The Reform UK Podcast
Go behind the scenes with Reform UK as leader Nigel Farage travels the country spreading his message of hope to broken Britain.
Listen in as he and the rest of the Reform UK team speak at packed rallies, make major announcements, and hold real conversations with everyday Brits - from young people struggling with the cost of living to business owners looking for change. Experience the energy, humour, and growing turquoise momentum sweeping the nation.
Hosted by journalist Ray Addison. New episodes every Monday. Join the journey.
The Reform UK Podcast
Reform Conference Countdown!
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With Reform UK’s 2026 Party Conference just days away, we find out what makes a Reform event so different.
Nigel Farage takes us back to his earliest conference memory, while Sarah Pochin, Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman, Andrew Rosindell and Richard Tice reveal what sets Reform’s conference apart — from the politics and the grassroots to the atmosphere, entertainment and sheer energy.
With Reform heading back to the NEC in Birmingham from 3rd–5th September, this is your inside guide to the biggest event in the Reform calendar.
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They are not party conferences in any traditional sense.
Speaker 4Brighter, bigger, bolder, braver, year after year.
Speaker 15People are smiling. They're actually fun.
Speaker 11What a breath of fresh air. The reformers have a bit more fun. A bit more relaxed. They're real people.
Speaker 2It is their conference. It is the members' conference.
Speaker 5Anyone that came to Birmingham last year would have felt they'd attended a festival. Not a boring party conference, but a festival of fun. Stage sets, the likes of which no political party in Britain has ever even dreamt of. Fireworks, music, I mean dramatic scenes.
Speaker 8That was part of Nigel's Barnstorming Leader speech in 2025. Just over a week later, Danny Krueger defected from the Conservatives.
Speaker 19The Conservative Party is over. Over as a national party. Over as the principal opposition to the left.
Speaker 8Soon Andrew Rosendale, Robert Genric, and Stuella Braverman followed suit, swelling our Commons team to eight FPs.
Speaker 17Would the Deputy Prime Minister agree with me that if the member for Makerfield wants to hike taxes even more and to max out our national credit card, he should call a general election.
Speaker 8And Reform UK cemented its position as the national opposition force by winning more than 1,450 English council seats, becoming the official opposition in Wales and the joint opposition in Scotland.
Speaker 13It's been a turquoise tidal wave, which of course means a massive left-wing meltdown.
Speaker 8The people of Clacton also showed the establishment what they thought of the relentless hounding of Nigel Farage.
Speaker 7And the verdict is in, and it is a convincing, overwhelming win with more votes.
Speaker 8Now we're just days away from returning to Birmingham from the 3rd to the 5th of September, and the conference looks set to be bigger than ever before. But if you've never been, what should you expect?
Speaker 5Well, as Nigel puts it, I promise you the Labour and Conservative conferences will be as dull as ditchwater compared to what we're about to do at the NEC in Birmingham.
Speaker 8Nigel was nursing a member's GT when I caught up with him at a restaurant tucked away among the elegant streets of Belgravia. Ordering myself a sharpener, I began by asking Nigel to take me back to his earliest conference memory.
Speaker 5I can go back to the first UKIP conference of 1993. I remember that vividly because the sign that said UK Independence Party actually fell down and fell off the stage. So I've been going to these party conferences now for well over 30 years and all the different incarnations that I've been involved with. UKIP, Brexit Party, Reform. What I'll say about the reform ones leading through from the Brexit Party is they are not party conferences in any traditional sense. Anyone that came to Birmingham last year would have felt they'd attended a festival. A festival. Not a party conference. Not a boring party conference, but a festival of fun. Stage sets, the likes of which no political party in Britain has ever even dreamt of. Fireworks, music, I mean dramatic scenes. And I remember the that first reform one two years ago. I said to our chief organiser, I've got this vision of the Republican events when the balloons come down from the ceiling. Well, sure enough, he organized balloons at the end of my speech to come down. And I walked around the stage kicking balloons. I nearly fell off the stage. Didn't, thank goodness. No, I mean look, it's colourful, it's lively, it's fun. The evening entertainment we had last year was the Jacksons, with two of the original Jacksons. This year it's Bodie M. So there's a big fun element to it as well, there's a big social dimension to it as well. We've also got a very interesting foreign visitor coming in the shape of Jordan Bardella. Now, he was the favourite to be the next French president, but now that Marine Le Pen's been cleared, she'll be the next French president. But Jordan will be the next French Prime Minister in charge of the Assemblée nationale. So I called it a festival. I talk about Boney M, but it isn't just a laugh. There are some big, serious political messages coming out of it. And this year, on the Thursday, prior to the two-day conference, we're having a business day, and we've got nearly a thousand delegates coming. We've got some of the biggest firms in the country, some smaller firms in the country coming. People who really want to know, you know, is reform capable and able of turning around the negative business environment that we're currently living in. So it's a really big event that we're putting on.
