Reform UK and the charity sector – on first appearance, the two might appear incompatible.
Leader Nigel Farage has been accused of making inflammatory comments about refugees, while some of the party’s candidates in 2024 supported online conspiracies that Muslims are seeking to “supplant the native population” in the UK.
Farage has claimed that since then the party has beefed up the party’s vetting process to “professionalise” itself. But recently, Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin was accused of making racist remarks after she said seeing adverts full of Black and Asian people “drives her mad”.
Then there are concerns that Reform UK’s growing popularity has contributed to and benefitted from growing “far-right” activism, from which it has distanced itself.
Nevertheless, sector leaders warned prime minister Keir Starmer last month that charities, particularly those working with migrant communities, were “experiencing increasing racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism on the streets and in workplaces” including abuse of staff and volunteers.
The Charity Commission, meanwhile, has removed the names of trustees from several refugee charities listed on its register due to a potential safety risk.
In the current political climate, many charity staff and trustees will question how they can align themselves with a party whose values appear to be so different to their own.
However, Farage’s party is becoming increasingly hard to ignore, winning councils and mayoralities across England and consistently topping national polls for most of 2025.
Common ground
Beyond the rhetoric, what does Reform actually stand for as a political party?
The party has been described as being culturally right-wing but economically left-leaning. For example, in a piece published in the Telegraph, Nigel Farage called for a ban on second-home owners from buying new-builds in tourist hotspots.
It has also, perhaps surprisingly, shown support for a wildlife protection initiative to put swift bricks in every new home. This policy, backed by charities such as RSPB, was originally in the Labour Party manifesto, but then dropped by the government. In a recent blog, nfpResearch suggested that charities could therefore lobby Reform as a way of getting the government’s attention.
Meanwhile, Danny Kruger, an MP who led the government-commissioned review of civil society in 2020, defected from the Conservatives to Reform last month. As someone who understands the sector, perhaps Kruger’s appointment could signal potential for closer engagement between charities and Reform.
However, there are other Reform policies that have been less welcomed by charities, such as its plan to end net zero targets, a policy campaigned for by organisations like Greenpeace.
The party also plans to halve international aid and cut development work and refugee support – policies that alienate the international development sector.
Then there’s health and social care, with Farage saying he would cut disability benefits and that there is an over-diagnosis of mental health conditions.
Meanwhile, only 49% of Reform voters said they trusted charities, according to one nfpResearch poll, though there was significantly higher support for organisations supporting military veterans.
Reaching across divides
Civil Society organisations are therefore left with the question of whether and how to engage with Reform and its growing legion of supporters.
Some charities, including well-known organisations like Cancer Research UK, decided to attend Reform’s recent party conference in Birmingham.
It included controversial moments, such as doctor Aseem Malhotra using his conference speech to link King Charles’s cancer to the Covid-19 vaccine.
With this in mind, what are the benefits of the charity sector working more closely with Reform?
Firstly, charities are not party political by law and definition. With the political tide swinging in Reform’s favour, many service users and supporters will vote for the party at the next election. Failing to engage with Reform could alienate these voters and supporters' voices.
Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK, also attended Reform’s conference, which he says made him feel “a bit uncomfortable” as he disagrees with many of the party’s expressed views. However, he says that he found many people at the conference were “frustrated” and “wanting change”.
Holbrook, who recently organised a series of online meetings with civil society leaders about a collective response to increasing public hostility, says it is particularly important at the moment for those in the sector to talk to people with whom they might disagree.
“It’s not about one approach being right, because we don’t know what approach is right. It is about recognising the scale of the problem and deploying your diplomats,” he tells Civil Society.
“People are going to feel uncomfortable doing that. I get it, but it’s needed. We need to go in and have proper conversations. We need to prepare for all sorts of scenarios, because the risks are vast.”
He says that people who work in the sector and Reform supporters might not be “as far apart as some people might imagine”, with many of their frustrations stemming from economic inequalities.
However, he adds: “This is not just an organic response to inequality. This is a seeded and intentional campaign of social division that we see before us, and we need to respond really smartly and thoughtfully, and we need to get our messaging right, and we need to be the best that we've ever been.”
Meanwhile, umbrella body NCVO tells Civil Society that charities may need to consider political engagement with different parties, other than Labour and the Conservatives, for many different reasons.
“Parties such as Reform UK, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have gained influence across local, regional and national levels, shaping both policy and media conversation, so influencing their priorities could be vital,” a spokesperson says.
“For any civil society organisation, the starting point should be getting clarity on what it is they are trying to achieve and which stakeholders – political or otherwise – are key to success.
“A charity’s greatest strength lies in its people, so mobilising communities and supporters to champion a cause can often be the most powerful way to create lasting change.”
While Reform is polling strongly right now, the next election is not due until 2029 – a long time in politics. The party also lost the recent by-election in Caerphilly to Plaid Cymru – a sign the party may potentially not perform as well in Wales overall as the polls suggest.
However, its growing significance as a political force and support from the people that charities support could mean it is time for more charities to engage.
