REFORM IN TROUBLE

Reform UK’s largest-ever annual conference kicked off this week in Birmingham, with party leader Nigel Farage and senior figures setting out a detailed vision for how they would govern if they win the next UK general election. The event, running through September 5 at the NEC, has drawn a bigger crowd than last year, including business leaders and international guests such as Jordan Bardella of France’s National Rally. Organizers described the tone as “very serious,” focused on concrete 100-day pledges rather than slogans.

The timing is significant. After a turbulent summer that included a Clacton by-election and questions over party donations, Reform is trying to project readiness for power. Recent polls have shown the party slipping from its earlier lead, with Labour recovering ground after the change in prime minister. Farage’s personal ratings have also declined. The conference is an attempt to reset the narrative and demonstrate policy seriousness.

The most eye-catching announcement came from Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick. He said a Reform government would aim to cut public spending by more than £100 billion in its first 100 days. The breakdown he outlined includes:

•  Around £50 billion from welfare reforms.

•  £20–30 billion from other departments through measures such as scaling back net-zero programs, reducing the size of the civil service to pre-Covid levels, cutting foreign aid, and defunding or abolishing certain quangos (public bodies). Jenrick specifically mentioned that bodies such as Natural England could lose funding within days of a Reform government taking office.

•  Nearly £30 billion in lower debt-interest payments if borrowing costs could be brought closer to French levels.

Jenrick argued these savings would create room for tax cuts aimed at working people and would send a signal of fiscal credibility to financial markets. He promised an emergency Budget shortly after any election victory to set out the details. Labour immediately condemned the plans as “half-baked” and “incredibly reckless,” saying they lacked specifics on which services would be affected and risked hospitals, schools, and policing.

Housing, Planning, and Tax Incentives

Deputy leader Richard Tice used the conference to push planning and housing reforms. He proposed making it easier to build on brownfield sites by slashing environmental rules, including biodiversity net-gain requirements and certain habitat regulations. The party also floated a “property equivalent of an ISA” that would make new buy-to-let homes tax-free, with the goal of boosting supply and encouraging private investment in housing.

These ideas sit alongside longer-standing Reform policies on immigration, energy, and regulation that the party says it would move quickly to implement.

A Broader Year of Reform

While the Birmingham conference is the most immediate story this week, 2026 has already been a year of significant policy change elsewhere. In the United States, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (also called the Working Families Tax Cuts) — signed in July 2025 — continues to roll out. It made the 2017 tax cuts permanent, altered Medicaid and ACA rules, introduced new child savings accounts, and advanced a large-scale deregulatory agenda. Implementation of work requirements, coverage changes, and tax provisions has been unfolding throughout 2026, with mixed early data on health coverage and food-assistance enrollment.

Other countries have also introduced notable rule changes this month. Canada, for example, is rolling out new counter-tariffs on U.S. goods, an expanded disability benefit, and the return of certain fuel taxes.

Reform UK’s conference is the latest example of a political party trying to translate discontent into a specific governing program. Whether the numbers add up and whether voters find the trade-offs acceptable will be tested if and when an election is called. For now, the party is using this week in Birmingham to argue that the scale of change it proposes is both necessary and deliverable.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​