The first, and some may say most controversial, thing to say is that the country needs Reform UK to win big at the local elections next May. Evidence so far has revealed splits and acrimony in their ranks as they find that their promises to the electorate have revealed them as frauds and liars. Many have already resigned, as they are not up to the jobs of local government. The only way that the public can understand what Reform UK would look like in government is to experience how they work locally.
The defection of former Conservative ‘heavyweights’ like Danny Kruger and Maria Caulfield to Reform UK has been dramatised as a political schism, a fundamental realignment of the British right. But this narrative is extremely misleading. A detailed examination of Reform’s platform reveals it not as a radical alternative but as a logical, if more extreme, culmination of the ideological currents that have dominated the Conservative Party for the past decade. Far from being an insurgent force, Reform is the Tory id unleashed—a purer, less constrained version of its parent party.
1. The Brexit Inheritance: A Shared Foundation
The most glaring similarity is the foundational issue of Europe. While the Tories were historically divided, the 2016 referendum and the subsequent premiership of Boris Johnson saw the party officially adopt a hardline Eurosceptic position. Reform’s entire raison d’être is rooted in this victory.
- Tory Position (2019-2024): “Get Brexit Done.” The Conservatives positioned themselves as the party that would “take back control” of laws, borders, and money. They implemented the Brexit withdrawal agreement and pursued trade deals, albeit with significant economic disruption.
- Reform Position: To accuse the Tories of not implementing a “real Brexit.” Their solution? A policy of wholesale divergence from EU standards and a promise to scrap thousands of retained EU laws—a policy ambition that directly mirrors the original intent of the Tory-led Brexit Freedoms Bill and the fervour of the pro-Brexit ERG faction, of which many defectors like David Jones were key members.
The difference is one of degree and accusation, not of kind. Both parties champion sovereign autonomy; Reform simply claims the Tories were incompetent in achieving it.
2. Immigration: Different Tactics, Shared Strategic Goal
This is where the facade of difference is most carefully constructed, yet the underlying philosophy is identical.
- Tory Position: The Conservatives have pursued the Rwanda Scheme, a policy designed as a deterrent through offshore processing. They have also passed the Illegal Migration Act, which significantly narrows the grounds for asylum claims and mandates detention and removal. The rhetoric from Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick emphasised the need to “stop the boats” and control legal migration numbers.
- Reform Position: Reform calls the Rwanda scheme a “costly gimmick” and proposes going further. Their policy? Leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and implement offshore processing on a larger scale. They also advocate for a strict, Australia-style points-based system for legal migration.
The critique is tactical, not philosophical. Both parties agree that immigration levels are too high and that deterrence through harsh measures is the primary tool. The core belief—that the UK must be far more restrictive—is shared. Reform’s policy is essentially the unstated wish of the Tory right, made explicit.
3. Economic Policy: Tax Cuts and a Smaller State
The economic vision of both parties is drawn from the same neoliberal blueprint, with Reform offering a more ideologically pure version.
- Tory Position: Since 2010, the Conservatives have pursued fiscal consolidation (“austerity”), followed by tax-cutting agendas under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. They have spoken relentlessly about cutting the size of the civil service and “Whitehall waste.” The 2023 Autumn Statement was heavily focused on tax reductions for workers and businesses.
- Reform Position: Reform’s manifesto is a turbocharged version of this. They propose raising the income tax threshold to £20,000, abolishing inheritance tax for all but the very wealthy, and scrapping IR35 rules. Their flagship policy to fund this? A radical slashing of public spending, including a freeze on non-essential public sector hiring and cutting the “diversity, equality and inclusion” bureaucracy—a specific target that has become a constant refrain on the Tory backbenches.
Again, the direction of travel is identical: lower taxes, a smaller state, and the reduction of “woke” public sector roles. Reform simply promises to drive faster and further down the same road, leaving even more havoc in its wake.
4. The Culture War: A Common Enemy
Both parties have built their modern electoral strategy on fighting a perceived “culture war,” targeting the same institutions and ideas.
- Tory Position: The Conservatives under Sunak launched attacks on “woke ideology,” criticised the “nanny state,” and pledged to protect “women-only spaces” by defining sex in law as biological. The party has frequently clashed with the BBC, the judiciary, and environmental protest groups like Just Stop Oil, promising tougher laws against disruption.
- Reform Position: This is their core brand. They rail against “net zero extremism,” promise to abolish the BBC licence fee, and vehemently oppose what they term “gender ideology.” Their one-time deputy leader, Ben Habib, even dismissed mental health as a modern equivalent of “back pain,” a sentiment that aligns with the scepticism towards “snowflake culture” often voiced by Tory right-wingers.
The language is coarser and more confrontational from Reform, but the battle lines are drawn on the same terrain. They both appeal to a base that feels traditional British values are under threat from a progressive liberal elite.
The Facsimile is Complete
The defectors moving from the Conservative Party to Reform are not ideological converts; they are simply migrating to a party that now more perfectly embodies the principles they have always championed. Figures like Lee Anderson, Danny Kruger, and Andrea Jenkyns were standard-bearers for the Tory right. Their move signifies that the centre of gravity in their political world has shifted, not that their beliefs have changed.
Reform UK has successfully positioned itself as the anti-establishment choice. Yet, its policy platform is a direct facsimile of the most hardline elements of the Conservative Party’s last decade, stripped of the need for compromise. It is the legacy of UKIP’s pressure, the ERG’s Brexit obstinacy, and the Trussite economic experiment, repackaged under a new name. For voters, the choice is not between conservatism and something new, but between two versions of the same ideology: one tempered by the realities of governance, and the other, Reform, offering the purest, unadulterated fantasy.
