The far-right populist party Reform UK, which attracted attention during the UK general election period, secured seats for the first time in history and entered the parliament.
Reform UK secured at least 4 seats in the general election held on the 4th (local time). However, due to the nature of the single-member district system, many votes were wasted, and the actual vote share was calculated to have reached 14% of the total.
Earlier, exit polls from three local broadcasters predicted that Reform UK would have 13 elected members, including leader Nigel Farage. Farage, one of the architects of 'Brexit' (the UK's withdrawal from the European Union) and an advocate of anti-immigration policies, stated on social media, "It's incredible," and said, "A rebellion against the establishment is underway."
Reform UK, which started in 2018 under the name Brexit Party and later changed its name, had not elected any members to the House of Commons until the 2019 general election. After MP Lee Anderson left the Conservative Party earlier this year amid controversy over anti-Muslim remarks and joined Reform UK, it became a parliamentary party for the first time in the House of Commons.
Before the vote, Reform UK consistently maintained a support rate around 15% in opinion polls. This was higher than the centrist Liberal Democrats, whom experts predicted would become the third party with 61 seats in this exit poll.
Leader Farage himself achieved a 'seven times down, eight times up' victory by becoming an MP on his eighth attempt. He spread EU skepticism and pressured the UK government to hold a referendum, becoming a star of the far-right populist forces during the referendum and negotiation process. He also earned the nickname "British Trump" by positioning himself as an ally of former US President Donald Trump.
After the Brexit referendum victory, he said he had completed his mission and stepped down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), but immediately founded the Brexit Party and later changed its name to Reform UK. Since then, he has criticized the ruling Conservative Party and the leading Labour Party, declaring, "Reform UK will become the real opposition against Labour," and "We will reshape the landscape of British conservative right-wing politics."
However, they caused several controversies during the general election period. On the 21st of last month, in a BBC interview, Farage stated, "The continued eastward expansion of NATO and the EU gave him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) a justification to wage war on the Russian people." This was interpreted as blaming the Ukraine war on the expansion of Western alliances and drew criticism. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pointed out this as "playing into Putin's hands."
On the 27th of last month, Channel 4 broadcast a report after infiltrating Reform UK campaign workers in the Essex Clacton area where Farage was running. The report showed them conducting shooting practice targeting migrants crossing the English Channel by boat and using racist slurs against Prime Minister Sunak, who is of Indian descent, sparking further controversy.
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