Speaker 8In terms of the Americanisation that you were looking for, do you think that's something that British voters are attracted to?
Speaker 5I just think politicians are so boring these days. I mean, they used to be funny. You know, when Michael Foote, forget the politics of it. When Michael Foote was leader of the Labour Party, he was hilariously funny. There were big characters in politics, there were household names in politics. Um make it entertaining on their own. And didn't they even need dramatic um backdrops? I just think what we're doing is showing there can be fun in it, there can be humanity in it. I'll tell you what, our front bench are better known household names than anyone Kemi has got around it. So we've got personalities, you know, there's no doubt that Zia and Richard Tys and Jenrik and Suela, these people are, to some extent, now Layla Cunningham, uh, these people are household names. More and more and more. Way more for the Conservative Party. And frankly, most people in the Labour cabinet, if you stopped a thousand people in Sunderland and said, Who are these? People wouldn't even know who they are. Hello, it's Nigel Farage here. I hope you're enjoying these podcasts. Now, take a moment to subscribe, hit the notification bell, and you'll never miss another episode. And if you like it, well, you could always leave us a five-star review.
Speaker 9Well, look, I had my first reform party conference last year. What a breath of fresh air.
Speaker 8I met Sarah Poachin at Reform HQ in central London. Until last year, the only conferences she'd been to were conservative ones.
Speaker 9So, yes, in uh in a former life, I attended uh many conservative party conferences. Actually, it was lovely after I used to go with my mum, and it was a bit of a little trip out for the two of us. But uh, God, they were stuffy. Um, and uh, you know, there was never sort of much fun, it was all terribly serious, and you never quite knew if you could go up to any passing MPs, and you know, you we never asked for selfies and things like that. Where it's the great thing about the reform conference that I noticed it's such fun. You know, we're all there, we've got a serious message, we are uh formidable, I think, communicators as a party. Um, and I I hope people would agree as politicians, you know, we're very, very good at communicating uh with our members.
Speaker 1You know what? Before I start, I just want to apologize for the um the people outside who uh made it very difficult for some of you to get in tonight. And I've got uh a three-point plan for the people outside that's get a life, get a job, and get a bloody bath.
Speaker 9And we all have such fun, but we're accessible, and that's the difference. I am happy to stand there with the uh with the members until the last selfies taken and chat to people because that's what it's all about. Um and look, we've just had, didn't we, the celebration uh following the Clapton by election result? Mamage Fest. Memorabs fest.
Speaker 7Please, please, I'm very shy.
Speaker 9Well, I think someone was calling it Claxenberry. Um it's a long time since Amali was at a party till five o'clock in the morning. Oh my goodness, it took me all weekend to recover. Um, that was from the lateness of the hour, not the alcohol, I should add. Uh but uh what an incredible event. I found myself at three o'clock in the morning at the top of a Ferris wheel with Robert Jenrick. I mean, if you'd have told me that 18 months ago, I'd have, you know, I'd have just laughed and said, don't be ridiculous. But it was uh it was a fabulous night. It was a festival.
Speaker 8It really was. It was way beyond anything I could have ever expected. But do you have a best and worst party conference memory?
Speaker 9Oh my goodness. Um, I think, listen, what for me, uh the privilege of being on stage last year. It is an honour and a privilege to be standing here today as the first female reform member of parliament. And so that was the first time I delivered a speech to, I think it might have been even 5,000 people uh when I was on stage. I mean, for for somebody who had been elected a mere, I don't know, by then five months maybe. Uh what a what an incredible opportunity to be given a stage to talk to that many people. And I had to pinch myself with the with the opportunity that I've been given there.
Speaker 8Were you nervous? No. I would I would have been nervous.
Speaker 9No, I I feel so strongly that I'm in the right place at the right time in my life, and that gives me that sort of just uh it's it's not about being overconfident, but it's just about that I I don't doubt what I'm doing at all. And I just remember walking onto that stage and thinking, wow, I am so lucky, this is exactly what I want to be doing with my life.
