Farage vows to vet Reform candidates 'rigorously' as he sets his sights on becoming PM

The conference comes a day after Farage announced he was giving up ownership of Reform UK, as ITV News' Harry Horton reports

Nigel Farage has vowed to vet Reform UK candidates "rigorously" in future as he sets his sights on becoming prime minister at the next election.

He made the comments as part of his keynote speech at the Reform UK conference in Birmingham on Friday, declaring that his party can "change the future of politics".

Addressing the crowds, Farage said the party has not got “time” or “room” for “a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members”.

Reform UK, which secured five seats at this year's general election, began its two-day event with speeches from Farage, deputy leader Richard Tice, chairman Zia Yousuf and MPs Lee Anderson, Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock.

Farage said his party needs "to be on the ground everywhere" and "show that we can bring success after success after success".

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He said: "If we do those things, we genuinely can - I never thought I'd say this - but I genuinely believe we can change the future of politics. We can change the future of our country.

"We can perhaps get back a little bit of pride in what it is to be British, what it is to respect our history, what it is to stand up for our values, what it is to understand the Judeo-Christian culture underpins everything we are, everything we've ever stood for, everything we believe."

Farage added that the "first big test of fire" for Reform will come at next year's local elections, saying: "I genuinely believe if we get next May right we can produce a result that is truly astonishing."

He also used his speech to attack Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's first months in office as "truly shocking", while taking aim at each of the Conservative MPs who remain in contention for the party's leadership contest.

The conference comes a day after Farage announced he was giving up ownership of Reform UK.

Unlike other political parties, Reform is a limited company of which Farage is the majority shareholder.

However, he announced on Thursday that he was changing the ownership structure so the party was owned by its members, saying: "I no longer need to control this party."

He also found himself embroiled in a row after claiming parliamentary security had told him not to hold in-person surgeries in his Clacton constituency due to safety concerns.

The PA news agency understands there is no record of this advice being given to Farage by either the Speaker's Office or Parliament's security team, while sources denied such advice had been given as it would interfere with an MP's democratic duties.

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