Reform UK: A Party ‘Breaking’ into Westminster and Raising Muslim Concerns

The results of the recent UK general elections, announced on July 4, 2024, in which Labour won by a significant margin over the ruling Conservatives, brought many surprises.

Chief among them was the result of the far-right Reform UK party, led by the controversial Nigel Farage, often dubbed the "British Trump."

With the entry of this extremist party into the British Parliament, known as the Palace of Westminster, located in central London just meters from the Prime Minister's office, Reform UK has become a key player in the country's political scene.

What does the Reform UK party aim to achieve? Why is its ascent troubling for Muslim and immigrant communities? What are the policies and visions of its leader, Nigel Farage, now a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons?

A Historical Precedent 

In a historic first, the Reform UK party, which holds extreme right-wing views, made a notable breakthrough by entering parliament, with its controversial leader Nigel Farage becoming an MP for the first time after eight attempts.

The far-right party succeeded in entering parliament following elections that reshaped the power dynamics within the British Parliament.

Out of 650 seats, Reform UK won 4 seats, a historic achievement as it previously had only one MP.

The party also secured the second-highest number of votes in many constituencies, often significantly surpassing the Conservatives, having garnered nearly 14% of the votes, translating to over 4 million votes.

Farage described his party's far-right populist win as extraordinary, adding in his first remarks to his supporters in the coastal town of Clacton-on-Sea that this is just the first step toward something that will astonish everyone in the future.

Origins and Ideology 

The party was officially founded in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating for the UK to leave the European Union without a deal.

In its first test, the party won the most seats in the 2019 European Parliament elections in the UK, but it did not win any seats in the 2019 general election.

The party achieved its main objective in January 2020 when the UK officially withdrew from the EU.

A year later, in January 2021, the party was renamed Reform UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the party directed its policies against lockdowns and social distancing measures, demanded a return to normal life, and opposed vaccinations, similar to the right-wing movements in Europe and the United States.

In 2022, Reform UK launched extensive campaigns on social media, demanding the government reduce immigration and prevent migrants from entering the country.

In an exclusive interview with the local magazine UnHerd, British politics professor Matthew Goodwin described the party as populist and right-wing.

However, in January 2024, Le Monde described Reform UK as a far-right party with nationalist ideas, adding that it held beliefs related to white supremacy.

In March 2024, the BBC described the party as far-right but quickly retracted and apologized after the description angered party leaders, including Farage.

On July 5, 2024, the French newspaper Monaco commented on the party's ideology after Farage's successful entry into the British Parliament.

"Farage is often compared to Donald Trump and hopes that this encouraging victory for his party will lead to achieving his long-term goal of becoming the main opposition force instead of the Conservatives by 2029," the newspaper said.

It cited Farage's confident statement, “My plan is to build a mass national movement over the course of the next few years, and hopefully it'll be big enough to challenge the general election properly in 2029."

Nigel Farage and his party are well-known for their strong anti-immigrant positions, and his victory in the first general election since Brexit signals significant changes in the political landscape.

It is worth noting that the rapid rise of the Brexit Party caught the admiration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who took a surprising and unprecedented step by calling Nigel Farage on the British radio station LBC on November 8, 2019, to praise him and declare his support.

Embryos of Hatred

One of Nigel Farage's primary goals during his campaign for the British Parliament in 2024 was to achieve a net migration rate of "zero."

The entry of Reform UK into Parliament represents a new and different scenario, as noted by The Times years ago.

On October 8, 2021, an editorial in the British magazine described the new far-right, led by Reform UK, as “embryos of hatred.”

It poses a danger to society despite its media savvy and operating within the law, the newspaper stated.

The same source further noted that the party represents a clear evolution in the ideas and ideology of the far-right in British politics.

For years, the far-right consisted of socially and culturally marginal groups, deluded admirers of Hitler who echoed his poison, waged campaigns against immigration, and fought battles with the left, it continued.

But today, things look different. The far-right has returned organized, composed of university graduates and politically astute individuals.

The newspaper highlighted an investigation revealing that the far-right, including Reform UK, believes the country is ready to embrace its message which is a nation discontented with ethnic minorities, angry at Islamists, and seeking strong leadership and simplified solutions to complex issues, it concluded.

Against Muslims

The Muslim community in Britain, which is targeted by the far-right Reform UK party, is significant.

There are about 2.8 million Muslims across the United Kingdom, constituting 4.4 percent of the country's population, according to British government statistics.

Nigel Farage's political history is filled with numerous instances of clear animosity towards Muslims.

Farage openly expresses his fear of what he calls the Islamization of British society and promotes the slogan of reclaiming Britain's independence.

During his election campaign and prior, Farage repeatedly voiced anti-immigrant sentiments.

He views foreigners and Muslims in the UK as a burden on British national identity and a threat to its cultural heritage.

There are strong leaders within the party who share Farage's views and are known for their hostility towards Islam and its symbols.

One such leader is British politician Catherine Blaiklock, whose social media pages are filled with racist comments against Muslims.

She warns of the control of Islamists over the country and attacks those with hijab and niqab.

She went further by suggesting that the increasing birth rate among British Muslims poses a danger to the country.

A Dark Future

In an interview with Al-Estiklal, London-based political activist Sohayb Farag stated that the rise of the Reform UK party and its entry into Parliament represents a dangerous shift with significant implications. The party received over 4 million votes, a substantial figure among the electorate.

Sohayb Farag explained that the increase in votes for the far-right party came largely from the right-wing supporters of the Conservative Party (the former ruling party), who were dissatisfied with the Conservatives' policies on immigrants and Muslims, as well as the economic crisis.

The political activist emphasized that the true danger and fear of a dark future lie in what Nigel Farage, the party leader, has announced and planned. Farage aims to be the true alternative to the Conservative Party and hopes to attract a large segment of its supporters to become an even more extreme and dangerous alternative.

Regarding the party's political ideology and stance on Muslims, Sohaib Farag noted that it is a far-right populist party, even if it tries to conceal this fact. Its dark propaganda betrays it.

Sohayb Farag cited the party's election campaign in some cities as an example, where they displayed an image of Britain 20 years ago with an English soldier holding a weapon and protecting a church, contrasted with a current image of a bearded Muslim man holding a weapon and protecting a mosque and crescent. The image was accompanied by warnings about the Islamic threat.

As for the party's stance on immigrants, a few months ago, a journalist from Channel 4 in England uncovered a scandal when he infiltrated a secret meeting within the Reform UK party with a hidden camera.

The shocking revelation came when the journalist exposed the party leaders' views on immigrants, advocating for shooting illegal immigrants without mercy and preventing them from reaching British soil, even through lethal means.