New Delhi: Reform UK, a right-wing populist political party led by Nigel Farage, has launched an eight-page newspaper called The Reformer, reported the Press Gazette. The newspaper comes amid the party’s expansion of its publishing operations with plans to recruit journalists and produce more digital and video content.
The tabloid-formatted newspaper describes itself as the “newspaper of Reform UK”. Its front page also carries a “promoted by Reform UK…” disclaimer, similar to those found on election campaign leaflets.
In an editorial, Farage introduced the publication as a way for the party to communicate directly with the public.
“We have had enough of what we say and do being distorted by the media. So instead, we want to talk to you directly, and make sure that you get our message straight from The Reformer,” he wrote.
The Reformer
The first issue included short reports on pledges made at Reform UK’s party conference, news from councils controlled by the party and a tribute to its spokesperson Ann Widdecombe. It also carried advertisements encouraging readers to sign up as party members.
According to reports, the newspaper aims to distribute to 15 million households across the UK. Printweek reported that it was printed by Walstead Group, which has contracts with several of the country’s largest national newspaper and magazine publishers.
The publication is reportedly being run by Mick Hume, the former editor of Spiked and The European Conservative. Hume has also worked in communications for Reform UK and Farage’s now-defunct Brexit Party. He was the launch editor of Living Marxism magazine in 1988 and has written for Press Gazette on press freedom issues.
The domain name ‘thereformernewspaper.com’ is already being used online by an unrelated publication in Sierra Leone.
Plans for a national digital newsroom
The newspaper launch comes as Reform UK develops what it describes as a national publishing operation, combining written journalism, digital publishing and video production.
The project is being led by Aaron Lobo, who previously worked as Farage’s executive producer at GB News before becoming Reform UK’s director of operations. Lobo also spent two years at LBC, where he worked with presenters including Tom Swarbrick and Nick Ferrari.
“It’s a big moment for the party. We’re creating a full-scale, seven-day team in Westminster: a new studio, a digital newsroom, a centralised social desk and a data function, all working as one,” Lobo said, announcing the plans on LinkedIn.
The Party is currently hiring for 12 roles in broadcast and digital publishing, including an executive editor, a website editor and multimedia reporters and producers. Reports suggest it aims to employ up to 25 people overall.
“Reform UK is building a seven-day digital newsroom at its Westminster headquarters and is looking for hard-working, NCTJ-qualified Multimedia Reporter/Producers who can report, write and publish high-quality content at speed. The role sits at the heart of the party’s ambition to build the Reform UK website into a significant national publishing operation,” read one job advertisement.
Applicants are also expected to break original stories “rather than relying solely on rewriting or republishing material already available elsewhere”.
The party has additionally built a video studio for Reform TV, which is intended to produce content for YouTube. Together, the newspaper and planned digital newsroom represent an expansion of Reform UK’s efforts to communicate directly with audiences through its own publishing channels.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)