Nigel Farage confusion forces UK magazine to change name - 'it was ours first!'
A huge 86% of readers of the national publication supported the name change.
An exasperated protestant church has changed the name of its magazine after it was repeatedly mistaken for Reform UK content.
The United Reformed Church (URC), which has about 44,000 members across 1,250 congregations, rebranded its magazine from Reform to Reformed after readers became "fed up" with being confused for Nigel Farage's party.
A huge 86% of readers of the national publication supported the change. The magazine's editor pointed out that the URC is not attached to any political party, and it "does not want the name of its magazine to suggest that it is".
The "fresh and challenging magazine" explores theology, ethics, personal spirituality and Christian perspectives on social and current affairs.
Stephen Tomkins said: "We’d talked about changing the name for a few years as Reform UK became more prominent. But at first, we took the view: ‘It was our name first!’”
But he said they started to get feedback from readers that the name was "causing confusion and consternation in local churches", which led to the poll and subsequent change.
"The URC’s General Assembly has taken positions on public issues that are at odds with Reform UK policy, e.g. on migration and asylum, but Reform UK is not the only UK party for whom this is true."
The senior Church of England bishop spoke out against Mr Farage's migration policies last year. Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said the Reform UK proposal to "send them all back", including returning migrants to war-torn countries, would go against the "British way".
He warned that the UK "cannot simply close the door" and plans to remove 600,000 asylum seekers, including children, were "beneath us as a nation".
Mr Farage has previously stated the need for "Judeo-Christian" values. He came under widespread criticism after appointing a right-wing theologian who opposes abortion as his adviser, professor James Orr.
Polling last year suggested that support for Reform was growing among Christians. Some 38% of Anglicans said they were 'highly' likely to vote for Farage's party. In the 2024 election, 15% of Anglicans voted Reform.
