Reform conference starts with Farage's party eyeing 2029 election win

Reform UK's conference will kick-off in Birmingham at lunchtime today with Nigel Farage's party insisting they can win the next general election.

After winning five seats in the House of Commons at this year's election in July, Reform are claiming they can replace Labour in power in 2029.

Mr Farage will use his keynote address to the party's conference this afternoon to issue a 'clarion call for change'.

He became an MP at the eighth time of asking in July as he was elected to represent Clacton in Parliament.

But the ex-UKIP leader has now found himself facing questions over his claim that he cannot hold in-person constituency surgeries in his Essex seat due to security fears.

He said he had been advised not to hold 'old-style' physical meetings to address locals' issues in case they 'flow through the door' carrying blades 'in their pockets'.

'Do I have an office in Clacton? Yes. Am I allowing the public to flow through the door with their knives in their pockets? No, no I'm not,' Mr Farage told LBC radio.

But the Speaker's Office and Parliament's security team are understood to have no recollection of telling Mr Farage he should not hold in-person surgeries in his constituency.

Sources said neither would have advised any MP not to hold a surgery because this would interfere with their democratic duties, but would instead have offered security advice on how measures could be taken to ensure their safety.

There is no record of such advice ever having been given to Mr Farage.

As well as a speech by Mr Farage, Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice, chairman Zia Yousuf and MPs Lee Anderson, Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock are set to address the party's two-day conference in Birmingham.

Mr Anderson, Reform's chief whip, is expected to target significant gains at next year's local elections and general election victory in 2029 in his conference speech this afternoon.

He will say: 'We have five MPs and we are growing our membership and support every day. Next year we will win hundreds of council seats across the UK.

'We must take this fight to Parliament so we can take back control of our country and in 2029 win the general election.'

Mr Anderson was Reform's first MP after he joined the party in March following his suspension from the Conservatives over 'Islamophobic' comments about London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

James McMurdock, whose victory in South Basildon and East Thurrock was an unexpected gain for Reform, will also talk up the party's prospects in five years, saying the 2029 conference will be 'ready to welcome prime minister Nigel Farage'.

The conference comes a day after Mr Farage announced he was giving up ownership of Reform UK.

Unlike other political parties, Reform is a limited company of which Mr Farage is the majority shareholder.

But he yesterday announced he was changing the ownership structure so the party was owned by its members, saying: 'I no longer need to control this party.'