Talk:Reform UK

I appreciate the irony of this being discussed alongside changing the ideology of Reform UK to "far right" but I noticed farage explicitly claiming Kemi Badenock has "realigned the centre-right of British politics, which is much needed against a dreadful labour government", source: https://x.com/i/status/2011841199187857781 . I've noticed an intentioned shift to the centre by Reform UK in the past year particularly on economic issues but even on social issues with the exception of immigration. I find it misleading that Wikipedia continues to refer to Reform UK as simply a right-wing party where as a student of politics and an observer of the European populist far right, Reform UK simply don't fit that labelling. I think a Centre-Right to Right Wing labelling would be more accurate. OliverR7 (talk) 16:54, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

The sources do not support them being centre right most sources either call them right wing far right radical right etc etc GothicGolem29 (Talk) 16:57, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

The sources on the Wikipedia page for ideology are all from before the last general election. In fact, a recent source on the Wikipedia page argues a shift in ideology https://spectator.com/article/reform-is-now-a-left-wing-party/ . I don't think it can be reputably argued that Reform UK is far right, I remember the BBC withdrawing that label due to it being inaccurate and going against their editorial standards. OliverR7 (talk) 17:06, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Spectator, being opinion pieces, is not reliable. — Czello ^(music) 17:28, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

The specattor is an opinon piece and so not reliable and there are numerous reliable sources that call Reform far right some listed in the above discussion so it can be argued they are Far right(and the BBC doing that after a Reform complaint from Reform is not enough to say they aren't when other reliable sources say they are far right.) But that is beaides the point of this discussion which is that they are not centre right as most sources say they are something else weather far right right wing or radical right GothicGolem29 (Talk) 18:50, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

There was a WP:RSN thread about The Spectator few years ago and anons have agreed that it publishes mostly opinion pieces. Furthermore, because of their bias, they have a vested interest in not calling Reform "far right". The article you posted is titled Reform is now a left wing party. There have been many academic sources posted in the RfC above, I suggest you take a look at them. TurboSuperA+_[talk] 19:00, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Is that not an opinion piece given that Clark is an Opinion Writer for the Spectator and not something from James Heale or Isabel Hardman etc hat would be considered more objective in its purpose? ~2026-30325-3 (talk) 22:50, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

The Spectator would consider any party not led by someone named Lord Tweedledee, 19th Baron of Featherstonewick left-wing. Cremastra (talk · contribs) 19:43, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

With the slew of coverage now stating this, it is a reasonable argument to put forth. "But it was also a clear signal of the new strategic direction Nigel Farage’s party is taking. Reform no longer wishes to surpass or defeat the Conservatives. Instead, its ambition is now to destroy the Tories utterly, and replace them as the dominant party of the centre Right." Halbared (talk) 10:56, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

WP:TELEGRAPH: Some editors believe that The Daily Telegraph is biased or opinionated for politics. The article is published in the "Opinion" section of the website, as well: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/01/15/battle-for-future-of-centre-right-has-begun/ TurboSuperA+_[talk] 11:01, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

It’s the official editorial position of the paper (“Telegraph View”) not an op ed. Telegraph is biased - just as eg Guardian is.

It’s a data point in support of “right-wing” and against “far right”, but it needs to be triangulated against all the academic sources that say far right BobFromBrockley (talk) 22:56, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

There have been multiple arguments about where to place numerous parties and they never result in broad agreement. The problem is that using a relative scale (left-right) is subjective and where a party lies depends on who you ask. For example, in Canada, the social democratic New Democratic Party refers to the Liberals and Conservatives as right-wing, while the Conservatives refer to the Liberals and New Democrats as far left.

