Nigel Farage has unveiled a new “top team” for Reform UK, appointing a string of high-profile former Conservatives to senior policy roles as the party moves to present itself as a credible alternative government-in-waiting.

In a reshuffle announced on Tuesday, Reform named former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick as its Treasury spokesperson, in a role the party is describing as a “shadow chancellor” brief. Farage said the appointments were “just the beginning” and that Reform was “creating a machine for government”, as the party seeks to shake off its long-running image as a vehicle centred on Farage’s personal brand.

The move comes despite Reform holding only eight MPs in the House of Commons, an unusually small parliamentary base for a party that has been leading national polling. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Reform is polling at around 28%, ahead of Labour on 19% and the Conservatives on 16%.

As part of the new line-up, Farage appointed Zia Yusuf as home affairs spokesperson, Richard Tice as business, energy and industry spokesperson and Suella Braverman as education and skills spokesperson, according to FT reporting on the announcement.

Farage has argued the party is building a broader policy offer and a frontbench-style structure designed to reassure voters, donors and business leaders that Reform could govern, while also accelerating its push to absorb disaffected figures from the right of the Conservative Party.

Jenrick, the most prominent Conservative defector to join Reform to date, served as a minister under four Conservative prime ministers between 2018 and 2023 and remained an MP for Newark. He defected to Reform on January 15, the same day he was sacked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch as shadow justice secretary, according to the FT.

In recent comments carried by the FT, Jenrick criticised Labour’s economic record as “tantamount to vandalism” and said Reform would produce “the most comprehensive plan of any party” to fix the economy. His appointment is intended to bolster Reform’s standing on fiscal and economic credibility, an area in which Farage’s party has faced repeated questions as it tries to broaden its appeal beyond core messages such as immigration and opposition to the political mainstream.

Braverman, a former home secretary and attorney-general, joined Reform in January after what the FT described as a move more than a year in the making. Closely associated with hardline positions on immigration and the Conservatives’ Rwanda asylum policy, her arrival has been seen by supporters as a high-profile endorsement from the Tory right and by critics as evidence Reform is repackaging former Conservative figures rather than building a distinct political brand.

Yusuf, a former Goldman Sachs banker who co-founded the luxury concierge app Velocity Black, brings a business profile that Reform has increasingly sought to showcase as it courts City support. The FT reported that Yusuf donated £200,000 to Reform before the 2024 election and previously served as party chair. He quit after 11 months following a dispute over policy on the burka, but returned within 48 hours, underlining both his importance to the organisation and the internal strains Reform has faced as it has professionalised.

Tice, Reform’s deputy leader and a significant financial backer, has been given the business, energy and industry brief. The FT has reported that he has given £1.3mn to the party and has been central to its local government “efficiency” drive and efforts to build relationships with business and donors.

The appointments form part of a longer-running restructuring effort designed to make Reform appear more institutional and less dependent on Farage personally. In February 2025, Farage relinquished ownership control of Reform’s party structure, shifting it to a company limited by guarantee with no single owner, in a move aimed at distancing Reform from the internal turmoil associated with earlier right-wing parties and at reassuring members and backers about governance and accountability.

Farage has insisted the party has “its own brand” and would survive without him, the FT reported, a claim that reflects Reform’s stated ambition to become a lasting political force rather than a campaign vehicle built around a single personality.

The new top team also sharpens the political tension between Reform and Badenoch’s Conservatives, as Farage seeks to consolidate his position as the dominant figure on the right while the Conservatives try to prevent further defections. Reform’s poll lead, alongside its small Commons representation, has created a political dynamic in which the party is exerting influence and pressure well beyond its parliamentary numbers.

On Tuesday, Conservative party chair Kevin Hollinrake dismissed Reform’s reshuffle as “underwhelming” and described it as a “tribute act to the old Conservative Party”, according to the FT. The attack line reflects a broader Conservative argument that Reform is simply a new home for familiar Tory right-wingers, rather than a distinct movement with a coherent governing programme.

Reform’s leadership changes come against a backdrop of growth in membership and a widening network of supporters and aligned policy development efforts. FT reporting has previously put the party’s membership above 200,000 in 2025, while also noting the party’s reliance on large-scale donors and its exploration of policy support structures, including a US-linked think-tank style operation aimed at deepening its policy offer.

With the next general election not expected until 2029, Farage’s strategy appears focused on using a sustained poll lead to cement Reform as a permanent fixture and a plausible governing contender, while expanding its frontbench-style team across major policy areas. However, the party also faces questions about internal discipline, how it balances headline-grabbing rhetoric with detailed policy, and whether it can convert national polling into seats under the UK’s electoral system.

For now, the reshuffle represents Reform’s clearest attempt yet to project readiness for office, pairing Farage’s leadership with a cadre of former Conservative ministers and business-linked figures tasked with building out an alternative programme to both Labour and the Conservatives.