Poll Exposes Reform UK Members' Controversial Views on Non-White Citizens
A groundbreaking poll has revealed that more than half of Reform UK members believe non-white British citizens born abroad should be forcibly removed or encouraged to leave the country. This startling finding emerges as party leader Nigel Farage faces mounting pressure from both his right flank and his attempts to court center-ground voters in the upcoming political landscape.
Survey Details and Party Tensions
According to research published by the anti-racism organization Hope Not Hate, 54% of Reform members surveyed supported deportation or encouragement to leave for non-white British citizens born abroad. Even more concerning, 22% of members extended this view to non-white citizens whose parents were born in the United Kingdom. The respected polling company Survation conducted the survey of 629 Reform members between January 29 and February 16, providing the first publicly available insight into the party's membership views.
Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope Not Hate, warned that these findings highlight significant tensions within Farage's party. "With a dilution of Reform's policies to win more moderate voters, or if they were to form a government, you could see a number of their members becoming quite disillusioned," Lowles stated. The organization publishes its annual "State of Hate" report this Wednesday, which describes these findings as evidence of growing divisions within Reform UK.
Right-Wing Pressure and New Political Movements
Farage faces increasing pressure from his right flank, particularly from former Reform member Rupert Lowe, who recently launched the hardline Restore Britain party after falling out with Farage. The poll revealed that two-thirds of Reform members hold a positive view of Lowe, who advocates for mass deportations as part of his political platform. Additionally, members showed considerable support for activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Hope Not Hate has been monitoring far-right movements for decades and sounded an alarm about the rise of what they describe as "more explicitly racial nationalism." The organization warns that this ideology defines English identity through "blood and ancestry" rather than citizenship or cultural affiliation. "Its spread is dangerous because of the proposed solutions that follow, most notably 'remigration.' This concept repackages older ideas of ethnic cleansing and forced repatriation in softer, more bureaucratic language," the report states.
Mainstreaming of Extreme Views
The report draws connections between racially charged identity views pushed by far-right activists during the backlash against Black Lives Matter and recent interventions by Reform UK figures. Matthew Goodwin, who recently lost the Gorton and Denton byelection, refused to disown his claim that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds were not necessarily British. "It takes more than a piece of paper to make somebody 'British'," Goodwin had previously stated.
Similarly, after podcaster Konstantin Kisin claimed that Southampton-born Rishi Sunak was not English, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman wrote in the Telegraph that she was a proud British Asian but not English. Hope Not Hate warns that extreme racial nationalist views about British identity are breaking into the mainstream with support from Reform UK and media cheerleaders.
Growing Far-Right Activism and Protests
According to the report, the UK's far right has become "bigger, bolder and more confrontational." The organization highlighted the "unite the kingdom" rally in London led by Tommy Robinson, which attracted over 150,000 participants in what became the largest far-right protest in British history. Additional polling for Hope Not Hate by Focaldata, using a nationally representative group of 8,185 people, revealed that a quarter of the British population identifies positively with Robinson's movement.
Robinson is currently in the United States, where he has been feted by right-wing figures including a political appointee at the State Department in Washington and a congressman. Another rally is being planned by Robinson, who has drawn support from billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X and Tesla.
Anti-Migrant Protests and Future Concerns
The report also tracked 251 anti-migrant demonstrations throughout 2025, highlighting the wave of protests that reignited in Epping in July last year outside a hotel housing asylum seekers. "One worrying feature is that these anti-migrant protests have persisted through the winter months in key areas, with some attracting several thousand people. As we head towards the hot summer months, we will very likely see a surge in activity once again," the report warned.
Hope Not Hate describes Restore Britain as creating a realignment on the far right after attracting support from activists across the spectrum, though they note it remains a fragile coalition. The organization emphasizes that the most important development last year was the massive London rally, which demonstrated the growing organizational capacity of far-right movements in the United Kingdom.
