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Reform UK kicked off this year’s party conference season at the NEC in Birmingham. This time last year the party was riding a sustained wave of polling and electoral success. Twelve months on, the picture is more nuanced.

May’s local elections again confirmed Reform as a major electoral force, despite a weaker-than expected performance in London. But a reviving Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch, alongside the emergence of Restore Britain, means that the political landscape on the right is more fragmented than it was a year ago. 

Rather than simply demonstrating electoral momentum, this year’s conference was centred on the theme of “The First 100 Days”, signalling a greater emphasis on their vision for government. The programme focused on four headline pledges – improving education, cutting energy bills, stopping the boats and cutting taxes – with each frontbench spokesperson committing to resign if they fail to deliver their pledge.

From insurgent to established

Like last year, Reform entered conference following another successful set of local election results. In May 2026 the party gained 1,452 councillors, took control of 14 local authorities and left a number of councils that elect by thirds under no overall control.

Having established itself as a significant electoral force, Reform increasingly appears to be transitioning from an insurgent movement into a more established political party. That was reflected in the tone of conference, which placed greater emphasis on demonstrating governing credibility and developing policy across a wider range of issues rather than simply celebrating electoral breakthroughs.

A tougher political landscape

Reform no longer enjoys the polling advantage it held 12 months ago. The majority of recent polls now place Labour narrowly ahead of Reform, following what appears to have been a polling bounce under Prime Minister Andy Burnham. At the same time, Nigel Farage’s personal ratings have declined with the latest YouGov polling finding him to be the least popular leader of the main political parties. 

Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch has overseen a recovery in Conservative support. The Conservatives are now polling at 20%, higher than this time last year, while Badenoch’s personal favourability ratings have improved significantly.

Competition on the political right has also increased. Restore Britain, founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, is polling nationally at around 4%. While still a significant distance behind the larger parties nationally, its emergence raises questions about whether competition on the right could make it harder for Reform to recreate the polling highs it enjoyed over the past year.

Interestingly, Restore is polling at around the same level that Reform was when it rebranded from the Brexit Party in 2021, illustrating how smaller parties can establish themselves before building wider electoral support. Restore’s clean sweep of the seats it contested in this year’s Great Yarmouth local elections (under the banner “Great Yarmouth First”) also suggests it may have scope to expand its electoral presence.

With Labour, Reform and the Conservatives now polling only a few percentage points of one another, Britain’s political landscape appears considerably more competitive than it did a year ago.

The mood inside the conference

My LCA colleague who attended described a conference aimed at party activists rather than commercial visitors. The exhibition area combined campaign stalls, panel discussions, merchandise, novelty installations, fast food trucks and bars, while the programme itself prioritised keynote speeches and set-piece events over detailed policy debate.

He described the atmosphere as close to an American-style political rally than a traditional party conference, reflecting Reform’s growing financial resources following a series of significant donations over the past year. The scale of production, together with light shows and music, reinforced the sense that conference was designed as much to energise supporters as to communicate policy.

He also noted the visibility of party chairman Zia Yusuf throughout the conference, attracting significant attention from delegates and underlining his increasingly prominent position within the party. His profile at the conference is also likely to add to speculation about Reform’s longer-term leadership, particularly following increased scrutiny of Farage has prompted wider discussion about potential successors. Both Yusuf and Robert Jenrick MP have featured prominently in media speculation over who could eventually lead the party.

The conference was, however, partly overshadowed by events away from the main stage. A Channel 4 undercover investigation into alleged discussions around political donations prompted two senior Reform advisers to step down, while the Metropolitan Police subsequently launched a criminal investigation into alleged breaches of political donation rules. Reform has denied wrongdoing and said it will cooperate fully with the investigation.

The built environment finally gets some attention

One of the main conclusions from Reform’s conference last year was how little attention was given to housing, planning and development. This year that changed. 

Reform is continuing its efforts to broaden its policy offer beyond the issues on which it first built electoral support. At the party’s Business Day, Deputy Leader Richard Tice MP, himself a former property developer, launched Reform’s Planning Teal Paper, providing the clearest indication yet of how the party would approach planning and development if elected to government.

Among the proposals are removing most affordable housing obligations outside five major cities, reducing the requirement in those cities to 5% on-site affordable housing, and scrapping Section 106 payments, the Community Infrastructure Levy, biodiversity rules and a number of building standards for brownfield schemes. The Teal Paper also proposes a presumption in favour of approval for most brownfield housing developments, abolishing strategic plans such as the London Plan, and limiting local plans to five years.

During a conference panel session, the Home Builders Federation said it had engaged positively with Reform ahead of the publication of the Teal Paper and welcomed both a number of the proposals and the party’s willingness to engage with the sector.

These proposals are currently under consultation, so it remains to be seen how they evolve into a fully developed planning programme. Nevertheless, they represent a significant step forward in Reform articulating a more comprehensive built environment policy than was evident at last year’s conference.

What comes next?

Reform remains one of the most significant electoral forces in British politics today but unlike twelve months ago, it no longer enjoys the clear political momentum it did a year ago. 

Competition on the political right has intensified, the Conservatives have recovered ground in the polls and Reform’s own challenge is shifting from proving it can break through to demonstrating it can sustain momentum while continuing to develop a credible programme for government.

With almost three years until the next general election, there is still considerable political ground to cover. But this year’s conference suggested that Reform increasingly sees its next challenge not as establishing itself as a serious political force, but convincing voters that it is ready to govern.