Reform Conference on Reddit: fandom, flags and Farage

Almost a year ago, the Government set up a new media unit to monitor and inform online debate.

At the same time, the AI models that increasingly shape how people consume news and politics are trained on Reddit. That makes the digital conversation around party conferences worth examining.

Our Research and Analytics team has been analysing what was said at this year’s Reform UK conference. And I was there in Birmingham to see it first-hand.

 

 

 

The Farage show

Reform’s stated aim was to show it is more than a one-man band. On day one Farage shared the stage with Nadine Dorries and Andrea Jenkyns, while also announcing the appointment of Zia Yusuf as head of policy. The intent was clear: demonstrate breadth and build credibility.

Yet the word cloud underlines the challenge. “Farage” dominates. Other names, even those promoted prominently or who drew huge crowds, simply do not register. What carried through both on the floor and online was the sense that this remains a Farage-first project. Football shirts, queues for autographs and family photo opportunities reinforced that perception.

The sole exception was that the biggest crowd of the conference was for a Conservative. In the halls of the NEC, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s celebrity shone brightest.

 

Style v substance

The prominence of comparisons between Farage and Trump in online conversations is not new. Almost everyone I spoke in person also reflected how Reform was borrowing an American rally aesthetic: fireworks, loud music and set-piece moments. However, Reform bring a decidedly British slant.

Gareth Roberts, writing in The Spectator before the event, suggested the whole thing might turn out to be camp. That proved prescient. Karaoke, sparkles and a showbiz edge (Jeremy Kyle and two of the Jackson Five) all made appearances.

Far from undermining Reform, this may prove an asset. Politics is often earnest to the point of dullness. The atmosphere in Birmingham was upbeat and fun. Whether that jars with a “government in waiting” message is too soon to tell. What is clear is that the light-hearted moments did not overshadow the conversation online.

 

Discipline and distraction

Day one was tightly managed. Day two less so. Fringe voices gained airtime and issues such as Covid and cancer began to feature prominently. Their presence in the word cloud shows how easily Reform’s messaging can be knocked off course when discipline slips.

It’s also easier for Reform to lose control of the narrative as they are still at an early stage of building a policy base. What we saw in Birmingham was the start of an intellectual and philosophical ecosystem beginning to form around the party with think tanks, pressure groups and sympathetic academics offering ideas and (lots of) energy. Immigration remains the clearest policy area and unsurprisingly took centre stage in the policies debated online.

 

Country and people

One of the most interesting signals is the prominence of “country” and “people”. Flags have been one of the stories of the summer and this feels natural territory for Farage, whose political brand has long been built on patriotism.

Labour has been trying to claim the same ground with government ministers competing to burnish their own patriotic credentials with increasingly incredulous claims of how many flags they have at home. Yet the focus of Labour’s conference is likely to be different.

I suspect the difference will be that the priorities of attendees at Labour’s conference are looking further afield. The result may be a word cloud skewing more towards foreign affairs – even if voters on the whole care more about their home. Reform will be delighted theirs remains rooted in the national frame.

 

What next

Reform has momentum and energy, and Farage remains its gravitational centre. That dominance helps cut through but it’s also been identified publicly by Reform’s leadership as a potential weakness. The task now is to keep discipline, broaden the front bench, and develop a more coherent policy offer. Otherwise the conversation will continue to revolve around a single man.

By Tom Anelay, Director & Head of Public Affairs at Citypress