Like many on the modern right, Reform UK has sought to sell itself as a bastion of free speech. Anyone paying attention knows that the party frequently fails to live up to these ideals. And what we’re seeing with its 2026 annual conference may be one of the most obvious examples of this yet. It’s also one of the most laughable, given that the party banned, *un-*banned, then re-banned several journalists:
Oh no! I’ve just had another email from Reform telling be I have been rejected after all. Apparently the same has happened to several other journalists. Clearly Reform are in brilliant shape to run the country. Maybe they’re worried I might talk to party members. https://t.co/o11lrHjDEo
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 2, 2026
Fiasco
When Crick first heard he’d been banned, he posted the following:
Oh dear! Reform have rejected my application to cover their conference this week.
The later post explaining he’d been un-banned then re-banned attracted far more attention than the first. As such, you have to wonder what Reform’s PR team is up to? Because all this feels designed to attract as much negative attention as possible.
Other journalists were subjected to this farce too:
within 24 hours, reform have rejected my media accreditation for their conference, accepted it, then rejected it again. some laugh
— Ed Campbell (@edcmpbl) September 2, 2026
Isabella Link has featured on GB Newsand is followed by Robert Jenrick on X (although she is also a self-confessed ‘Conservative’):
Newest email in this psychodrama. pic.twitter.com/OykGETfhsr
— Isabella Link (@isabellaslink) September 2, 2026
Some journalists were only banned once. Notably, this group included people who have criticised Reform and its hangers-on:
What a timeline… pic.twitter.com/dbfFhvS3we
— Reform UK Exposed
(@reformexposed) September 2, 2026
I’ve also been banned, despite being @openDemocracy’s lobby reporter
Last year I reported on George Cottrell and more recently Reform’s cosying up to big business — but imagine my colleague @sianushka’s dogged reporting on Cottrell was the major factor here ! https://t.co/W3AHIthkea
— Ethan Shone (@EJShone93) September 2, 2026
My Middle East Eye colleague Imran Mulla joins the Reform Party blacklist. https://t.co/tZL13XnTTa
— Peter Oborne (@OborneTweets) September 2, 2026
To be fair, Reform isn’t the first political party to pull a stunt like this. As Michael Crick noted:
Forget what happened to me, it’s
outrageous that a political party should ban excellent journalists like Peter Geohegan and Anna Isaac from its annual conference – as I said when Labour did the same in 2024. Such actions betray deep authoritarian instincts & insecurity.— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 2, 2026
The leader in charge of Labour in 2024 was Keir Starmer, and the conference took place not long after his general election victory. We all know what happened to Starmer’s reputation when his ‘authoritarian and insecure’ traits became more obvious to the public. Farage now runs this same risk.
Reform has said there will be many journalists in attendance:
Reform UK has nearly 1,000 other journalists coming to conference. https://t.co/yAC6f1Okcn
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) September 2, 2026
The problem is we know what sort of ‘journalists’ they favour:
I did an event at the @reformparty_uk conference last year – while I was there I clocked a few fringe conspiracy nuts, including someone who filmed himself harassing grieving widows at the Covid memorial wall. Shame they can get accredited but not the great @MichaelLCrick https://t.co/GrITBhvZsO
— Matthew Sweet (@DrMatthewSweet) September 2, 2026
Free speech?
Initially, it looked like just three journalists had been banned. In response to this situation, Kevin Schofield said the following, attracting the below response:
Are you dense or something?
They’re free to say whatever they want about Reform still.
You clowns on the left think that free speech means people have to sit in the same room & listen to your bollocks. They don’t.
Go say whatever you want, they just don’t want to listen.
— Richard (@RedWallPleb) September 2, 2026
The response isn’t an unfair point. And while we do respect several of the banned journalists above, it is undeniable that many are primarily focused on furthering the agenda of their billionaire owners. Earlier this year, that went against Reform, when several media barons decided Farage is not a safe pair of hands, and the attacks on his party multiplied accordingly:
While the UK media is no doubt vile, that doesn’t mean it’s politically beneficial to freeze them out. This is especially true when you’ve sold yourself as being more willing to face scrutiny than your opponents:
Nigel Farage answered 499 questions from the media in 2025, more than Kemi and Keir put together.
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) December 23, 2025
What happened between the above post and today?
A series of never-ending scandals, that’s what.
And ducking the media like Reform is obviously doing isn’t going to make those criticisms go away; it’s just going to add another to the pile.
Farcical Reform
Regardless of what you think about scrutiny, you probably agree that a political party should be competent. And these scenes are a million miles away from competent.
The media is now paying attention to the Reform conference anyway. Just not for the reasons Reform might have hoped.
Featured image via Jill O Donnell
By Willem Moore
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