Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has hit back at Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claims the Reform UK membership numbers are fake. The row hhas escalated into a full-blown political confrontation over party membership numbers, with both sides trading accusations of deception.
The dispute ignited when Badenoch accused Reform UK of manipulating their membership counter, claiming on social media platform X that the numbers were “coded to tick up automatically.” She dismissed the figures as “fake,” asserting that Conservative technical staff had been monitoring the system’s backend, and added Farage wasn’t up to speed in the digital age.
Farage, the Reform UK leader, responded to the allegations, pointing to his substantial social media following of 5.4 million compared to Badenoch’s 320,000. “We understand you are bitter, upset and angry that we are now the second biggest party in British politics, and that the Conservative brand is dying under your leadership,” Farage stated, challenging the Conservatives to submit to an independent audit.
The confrontation intensified when Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf entered the fray, directly challenging Badenoch’s technical expertise. “Repeatedly calling yourself an ‘engineer’ doesn’t mean you know anything about technology,” Yusuf said, explaining that their membership counter pulls live data from Nationbuilder’s API.
In a significant escalation, both Reform UK leaders proposed a mutual audit by one of the Big Four accounting firms to verify membership numbers of both parties. They also made counter-allegations about Conservative Party membership figures, with Farage claiming whistleblowers could testify that the Conservatives had sent ballots to “long expired or resigned ex-members.”
Badenoch, who has positioned herself as a voice for “hard, unvarnished truths” in the Conservative Party, maintains that the country needs courage rather than rage to address its challenges. “We’re in opposition because previous governments made mistakes. We HAVE to do things differently,” she stated, emphasizing the need for truthful political discourse.
This public spat highlights growing tensions between the Conservative Party and Reform UK, as the latter claims to have overtaken the Conservatives as Britain’s second-largest political party. The dispute over membership numbers has become a proxy battle in the larger struggle for political legitimacy and support base.
Both parties now face pressure to substantiate their claims, with Reform UK’s challenge for a mutual audit putting the spotlight on the Conservative Party to accept or move on. As this controversy unfolds, it underscores the increasingly competitive nature of Britain’s political landscape heading into 2025.
