Nigel Farage tells Reform supporters how he can become PM by 2029

Nigel Farage insisted Reform UK can produce a “truly astonishing” result at the general election as he rallied a record party conference crowd.

Arriving on stage at Birmingham’s NEC to fireworks and rock music, he said the “sky is the limit” at a time when disenchantment with the major parties has “never been greater”.

Mr Farage said the first “test of fire” would be local elections next May when he hopes to take a number of county councils and Brexit heartlands like Doncaster in South Yorkshire as well as Thurrock in Kent.

He told the conference that if the party “gets May right” it can “produce a result that is truly astonishing”.

Mr Farage said Reform UK represents the “silent decent majority” of the country.

Mr Farage said: “What we have to do is to be credible. What we have to do is to be on the ground everywhere. What we have to do is to show that we can bring success after success after success.

“If we do those things, we genuinely can – I never thought I’d say this – but I genuinely believe we can change the future of politics. We can change the future of our country.

“We can perhaps get back a little bit of pride in what it is to be British, what it is to respect our history, what it is to stand up for our values, what it is to understand the Judeo-Christian culture underpins everything we are, everything we’ve ever stood for, everything we believe.”

Mr Farage is using the conference to “relinquish” control of Reform UK as he gives up his majority shareholder position.

Reform UK Ltd has been a registered company, unlike most other political parties, and was previously registered as the Brexit Party from 2018-2021.

That will change today when members vote on a new constitution.

Mr Farage said the party had grown up and had “come of age” after putting its “teenage tantrums” behind it.

And he insisted his promise to professionalise the party was on track and insisted there would be no vetting scandals in the future after a number of candidates were found to have dubious pasts during the election.

The party leader told members he was upset about how governments had operated in the years since the Brexit vote because of “the damage it does to democracy”.

“The last few years since Boris won in 2019 has been one of a complete breach of trust with the British public on a truly historic scale,” the Reform UK leader told the party conference.

“I was upset about it with the damage it does to democracy, but also upset about it because don’t forget I stood aside in that 2019 general election because we wanted to get Brexit all over the line.”

In a reference to the donor scandal surrounding Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Farage began his speech by searching his pockets.

“Just give me a second,” he said, before the Clacton MP pulled out a pair of glasses.

He said: “Do you like them?

“Very expensive but guess what, I bought them myself, how about that?”

He added: “Have you ever known a new Prime Minister get off to a worse start than Keir Starmer?”

Delegates in the crowd replied: “No”

Mr Farage added: “It’s truly shocking. I mean, the message of ‘things can only get worse’ is hardly inspiring, is it?

“And now we’re living in a state, and you all know it, but they’ll deny it in Westminster until the cows come home, we’re living in a state with two-tier policing.

“We’re living in a state with two-tier justice. We’re living in a state that is led by two-tier Keir and we’ve had enough already.”

Lee Anderson, a former Tory deputy chairman, insisted Reform UK will win “hundreds of seats” at council elections in 2025.

Speaking at his party’s conference in Birmingham, the chief whip told members: “Next year, we’re going to win hundreds of seats, council seats, across the country – that’s a fact.

“But we must take this fight to Parliament so we can take back control of our country and win the 2019 general election and put Nigel in Number 10.

“Friends, we can do this but we can only do it if we stand strong. The establishment absolutely hate us. They want us gone but we’re going nowhere.”

Mr Anderson said it was a disgrace that the small boats crisis had not been tackled.

“Over the past two years nearly 150,000 illegal migrants have crossed this Channel and been picked up by British boats and then placed in four-star hotels, given free legal advice and then allowed to settle in our country. It’s a disgrace,” he said.

“90% of these arrivals are young men, some destined for a life of crime. We have seen it before. They have come to this country and committed all sorts of horrific crimes, and our governments have passed three Acts of Parliament to stop the boats and they still keep coming.”