Farage takes aim at 'fighting age' migrants after Reform breakthrough

Populist party secures by-election win and first mayor, with hundreds of council seats expected

Nigel Farage leader of the Reform UK party. Local election results give his hard-right party power for the first time. AFP

Buoyed by victory’s adrenalin rush, the usual charisma of Nigel Farage − leader of the populist Reform UK party − gave way to a hardline rant that grimly labelled undocumented immigrants as “males of fighting age”.

Hard-right Reform's platform has been largely built on an anti-immigrant message, yet equating asylum seekers to a term widely used by the military or security services to describe terrorists is questionable language.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage with Sarah Pochin, who won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election for the party. PA

But for now that is unlikely to overshadow the immense gains made by Reform in seizing the former Labour stronghold in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, albeit by a record breaking mere six votes, and likely seizing the lion’s share of 1,641 local council seats being contested.

Former Conservative Party MP Andrea Jenkyns became Reform UK's first mayor, in Greater Lincolnshire, eastern England.

A Reform surge had been predicted, but the reality that dawned on Friday will shake the British political establishment with new realities.

Reform performed well in last year’s general election, garnering four million votes, but by the quirks of Britain’s winner takes all electoral system secured just five MPs.

The local elections were always going to be the first test of whether its support − that is spread across age groups − will hold up. It did.

It is now a confirmed and serious threat to the mainstream Labour and Conservative parties. Early polling showed that if the election was repeated in a national vote, Reform would win a majority, making Mr Farage Britain's prime minister.

Migrants cross the English Channel towards the White Cliffs of Dover. Getty

Contributing to reform UK's surge has been Labour’s tentative and unpopular start in government. It ended a £300 ($400) winter fuel allowance for many senior citizens and cut low-income benefits, while being accused of having no plan other than seeking to restore calm after the chaotic Conservative years.

The unusually fine spring British weather has not helped Prime Minister Keir Starmer either, as this has seen a record number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. More than 10,000 have made the journey already this year − a 40 per cent increase on the number by the same time in 2024.

But there was little that was clement in Mr Farage’s tirade, launched after his party’s ascension into local authority power.

“Divisions are being created by weak British governments allowing people, willy-nilly, from all over the world, undocumented young males of fighting age, to come in to Britain in unprecedented numbers,” he replied to a question on whether the issue of migration was assisting his party.

Mr Farage condemned the free health care, accommodation and cash given to “people who illegally come into Britain”.

His language is not yet as divisive as Donald Trump’s, but Mr Farage is clearly aware that the US administration’s success in reducing numbers of migrants entering America has been well received, and that the issue was a key factor for the US President’s election victory.

The “males of fighting age” comment is not the first time Mr Farage had used the term, yet in the context of his party gaining actual political power for the first time, it raises concerns.

And that responsibility will be the first real test of Reform’s new councillors’ ability to govern, overseeing multi-million pound budgets for roads, schools and dustbins. It will be an opportunity to prove their worth, as much as one to show their shortcomings.

Those positions were also largely gained at the Conservatives' cost, which will add to pressure on party leader Kemi Badenoch.

So too will the inevitable debate on whether the Tories will agree to power-sharing agreements with Reform to form majorities on councils. While this is something the Conservatives are aghast at, they may choose to embrace it, knowing too that a similar deal may happen in national elections.

Ultimately, what the vote confirms is that the fractious British electorate is turning away from the two older parties and that a multi-party split − when taking in the Liberal Democrats' and Greens' moderate success − has taken grip of politics.

Added into the mix is the growing Muslim vote – a number of independents could well win on that ticket – and any thought of Britain entering a calmer political landscape following the Brexit ructions are firmly dispelled.