Apps, activists and an ‘air war’: Essex campaign is test of Reform UK’s professionalisation

N igel Farage was midway through his walkabout of Waltham Abbey when a hunting horn loudly sounded on the Essex market town’s pedestrianised high street. “Oi oiii!” exclaimed the owner of Ouch Tattoos, Rob Chillingworth, putting down the instrument and reaching out a welcoming hand to the approaching Reform UK leader. For Farage, this was the latest stop in a midweek tour of half a dozen towns in Essex , where more than 1m county council votes are up for grabs. Barring breakthroughs in Wales and Scotland, going from having a single councillor here to taking power would be one of Reform’s biggest achievements in Thursday’s polls. While encounters such as the one between Chillingworth and Farage reflect warmth towards Reform among many here, the campaign in Essex is also a demonstration and a test of Reform’s self-professed professionalisation when it comes to ensuring the party gets its vote out more broadly. Mobilising passionate core supporters in what are traditionally low-turnout polls – as well as repeating a “blue ocean” strategy of casting a wider net for first-time voters and those whom other parties may have given up on – is where the party’s new machinery and organisation come in. …