Nigel Farage has escalated his dispute with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch over Reform UK’s membership figures, directly challenging her during a party conference in Chelmsford yesterday.
The confrontation follows Badenoch’s Boxing Day accusation that Reform UK’s online membership counter was “a fake, coded to tick up automatically”.
During Saturday’s Reform UK East of England Conference, Farage dramatically paused his speech to display a mobile phone showing the party’s membership reaching 170,000.
Looking directly into a camera lens, Farage addressed his rival: “Kemi, are you watching on the livestream?”
The conference took place at Chelmsford City Racecourse, within Badenoch’s North West Essex constituency, where she secured a 2,610 majority over Labour in July.
Several media outlets, including The Spectator and Financial Times, had previously investigated Reform UK’s membership counter, reporting that the code appeared to function properly.
The party’s online tally has become a focal point of contention between the two political figures.
The MP for Clacton reported that 900,000 people had watched the previous day’s party conference in Leicester via livestreams, where Farage had declared “the gloves are off” for the next election.
In a direct challenge to Badenoch, Farage described her as a “ranting conspiracy theorist” during his conference speech.
“Kemi, because you’ve been so rude, so unpleasant, the accusations you’ve made against me are so wrong, I promise you, we as a party now will put time, money, resource (and) this will become a target seat for us at the next general election,” Farage declared.
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A person hugs Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during the Reform UK East of England conference at Chelmsford City Racecourse.
PA
Despite Farage’s threat, a seat-by-seat projection by Stonehaven, published in The i paper, suggests North West Essex would remain under Conservative control.
The model indicates Reform would secure 120 Commons seats at the next election, while Labour would hold 278 MPs.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf told supporters that more than 46,000 people had joined the party in the last two weeks of December alone.
Yusuf asked conference attendees to give a “big Reform round of applause” to the Tory leader, crediting her “ill-advised outburst” for making Reform UK “the talk not just of the UK but of the western world”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during the Reform UK East of England conference at Chelmsford City Racecourse
PA
In a further challenge to Badenoch’s claims, Farage announced plans to gather all Reform UK members and supporters in North West Essex at a large venue on January 31.
The meeting aims to take a group photo to prove to the opposition leader that their members are genuine.
Lee Anderson, speaking at the conference, turned his attention to Labour leadership, referring to Sir Keir Starmer as “never here Keir”.
Anderson criticised the current Labour Government, stating: “This Labour Government are doing the impossible – they’re making things worse”.
He continued his critique of Labour’s front bench, saying: “We’ve got free gear Keir, or never here Keir. We’ve got Rachel from accounts. We’ve got the no-brainer Angela Rayner”.
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