Reform UK ramped up the funding and class of its political Facebook adverts within the ultimate weeks of campaigning for the May elections, in an indication of the rising monetary muscle of Nigel Farage’s get together.
There had been a number of days within the fortnight earlier than the get together’s breakthrough electoral efficiency when Reform spent greater than another get together on the influential platform.
Reform’s spending via its primary Facebook pages virtually matched that of Labour. Only a late spurt of spending by Labour meant it narrowly outspent its rightwing rival, in accordance with evaluation by the Who Targets Me marketing campaign group.
Reform spent £252,000 within the ultimate two weeks of the marketing campaign on its primary Facebook pages. That spending was extremely centralised via simply two pages – its primary get together web page and that of Farage.
Labour spent £276,000 on the platform by way of its primary Facebook pages, however that spending was extra unfold out between its primary web page and people of its Welsh, Scottish and regional events.
The evaluation counted spending amongst a celebration’s primary accounts, outlined as the principle pages of its get together, primary regional events and political leaders. The knowledge raises questions for Conservatives, because the get together was a distant third, spending £76,000 with Meta, the proprietor of Facebook, within the ultimate two weeks earlier than the election.
It was solely narrowly forward of the Scottish National get together, which spent £75,000, and the Greens, who spent £74,000 over the interval.
There was additionally an elevated sophistication to Reform’s marketing campaign, each in its concentrating on of adverts and within the high quality of the adverts themselves. The get together adopted native adverts, popularised by the Liberal Democrats, which claimed to indicate native polling with Reform as the principle challenger to the incumbent get together, usually Labour. “Don’t waste your vote on the Conservatives,” one reads. “Only Reform UK can stop Labour.”
In Scotland, it focused the SNP by describing them as a “calamity for Scotland” and pitching Reform as a vote for “real change”. In Wales, it focused voters with messages about stopping “another Labour-Plaid [Cymru] coalition”.
Sam Jeffers, founding father of Who Targets Me, mentioned the get together had “dramatically upped its game”.
“Previously, Ukip didn’t really have any money,” he mentioned. “Their rise wasn’t from ad spending. Traditionally, the popular right relied on the virality of their online messages. But now Reform has loads of money and can do the spend thing, too. It is not just about going viral. There’s a real sense of professionalism and targeting.”
Data revealed by Meta confirmed Reform was doing way more concentrating on of voters by their postcode than in earlier elections, an indication of a professionalised digital marketing campaign aided by its boosted monetary coffers.
“[Farage’s previous parties] didn’t use location targeting at all, but now there are thousands of individual postcodes being targeted where they thought they would win,” Jeffers mentioned.
“In 2024, they ran a national campaign based on national vibes. Here, they have run on local vibes, like saying: ‘Reform can beat Labour here.’ It’s like they are running five Lib Dem campaigns all at once. It’s not rocket science, but it is organised.”
The on-line efforts observe an enormous influx of money in latest months. Farage’s get together attracted £5.5m within the final quarter of 2025, greater than all the opposite events. It additionally included a £200,000 donation from JC Bamford Excavators – historically a Conservative donor – which gave the identical sum to the Tories that quarter.
The bulk of Reform’s money – one other £3m – got here from crypto investor Christopher Harborne, who has turn out to be its primary bankroller. He already donated a report £9m final summer time. Harborne’s cash got here in because the get together was planning its native elections technique.
Reform introduced in additional than twice as a lot in donations because the Conservatives within the ultimate three months of 2025, as soon as public funding was excluded.
Labour, historically the get together that has pushed forward with digital campaigning, comfortably outspent Reform as soon as all accounts related to the get together had been included, similar to native branches and candidates.
When all these accounts had been included, Labour spent £653,427, to Reform’s £290,000. The Conservatives additionally barely outspent Reform with all accounts included. Jeffers mentioned Reform’s spending was excessive, however nonetheless extremely centralised.
Ad spending knowledge additionally exhibits that Labour stays the one get together spending on YouTube, the world’s dominant video-sharing web site, utilizing the platform to current its candidates to voters.
Jeffers mentioned the earlier Conservative authorities could have inadvertently given Reform a bonus by growing the overall election spending restrict by 80% in 2023.
“That spending space is there for anyone who can go and use it,” Jeffers mentioned. “Right now, Reform looks like they are the ones who can go away and raise that money ahead of time. They can staff up and maintain that level – and run well-resourced campaigns.
“That would be my concern if I were in another political party. The rules allow so much headroom for higher spending.”