Can Nigel Farage’s leadership survive Reform’s most harmful crisis yet?

Nigel Farage received a hero’s welcome in Birmingham (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) At some point last year, Nigel Farage must have picked up a monkey’s paw and wished that all the attention would be on him at Reform’s 2026 conference. The 2025 edition, after all, had been almost entirely overshadowed byAngela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs and the subsequent government reshuffle. This time, there can be no doubt that all the attention at Birmingham’s NEC conference complex – and in the wider country – is on the party leader. But that’s largely because of a devastatingly well-timed report from Channel 4 News and investigative journalism outfit Verbatim, which aired yesterday evening. Many of the reporters who had travelled to Birmingham for the conference – including me – s