“Farage’s Fillies”: How Reform UK Is Trying To Win Over Women
(left to right) Westminster City councillor Laila Cunningham, Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Sarah Pochin, MP for Runcorn and leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran. | Alamy
3 min read
Typically viewed as a party for men, today Reform UK launched their ‘Women for Reform’ campaign, focused on the safety and security of women and girls.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, said Britain has become a “1984 Orwellian nightmare” and that people have “had enough” of the country’s “soft touch” approach to crime and justice.
“I don't feel safe and as a mother I no longer feel that our children live in the safe, beautiful haven of Britain that I grew up in,” she said.
Reform’s popularity with women is growing. Polling from More in Common shows that Reform has gained 14 percentage points among women since the 2024 general election. Gen X, aged 45 to 60, are the strongest supporters, where Reform tops the polls.
Likening Reform’s new women movement to ‘Blair’s babes’ and ‘Cameron’s cuties’, Jenkyns declared she was “proud to be one of Farage’s fillies.”
“Welcome back to the era of conviction politicians and vigilante mums”, she said.
The Greater Lincolnshire Mayor was joined by MP Sarah Pochin, Westminster city councillor Laila Cunningham and leader of Kent county council Linden Kemkaren.
Instead of rolling out dedicated policies to attract female voters, Farage’s party doubled down on teaching in schools and the impact of unpoliced crime on women and young girls.
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby said the “heightened and increasing threat” to the safety and security of women had become a matter of “national security”.
She blamed the surge of “young military aged males” arriving on small boats. “We are talking about the daily influx of people who do not share our values, who do not share our culture, but are being welcomed into our country.”
“Foreign nationals are four times more likely to commit rape or sexual assault than British men. The inconvenient truth for the left is that the culture of men from predominantly Muslim countries, like Afghanistan, is one that holds a medieval view of women’s rights,” Pochin added.
“Hundreds of young men who arrive in this country, housed in our communities who undoubtedly become sexually frustrated have a warped view of their right to sexual assault women.”
Figures cited by Reform figures when discussing crimes committed by people from overseas are disputed.
Jenkyns also revealed some of the abuse she has received and in each case the justice system had failed to take action. One example of the abuse was, “I hope your little boy is raped and molested by refugees”.
She shared how she had been the target of death threats, called a “dirty, posh, white s***”, that her office had been “graffiti’d”, and one of her activists “chased with a sledgehammer”.
Westminster councillor Cunningham said the campaign is “for every parent who feels sick with worry when their kids leave the house.”
She revealed: “When my kids were robbed, police told me there weren’t enough resources to send someone. I had to do the dangerous leg work over many weeks to catch the criminals.”
“Why are there no more police on our streets? Why is there not a laser focus on knife crime, why aren't people in balaclavas searched, why aren't foreign rapists deported?” she asked.
Jenkyns also turned her attention to teaching in schools, criticising the “left wing indoctrination”.
“Our children should not be taught that there are more than two sexes and should not be taught about sex in primary schools,” she said.
She also hit out at talk of ‘chestfeeding’ under the last Conservative government, declaring: “I’m proud to be a mother and I'm proud to have breasts.”
