The insider’s guide to Reform’s winning team – Nigel is just the start . hyn

Reform UK has rapidly gone from a start-up party to the biggest threat to the Westminster political establishment.

Nigel Farage‘s party is riding high in the polls, with a wave of defections bolstering its numbers in Parliament, and is now eying seats previously thought unwinnable by anyone other than the two traditional parties.

Its rise has been fuelled by popular policies and frustration with Labour and the Conservatives, but also by seasoned political operators, and newcomers, working together behind the scenes at their HQ.

Some cut their teeth in politics working for the Conservative Party or on the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union. Others worked in business before making the jump into politics to get behind Mr Farage.

Together these different groups make up the team trying to shatter the Westminster system for good, and as the party gears up for its conference in Birmingham, the Daily Express takes a look at the key figures shaping Reform UK’s fortunes – the household names, the rising stars, and the defectors turning heads in Westminster.

Here is our guide to who’s who in Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

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Obviously, no list about Reform UK could start without the man himself, Nigel Farage. A long-time political operator, Mr Farage is the member of Parliament for Clacton in Essex, and previously served as a Member of the European Parliament where he gained a reputation for winding up Eurocrats.

He first got involved in politics back in 1978, joining the Conservative Party only to leave in 1992 in protest at then-Prime Minister John Major signing up to the EU’s Maastricht treaty. That began a long career in Eurosceptic parties, initially as a co-founder of UKIP in 1993, a party he would go on to lead, and then as founder of the Brexit Party.

Mr Farage was instrumental in this country’s decisive vote to leave the European Union in 2016, and would continue that fight as battles took place in Parliament over how exactly to quit.

Reform UK was founded in 2019, with Mr Farage leading it for a while before stepping back to focus on other aspects of his career. He would return as leader in 2024, entering Parliament for the first time in the general election that same year. He has since seen the party’s support increase, and Reform UK went on to lead 300 opinion polls back to back.

You’ll be able to hear Mr Farage speak several times at the Reform UK conference, on the main stage.

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Reform UK’s Deputy Leader and a long time ally of Nigel Farage, Richard Tice has been there from the beginning. A businessman who was heavily involved as both co-founder and co-chairman of the Leave Means Leave campaign, Mr Tice currently serves as the MP for Boston and Skegness.

His first foray into politics was as a member and donor of the Conservative Party, where he took an interest in how the university system was failing students. A eurosceptic, Mr Tice was director of a business group that campaigned in the 90s for the UK to stay out of the Euro.

In 2015 he co-founded the Leave.EU group and donated to various campaigns to leave the EU, and was even named as one of the four “Bad Boys of Brexit”, before pushing for a no-deal break with Brussels.

Mr Tice would go on to become chairman of the Brexit Party, and would become an MEP in 2019, before standing for Parliament and winning in 2024. He is now deputy leader of the Reform UK party and a hugely influential figure in its operations.

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A major figure on the so-called online right, Zia Yusuf is the party’s home affairs spokesman and well known for his hardline approach to immigration. Another businessman, he moved from the Conservative Party in 2024 to Reform UK after selling his business in 2023.

He was briefly chairman of the party in 2024, when he took over from Richard Tice. He had a well-publicised spat with then-Reform MP Rupert Lowe in 2025, which ended in Mr Lowe leaving the party.

Mr Yusuf made headlines again after he resigned from the party in June of that year, hours after Sarah Pochin (a Reform MP) had called for a ban on the burqa, which was not party policy. In what was seen as a sign of how close he was to Nigel Farage personally, he reversed his decision just two days later after a private chat with him.

Since February of this year he has been a member of the frontbench team of the party, where he often makes appearances on BBC Question Time, and in other media.

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Oxford educated Philosopher James Orr is considered to be the brains behind some of the major policy announcements coming out of Reform HQ. Working as a professor of the philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge, Mr Orr has a long history of association with conservative politicians.

He was even known for his association with the US vice-president JD Vance, and has written for a wide range of publications on national conservatism. As of April 2026, Mr Orr works as the Reform UK head of policy.

Mr Orr is responsible for the policy team in Reform UK, which in turn is in charge of producing detailed and dossiers setting out what the party will do if they win the next election. He is known for his support of traditional values and hardline stance on migration.

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A Conservative Party defector, Robert Jenrick served in government as immigration minister before quitting over a disagreement with Rishi Sunak. He then ran for the leadership of the Conservative & Unionist Party, losing to Kemi Badenoch, and was made shadow justice minister.

Earlier this year Mr Jenrick defected to Reform UK after he was suspended from the Conservative’s amid fears he was about to make the move. Whilst it is disputed as to how this came to light, Mrs Badenoch subsequently booted him out.

Since then, he has been made Reform shadow chancellor, championing demands to take an axe to government waste and the benefits made available for immigrants.

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A former Crown Prosecutor, Laila Cunningham is the Reform UK party candidate for the position of Mayor of London. Previously a member of the Conservative Party, she has served as a member of Westminster City Council before leaving her seat in May this year.

The child of Egyptian migrants, Ms Cunningham was born in Paddington, London, and is a mother of seven children. When speaking about why she chose to go into politics, she said it was due to her admiration of Margaret Thatcher.

Ms Cunningham is now polling in second place behind London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan ahead of the race due to take place before the next election. Seen as a rising star within Reform UK, she is a popular figure within the party.

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