Farage rallies faithful at hard-right Reform UK annual meet

Although the next general election is not due for four years, the 61-year-old -- who rebranded his Brexit Party as immigration-fixated Reform in 2021 -- predicted Labour's struggles could force a contest far sooner.

"There is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027 and we must be ready for that moment," he told the crowd of Reform elected officials and members as the two-day event got underway.

Reeling off a list of issues -- from record-high immigration in recent years to sluggish economic growth and alleged free speech curbs -- Farage argued the UK was "in the most dangerous place it's been in my lifetime".

"We are the last chance... to get this country back on track."

Reform gathered in Birmingham buoyant after wins in May local elections and leading in most polls over the last six months, prompting a growing number of people to eye Farage as prime minister-in-waiting.

"He's amazing, empowering. He's what we need -- he's giving us hope," retiree Karen Dixon, 68, from northwest England, told AFP after hearing his address.

- Competence questions -

The past year has seen the party treble its membership to nearly 240,000, win five parliamentary seats -- though one MP has since been expelled from Reform's ranks over harassment claims -- and seize control of 12 local authorities across England.

The jubilant mood in Birmingham was bolstered after Nadine Dorries, a minister in the previous Conservative government, defected to Reform late Thursday.

She appeared on stage midway through Farage's speech to reiterate her argument that the Conservatives are "dead", while both hit out at the embattled Labour government.

Farage, a longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, brought his address forward by several hours to maximise its impact after Rayner quit Friday morning for not paying enough property tax on a new apartment she bought.

Earlier, thousands of Reform delegates flocked into the National Exhibition Centre as guest speakers took to the main stage with US-style razzmatazz amid flashing lights and a beats-laden soundtrack.

The party's adopted turquoise colour was ubiquitous around the venue, while some attendees sported Trump-style "Make Britain Great Again" caps.

Kings College London political scientist Anand Menon told AFP it was "a big conference for Reform".

Could Farage be prime minister? "It's a very long way away, but it's certainly possible," he said.

But Menon said potential Reform voters "are slightly worried about the lack of competence" and stressed the party must show it can "run a professional conference".

- No longer 'pariah' -

Philippa Franklin, 61, a Reform member from West Sussex, was unconcerned by concerns over competence.

"It's not rocket science," she told AFP. "You do what is asked of you by people who vote for you -- and that hasn't happened."

Hundreds of businesses were at the conference, with big-name firms including Heathrow Airport and JCB paying for a presence.

Former party spokesman Gawain Towler told AFP that the corporate turnout showed the party was "no longer the pariah it once was".

Two high-profile former Tory Cabinet ministers, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg, were also both listed on the agenda.

Farage, 61, an ex-commodities trader, was a fringe Eurosceptic rabble-rouser for years in the European parliament before transforming himself into an agenda-setting hard-right figurehead.

Winning election to parliament -– at the eighth attempt -- in July 2024, he has seized on the divisive issue of immigration to bolster Reform's fortunes.

In his speech Friday, Farage vowed to stop the arrival of migrant-packed small boats within two weeks of taking power, and broached the so-called culture wars.

Arguing Britons have "lost our sense of who we are", he added: "We refuse to acknowledge publicly the Judeo-Christian culture and heritage that we have, and that underpins everything that we are."

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