Almost a year ago, Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf embarked on a ruthless internal purge of Reform UK. Active members were expelled, sidelined or smeared. The common thread was unmistakable: those removed were politically engaged, intellectually independent, and unwilling to treat politics as a personality cult. Among the most prominent were former Deputy Leader Ben Habib and former MP Rupert Lowe — figures who believed Reform UK should be a serious political force rather than a media vehicle.
The purge was justified at the time as “discipline” or “professionalisation”. In reality, it was the removal of anyone who might challenge a leadership increasingly uninterested in the substance of politics itself. The question now is unavoidable: what has Reform UK become in the year since it silenced its most serious voices?
The answer, borne out by hard parliamentary data, is deeply uncomfortable for its defenders. Reform UK is no longer a party focused on representation, scrutiny, or legislative impact. It is a brand — loud, recognisable, and hollow.
Take written parliamentary questions, one of the most basic tools available to an MP to hold government to account. The contrast is stark. Rupert Lowe submitted 2036 written questions since taking office. James McMurdock submitted 1,964.
These are not symbolic gestures; they are the daily mechanics of representative democracy. Now compare that with the current Reform leadership. The party’s Deputy Leader has submitted 176 questions.
Nigel Farage himself has managed a derisory 20. That is not a difference of style; it is a difference of intent. It is the difference between doing the job and avoiding it. It is the same old uniparty inefficacy.
Perhaps, defenders say, Farage prefers to focus on voting. Surely he turns up when legislation is on the line? Again, the record tells a damning story. Nigel Farage has avoided approximately two-thirds of all Commons votes.
For context, most MPs aim for attendance rates in the 60–80% range. 33% is widely regarded as exceptionally poor. In any ordinary profession, such absenteeism would result in dismissal.
Why does this matter? Because silence is strategic. By not voting, Farage avoids accountability. He avoids a record that can be interrogated later. And when an issue becomes fashionable, he can claim he has “always supported” it — safe in the knowledge that there is no vote to contradict him.
That may be good politics for a commentator. It is not representation for constituents who voted for action, not ambiguity. We are told, of course, that Farage is “shifting the Overton window”.
This, too, collapses under scrutiny. Reform’s support is stagnating, even declining, as voters grow weary of weak policy, evasive answers, and bizarre soundbites — from claims of indifference to demographic change to senior figures openly conceding decline as inevitable. This is not leadership. It is resignation disguised as realism.
The Overton window is shifting — but not because of Reform UK. It is shifting because of serious political work being done elsewhere. Ben Habib’s Advance UK is articulating clear principles and building a movement grounded in accountability.
Rupert Lowe, now an independent MP, is doing the unglamorous but vital work of Parliament: questioning, voting, and representing his constituents with diligence.
One man, unaffiliated with any major party, is outperforming an entire establishment-style operation of Reform UK. That is the great irony. Reform UK was created to challenge the political class. It has instead become a replica of it — centralised, personality-driven, and contemptuous of the mundane duties that democracy requires. Noise has replaced scrutiny. Branding has replaced principle.
Politics is not about who shouts the loudest or trends the fastest. It is about showing up. It is about asking questions, casting votes, and standing behind a record when the public asks what you have done on their behalf. On that measure, Reform UK’s leadership has failed miserably.
Britain does not need more performance. It needs representation. And the electorate is beginning to notice who is doing the work — and who is merely playing the part. In politics, as in life, you are judged not by the noise you make — but by the work you do.