A former Labour adviser has declared Nigel Farage a "compelling political figure" who has put "turbo boosters" on Reform UK's political presence.
Speaking to GB News, Kevin Meagher praised Farage's clear and consistent messaging in British politics.
He said: "I think he's made incredible headway. Seven months ago, Reform UK were a presence. They were polling quite well.
"They had been before Nigel Farage took the helm again, because Reform is an iteration of the Brexit Party and Ukip before that.
"But before he was leader, under Richard Tice they were doing pretty well anyway. They would have been, I think, a big nuisance in that general election, certainly to the Conservative Party.
"Under Nigel Farage, they put turbo boosters on Reform. He is a compelling political figure, whether people like Nigel Farage or they don't. He's a great speaker. He's a great media performer.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
"He's very clear and he's very consistent in what he says which is the bane of modern politics, with politicians using language that people don't really understand and always seeming to sort of shift their positions. Farage doesn't do that."
He added: "Nigel Farage haunts the dreams of everybody in British politics at the moment. And the question is whether Reform represent what political scientists call a paradigm shift, whether he's actually going to change things permanently or whether this is a bit of a blip.
"He might kind of die off a little bit during the year. I wouldn't rule out that this is a paradigm shift, that something fundamental is changing in British politics.
"I think we've seen that over the last decade or more anyway. We've seen a third of Labour voters voting for Brexit, although the Labour Party was very much opposed to Brexit, we've seen a lot of those same voters vote for Boris Johnson in 2019.
"We've seen all those people come back again to Labour in 2024. So there's an awful lot of volatility in our political system that didn't used to be there. And Nigel Farage is somebody that understands that, and I think he can control some of these trends.
"He's got members. He's overtaking the Tory party in terms members. He and Reform are now a real force in British politics."
Reform UK has seen significant recent gains, with Farage claiming "tens of thousands" of new members joined over the Christmas period.
This surge has led to Reform UK overtaking Conservative Party membership numbers for the first time.
The milestone sparked controversy with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused Reform of "manipulating" its numbers with "a fake clock coded to tick up automatically."
Farage is reportedly considering legal action over Badenoch's claims.
The membership battle comes as Reform continues to narrow the gap with the Conservatives, with Badenoch's leadership facing mounting pressure ahead of next year's local elections.
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Speaking to GB News, Kevin Meagher praised Farage's clear and consistent messaging in British politics.
He said: "I think he's made incredible headway. Seven months ago, Reform UK were a presence. They were polling quite well.
"They had been before Nigel Farage took the helm again, because Reform is an iteration of the Brexit Party and Ukip before that.
"But before he was leader, under Richard Tice they were doing pretty well anyway. They would have been, I think, a big nuisance in that general election, certainly to the Conservative Party.
"Under Nigel Farage, they put turbo boosters on Reform. He is a compelling political figure, whether people like Nigel Farage or they don't. He's a great speaker. He's a great media performer.
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"He's very clear and he's very consistent in what he says which is the bane of modern politics, with politicians using language that people don't really understand and always seeming to sort of shift their positions. Farage doesn't do that."
He added: "Nigel Farage haunts the dreams of everybody in British politics at the moment. And the question is whether Reform represent what political scientists call a paradigm shift, whether he's actually going to change things permanently or whether this is a bit of a blip.
"He might kind of die off a little bit during the year. I wouldn't rule out that this is a paradigm shift, that something fundamental is changing in British politics.
"I think we've seen that over the last decade or more anyway. We've seen a third of Labour voters voting for Brexit, although the Labour Party was very much opposed to Brexit, we've seen a lot of those same voters vote for Boris Johnson in 2019.
"We've seen all those people come back again to Labour in 2024. So there's an awful lot of volatility in our political system that didn't used to be there. And Nigel Farage is somebody that understands that, and I think he can control some of these trends.
"He's got members. He's overtaking the Tory party in terms members. He and Reform are now a real force in British politics."
Reform UK has seen significant recent gains, with Farage claiming "tens of thousands" of new members joined over the Christmas period.
This surge has led to Reform UK overtaking Conservative Party membership numbers for the first time.
The milestone sparked controversy with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused Reform of "manipulating" its numbers with "a fake clock coded to tick up automatically."
Farage is reportedly considering legal action over Badenoch's claims.
The membership battle comes as Reform continues to narrow the gap with the Conservatives, with Badenoch's leadership facing mounting pressure ahead of next year's local elections.
Find Out More...