Leo McKinstry Reform start off 2026 as the ones to watch

REFORM UK begins the new year in the same commanding position that it started 2025.

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Far from collapsing under the pressure of intensified scrutiny, as Nigel Farage's enemies had hoped, his party flourished throughout the year.Reform's continuing domination of the British political landscape is a remarkable achievement, given it has only five MPs and was created just seven years ago.

In that short space of time, it has become a formidable, vote-winning machine. Its current total of over 268,000 paid-up members makes it Britain's largest political party, having recently overtaken Labour, whose activist base has reportedly shrunk under Keir Starmer to 250,000.

For Reform, organisational muscle is accompanied by sustained popularity. Farage's party has topped 175 consecutive opinion polls, with an average lead of 10 points. If such figures were replicated at the next General Election, the outcome would be a crushing Parliamentary majority for Reform. The party's depth of support is further illustrated by the results of municipal contests in 2025.