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Reform UK is bracing for a fresh influx of funding, as it hosts several former Conservative donors to a £25,000 dinner in Mayfair next week.
Party leader Nigel Farage and treasurer Nick Candy hope to raise more than £1 million from an event at Mayfair Oswald’s private members’ club on Tuesday, party officials said.
Individuals who have collectively given hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party in the past are expected to do so Reform It will increase pressure on Tory leader Kem Badenoch after several defections from her party.
Tickets for the event range from £10,000 to £25,000 and the event expects to attract up to 90 people, a person familiar with the arrangements said.
One former Tory donor who plans to attend told the Financial Times they chose the £25,000 ticket, over a cheaper option, to examine how the party “deals with older donors, whether they respect them”.
The individual, who has given significant sums to the Tories and asked not to be named, said: “Interest in supporting the Tories is at an all-time low. Interest in supporting reform is a bit better, but the jury is still out on whether they will deliver.”
The person added that they understood the event to be a trial for further fundraising, adding: “Reforma wants to see if it does that kind of thing.”
Party officials are also preparing for a larger gathering in the summer – dubbed the Reform Festival – which they hope will attract thousands of paying attendees.
The summer event would be “a celebration of all the incredible reform progress and all that we and our supporters will achieve together in the coming years”, said another senior party figure.
The two events form part of a drive to raise tens of millions of pounds for the party, as it seeks to boost its appeal heading into this year’s local elections and with a view to the next general election later this decade.
Reform is polling at 24 per cent, one point above the Tories and three points below Labour, according to an average of recent polls, fueling concern in the ruling party and the main opposition.
A former Tory donor said they hoped Farage would “bring the two strands together” by bringing together the Conservatives and reform parties. The two sides have ruled out any such move or made an electoral pact.
But the influx of cash into the reform’s coffers would be a blow to the party after tech billionaire Elon Musk signaled his reservations about giving a significant donation to that in recent weeks.
Reform insiders say the progress in donations will be the latest sign of a domestic challenger party swingafter Farage and Candy traveled to Washington for Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this week and showed their ties to MAGA Republicans.
Farage’s party faces a big test in May’s local elections, however, to prove that his support base is not just a paper phenomenon. Last spring, the party nominated candidates in one of the seven councils in the elections, and gained two councilors in total.
This year, party insiders hope to make far more significant gains, including two newly created mayoralties: Greater Lincolnshire, which will see former Tory Andrea Jenkyns contest against a Conservative opponent, and Hull and East Yorkshire, where Labor is also in contention. .
Candy, who made a fortune in the property market and has previously donated hundreds of thousands of Tories, joined Reform as treasurer last month, pledging to donate at least £1m of his own money to the party. He has since boasted that he will raise at least £40m for the reform.
A Tory spokesman said: “The Conservatives are under new leadership and are working hard to rebuild and restore trust with the British people.”
