Reform UK: A Problem with Women?

40% of Reform UK's followers are men over 65. A member of the media was at a local elections launch last year. They struggled to find any female supporters, especially younger women. The one woman whom the correspondent did find admitted the party had failed to attract women. However, she said female support would come.

Reform UK are by far the most popular party, and its juggernaut is sweeping all before it. The party leads Labour in recent polls, and the Tories are in third place. Reform UK also carries the accolade of being the most popular party on TikTok.

However, the majority of support is male and probably in their 50s - 60s. That's not to say there are not younger followers. For political parties or for anyone who wants to get noticed, Facebook, TikTok, X, etc, are the places to be.

So, Reform UK has done its homework on the popularity of social media, and thus, this enhances their popularity. Conversely, it will also gain them opponents and critics.

The whole ethos when Nigel Farage and others won their seats in the general election seems not to have been focused on women. Nigel Farage, with his pint and cigar, the bloke down the pub, could and will put many women off. At least many modern and younger women. That doesn't mean, however, that there are not women who do not like that type of man.

Does the party have an image problem with attracting female voters? Well, yes, Reform UK seems at first glance to be a very toxic place for women. A silverback, testosterone-filled place where men with 1970s attitudes beat their chests. Or at least that's how those on the left would have you see Reform UK. And no doubt, many in the party are like that, and that's the image the party gives off. However, to truly understand something, you should research before writing something off as this and that. Based on what you have seen on the surface or hearsay.

However, of late, some prominent women have emerged in the party. Not too dissimilar to Trumpist women in America. Where family values are key, and although these women believe in these biblically inspired values, that doesn't make them subservient to men.

Many of these women, both in the US and the UK, are hard-working, tough, feisty, vibrant, and highly intelligent, holding down a job and managing a family. This may not be feminism in the burning your bra sense, but it is about assertive women.

So, who are these women supposedly flocking to the flag of Farage? The most obvious one is Sarah Pochin MP for Runcorn and Helsby, elected in May 2025. She has joined her four male colleagues in the House of Commons. She is renowned for her vociferous attacks on Muslim men exploiting non-Muslim women, like the recent grooming gangs brought to justice.

Then there is female councillor Catherine Becker, along with other female councillors elected in the local elections last year.

Then there is former Labour voter Jess Gill. Ms. Gill describes herself as "Northern and working class". The type of person who would stereotypically have voted Labour.

However, she fell out of love with Labour when she saw Sir Keir Starmer taking a knee for BLM or Black Lives Matter. From then on, she was attracted to Nigel Farage. Describing the Reform UK Leader as "funny" and a "real man".

She had barbed words for the former political man in her life: Sir Keir Starmer. "A wimp" is how she described him for going along with BLM just to be popular and not having the guts to say "No"! On the other hand, Sir Keir may have supported the aims of BLM.

Reform UK is a worry for Labour, certainly. However, Reform UK is more of a concern for the Conservatives. Many people are leaving the Tories like a sinking ship. Ironically, the Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch has been described as a "dead party walking".

The bigger concern for Labour is this alleged party under Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. This party doesn't even exist yet, and it does not have a name yet, but according to polls, it is attracting 18% support.

All political parties, right, left, or in between, have a duty to attract female voters, members, councillors, and volunteers. Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Liz Truss have all been prominent female leaders of the UK. Whether you agree with their politics or not, it is a living example that women can get to the top.

However, the same may not be true for the current female leader of the Conservatives, Kemi Badenoch. Yes, she is the Leader of the Opposition, but on her current trajectory, she will not be darkening Number 10's door any time soon.