Reform UK is offering access to Nigel Farage at its party conference for sums ranging from £25,000 to a quarter of a million pounds.

The right-wing populist party is advertising for companies to attend “an intimate champagne breakfast with Nigel Farage” at its two-day conference at the Birmingham NEC next month, according to its commercial brochure.

For £250,000 – the most expensive package available – firms can buy 10 invitations to meet Farage, as well as “unlimited complementary drinks” throughout the conference, “chauffeur-driven travel”, a personal assistant, and the sponsor’s logo on Reform’s main stage and battle bus, where they can pose for “team photos”.

The Good Law Project campaign group said that Farage was “selling access” and eroding public trust in politics.

“Nigel Farage is an MP bound by the House of Commons Code of Conduct, which includes the principles of integrity and transparency and openness – therefore it’s imperative that Reform disclose who is paying this kind of money and what will be discussed,” they said.

“Many will see the price tag attached to the ‘champagne breakfast’ with Nigel Farage as tantamount to cash for access”.

Corporate donors with a smaller budget can buy time with Farage via one of the cheaper deals. The £60,000 “Momentum Package” includes six invitations to the champagne breakfast, plus advertising, and a “photo opportunity” with Farage and former party chair Zia Yusuf.

Yusuf is running Reform’s so-called DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative, the Elon Musk-inspired attempt to slash local authority budgets, with the stated aim of scrapping climate policies.

Before joining Reform, Yusuf ran a concierge company offering luxury experiences to the super-rich.

Farage has repeatedly claimed that he represents “ordinary people” in a battle against the “establishment”, yet his party is seemingly offering those who pay the most to influence its agenda.

Reform’s £25,000 conference “Catalyst Package” provides four champagne breakfast invites and access to the event’s “official after party”. 

“The fact business can secure a seat at the table with the Reform leader, in exchange for a very large sum of money, will only reinforce the widely-held view that big donors have much more sway over political parties than the average voter,” said Tom Brake, a former Liberal Democrat MP and director of the campaign group Unlock Democracy. “They know £250,000 can buy a lot of access and influence.”

Meanwhile, Reform has received significant sums from ultra-wealthy donors, including City traders, the owner of a Mayfair private members’ club, and property investors.

Political parties are often criticised by anti-corruption campaigners for offering cash-for-access packages to major donors at their annual conferences. At this year’s event, Labour is running a “business leaders’ summit” with the stated aim of providing access to “senior politicians” and ensuring corporate executives are “involved in the policy areas which matter most to you and your organisation.”

However, Labour’s offering is considerably less costly than Reform’s, with attendees having to shell out just £5,000. The largest reported corporate sponsorship package at Labour’s 2024 conference, sponsoring a business lunch session, cost £55,000.

Corporate Climate Agenda

Reform campaigns against the UK’s climate policies, advocating for new fossil fuel extraction, including coal, and scrapping renewable energy projects. Its leaders have also publicly and repeatedly cast doubt on the established science of climate change.

The party received £2.3 million from climate science deniers and those with fossil fuel or highly polluting interests between the 2019 and 2024 general elections – 92 percent of its funding. Its treasurer, billionaire luxury property developer Nick Candy, has claimed that he is raising money for Reform from fossil fuel executives. 

Polling by the think tank Persuasion UK recently found that Reform’s corporate interests were unpopular with the public, with respondents saying it significantly reduced their likelihood of voting for Farage’s party.

As DeSmog has reported, Farage travelled abroad at least nine times in his first 12 months as an MP, received nearly £1 million in outside income (on top of his MP’s salary), and mentioned his constituency of Clacton just four times in Parliament.

During the 2024 general election, the party spent £1.3 million on advertising in conservative tabloid newspapers, amounting to a fifth of its campaign spending.

Reform was approached for comment.