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Reform UK has declared itself the largest political party in the United Kingdom, citing reports indicating a decline in Labour’s membership numbers. According to an article in The Times, internal data suggests that Labour’s membership has dropped below the 250,000 mark. In contrast, Reform UK claims to have over 268,000 paying members, a figure that would position it ahead of Labour in terms of membership size.
Unlike many organizations, there is no legal requirement for political parties in the UK to disclose their membership totals, nor are these figures verified by independent organizations. Reform UK maintains a live online membership counter that only accounts for individuals who have paid the annual membership fees—set at £25 for adults and £10 for those under 25. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, responded to these developments by stating, “As we have suspected for some time, Reform has overtaken Labour to become the largest political party in British politics – a huge milestone on our journey to win the next election. The age of two-party politics is dead.” The party has also led national opinion polls consistently since the spring.
Labour’s membership has reportedly been on a steady decline since Sir Keir Starmer assumed leadership in April 2020. The party’s annual accounts from August show that membership fell to 333,235 by the end of the previous year, down significantly from the peak of over 530,000 during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Although Labour secured a landslide victory in the last general election, the party nevertheless lost approximately 37,000 members throughout 2024. Further reports suggest the downward trend has persisted, with membership numbers dwindling to around 309,000 earlier this year and now believed to be under 250,000. A Labour Party spokesperson declined to comment on these figures outside of the party’s forthcoming annual report, noting, “Our membership figures are published in our annual report. We do not give a running commentary on them throughout the year.” Current standard membership fees for Labour are £70.50 annually, with reductions available to certain groups at £35.50 or £12.
Other parties have experienced varied membership dynamics. The Green Party has seen a significant increase since Zack Polanski became leader in September, with figures rising from about 70,000 to over 180,000 members. The Conservative Party does not regularly publish its membership data, but it is estimated that approximately 131,680 members were eligible to vote in their last leadership contest, with more recent reports suggesting a decline to roughly 123,000. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats’ membership has almost halved over the past five years, now standing at around 60,000. A new left-wing party, Your Party, founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, claims to have 55,000 paid-up members
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