Calls for return of Nigel Farage at Reform UK's Doncaster election rally

Hundreds of party members gathered at Doncaster Racecourse on Saturday for a spring rally aimed to rally supporters ahead of a forthcoming General Election.

And while leader Richard Tice and former Conservative minister Anne Widdecombe were among those giving speeches, there was no sign of the man who helped establish the party as the Brexit Party before its transformation into Reform UK.

But while Nigel Farage may not have been in attendance at Town Moor, his name was still very much on the lips of delegates, according to reports.

The Guardian reported David White, the party’s Barnsley South ­candidate, admitting he is regularly asked: “When’s Nigel coming back?”

“I would hope he would come back,” said Stephen O’Neill, who had travelled with his wife, Sandra, from Glasgow. “I don’t think he’d be leader, but obviously Farage has got the ­charisma and the notoriety.” Sandra adds: “It needs publicity; that’s what they don’t get.”

Charlotte, from Gloucestershire, attracted to Reform because of a ­dislike of the main parties, was also keen for a Farage return. “I’d ­certainly like to see him,” she said. “He’s good at his job and getting the crowds together. He can give all the other leaders a good run for their money.”

Even among attendees at the conference, however, there was an acknowledgment that the addition of Farage could be double-edged.

“He’s a polarising character, but that’s because the media portray him as that,” said Colin, an ex-Tory voter from Lincolnshire who said his former party doesn’t represent his views any longer. “I would like him to come back and help Reform, but not necessarily stand as a candidate. The mainstream media would circle like vultures to destroy him.”

The party, whose election pledges include cutting tax, ­freezing “non-essential” immigration as well as demands for an inquiry into Covid vaccine harms and to fire headteachers who refused to drop “critical race theory,” have seen their poll ratings rising to as high as 13% in recent weeks, with the party hoping to secure votes from both Conservative and Labour voters.