A new format for its conference suggests Reform is thinking seriously about policy, not just personality, says Emma Revell

It’s not uncommon for me to spend a September day on a crowded train full of awkward-looking men in suits (and occasionally some women too). But last Friday’s journey was a little different. Instead of heading to Birmingham’s Escher-esque ICC for Conservative Party Conference, the journalists, lobbyists and policy wonks of Westminster were going to the capacious NEC, which was playing host to Reform UK.

Traditionally, Reform’s conferences have been less actual conferences, and closer to US-style political rallies. Big speeches from big personalities – one big personality in particular – on a big stage designed to energise a cheering fanbase. Much of that was retained this year, from the fireworks and thumping bass that greeted Nigel Farage’s march to the stage to Dame Andrea Jenkyns’s performance of a self-penned ode to insomnia while wearing a sequinned jumpsuit. (I wasn’t a direct witness, but I’ve seen enough video footage to convince me my boss isn’t playing an elaborate prank on........

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