Why not just describe them as right-wing populist and allow readers to decide for themselves whether right-wing populism is far right, right-wing, center-right etc.? What additional information does the article provide to readers if we explain where Wikipedia editors place them in the spectrum? TFD (talk) 21:35, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

I think a party’s policies should be what determines their political position, rather than based upon subjective opinion. Reform UK’s immigration and asylum policies are similar to far-right parties in Europe. They go beyond what most right wing parties advocate on immigration, calling for an end to all non essential immigration and scrapping the Human Rights Act (1998). They say that any immigrant in the UK who commits any criminal act, should be deported. Some of the rhetoric used by party officials about male immigrants has been quite unpleasant, describing them as an invasion, and as men of military age (implying possible violent intent). The party has a strong focus on protecting British identity, which has an overlap with far-right nationalism. A Reform MP has complained TV adverts being "full of black people, full of Asian people" also:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd7rg7wjvgvo

There seems to be quite a bit of tolerance for discriminatory comments within the party, as long as they do not offend people with British born people with white skin.

Also, I think it’s possible for a party to have attributes of both a right wing and far-right party, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Sources can support a description of both positions. ~2026-25658-8 (talk) 12:41, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

Right-wing populism "combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking to or for the common people. Recurring themes of right-wing populists include neo-nationalism, social conservatism, economic nationalism, and fiscal conservatism. Frequently they aim to defend a national culture, identity, and economy against perceived attacks by outsiders.

"Right-wing populism has associations with authoritarianism, while some far-right populists draw comparisons to fascism.

"In Europe the term is often used to describe groups, politicians and political parties generally known for their opposition to immigration, and for Euroscepticism."

If the article says their ideology is right-wing populism, what additional information does mapping their position on the political spectrum add? TFD (talk) 18:37, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

• No - Keep top as-is, otherwise fails WP:V and just another WP:OR - much the same reasons I gave about “far-right” - partly just a preference for continuation of existing content, and partly for showing restraint about declaring a judgement in wikivoice when there are sources differing. It seems failing V and VOICE, and wanders into WP:OR. I don’t think the diversity of label is prominent enough a topic for Reform UK to deserve even body coverage, but if so then NPOV means it should show *all* significant viewpoints in DUE WEIGHT. For the lead and/or infobox, keep it to simpler and broad generic “right-wing”. Cheers Markbassett (talk) 13:36, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

This is another example of why these qualifier terms are always subjective. ← Metallurgist (talk) 07:46, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

Nah, they are not. You can distort them as much as you want - political theory is real, sport. ~2026-95697-6 (talk) 14:12, 12 February 2026 (UTC) Blocked sock. Halbared (talk) 22:27, 16 February 2026 (UTC)( Suspected sockpuppet of NikolaosFanaris, see investigation)

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i think its unfair to call reform UK far right in terms of its populism i think its only right wing and it needs to be distinguished between other partyies George black cat mitcaw 650 (talk) 17:11, 1 March 2026 (UTC)  Not done No specific changes proposed. Iseult ^Δx talk to me 17:33, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

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Reform is not far right. They are centre right to right wing. Oldfoxy33 (talk) 22:05, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: Please see the discussion literally at the top of the page. Alpha Beta Delta Lambda (talk) 22:29, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

it clearly says on the wiki

Right wing - ar right

please do not gaslight me Oldfoxy33 (talk) 22:36, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

far* Oldfoxy33 (talk) 22:37, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Should there be a separate article for the Brexit Party as a party in the past tense. They may have a direct institutional link to Reform UK, but they were set up for a specific purpose, with a narrower focus and have their own story arc. JASpencer (talk) 06:01, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Calling it a direct institutional link seems to minimise the connection to me. It is the same party, just with a name change! Lots of other political parties have name changes and long histories during which they have focused on different things, but we include them in one article. Bondegezou (talk) 11:24, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

But it was a very different stage and different environment. Brexit was a hard Eurosceptic party first and the populism came afterwards. Reform it's about populism with Euroscepticism hardly getting a look in, with the no longer as hot exception of the ECHR. JASpencer (talk) 21:09, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

The Greens are pro-Europe now, but used to favour leaving the EU, but we don't split their article into two. The Conservative Party has very different views today compared to 1834, but we haven't split their article.

It's the same party. If their views have shifted, we can describe that in the article. That said, the claim that the populism came afterwards would need a citation. As far as I can see, they were always populist. Bondegezou (talk) 10:24, 16 March 2026 (UTC)