Nigel Farage tells Reform UK supporters Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch ‘should be scared of you’ as he targets her North West Essex seat

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told a packed rally in Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s North West Essex constituency that he was ready for the fight to take her seat at the next election.

In front of a crowd of more than 400 supporters at exclusive Uttlesford wedding venue, Parklands Quendon Hall in Quendon, on Friday night (Jan 31), the MP for Clacton chose the fifth anniversary of Brexit to launch his bid in retaliation for Badenoch’s accusations over “fake” Reform party membership figures.

“I said I would take action, which people thought meant I’d sue, but I thought the next best thing was to come and meet my fake members in the North West Essex constituency.

“Well, I gotta tell you, looking at you, you don’t look very fake to me, you look very real and the opposition should be bloody scared of you!”

Ms Badenoch, who had claimed that Farage had “manipulated” the public by using a false online membership counter that ticked up automatically, said she remained focused on “what matters to her constituents and the British people” and was not fazed by Reform’s rally on her turf.

Around a dozen protestors from Stand Up To Racism gathered at the entrance to the private estate as Reform party members and politicians arrived, booing and waving placards as cars passed through the gates.

Security was tight with patrols in the grounds, bag searches and bodyguards at every entrance. They formed a guard around Farage as he walked down the centre aisle of the wedding marquee towards the stage with entrance music blaring in scenes reminiscent of a boxing bout.

Supporters, who included members of Hertford and Stortford Reform UK, stood to cheer him on as he outlined Reform’s vision.

Having been preceded by talks from interim branch chairman for the North West Essex constituency Chris Davy, fellow Reform MPs Rupert Lowe (Great Yarmouth); Lee Anderson (Ashfield) and Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness), the crowd was fired up by the time Farage arrived on stage.

Urging people to put themselves forward as Reform candidates at all levels of local and central government, he told the rally that US President Donald Trump was the “inspiration” for taking on the fight.

“I am used to fighting against the odds. For much of my political career everybody said to me ‘you’re wasting your time’, but something remarkable is happening in our country, people know we have been right on issue after issue after issue and we are beginning to see a wave that’s crossing the Atlantic.

"Donald Trump, standing on a platform many of whose policies were not dissimilar to what we put to the British people in that contract last July, has won this incredible victory and got off to the most amazing start. He gets things done.

"I hope and believe that many things that will happen in America will serve as an inspiration to us. The confidence in us that is growing is going to bring the biggest political change this country has ever seen.”

At the end of his speech, Farage remained on stage to follow up on his promise of having a photograph with every one of the supporters who had turned out, with the queue stretching the length of the venue.

Throughout the conference, key topics of immigration, support for the economy and the country’s farming community were top of the agenda.

Chris Davy urged “it is our job as the people’s army to get the message out there, not only in this constituency, but to the wider area” as he pushed the recruitment drive and for donations to fund Reform’s advances.

Rupert Lowe chose to single out the Essex man persona. “The county would be in a much better place with more Essex men in charge,” he said to rallying cries from the audience.

He went on to talk about immigration: “Be in no doubt that our country is in the most precarious position I can remember – the root cause is uncontrolled mass immigration, both legal and illegal and if that makes me far right, then so be it.

“If by objecting to these men, often from alien cultures, being housed in luxury accommodation at taxpayers’ expense makes me a racist, then so be it. If it makes me a bigot, so be it, I don’t care and nor should you.

“We have been shown the way by Donald Trump,” he said to huge applause. “Certain moments go down in history as forks in the road and now we can look to America as a source of hope.

“He (Trump) shut down DEI programmes - we must eradicate the poisonous diversity industry and judge people on merit and merit alone. Trump declared there are only two genders and we need to keep the venom out of our schools and impressionable young children.”

This message was underlined by the wristbands handed out to those attending the conference, including members of the press, with blue bands for men and pink for female.

Lee Anderson described Reform members as “hardworking patriots”, adding: “There is huge pressure on us five MPs to get our country back, but this is a battle that must be won”.

Reform had gone from less than 15,000 members last year to more than 190,000. “We have five MPs, money in the bank, dozens of councillors around the UK and over 1,500 fully vetted candidates for this year’s council elections, it’s fantastic. As our movement grows, so does the opposition from mainstream media – we do not need mainstream media, we have social media.

“We have a mountain to climb, but we have all the momentum. The people’s army can do this and I have never felt so proud, so embolden to be part of such a movement.”