Reform UK party membership surpasses Conservatives, claims Farage

Investing.com -- The populist Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, recently announced that its membership has exceeded the Conservative Party's count. As per the counter on the Reform UK website, the party had over 133,000 members as of Thursday afternoon. In comparison, 131,680 Tory members were eligible to vote in this year's Conservative Party leadership contest, which resulted in Kemi Badenoch becoming the party leader in November.

Nigel Farage hailed this development as a "big, historic moment", stating in an emailed message that "Reform UK are now the real opposition." However, it was not possible to independently confirm the membership numbers provided by Reform UK or the most recent Tory membership figures.

The Reform UK party has been gaining momentum throughout the year. It won 14.3% of the national vote share in this year's general election, which saw the Conservatives lose to the Labour Party, ending their 14-year reign. The party's growth has been further boosted by the shaky start of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's administration and endorsements from prominent figures, including Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA ) Inc. and owner of X.

Farage, who is currently favored by bookmakers to succeed Starmer as prime minister, met with Musk earlier this month at US President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort to discuss a potential political donation. If Musk, the world's wealthiest individual, were to finance the party, it could potentially disrupt the longstanding two-party dominance in British politics.

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Source: Investing.com