Political tectonics are shifting beneath the feet of British voters, and the aftershocks are being felt far beyond the country’s historic party lines. The latest jolt came on February 24, 2026, when Suella Braverman, once a stalwart of the Conservative Party and former home secretary, defected to Reform UK—a hard-right, anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage. In Fareham, a market town on England’s south coast that has voted Conservative since 1885, Braverman’s dramatic move was met with both celebration and consternation, symbolizing the unraveling of old allegiances and the rise of a new, insurgent force in British politics.
“I feel like I’ve come home,” Braverman declared to a cheering crowd, according to reporting by The Washington Post. Her defection capped a remarkable two years for Reform UK, which has surged from winning just five parliamentary seats in 2024 to leading every national opinion poll for the past ten months. The party, rebranded from Farage’s Brexit Party, is now widely seen as a serious contender for government, riding a wave of public anger over rising prices, squeezed public services, and a growing mistrust of the traditional political establishment. Reform’s pitch is blunt: for many of Britain’s ills, from the cost-of-living crisis to decaying infrastructure, mass immigration is the culprit.
Braverman, 45, has never hidden her hard-line views on migration and national identity. As home secretary, she was an enthusiastic advocate of sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda—a plan some of her Conservative colleagues once labeled “brutal.” Born in London to Indian immigrant parents, Braverman has described herself as “British Asian,” but wrote in The Daily Telegraph that she “will never be truly English,” asserting that English identity is “rooted in ancestry, heritage, and, yes, ethnicity—not just residence or fluency.” Her stance, once seen as out of step with a diversifying nation where more than 16% of the population is foreign-born, now finds resonance among voters frustrated by years of austerity and stagnant real wages.
According to The Washington Post, Chris Parry, a former NATO commander and Reform mayoral candidate, sees the country split between those who prioritize British “values and traditions” and those who look to “multiple other authorities, religions,” and “international institutions that have manifestly failed to do what is needed.” Parry insists, “It’s not ethnonationalism. It’s basically an identity which says, ‘Look, my primary allegiance is to Britain and nothing else.’” He calls for a “quiet revolution” to “break a system that really isn’t working.”
The story of Reform’s rise, says John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, “is not a million miles from the Trump phenomenon.” Farage, a close Trump ally, has called immigration a “scourge,” promising the “emergency” mass deportation of 650,000 people and pledging to slash government personnel and scrap carbon emissions targets. Supporters are typically “very strong” nationalists, skeptical of diversity, green energy, and Britain’s readiness to apologize for its colonial past, Curtice told The Washington Post. Farage’s personal charisma is a major draw, though the Greens’ Zack Polanski is emerging as a challenger for the title of most dynamic political communicator.
The party’s ascent has drawn support not just from disillusioned Conservatives but also from voters who feel left behind by Labour, which has governed since 2024 after fourteen years of Conservative rule. In Fareham, where empty lots and vape stores dot the landscape, the sentiment is palpable. “They’re all as bad as each other,” said local resident Kye Coates. “It might be time to give Reform a go.” Yet, skepticism remains. Almost half of Britons think Reform is a racist party, according to a September YouGov poll. The party and Braverman’s office have denied allegations of racism or being “far-right.”
Reform UK’s momentum was put to the test on February 26, 2026, in a special by-election in Gorton and Denton, Manchester—a traditional Labour stronghold. The Green Party’s Hannah Spencer won with 14,980 votes, but Reform’s Matt Goodwin surprised many by finishing second with 10,578 votes, ahead of Labour’s 9,364. Despite the defeat, Goodwin and Farage were quick to blame “woke progressives, sectarian voting, and Islamists” for their loss. Independent election observers reported “extremely high” cases of illegal “family voting”—where family members enter the booth together, a criminal offense—fueling Reform’s claims of electoral impropriety. Farage declared on X, “This is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas.”
Goodwin doubled down, stating, “We are losing our country. A dangerous Muslim sectarianism has emerged. We have only one general election left to save Britain. Vote Reform every chance you get.” He insisted that Reform had “more than doubled our vote in Labour’s backyard,” calling it a wake-up call for the old parties. “British people are going to wake up tomorrow and think we have a choice. Do we want to go with mad Zack and the Greens or do we want to go with Nigel Farage and a Reform government?”
The Green Party, for its part, dismissed Reform’s allegations as an attempt to undermine a democratic result. “This is an attempt to undermine the democratic result and is straight out of the Trump playbook,” a spokesperson said, as reported by The Manchester Evening News. “We’ve just won a historic by-election by a comfortable margin. We’ve shown the country that Greens can beat Reform, despite their big business donations.”
Meanwhile, Farage’s transatlantic ambitions have raised eyebrows. On March 7, 2026, he is set to fly to Washington D.C. to address the Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax lobby group closely aligned with Donald Trump. For about 12 hours’ work, Farage will earn £27,856.88—more than many Britons’ annual salary. The Club for Growth, which helped raise $163 million for Republican candidates in the 2024 U.S. elections, is known for opposing climate policies and supporting deregulation and tax cuts—stances mirrored in Farage’s own pledges to roll back net zero policies if elected. Critics, including Green MP Siân Berry, argue that Farage’s priorities lie more in Washington than in his deprived, flood-prone Clacton constituency, where he has spent little time since being elected in July 2024.
Farage’s lucrative speaking circuit is just one facet of his controversial profile. His base MP salary of £93,000 is supplemented by £48,000 annually for a Daily Telegraph column and over £300,000 a year as a GB News presenter. Since his election, he has made at least seven trips to the U.S. to support Trump or attend related events, all funded by wealthy donors, according to DeSmog. “Farage’s world tour goes on and on,” said Charlene Pink of the Good Law Project. “If you really want to represent Clacton, shouldn’t you actually spend some time there?”
Back in Fareham, Braverman’s defection has left local Conservatives reeling. “We had repeated assurances from her that she wouldn’t defect, so it’s a big surprise and a big disappointment,” said Harry Kewish, the local Conservative treasurer. “She is convinced that she has made the right decision and will probably try to recruit some of us. There are a lot of angry people.”
The question now is whether Reform UK can turn its polling lead—peaked at 35% in October 2025, settling to 28% by February 2026—into real power. Most of its support comes from ex-Conservatives, and with a likely need for coalition partners, the road to government is far from certain. Farage’s association with Trump, whose remarks about British troops have angered many, especially in military towns like Fareham, could also prove a stumbling block.
As Britain’s political landscape fractures and new alliances form, the next general election promises to be a pivotal moment. Voters face a stark choice: stick with the old parties, embrace the “quiet revolution” of Reform, or turn to the rising Greens. However it shakes out, the era of predictable British politics is over.