Reform UK leader Nigel Farage vows to deport illegal immigrants if his party wins the 2029 election

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage got a rock star welcome to his Trump-style event before telling supporters he will deport illegal immigrants, cut taxes and ‘end the net zero lunacy’ if elected.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has declared anyone “that comes illegally to Britain will be deported” and he has one goal which is to “win the next general election”.

Speaking in front of the right-wing party’s sold-out audience of 10,000 supporters at Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Friday night (Saturday AEDT), in a Trump-style event Mr Farage arrived perched inside a pothole excavation machine to signify the ongoing issues the country is battling including bad roads.

He received a rock star welcome and told Reform UK supporters he has many plans in place if his party wins the 2029 election including to stamp out illegal migration, cut taxes and “end the net zero lunacy”.

“I came back out of retirement to do this, I’m not mucking about,” he said.

“I’ve got one very clear, simple goal and that is that Reform win the next general election and turn this country around”.

The Reform UK leader speaks at the party’s local election campaign launch in Birmingham, central England. Picture: Oli Scarff / AFP

Electronic messages rotated over the centre stage for the audience to see, listing each UK council’s daily interest bill on debt, the annual salaries of council CEOs and how many potholes are in each region.

Supporters were also repeatedly told during the three-hour event that “Britain is broken” and Mr Farage said the party “believes in meritocracy” and “we want to live in a country that treats everybody the same”.

The right-leaning party has seen its member numbers soar in recent months and it now has about 400 branches nationally and 220,000 members – well above the Conservative Party which has about 132,000 members.

Reform UK has only four members in the House of Commons compared to Labour’s 404 and the Conservative Party’s 121 members but Mr Farage is determined to take on Labour and the Conservative Party at the upcoming council elections that will be held across the country on May 1.

The Reform UK leader outside a London pub with a pint and cigarette after the government flagged tougher rules on outdoor smoking last year. Picture: Carl Court / Getty

Mr Farage reacts after winning the Clacton and Harwich constituency on July 5, 2024, in his eighth attempt to win a seat in UK parliament. Picture: Dan Kitwood / Getty

Migration remained one of the key issues Mr Farage homed in on during his address and it was also reiterated by many party members who spoke to News Corp at the rally.

“We will end mass unskilled migration,” Mr Farage told the crowd.

“The 10 million increase in the population over the last 20 years has made our roads impossible.

“And you want to know why you can’t get a GP appointment – because the population has increased by 10 million people”.

Reform UK supporters applaud their leader Nigel Farage at the party campaign launch. Picture: Oli Scarff / AFP

The party has been awash with bad headlines in recent weeks after a spat erupted between Mr Farage and one of the party’s five MPs Rupert Lowe who called the mastermind of Brexit “Messianic”.

Subsequently allegations were levelled against Mr Lowe – who has been suspended by the party – of bullying and harassment and an independent report last week found he harassed two women who worked in his office.

The party was established at the Brexit Party in 2018 before having a rebrand in 2021 as Reform UK.

In recent days Mr Farage has hit out at Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch as incompetent and lazy and he declared there would be no right-wing affiliation between the two parties ahead of the 2029 election.

Originally published as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage vows to deport illegal immigrants if his party wins the 2029 election