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Nigel Farage has named Robert Jenrick as Reform UK’s “shadow chancellor” as he reveals several members of his top team in an effort to convince British voters that his party is a credible vehicle for power.
Party policy chief Zia Yusuf, who had previously said he would be interested in the chancellorship, is expected to be given the role of shadow home secretary instead. Richard Tice, the current deputy leader and one of the party’s biggest donors, is expected to take up a new shadow business role covering trade, energy and industry.
With only eight MPs, Reform Labor does not have an official opposition. The Tories still have 116 MPs, while the Liberal Democrats have 72. However, the party is leading in opinion polls, with around 28 per cent public support, compared to Labor at 19 per cent and the Tories at 16 per cent.
Farage is increasingly aware that he needs to prove to the public and potential donors that his party is ready to govern and reframe the long-held narrative that Reform is a one-man band.
Jenrick, a right-winger who served in government under four Tory prime ministers between 2018 and 2023, joined Reform last month after being sacked as Conservative shadow justice secretary, the most high-profile defection yet to Farage’s right-wing populist party.
The defection came just hours after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pre-emptively removed Jenrick from her shadow cabinet, saying she had “clear, irrefutable evidence” that he was plotting to join Reform.