Speaker 8Fantastic. And I know you've got another speech coming up at this conference. We won't go into the details of the speech because that can be a nice surprise for people, but you you're telling me you're not nervous, you there must still be a lot of preparation that goes into that.
Speaker 9Yes, masses of preparation go into that speech uh to make sure that it resonates not only with the people in the room that the but the people that will be watching it, you know, down the line. And then, of course, you know, we know that all of our critics will be scrutinising everything we say uh in those conference speeches. And so it needs to be technically correct, it needs to hit the right note, uh, but also I need to be absolutely happy with the message that I'm delivering, that it is genuine and authentic, because I think that's what you get with a reform politician.
Speaker 8Yeah, we've seen too much of that in the past, haven't we? Yeah. From other parties.
Speaker 9We don't want to be delivering superficial soundbites. You know, I am as much as I love being on stage with that platform, I want to make sure that the message I'm delivering is very authentic to me.
Speaker 8So come one, come all, get your tickets and join us in in Birmingham.
Speaker 9Oh, please join us. It's gonna be such a fun two days. I absolutely guarantee that.
Speaker 15Um, I've always found the Tory party conferences quite dull, really.
Speaker 8I caught up with Robert Genric at Church House in Westminster, where he just launched our new welfare reforms. He's never been to a reform conference, but has plenty of experience of conservative ones.
Speaker 15Because they're very corporate. You got all these lobbyists knocking around, you got all the young people turn up in suits. Um, and who does that? What what kind of uh 18-year-old turns off in a suit? Um actually I'm looking at a few now. But above all, there's no actual debate. Yeah, there's no there's no like idea, it's all too totally scripted, you know, so every speech has to be run past somebody or other, you know, nobody can say anything that's a bit different, and I I just think reform is it that's not the way we are, you know. I think the sense of uh, you know, Shroud Aviv is incredible in uh any reform event. Um the f I mean I don't remember the one that was organized a couple of days after I joined Reform in in Nook, uh the town I represent, which is amazing.
Speaker 16There is no other party that could produce an event like this at a few days' notice. And do you know why? Because there is no other party like this right now.
Speaker 15And it wasn't just the fireworks and you know, Nigel doing a really good speech, uh, which obviously he does in a way that none of the other leaders would be able to. Uh, but it was the people who were there as well. Like they're all walks alive, young and old, rich and poor, you know, you had no disrespect, you know, farmers in their you know, in their red green trousers and things, you know, and but then you had um rickies and plumbers who were, you know, just part of their white van outside having done a day's work in Sheffield or Doncaster, like the mix of people was incredible. So and that exemplifies who we are. When you know Lee or um Nigel or whatever you uses the phrase the people's army, it's true, it is the people's army, it is the most representative group of people uh that any political party has, and it creates a very, very special atmosphere.
Speaker 8For anyone who's thinking about going to a party conference for the very first time, but maybe they're thinking they wouldn't quite fit in, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 15Well, that is an important point. And I remember in when I was a member of the Ksota Party, I actually didn't go to a party conference for for a long time. Um I wasn't one of these like teenagers who who who turned up at them. And I think part of that was I did feel like a bit put off by the whole thing. You know, m I didn't know a lot of people. Maybe it would be a bit snooty. Um didn't have any connections. I I just don't think reform is like that at all. It's a very, very friendly organization. Uh in fact I met people at the at the Farage Fest who'd come on their own to it, you know, who'd helped us out campaigning uh from all parts of the country, and then had come to that event and they seemed you know incredibly happy, they made connections, chatting to people. You meet people who you've heard of or who you you know, you maybe follow them on X or something like that, and then you bump into them face to face, and it's it's really nice. So uh look, I would definitely encourage um if you haven't already bought your ticket, then um come to Birmingham.
Speaker 8Snap it up. Um, it's gonna be my first time at a reform party conference. Can you guarantee that Dame Andrea Jenkins will actually sing again?
SpeakerI'm an insomnia! I'm an insomnia! Very good.
Speaker 15Back by popular demand, yes. Uh Andrew is my friend and she's my um my uh my neighbour in Lincolnshire. So um, yeah, no, I I definitely want to see her up on the main stage singing again.
Speaker 11Our conference has always been the highlight of my year as a political politician, and I'm doubly excited this year that it's my first reform conference.
Speaker 8I spoke to Soella Braverman in Enfield. She just launched Reform Skills Policy at a painting and decorating firm. She's also been to plenty of Tory conferences and remembers the chaos, a party coming apart in front of its own members.
