Ahead of this year’s Reform UK Party Conference, Dods Content Manager Nathaneal Amos-Sansam spoke with Gawain Towler to gauge the party’s mood and hear about what those attending the conference should look out for.
Gawain is a member of Reform UK’s governing board and a regular media commentator on the party. He was formerly the party’s Director of Communications during the 2024 general election and previously held the same position at the UK Independence Party (UKIP).
How would you sum up the past year for Reform UK?
GT: “The year we stopped being a vehicle of protest and started being preparing for power. In May we won councils outright and put serious contingents into Cardiff Bay and Holyrood. We watched Labour respond by devouring its own leader and installing a new Prime Minister without troubling the electorate. And while all that was going on we did the unglamorous work, welfare, prisons, policy with numbers attached. Insurgents don’t publish costings. Governments in waiting do.
What would you say is the mood among party activists going into this year’s conference?
GT: “Purposeful. A year ago, I said happy but determined. The happiness has matured into something harder. Thousands of our people now run real councils with real budgets and real bin rounds, and nothing sobers a movement up like being responsible for the bins. There is confidence, plenty of it, but no complacency. Everyone in that hall knows the next election could come early and that we will be judged on delivery, not slogans.
What would be your general advice for any public affairs professionals and stakeholders attending the Reform UK Conference for the first time?”
What would you say is the mood among party activists going into this year’s conference?
GT: “Purposeful. A year ago, I said happy but determined. The happiness has matured into something harder. Thousands of our people now run real councils with real budgets and real bin rounds, and nothing sobers a movement up like being responsible for the bins. There is confidence, plenty of it, but no complacency. Everyone in that hall knows the next election could come early and that we will be judged on delivery, not slogans.”
What would be your general advice for any public affairs professionals and stakeholders attending the Reform UK Conference for the first time?
GT: “Leave the condescension at Birmingham International. The people you meet will be friendlier, sharper and more normal than you have been told. Do the Business Day on the Thursday, that is where the grown-up conversations happen. And don’t just hunt the household names. Talk to the council leaders and the mayors, because they are the ones actually signing contracts now, and they know their portfolios better than you might expect.”
Aside from the leader’s speech, are there any other speeches are you looking forward to?
GT: “Honestly, I fear I will be spending a lot of time at fringe events and meetings, but Danny Kruger is always worth a listen, and those who have joined since last year such as Jenrick and Braverman will be interesting to hear.”
If you had to pick out a ‘name to watch’ at Reform UK, who would that be and why?
GT: “Difficult to choose but if I must, Stephen Atkinson, the leader of Lancashire County Council, leader of the Reform Group on the LGA, with a great deal of experience in local government and with a serious and radical agenda, whilst maintaining discipline in a large group of councillors.”
Are there any specific fringe events that you are planning to speak at or attend?
GT: “I’m speaking at [the Centre for Policy Studies fringe] on the Case for Capitalism and [a fringe] with Bright Blue and will be attending anything with a roof and a drinks table, including the Politico and Spectator events – probably. The fringe has finally come of age, which I note with some pride, having complained last year that there wasn’t one.”
What would you say are the best reception events for public affairs professionals to attend to meet party figures and activists?
GT: “The business reception drinks with Nigel are the obvious answer, and the After Party is where the activists let their hair down, which is instructive in its own way. But honestly, the bar. Reform is not yet a party of closed doors. Buy a councillor a pint and you will learn more than at any panel.”
The Reform UK National Conference takes place at the Birmingham NEC between Thursday 3 and Saturday 5 September. Look out for Dods Group coverage of the conference, including of policy announcements, plenary speeches and fringe events, over the coming days.