London, United Kingdom. Reform UK on Tuesday appointed Robert Jenrick as its finance policy chief, as leader Nigel Farage made his first announcement of who would be in his ministerial team if the party wins the next national election.
First senior appointment for prospective team
Farage named former Conservative Party leadership candidate Jenrick as “shadow chancellor”, positioning him to serve as finance minister if Reform wins the next election, due in 2029. Reform is expected to perform strongly in local-level elections in May, but Farage has said he needs to build more governing experience into his team before the national vote.
Polling context and political backdrop
Reform leads the governing Labour Party in opinion polls as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces pressure to deliver growth and jobs while making a series of policy U-turns.
Jenrick’s defection and planned economic details
Jenrick defected to Reform last month, saying both the Conservative government he served in and the current Labour administration had broken Britain. He said he and Farage would provide more details of their economic plans on Wednesday.
“It will be a plan that restores stability to our economy, a plan that cuts waste, that brings down the benefits bill, that ensures that we can lower taxes and cut bills,” Jenrick said at a party event. “We’re going to ensure that you can keep more of your money, that the state stops taking your money and wasting it.”
Investor attention and policy messaging
Investors are seeking more detail on Reform’s policies from Farage, a veteran eurosceptic campaigner, given the party’s position in the polls and what has been described as mixed messaging on spending. Farage has said waste should be cut from local and central government budgets and has softened earlier tax-cut pledges, saying he needed to be realistic given Britain’s public finances.
Party size in parliament and broader recruitment
Reform has eight lawmakers in the 650-seat House of Commons. Farage said he will bring in figures from outside politics and acknowledged criticism that the party had been seen as a “one-man band”, adding: “The time has come to broaden the party.”
What details will Reform UK provide next about its economic plans?