For many years it’s been something of a shibboleth in the political classes that Nigel Farage isn’t like other politicians and his political projects – UKIP, the Brexit Party, and now Reform UK – are held to different standards than the ‘mainstream’ parties. Negative stories just don’t seem to stick to them in the same way, their opponents grumble. 

This different kind of scrutiny is in part to do with the kind of parties Farage has previously led, which have sought to make the political weather rather than take power, critique policy rather than produce it. This approach has been successful, with the slow burn of pressure applied by UKIP a key factor behind Brexit. But now Reform wants to play a different…