Reform UK

Reform UK is having the best year of its life. Official opposition in Wales. Seventeen seats in Scotland. Over 1,400 councillors. And yet Middle England still hasn't climbed aboard.

This week on Craft Politics: Darren Grimes, Reform UK councillor, deputy leader of Durham County Council, and one of GB News's most recognisable voices, joins Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy to answer what Reform actually is, where its next million voters come from, and whether it can govern or just campaign.

We discuss:

The ceiling problem. Reform won more council seats on a smaller vote share than the year before. Is this a party filling the void left by Labour and Conservative collapse, or something structurally stronger?

Where the next million comes from. Darren's two-pronged attack: prove economic credibility to the Sussexes and cultural compatibility to the Red Wall. And why Essex, not just Durham, is now in play.

Not Thatcher's party. Why Reform would nationalise British Steel, why it's past the ideological purity of the 1980s, and how Darren's Labour-voting grandad changed his mind about Maggie.

The Burnham threat. Andy Burnham is coming for the same voter Reform wants. Darren's response: nobody in County Durham knows who he is, and Manchesterism isn't going to solve the North's problems.

The migration radicalisation. A majority of British voters now support detention of illegal migrants. Darren's warning: if Reform doesn't get this right, people will conclude the ballot box is broken and go to the horseshoe of doom.

Government in waiting. What Reform's first 100 days would look like, from scrapping green levies to lifting the cap on medical school places, and why Whitehall needs grabbing by the balls.

Also discussed: HMO Britain, why the BBC immigration argument was always wrong, the billionaire who just left taking £330 million in tax with him, and whether Darren has parliamentary ambitions. Spoiler: the call might come.

Find Darren on GB News and follow him on X.

00:00 Welcome and Reform UK's extraordinary year
00:44 Introducing Darren Grimes — Reform councillor and GB News voice
01:52 Reform's electoral surge — genuine strength or Labour-Tory collapse?
05:26 The Middle England problem — Reform's ceiling with affluent voters
07:41 Finding the next million voters — Reform's path to power
13:49 Andy Burnham and the myth of the King of the North
17:22 The migration crisis — HMO Britain and the transformation nobody voted for
18:47 The detention debate — majority support for what was once unthinkable
19:38 Is Reform a one-trick pony? The full policy prospectus
23:34 Not Thatcher 2.0 — Reform's pragmatic nationalism
27:52 The Conservative betrayal — why 2019 voters feel abandoned
32:17 The pressure of governing — immigration, energy, and institutional capture
33:24 Upskilling Britain — medical school caps and the case against mass migration
37:59 Why the conversation has changed — radicalization and the ballot box
39:52 The first 100 days — Reform as government in waiting
43:14 Will Darren stand for Parliament? The call to serve
44:48 Wrap — beers in London and the northern charm advantage