How many members does Reform UK have?

Reform UK claimed a major milestone over Christmas, announcing that its membership had surpassed that of the Conservatives — and the number continues to grow.

The party announced it had reached this milestone on Boxing Day when a digital counter on the Reform website showed membership surpassing the 131,680 figure reported by the Conservative Party during its 2024 leadership election.

This marked the lowest membership for the Conservatives, a sharp decline from the approximately 172,000 members they had during the 2022 leadership race.

To commemorate the occasion, Reform UK shared a video showing a message projected onto the Conservative Party headquarters in the middle of the night. This declared Nigel Farage’s party the “real opposition” to Labour.

The row may have benefitted Reform because The Times has reported Ms Badenoch is “driving 6,000 people a day” to join the rival party.

So just how many members does Reform have? And how many have joined in the past few days?

According to the Guardian, approximately 2.8 million people were registered with the Conservative Party and one million to the Labour Party in the 1950s.

Labour had more than 366,000 members earlier this year, while the Conservatives have fluctuated between 130,000 to 170,000 members over the past few years.

Mr Farage’s previous party, Ukip, had roughly 46,000 members at its height in 2015, indicating that Reform UK is gaining more traction.

Mr Farage told the Daily Telegraph: “I am no fan of any of the people in the Labour Party but, if it is in the national interest, I have always thought I could be a useful asset if they want to use that. But, if they don’t, more fool them.”

Lord Mandelson has suggested he would be open to Mr. Farage’s help in building relations with the Trump administration.

How many people have joined Reform since Boxing Day?

Reform UK hit 131,680 members on Boxing Day and has gained a further 21,766 since – which works out to just over 5,000 people a day.

What have the Conservatives said?

“Farage doesn’t understand the digital age,” Badenoch added.

“This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.”

Mr Farage then accused Ms Badenoch of being “bitter, upset and angry that we are now the second-biggest party in British politics, and that the Conservative brand is dying under your leadership”.

He added: “However, this not an excuse to accuse us of committing fraud. We will gladly invite one of the Big Four firms in to audit our membership numbers as long as you do the same.

“We have heard from many whistle-blowers that will swear under affidavits that ballots were sent out to long-expired or resigned ex-members. It’s an open secret at CCHQ that your membership numbers are fake.”

According to opinion polls, Mr Farage has become one of the most popular politicians in the nation since he was elected as an MP after numerous attempts, and reform has been gaining popularity since the general election.

He routinely receives high marks from those who have a positive opinion of him but also ranks highly from those who have a negative one.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: “Reform has delivered a Labour government that has cruelly cut winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners, put the future of family farming and food security at risk, and launched a devastating raid on jobs, which will leave working people paying the price.