Less than 24 hours after Channel 4’s undercover investigation triggered a Reform inquiry and two senior figures stepping aside, Zia Yusuf took to the conference stage calling Kemi Badenoch a ‘con artist’, revisiting Henry Nowak’s murder and promising inquiries into former ministers. But Reform chairman Lee Anderson could not clearly explain who was leading his own party’s investigation. The contrast says much about Reform’s version of accountability.

Reform UK promises to fix a broken Britain. But some of its most prominent figures previously held senior roles in the Conservative system they now condemn. Accountability means examining that record too. “Britain is broken” is one of the most powerful messages in modern British politics. It works because many voters recognise parts of their own experience in it: housing is difficult to afford, NHS waits can be long, migration has become a source of.