The party’s depth of support is further illustrated by the results of municipal contests during 2025. Reform was the overwhelming victor at the local elections last May, winning 677 seats and outright control of ten authorities, while the Conservatives and Labour jointly lost nearly 900 seats. That pattern continued for the remainder of the year.

In addition to winning their first Parliamentary by-election in Runcorn, Reform made a net gain of 58 seats in council by-elections. No part of the nation can be regarded as a Farage exclusion zone, as shown by recent town hall triumphs in West Lothian, Scotland and Bromley in London. After the Reform win in Bromley, local Labour MP Liam Conlon warned his activists: “This is the first Reform councillor to be elected anywhere in London, and I fear it marks the start of a new trend.”

The popularity of Reform is not hard to explain. After decades of establishment misrule, voters yearn for a party that prefers genuine equality to cultural diversity, that wants the police to tackle real crime rather than censor speech, that thinks hard work should be rewarded, not punished, and believes that our welfare state should be primarily for British citizens.

Roy Jenkins at 1982 SDP conference was last politician to really challenge two-party status quo (Image: Mirrorpix)

Even so, such a goal will be hard to attain. In seeking to break the traditional two-party duopoly, he aims to do something no politician has achieved since Labour superseded the Liberal party a century ago. The Social Democratic Party, led by Roy Jenkins, came close in the early 1980s but ultimately failed because it was unable to translate its popular backing into Commons representation.

The same bias in the voting system could work against Reform, especially if the parties of the left unite behind a strategy of tactical voting. Nor will the left hesitate to mount a campaign of character assassination against Farage, as we have already seen in the recent barrage of moth eaten accusations of bigotry from his schooldays.

But such ugly tactics just prove how effective he has been. Labour and the left are desperate to destroy his leadership precisely because his victory would spell their doom.

Watch as the Left Deploys These 2 Ugly Tactics Against Farage and Reform in 2026

Nigel Farage and Reform UK have entered another turbulent phase of British politics, with opponents increasingly focusing their attacks on the party’s candidates, policies and record. As Reform seeks to establish itself as a major political force, the battle has moved beyond traditional arguments over taxation, immigration and public services and into a wider contest over political strategy.

Supporters of Farage have described some of the attacks against Reform as attempts to discredit the party rather than debate its policies. Critics, meanwhile, argue that scrutiny of Reform’s candidates and conduct is a normal part of democratic politics, particularly when a party seeks greater political power.

Two approaches have become particularly visible during 2026: negative campaigning focused on controversial statements and candidates, and tactical coordination designed to prevent Reform from winning constituencies.

Neither approach belongs exclusively to one side of British politics. However, both have become especially relevant to the debate surrounding Farage and Reform.

The first tactic: putting Reform candidates under intense scrutiny

One of the most visible features of the 2026 political campaign has been the focus on individual Reform candidates and their past statements.

Labour launched a campaign called “Reform Revealed” ahead of the May local elections. Its dossier examined Reform candidates and highlighted comments that Labour described as offensive, extreme or unacceptable. Labour argued that voters needed to know more about the people standing for Reform in local elections.

The Reform dossier contained allegations and quotations concerning individual candidates, including comments about race, conspiracy theories and public institutions.

Labour presented these examples as evidence of a broader problem within Reform. The party’s message was that voters should look beyond Farage’s national profile and examine the individuals Reform was putting forward for public office.

This is a classic form of opposition campaigning: focus attention on controversial remarks made by candidates and argue that they reveal something important about the wider party.

Reform, however, has frequently responded by arguing that its opponents are deliberately concentrating on isolated comments rather than discussing the party’s main policies.

That disagreement raises an important question for voters: when does scrutiny of individual candidates provide relevant information, and when does it become a substitute for discussing policy?

The answer depends partly on the circumstances of each case.

Controversial candidates become a political weapon

Large political parties inevitably contain candidates with different backgrounds and views.

When a party expands quickly, the process of selecting candidates can attract additional scrutiny because some candidates may have previously made statements that conflict with the party’s current public position.

This issue has been particularly significant for Reform because the party has attempted to expand rapidly across local government.

Labour’s April 2026 dossier claimed to have identified 45 Reform candidates whose views it considered “extreme, bizarre and offensive”. Reform supporters disputed the political framing of such material.

The broader political significance is clear: controversial candidate stories can shift attention away from a party’s policy platform and towards questions about individual behaviour.

For Reform, that creates a strategic challenge.

Farage can campaign on issues such as immigration, taxation, energy and public services, but opponents can attempt to make the election about the people standing under the Reform banner.

That is why candidate vetting and discipline have become increasingly important to the party.

The second tactic: tactical voting

The second major development is more structural.

Rather than attacking Reform directly, voters opposed to Farage may decide to support another party that they believe has the strongest chance of defeating Reform in their constituency.

This is known as tactical voting.

Recent polling shows that tactical voting has become an increasingly important part of Britain’s political conversation.

A YouGov study published in September 2026 found that 63% to 68% of Liberal Democrat and Green voters said they would tactically support Labour in a constituency where the choice was effectively between Labour and Reform. The same research found that 35% of Labour voters would support the Conservatives rather than Reform in a Conservative-Reform contest.

These figures do not mean that every Labour, Green or Liberal Democrat voter intends to vote tactically at a general election. They measure hypothetical behaviour under particular constituency scenarios.

