{"id":501454,"date":"2026-03-29T08:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501454\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T08:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:12:08","slug":"reform-insiders-fear-links-to-extreme-figures-such-as-andrew-tate-will-scare-off-voters-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501454\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform insiders fear links to extreme figures such as Andrew Tate will scare off voters | Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reform insiders are becoming increasingly irritated by the party\u2019s association with Andrew Tate and other extreme online celebrities whose views are too toxic for the mainstream voters Nigel Farage<\/a> needs to win over.<\/p>\n

Insiders have revealed that as Reform prepare for power they are trying to end their association with more controversial figures on the right such as Tate, whose extreme and misogynistic content could taint the party\u2019s credibility.<\/p>\n

While courting online popularity before the party\u2019s boom in the polls, their leader, Farage, appeared loth to criticise the online \u201cmanosphere\u201d influencer. Tate is facing 21 charges<\/a> for crimes including human trafficking should he ever return to the UK.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Farage said in online interviews that Tate was an \u201cimportant voice\u201d for the \u201cemasculated\u201d and giving boys \u201cperhaps a bit of confidence at school\u201d. Tate is becoming better known among mainstream voters as his conduct is reported in programmes such as Louis Theroux\u2019s recent Netflix documentary Inside the Manosphere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Andrew Tate faces criminal and civil investigations in the UK and Romania. Photograph: Vadim Ghird\u0103\/AP<\/p>\n

Public revulsion at Tate and his followers has caused some in Reform to warn that associating themselves with these kinds of figures could weaken the party\u2019s appeal to female voters and the broader electorate.<\/p>\n

One source said: \u201cYes, I have advised Nigel and others to be more careful about who we associate with \u2013 if we are to win over a broader section of British society, we cannot be linked to unpopular characters or people who have made unsavoury comments about women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another senior Reform source said of Tate: \u201cI am quite familiar with him and what he\u2019s like, I look at his social media. He is nothing to do with Reform. We can\u2019t help it if people that we don\u2019t particularly want around us endorse us. There have been a few cases of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform has also struggled to shake its association with the rightwing agitator and convicted criminal<\/a> Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, otherwise known as Tommy Robinson. Though the party has made it clear that he is not welcome as a member, Robinson recently endorsed Reform\u2019s candidate Matthew Goodwin<\/a> for the Gorton and Denton byelection.<\/p>\n

Tommy Robinson has been a vocal supporter of Reform UK in recent years. Photograph: Ben Whitley\/PA<\/p>\n

Goodwin did not disavow Robinson, though a Reform UK<\/a> spokesperson said: \u201cWe have consistently been clear on this issue. He isn\u2019t welcome in the party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke Tryl, who runs the polling company More in Common, said their research backs up the theory that associations with extreme online personalities could put new voters off Reform.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe looked at the difference between Reform\u2019s 2024 voters, hardcore ones, and their newer voters. And there is a big difference on approval of Robinson and [Elon] Musk, and even Tate. There is a big distinction between 2024 voters and their newer voters and even more so for new women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tryl\u2019s research found Tommy Robinson<\/a> has an approval rating of +15 with 2024 Reform voters, but new Reform voters give him a -11 approval rating, which sinks to -15 among women. Andrew Tate has a -34 negative approval rating among 2024 Reform voters, which reduces to -46 among new voters and -51 among women.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk then to Reform is their association with online right figures alienates the wavering female voter who ultimately will decide whether Reform gets into government,\u201d he said. \u201cThe sort of voter who is tempted to roll the dice as the status quo feels so miserable, but is also worried Reform may be too extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tate and Robinson form just one part of a wider host of controversial figures who have associated themselves with the party\u2019s views \u2013 not always in ways that are helpful to the party.<\/p>\n

Another figure who has been increasingly seen at Reform events is Lady Victoria Hervey. The socialite was in the audience at the Veterans for Reform event earlier this year at which Suella Braverman<\/a> defected from the Conservatives. She has been a strident campaigner for the party and was recently photographed with Farage at Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.<\/p>\n

A former flame of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, she has described Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s victims as liars and prostitutes and called anyone who was not in the Epstein files<\/a> a \u201closer\u201d.<\/p>\n

She recently said: \u201cSo if you were on the scene and you were powerful \u2013 like to be honest, if you\u2019re not in those files, it would be an insult. Because it just means that you were a bit of a loser.\u201d Hervey, who dated Andrew in 1999, is mentioned in the Epstein files 23 times.<\/p>\n

Another Mar-a-Lago guest, Holly Valance, has also been a vocal supporter of Reform. She recently split with entrepreneur Nick Candy, who financed the party.<\/p>\n

Holly Valance and Nick Candy, seen here in 2013, separated last year. Photograph: WENN Rights Ltd\/Alamy<\/p>\n

The former soap actor and pop star has gained attention recently for provocative comments such as referring to the climate campaigner Greta Thunberg as a \u201cdemonic little gremlin\u201d. She is also an associate of Robinson, attending his Unite the Kingdom march in London<\/a>. Posing in a Mega (Make England Great Again) hat, she said: \u201cI\u2019m very proud and pleased of Tommy \u2013 this is his redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few mainstream celebrities have vocally supported the party, but Reform UK has managed to attract support from the former model Caprice Bourret, who has become an enthusiastic backer, even joining the campaign for Laila Cunningham to be the party\u2019s candidate for London mayor. Bourret has left heart emojis on her Instagram posts, and written an enthusiastic \u201cyou will win!\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reform insiders are becoming increasingly irritated by the party\u2019s association with Andrew Tate and other extreme online celebrities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-501454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}