Corporate Britain is getting flirty with Nigel Farage

LONDON — Nigel Farage is getting used to victory rallies — but Reform UK’s upcoming annual conference is going to have a distinctly different feel.

The insurgent right-wing party’s consistent national poll lead, its success in this year’s local elections, and a turbulent first year for incumbent Prime Minister Keir Starmer has British businesses scrambling to suss out the motivations of Farage’s outfit — even if that means holding their noses.

“There’s been a huge drive recently, especially since the local elections and just before that due to the polling,” Reform’s director of external affairs Matthew MacKinnon says. “There’s been positive intrigue from people who say they want to meet, or say their clients or businesses are interested by what Reform are proposing — and they want to get to know us and get a better understanding.”

It’s led, MacKinnon tells POLITICO in an interview, to a “massive” increase in the number of corporate representatives and lobbyists planning their first outing to Reform’s annual conference in September — which unlike the four day gatherings hosted by Westminster’s established parties, will run for just two.

While conference for Labour and the Conservatives typically take place across entire exhibition centers and hotel complexes within a heavily guarded ring of steel, Farage’s set-piece event is set to take up just one part of Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. It’s a space they’ll share on the first day with a convention for Vtubers, who adopt anime avatars to stream games to adoring online followers.

Despite the novel setup, Ian Silvera, associate director at public relations firm SEC Newgate, says the surge in business interest around Reform and its budding policy platform is real. It’s now “incumbent” on the industry to show up and take the pulse of Team Farage, he argues.

“I think there’s an element of wanting to figure out the party, so the main goal here is to get in front of the main decision-makers and understand how this new party works,” he says.

Shift in strategy

That’s going to require a shift in expectations among corporate guests accustomed to filling their conference diaries with face-to-face meetings and panel events with key Labour and Tory players.

Instead, according to one public affairs professional, granted anonymity to discuss internal business thinking, attempting to engage with Reform’s flood of new local councillors is now a must. It’s an approach which would be dismissed as a colossal waste of resources at other party conferences.

“There’s a wild but not unimaginable world where these people are actually very senior stakeholders in government a few years from now, so you’ve got to take the time to know Reform now, but also track it as it grows,” they say. “We are in this unusual circumstance where the party is still being established.”

Targeting those on the lowest rung of elected office may seem outlandish to seasoned conference lobbyists.

But Gawain Towler, Reform’s former head of press and now a senior adviser to consultancy firm Bradshaw Advisory, insists even bagging that level of engagement could prove tough given the party’s pitch as outsiders to the Westminster machine.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage attends a post-election event at the Staffordshire County Showground in Stafford, Britain, 02 May 2025. Adam Vaughan/EPA

“I’ve had people say, Gawain, can you organize a lunch with the leaders of various county councils? No, I can’t. Absolutely not,” Towler says.

“The idea that they’re going to spend their time at this event sitting down with business people — you’ve got to be kidding me,” he says. “They’re not that sort of people. We don’t have a tradition of hunkering down with interested parties in the same way that others do.”

But for those determined to make their presence known, the party is offering a range of corporate sponsorship packages for conference, ranging from £25,000 to £250,000. These will offer those who fork out the cash additional opportunities to network with Reform’s leadership and promote their brand to the party faithful.

Such cash-for-clout deals are a common feature of the political conference circuit. Reform’s MacKinnon admits firms may not have the “urgency” at this stage in the election cycle to warrant that bigger showing, and public affairs professionals agree that putting budgets toward lobbying the incumbent Labour administration remains the wisest choice.

Towler — now running for a seat on Reform’s governing board — insists some firms are still scared to even attend the conference due to the potential reputational risk of associating with Farage. There remains a perception, Towler says, that those on the winning side of the Brexit referendum are simply “evil bastards.”

“With corporates there’s still a lot of reticence,” he notes. “I’ve literally had people say I’d like to come along to one of your events but don’t tell anybody I’m coming.

“Just grow up. We’ve always had support amongst entrepreneurs, the people who can make decisions for themselves. But as soon as you get to having a board, or having shareholders, there is fear.”

Both MacKinnon and Towler agree that the party’s sudden growth in popularity has exposed significant gaps in its policymaking machine — and so firms willing to dip their toe in the water at these early stages will have better access and opportunities to put meat on the bones of a future Reform agenda.

“We’ve been quite honest when we meet people — those that engage earlier on will have a stronger, longer relationship with us, as you can expect,” MacKinnon says. “That’s just the way it is in every industry and in every sector. So, we are encouraging early engagement, and when we say that to people they understand it fully.”

It’s why Nick King, managing director of public affairs firm Henham Strategy, is encouraging his clients to be “flexible” about their expectations. Contact-building in the conference bar may prove more valuable than showing up armed with a detailed policy demand.

“I don’t think people are exactly clear about how the whole two days is going to pan out, or what the opportunities will be to engage,” he says. “But it’s clear to us that it’s better to be in the room and at the venue, than not in the room and not at the venue.”

John Johnston is the author of London Influence, POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on lobbying, transparency and campaigning in British politics.