STEVENAGE, England — Nigel Farage has a Donald Trump problem. Even voters keen on his poll-topping party are unsure about the company he keeps.
Among a key constituency of women considering switching from the ruling Labour Party to Reform UK, concern about Farage’s relationship with Donald Trump is rife, according to a new focus group and polling shared with POLITICO.
In the midst of Trump’s tariff saber-rattling this week, POLITICO listened to the group of women living in the commuter-belt town of Stevenage — 30 miles north of London. To protect those taking part in the study, all names used below are pseudonymous.
“Stevenage woman” became pollsters’ shorthand for mothers based in towns and suburbs at the last election, who were seen as crucial to Labour’s 2024 general election victory.
Farage might “just be a stooge” for Trump, Lauren, a mental health support worker, said. “He might just be [Trump’s] whipping boy. That kind of concerns me,” the 54-year-old added.
Jane, a 51-year-old stay-at-home mum of three, said: “There’s no one who will actually stand up to him. Trump would say, ‘do this, do that,’ and Nigel would be like ‘yep, yep.'”
When asked to pinpoint the greatest threat to the U.K., Rachel, a 47-year-old property manager, said: “I think Trump, full stop.”
These women are not alone in their view.
Wider polling by More in Common, the think tank which organized the focus group held on Monday night, found 25 percent of women see Farage’s support for Trump as the top reason not to vote Reform. That compared to 21 percent of themen surveyed between Jan. 10 and 13. More in Common’s sample size was 2,036 people.
Friends can disagree
Farage has often spoken of his admiration for Trump. The Reform leader famously shared a snap of himself with the U.S. president-elect in Trump Tower after his shock first-term election victory in 2016.
That association has continued. The pair met in the Oval Office last September when Farage was in Washington.
But the Reform leader’s support for Trump has its limits. Farage this week described U.S. tariff threats over the U.K.’s opposition to the annexation of Greenland as “wrong,” as European leaders lined-up to condemn Trump’s economic aggression towards his NATO allies.
“Friends will disagree,” Farage said in an interview with Bloomberg in Davos on Thursday morning, insisting a close relationship with the U.S. did not mean being “beholden.”
Despite their Trump misgivings, the Stevenage women are still minded to vote for Farage’s Reform UK.
“I quite liked him on ‘I’m a Celebrity’ and it’s grown from there,” Alice, a 55-year-old building society manager, said, referencing Farage’s 2023 appearance on the reality jungle game show.
“God knows what would happen if he got into power. But could he be any worse [than the current government]?,” she said, to an emphatic “no” from others in the room.
Reform is “gaining a lot of support through default, aren’t they?,” Lauren, the mental health worker quoted above, said, citing a wider loss of trust in the mainstream parties.
“I just feel like anything is better than now and it depresses me,” Megan, a 48-year-old regional manager for a brewer, said. “If I could see a little shimmer of light for our future for our children, I think I would want to go down that way,” she said of Reform.
Why not Starmer?
Despite attempts to exploit Farage’s perceived vulnerability on foreign policy this month, there are few signs Starmer is reaping any electoral reward.
Asked how the British PM is doing, 63-year-old retiree Sandra said “rubbish.”
“Nothing’s really changed,” she said. “We thought the new government were coming in with all these promises and that, and actually nothing. … We’re still in a state, aren’t we?”
The Stevenage women POLITICO spoke to made it clear they were no longer fans of Starmer’s Labour, but More in Common Executive Director Luke Tryl says the Trump factor still remains a risk for Farage.
“This group of women had no time for Trump and his tactics and wondered what the president’s erraticism would mean for their safety and security and the future of their children,” the think tank boss said.
“With Brits already saying that Nigel Farage’s relationship with Trump is the biggest barrier to voting Reform, particularly women, and over half of the country describing Farage as Britain’s Trump, there is a very real risk that the Reform leader’s association with the U.S. president means that a Farage premiership is seen as a risk too far,” he added.
