Nigel Farage’s shock therapy and how Reform UK can beat Establishment

Just a few months ago, Boris Johnson’s old right-hand man – Dominic Cummings – warned Nigel Farage that Whitehall will break the law to prevent Reform winning power. Speaking on The Spectator’s podcast, Cummings said: “They’ll leak medical records, they’ll leak tax records. They’ll bug his phone and leak that. They’ll do anything that they need to”.

Wow! Have we not seen exactly this in the last few months? Reports of alleged schoolboy antics didn’t work so the Establishment went for Farage and co’s financial records. Now sting operations. Let’s all grow the hell up and see this for what it is. Whatever Reform may or may not have done, let’s not be fooled into thinking the Establishment parties are paragons of propriety.

But the difference is the Establishment wants these two cheeks of the same backside to win elections so keeps all their skeletons firmly locked away in the cupboard. Reform will upset the apple cart, so every piece of mud the elites can throw at Reform they will.

How then can Reform possibly fight this? Nigel Farage‘s party needs to be purer than pure. Ongoing professionalisation – which has been a focus for some time now – is key.

Beyond that, Reform needs to prepare to reform the rotten Establishment itself. Hungary and Poland changed political leadership in recent years. Conservative parties lost but did Hungary and Poland become open borders hellscapes? No.

Why? Because in Hungary and Poland, the civil service, judiciary and media establishments themselves are not in favour of open borders. Ditto Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

If Reform doesn’t clean up the UK civil service, it doesn’t matter how big its Commons majority, no major changes will ever take effect. Reform must reform the machinery of law, government and culture.

Nigel Farage knows this and, in some respects, should be grateful our rotten Establishment showed their cards this early. Reform should also take it as a compliment about how much of a threat the party is seen to a disgraced woke consensus.

Going into the next election, Reform may look to a wedge strategy – bringing one or two contentious social issues into the campaign and aligning its position with the dissenting wings of the Conservatives and Labour.

For example, the Tories remain fundamentally split between One Nation wets and those playing catch up with Reform on immigration, the ECHR and net zero.

Despite appearances of unity the Tories are also split on economic policies such as tax, welfare and state ownership.

Burnham bounce aside meanwhile, a huge number of those wavering between Labour and Reform want nothing more to do with the EU, are sniffy about trans rights or the Gaza obsession, and desperately want lower immigration and proper policing.

This puts them at loggerheads with Labour elites even though many Labour MPs represent millions of constituents who feel this way. This is Reform’s for the taking.

The Tories remain split between moderates and populists while Labour is split between socially conservative working-class voters and metropolitan progressives, in both instances ‘wedge’ issues like immigration, crime and energy prices divide these houses.

Beyond that of course, Reform should counterattack the Establishment witch hunt, reminding voters of the disaster of the Tory years and the lunacy of today’s Labour government, all the while making sure they too unearth those scandals being carefully concealed about Labour and the Tories.

Have we really seen all the evidence about Andy Burnham and that £1bn housing investment fund for luxury skyscrapers? How about the Tories and the Child Maintenance Authority? Is there more to see there?

In the end, Britain needs shock therapy, not to be euthanised by stealth.