Speaker 11I can't remember the year, but it was Conservative Party Conference when Theresa May was Prime Minister and Boris Johnson turned up. And um I think that he caused in typical Boris style. There was a bit of mayhem around his event. But um the queue for his event ended up being, you know, hours long, and I think longer than the queue for people to hear the Prime Minister speak. And I think basically Boris uh proved to be more popular than um uh Theresa May, and I think it reflected the mayhem in the Conservative Party during those Brexit years, and how yeah, Theresa May totally failed the country with her Brexit betrayal deal.
Speaker 18The eyes to the right, 202. The no's to the left, 432.
Speaker 11I'm proud to have been one of the 28 Spartans to rebel against it three times, um, as an aside. Um, but uh yeah, it can be a flashpoint for uh for chaos in the party. Oh, the most chaotic uh conference was obviously the um Liz Truss conference. So Liz Truss was Prime Minister at the beginning of September, then she had the conference at the beginning of October, and the wheels were coming off quite badly by the time the conference started.
Speaker 12I'm not gonna tell you what to do or what to think or how to live your life. I'm not interested in how many two-for-one offers you buy at the supermarket, or how you spend your spare time, or in virtue signalling.
Speaker 11And it was really the moment that the um that she was where she lost her authority. Actually, that conference was um will go down probably uh as one of the worst in Conservative Party history. I think she had announced her mini-budget by this point. Basically, it was open warfare.
Speaker 14Right.
Speaker 11And so the wets in the party, they largely kind of brought her down and they began that um that that mission at the conference, openly criticizing her, attacking her policies, making making it a um a totally divided party. You know, conferences where you're supposed to unite. But this conference turned out to be um, you know, the the family getting together and having an almighty row. And so it was um it all played out in front of the media, it was incredibly unedifying for the leadership, and it was really the beginning of the end for Liz Truss at that conference. Yeah.
Speaker 8Have you ever left a conference speech or an event there and thought I just cannot believe that that has just happened?
Speaker 11Well, there was one event when I was Home Secretary and I gave a speech, and um it was obviously a great speech. And uh I I was getting a few rounds of applause throughout the speech, and um I I said something, and the audience obviously thought that I'd finished, and they got up and gave me a standing evotion. Oh, yes, and um, but I hadn't finished my speech, but that the evotion went on for a few minutes, and I was standing there, not quite sure what to do, because I thought, well, I haven't actually finished my speech. Like now you're terribly excited to applaud, which is lovely, but um I've got a bit more to say. I haven't finished just yet. It's very actually finished. And so they they did stand, they stood down, and then I um I did tell them I haven't actually finished, and then I went and did the last bit of my speech, and then I got another standing ovation. So that was very it was very nice to get two standing ovations in the space of a speech.
Speaker 8You're about to experience your first reform conference. In any way are you expecting it to be different from the Tory party conferences?
Speaker 11Well, I think that from I've been around the country now speaking to quite a few reform branches, and what has struck me is that reformers have a bit more fun, a bit more relaxed, a bit more um they're real people. They're solid people, a lot of them are veterans, a lot of them are small business people, they're salt of the earth people. And what I've been struck by is people are motivated not by title or status or wanting to become a you know councillor or be the cabinet minister, the cabinet member for you know planning. They're actually motivated by saving the country. And it's so wonderful to be you know be in contact with that. And people's motivation is is really sincere about feeling like the country's in crisis, Britain is broken, this is the last chance to save the country, reform is the last hope, and with that, there's energy and drive and a bit of desperation. People are actually very fearful about the future of our country, as am I.
Speaker 10When Nigel Farage said that the EU was destroying democracy, the government tried to shut him down, but he was proven right, and the British people backed him. And today, when Nigel Farage is the only political leader with the backbone to say that Britain is broken and reform UK will fix it, the mainstream parties are doing everything they can to destroy him. But you know what? They won't do it. Because Nigel Farage is right, and the British people are backing him.
Speaker 11Like that's why I say the next general election is going to be the most consequential of my life, possibly our generation. The choice will be very, very clear. Five more years of socialism, five more years of decline, poverty, invasion, or we can begin to rebuild and fix our country, and only reform can do that. And so, you know, that's why everyone getting behind the party, our policies, our agenda, getting out there, knocking on doors, um, and winning these elections is so important, and our members are just brilliant at that.
