Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage said he is modelling his party’s strategy on that of Preston Manning, who led Canada’s Reform Party to form the official Opposition in the 1997 federal election.
Following a speech by Manning at Reform UK’s annual conference on Sept. 5 in Birmingham, England, Farage said Manning had been his “inspiration,” and that he named his party after the Canadian Reform Party.
“I saw what they did in Canada. It was transformational. They took it over, they destroyed the existing Progressive Party, they won government, and put Canada back on the right track,” Farage said.
Farage’s Reform UK is currently leading in the polls in the United Kingdom, with Politico’s polling aggregator indicating the party now has 31 percent support compared to 21 percent for the governing Labour Party, 17 percent for the Conservatives, 13 percent for the Liberal Democrats, and 10 percent for the Green Party. The next election is scheduled for August 2029, but could be held sooner if the prime minister dissolves Parliament early, or a vote of non-confidence passes….