Free from fear or favour
No tracking. No cookies

Why Reform UK is Far-Right – and why Using the Right Terminology Matters

As Reform UK draws the UK’s media eye at a press conference today, Hope Not Hate argues it’s time for journalists to call it out

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a party event on June 27. Photo: ZUMA Press, Inc / Alamy
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a party event on June 27. Photo: ZUMA Press, Inc / Alamy

Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on ‘what the papers don’t say’ – without fear or favour.

To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis.

What do we mean when we say far-right? In the words of Cas Mudde, a leading academic on populism and extremism: “Reform UK is far-right. That is not an opinion, that is a fact.”

While “far-right” is a contested term, most academics and experts generally agree that it includes certain key beliefs and themes, such as racist and xenophobic rhetoric, the undermining of democratic process, attacks on human rights and the principle that all human beings are equal, and a populist, conspiratorial belief in a sinister “elite”.

Reform UK fits all of the above.

Reform Party Candidates Continue to Make Richard Tice’s Insistence the Party is not Far-Right Seem Questionable – Here’s More Examples

For the second time this week Byline Times exposes more Reform UK candidates sharing content from far-right influencers and commentators

The terms far-right and fascist are often mistakenly interchangeable, creating an inaccurate expectation that the label “far-right” should only be applied to swastika-waving skinheads and Third Reich apologists.

Despite having attracted its fair share of these sorts of extremists, Reform UK itself is not fascist. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t far-right.

“Far-right” is an umbrella term, and while useful, it is not a monolith, so academics and experts split it into its constituent parts.

EXCLUSIVE

Reform UK Facebook Groups Rife with Far-Right Sentiment and Support for Riots

From conspiracy theories to spats over Tommy Robinson, Reform UK supporter groups are kicking off amid Britain’s racist riots

The historians David Renton and Neil Davidson essentially divide the right of the political spectrum into conservatives, the non-fascist far-right, and fascism. In these definitions, Reform UK sits comfortably in the “non-fascist far-right” category.

Similarly, Mudde breaks down the term far-right further into the following:


The Reluctance to Use the Term

Reform UK is adamant that it is not far-right and is willing to litigate the point, leading to many journalists and media outlets fearing legal repercussions for describing the party accurately.

Former leader Richard Tice claimed that news organisations using the term were “defamatory and libellous”, while many voters of the party genuinely see themselves not as extreme or fringe, but as ordinary, normal exemplars of “the people”.

The Politics of Farage and Reform is No Joke of a Matter – The Established Media Must Learn Its Lessons and Start Holding Them to Account

The normalisation of racism and dog-whistles will only get worse if the press continues to treat Farage as an entertaining figure representing the ‘real views’ of the British people – it must stop, writes Byline Times’ Editor

However, their refusal to self-identify as far-right doesn’t mean that they aren’t.

The failure to accurately describe policies and statements by supposedly “mainstream” commentators and politicians is a key factor in the normalisation of far-right politics.

The term “far-right” still has some power and if accurately deployed it can help slow or maybe even reverse the normalisation and mainstreaming of far-right parties and politicians like Reform UK and Farage.


For decades, Farage has made overtly racist and xenophobic remarks and propagated antisemitic conspiracy theories.

He has spent years collaborating, befriending and showering praise for a wide range of far-right politicians across the world.

Nigel Farage unveils and discusses UKIP's new 'Breaking Point' poster in June 2016. Photo: Mark Thomas / Alamy
Nigel Farage unveils and discusses UKIP’s new ‘Breaking Point’ poster in June 2016. Photo: Mark Thomas / Alamy

While leader of UKIP and as an MEP, Farage worked closely with a range of far-right parties as part of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group which included Lega Nord, the Danish People’s Party, Finns Party and the Slovak National Party.

In 2014, Farage was widely criticised for joining forces with the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party with Nazi roots. Farage is friendly with and openly admires far-right leaders like Donald Trump, Georgia Meloni, Marie Le Pen and Victor Orban.

How Nigel Farage, Major Media Outlets and Ofcom ‘Normalised Islamophobia and Then Justified It’

Farage would be cancelled if he said the same things about Jews as he does Muslims – yet he gets endless airtime

Reform UK and its leader Farage fit comfortably within the definition of the far-right. 

Key reasons include:

We must not shy away from calling Reform UK what they are – far-right.

Reform UK has repeatedly used racist and xenophobic rhetoric, attacking human rights and rejecting key principles of liberal democracy.

Nigel Farage’s Nationalism Exposed: Champion of ‘Little England’ Courts Global Elites at Nomad Capitalist Event

While the Reform leader portrays himself as a champion of England’s white working class, his personal actions align far more with the interests of the ultra-wealthy and global elites

Farage may posit himself as the defender of the “people” against the elites, but he is the UK highest earning MP – hardly a man of the people.

Not using the correct terminology is a key factor in normalising Reform UK’s harmful and dangerous politics. It’s time to call a spade a spade. 

HOPE not hate builds hope and counters the politics of hate through research, campaigning and community engagement. We focus on the organised far right, the communities that are susceptible to them and the issues and policies which give rise to them.


Written by

This article was filed under
, , , ,