Reform UK conference latest: Jenrick refuses to guarantee tax cuts if Farage wins next election

Nigel Farage will try to shake off ongoing scrutiny about funding both he and Reform UK have received as the party’s conference begins.

The Clacton MP has just returned to parliament after winning a by-election he called in his constituency in protest at the Commons’ standards inquiry against him over a donation from Christopher Harborne.

On the eve of the Reform conference, which begins in Birmingham on Thursday, Mr Farage told the BBC his party is up against a “complainant society” and suggested that he would not get a fair hearing on whether he broke parliamentary rules for failing to declare the cash, because the MPs on the committee have already prejudged him as guilty.

Reform’s conference begins as it fell behind the Conservatives into third place in the polls -– its lowest performance in the last 18 months.

In a new voting intention poll from More in Common on 1 September, the right-wing party has landed on 22 per cent, four points behind Labour and one point behind the Tories.

After dominating British politics for most of the last two years, Reform UK arrive in Birmingham with a myriad of problems.

Nigel Farage’s party is no longer leading in the polls and in one case was even pushed into third place behind the Tories.

Their pitch to the country that they are the inevitable next government has already come apart.

Meanwhile, Mr Farage has looked tired and angry over pressure on donations he received which has led to an ongoing investigations by the standards commissioner.

Reform believe there is some sort of establishment plot against them and have even banned some journalists from attending the conference in Birmingham. But they are lacking in policies, have question marks over the depth of their talent and are now up against a new Labour leader and prime minister in Andy Burnham who has shown he can take them on.

The deputy leader Richard Tice has said that the aim this week is to get the country to “love Nigel Farage again.”

The bigger problem is that while Mr Farage is adored by some he is hated by many more and is arguably the most divisive figure in politics.

Added to that a new party on the right - Restore Britain led by former Reform MP Ruper Lowe - is eating away at Mr Farage’s core support.

Reform has fallen to their lowest performance in opinion polls in more than 18 months amid intense scrutiny over undeclared donations to its leader.