chiefly on the party’s electoral future, distaste for Labour and the Conservatives, and delegates mutual appreciation of various party figures, with Farage, naturally, being universally beloved.

The future?

Looking to the future, there are three core takeaways to draw from this year’s Reform UK party conference.

Firstly, while Farage has urged members to be disciplined, voice criticisms internally not publicly, and prepare for an early General Election (speculating that this could come as early as 2027), this is a party that remains on a journey. Despite Reform’s dominant position in the polls, it has not yet fleshed out in detail what it really believes. While the party has presented this as a principles-first approach and promised that policy detail will follow, many delegates were surprised to not hear more detailed policy announcements at the conference. Seemingly conscious of this fact, Reform announced that former Party Chairman Zia Yusuf will take on a new role as Reform’s Head of Policy, making him a key figure for future business engagement with Reform as it builds out a more detailed platform. While this presents challenges for organisations trying to understand out what Reform’s ascendancy in the polls means for their businesses, it similarly presents an opportunity to influence the direction of Reform’s policy development.

Secondly, there is still time to get in “at the ground floor”, or close to it, when it comes to engaging with Reform. While representatives of major businesses were present at this year’s conference, relatively few chose to take the plunge and hold receptions, contribute to fringes, or participate in other forms of visible party conference engagement. Accordingly, while businesses looking to initiate relationships with Reform UK and its parliamentarians are no longer early, they are not yet late. There will come an inflection point before the next General Election where those who have not yet begun to engage with Reform may regret not doing so earlier, as even those most cynical about the party’s prospects must acknowledge that a large Reform contingent in the House of Commons looks extremely likely. Organisations which spurn Reform today may find that the party is less receptive to their approach tomorrow than it is to competing voices which chose to engage earlier.

Thirdly, whether or not Reform can parlay its current popularity into a breakthrough into Government, this is a party which is setting and shaping the national agenda. This weekend’s reshuffle, which coincided with the conference, is illustrative of this- the Prime Minister has reshuffled his cabinet with one eye on countering Reform’s meteoric growth and taking the fight to Nigel Farage on his key issues. The appointment of Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary in particular reflects an acknowledgement that the Government’s approach to countering illegal migration is not working and requires the attention of Starmer’s most capable Ministers to tackle the issue. The ability to take the political fight to Reform is also likely to feature heavily in Labour’s upcoming Deputy Leader election, with candidates pitching themselves as the best placed candidate to defeat not Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives, but Nigel Farage’s turquoise legion.

In conclusion, Reform UK has moved beyond being a political curiosity to a force capable of shaping the national debate and influencing government priorities. For now, Reform’s appeal is built on broad principles rather than technical detail, but as the party matures and begins to fill in the gaps, those principles will translate into fuller positions with real-world consequences for businesses. Understanding how those positions evolve, who within the party is shaping them, and where opportunities exist to help guide the conversation will be essential for anticipating risks, spotting early signals of change, and engaging in ways that safeguard your business’s long-term interests.