Nevertheless, they show that some voters are considering the possibility of putting aside their first-choice party to prevent another party from winning.

That could become an important factor in future elections.

The “stop Reform” campaign

The tactical-voting argument has also appeared openly in political campaigning.

A More in Common survey reported by The Independent in September found that 32% of voters said they would consider voting tactically at the next general election. Among Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters, more than half said they were prepared to consider tactical voting to prevent Reform from winning.

This is significant because Reform’s electoral support is not distributed evenly throughout Britain.

Under Britain’s constituency-based electoral system, a party can receive substantial national support while winning fewer parliamentary seats if its votes are spread relatively evenly across constituencies.

Conversely, a coordinated effort by opponents could affect outcomes in constituencies where several parties compete closely.

That is why tactical voting presents a different challenge from conventional political criticism.

Instead of trying to persuade voters that Reform’s policies are wrong, the argument becomes: support whichever alternative candidate has the best chance of stopping Reform in your particular constituency.

Reform’s response

Farage has consistently presented Reform as a challenger to what he describes as the established political system.

That message can be strengthened when multiple parties focus their campaigning on preventing Reform from winning.

Farage can argue that voters are being encouraged to vote against Reform rather than being offered a substantive alternative.

But the opposing parties would frame the issue differently.

From their perspective, voters have the right to consider which candidate can best represent their constituency, and tactical voting is simply one form of electoral choice.

The difference is therefore partly about political interpretation.

Farage’s supporters may see anti-Reform coordination as evidence that established parties are threatened by Reform’s growth.

Opponents may regard it as ordinary competition in a multi-party democracy.

The financial controversies

Another area of scrutiny has involved Reform’s finances.

During 2026, the party faced questions over donations, financial arrangements and allegations concerning its internal handling of political funding.

The Guardian reported in September that Reform and Farage had faced a series of financial controversies over a two-year period, including questions surrounding a £5 million gift and allegations relating to foreign donations. Farage has denied wrongdoing and said that no rules were broken.

Financial scrutiny is especially significant for a political party because election law contains detailed rules governing donations and reporting.

For opponents, controversies over funding provide another way of challenging a party’s credibility.

For Reform, the political challenge is to demonstrate transparency while arguing that allegations should not be treated as established wrongdoing before investigations or regulatory processes are complete.

That distinction is important.

Political controversy can begin long before a formal investigation reaches a conclusion.

Why the two strategies matter

The two approaches — negative campaigning around controversial candidates and tactical voting — operate differently.

The first attempts to change how voters perceive Reform.

The second attempts to change how voters cast their ballots.

A voter may continue to support Reform’s policies while deciding that a different candidate is better positioned to defeat Reform in their constituency.

Similarly, a voter may disagree with a particular Reform candidate without rejecting the party’s national programme.

This makes the political battle more complicated than opinion-poll numbers alone suggest.

Reform’s electoral challenge

Reform’s expansion during 2026 has demonstrated that the party can win seats and local-government representation.

At the same time, its performance has varied considerably between different elections and regions.

In Wales, for example, Reform won 34 seats in the 2026 Senedd election, while Plaid Cymru won 43, Labour won nine, the Conservatives seven and the Greens two.

The result demonstrates both Reform’s ability to establish a substantial presence and the importance of competition from other parties.

At Westminster level, the situation is even more complicated because constituency boundaries and local voting patterns matter enormously.

A fragmented political landscape

Britain’s political system has become increasingly fragmented.

Labour, Conservatives, Reform UK, Liberal Democrats, Greens and nationalist parties are all competing for different groups of voters.

That fragmentation creates opportunities for smaller parties but also increases the importance of tactical voting.

For Reform, the central question is whether it can turn national support into enough concentrated constituency support to win seats consistently.

For its opponents, the question is whether they can coordinate, formally or informally, without alienating their own supporters.

The political battle ahead

Farage has built much of his political career around challenging established parties.

The response from those parties is increasingly becoming part of the story.

Campaigns highlighting controversial candidates, scrutiny of party finances and efforts to encourage tactical voting are likely to remain important elements of the political contest.

But describing these developments simply as “ugly tactics” leaves out an important part of the picture.

Opposition parties are entitled to scrutinise candidates and policies. Voters are entitled to consider a candidate’s record. And voters are also entitled to vote tactically if they choose.

At the same time, political claims about opponents need to be distinguished from verified facts, particularly when allegations concern individuals or potentially criminal conduct.

The coming electoral contests will therefore test not only Reform’s ability to attract voters but also its ability to withstand increasingly organised scrutiny.

For Farage, the challenge is to keep the political conversation focused on the issues on which Reform believes it has an advantage, while preventing controversies surrounding individual candidates or party administration from dominating the campaign.

For Labour, the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, the challenge is different: persuading voters that their own policies and candidates deserve support rather than relying solely on opposition to Reform.

As Britain’s political competition becomes more fragmented, these competing strategies are likely to become increasingly visible.

The 2026 experience shows that the battle over Reform is not being fought through one method alone. It is taking place through campaign messaging, candidate scrutiny, financial questions, constituency-level calculations and tactical voting.

Ultimately, voters will decide how much weight to give each of those arguments.

And that may be the most important feature of the political contest: Farage and Reform can shape their message, while their opponents can challenge it, but neither side can determine how voters will respond.

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