Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Understanding – and defeating – Farage and Reform UK
NICK WRIGHT dissects the contradictory views of Reform UK voters, finding significant opportunities for the left to challenge far-right narratives by addressing its voters’ legitimate economic concerns
NIGEL’S BARMY ARMY: The Reform UK leader addresses Clacton from a jeep during his 2024 general election campaign

THE rioting over recent weeks has a hinterland in a poisonous narrative perpetuated by Establishment party politicians. In particular, the small boats issue — culminating in a last-gasp electoral device by the Tories but sustained by the hypocrisy of the political class as a whole — gave an impetus to Nigel Farage’s electoral vehicle, Reform UK.

Anti-refugee, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment run through our monopoly media, and successive Tory governments share a poisonous politics that has made migration the issue on which much formal politics turns.

These riots drew in wide circles of people well beyond the minuscule fractions of fascists who, despite their pretensions, have little organisational reach, are thoroughly surveilled, and deeply penetrated.

Digital demagogues and anti-social media

The Farage paradox: Reform UK is all mixed up

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is accompanied by councillor Brian Collins (left) and the Head of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran (right) as he poses for a photo with members of Kent County Council, County Hall, Maidstone, July 7, 2025
Features / 17 July 2025
17 July 2025

Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT

Re your message in #nujchapel:  If we website looks like shit, no-one is going to take us seriously, or be inclined to subscribe - that's why I think we have to prioritise the way it looks, especially when the site (editorial-wise) is largely working.  When it comes to the issues you mentioned to me the other day (word count, curly quotes, bylines), there are quick and easy work arounds for them (copy and paste text into BBedit, Word, Pages, wordcount.com, etc. Leave curly quotes, bylines, etc to the web de
Democracy / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

From Gaza complicity to welfare cuts chaos, Starmer’s baggage accumulates, and voters will indeed find ‘somewhere else’ to go — to the Greens, nationalists, Lib Dems, Reform UK or a new, working-class left party, writes NICK WRIGHT

Jack Murillo, a Marine veteran, holds a sign in front of law enforcement guarding a federal building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Los Angeles
Features / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025

There is no doubt that Trump’s regime is a right-wing one, but the clash between the state apparatus and the national and local government is a good example of what any future left-wing formation will face here in Britain, writes NICK WRIGHT

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, delivers a speech about Europe's role in a fragmented world in Berlin, Germany, May 26, 2025
Trump's Tariffs / 5 June 2025
5 June 2025

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde sees Trump’s many disruptions as an opportunity to challenge the dollar’s ‘exorbitant privilege’ — but greater Euro assertiveness will also mean greater warmongering and militarism, warns NICK WRIGHT

Similar stories
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Immigration / 24 April 2025
24 April 2025

The left must avoid shouting ‘racist’ and explain that the socialist alternative would benefit all 

ANGER GROWS: Protesters demonstrate in Dover against migrant
Features / 10 April 2025
10 April 2025
The left must confront both far-right bigotry and the undeniable problems the exploitation of migrant workers by the ruling class creates — but there are few lessons from the global left on how to strike this balance, laments NICK WRIGHT
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during the Reform UK
Features / 11 March 2025
11 March 2025
NICK WRIGHT examines how Farage’s party has attracted five distinct voter tribes with incompatible views on economics, immigration and state intervention — presenting both a challenge and opportunity for left organising
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage smoking outside the Westminste
Features / 12 September 2024
12 September 2024
As angry voters reject austerity, social insecurity and endless war across Europe, the left should be the beneficiary instead of the far right. NICK WRIGHT looks at the ideological hangups holding us back from connecting to these dissenters