Reform Looks to Import
MAGA Politics Into the UK

The party’s annual conference was addressed by anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, and senior advisors to the Trump administration. Olly Haynes reports

Although the Reform UK Conference was an undeniably British affair, replete with Union Jack suits and Nigel Farage football shirts, there was an unmistakable undercurrent of American – or, more accurately, ‘MAGA’ – influence at the Birmingham gathering in September.

Turquoise ‘Make Britain Great Again’ hats were on sale at the merchandise stand, and multiple attendees sported GOP elephant lapel pins. One wore a baseball cap with an eagle and the slogan ‘Guns, God and Trump’.

But beyond the aesthetics, it was clear from the policy discussions on the fringes, as well as the invitees on the main stage, that Donald Trump’s MAGA movement has become a growing source of influence over, and inspiration for, Reform.