Speaker 8Final question. Will the members get the chance to meet you, to say hello, to shake your hand? Yes. Or are they just going to see you on the stage?
Speaker 11I'm speaking at a few fringe meetings over the course of the uh event. So I very much hope people and we're talking we're doing an event on white working class boys, which is really important and a um you know cause close to my heart. Um, we're talking about skills and trades. Um, yeah, we've got quite a few uh interesting fringe meetings, so I encourage people to come along.
Speaker 8I met Andrew Rosendale in a churchyard in his Romford constituency. He's also another first-timer, and for him, conference isn't really about the MPs at all.
Speaker 2What's great about conference is it is their conference. It is the members' conference. There's only eight MPs, it's not our conference. We're there to meet members, but members are there to speak, to get their views over, to talk to members of parliament and policy-making uh people that are there to ensure the party is in touch with the real people in the real world. And that's why party conference is so important and it should be about the grassroots, it should be about real people that live in towns and communities across the country who care about this nation and want Reform UK to succeed. And I'm looking forward to meeting all these people at party conference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here tonight. Despite what at times feels like hopelessness in British politics today, I want to say thank you. Thank you for believing that there is still something to fight for. Because I believe that Britain is worth fighting for. So it is a party for real real people in real towns and villages across our country who can attend a conference and actually talk about things in the real world at grassroots. That's how it should be.
Speaker 4It's the centre of England, and it's the centre of manufacturing in the automotive sector.
Speaker 8And finally, I spoke with Richard Tice at Reform HQ. This year the party is doing something new, and I wanted to know why Birmingham remains the place to do it.
Speaker 4Apparently, it's got some good football teams, and we love Birmingham. And it's very easy for people to get to. Uh good training network, uh, a great airport. Uh, it's a fantastic, fantastic city. I've never actually been to a political conference before. You're a conference virgin. I mean, it's uh I can't believe it. At your age in life, what's going on, Ray? Where have you been? Well, I wasn't the political correspondent. Probably too old for the nightlife, but I will be there at bright and early and looking forward to it. Last year we did lots of events and uh just uh moving at pace. It's an incredible couple of days for everybody. And the great thing is we'll have some fun, we'll have some serious discussion, we'll motivate thousands and thousands and thousands of members, activists, councillors, candidates for being a parliamentarian. And yeah, this is this is our most important conference yet.
Speaker 3There is light at the end of the tunnel, folks! It's the front of us, and slowly but surely that light will get closer and closer, and let me tell you what that light is. It is the light of reform. It is the hope of reform, it is the aspiration of reform, it is the confidence and the belief of reform. Do you fancy a bit of that?
Speaker 8And you'll be speaking at conference. Do you feel that sort of anticipation? How do you prepare?
Speaker 4Yeah, very much so. And I I generally always speak without notes, but I've worked out what I want to say. But there's nothing like the when one's spoken spoken a lot and you understand what you're speaking about. The ability to speak with real passion and belief just gives that little bit of extra, and that's what I try and achieve. I'm not saying we always do, but uh that's that's what I do. Actually, it's good to be a bit nervous before speaking, before performing. It actually makes you perform better because you just got that little bit. I've got to do it, I've got to achieve it. But the the energy and excitement and warmth from the crowd is uplifting and and very motivating. These conferences are amazing, they get better and better, brighter, bigger, bolder, braver, uh, year after year, and the energy, the enthusiasm, the excitement, and you know what? The singing, the dancing, it's amazing. Uh, mind you, you don't want to see me sing, but uh in all seriousness, I I think it is something that and we've gone from two days to three days this year. We've got a business day, I'm obviously very business oriented. The difference is we just have this can-do attitude. We're gonna make things happen, and we're gonna have some really serious events, fringe policy discussions, and some big set pieces on the main stage. And there's a wow factor to it, and that's who we are. Oh, and by the way, we've pinched the first spot at the beginning of the conference season by doing things differently. That's literally who we are.
Speaker 8The Reform UK podcast was produced and presented by me, Ray Addison. Tickets for this year's conference are on sale until midnight on Monday. So if you want to snap them up, visit ReformPartyconference.co.uk. Thanks to Nigel, Sarah, Rob, Andrew, Suela, Richard, and of course, you for listening. If you'd like to chat about the show, you can join the Reform UK podcast community on Facebook. You can also follow me at Ray Addison Live on X. And if you happen to see me at conference, please come up and say hello and let me know that you've been listening. We'll be back again on Monday. Goodbye.
