“I’ve been assaulted, I regularly get verbal abuse, I got a death threat one time. But until the people come to their senses, I will stand,” said Raj Forhad, a Reform UK candidate.
The 43-year-old, who owns a software business, is part of a growing group in politics: British voters from minority ethnic backgrounds who campaign for Nigel Farage’s party.
Recent research has found Reform tends to poll best in areas with a large white population. Polling indicates the party, which is criticised by anti-racism campaigners, had a vote share of 3% among minority ethnic voters, compared with 16% among white voters.
However, the party fielded 17 candidates from ethnic minorities in the 2024 general election, and some insiders regard the ability to win over voters traditionally loyal to Labour – including Black and Asian people in big cities – as “pivotal” to its growth.
The local elections on 1 May represent a milestone for Reform, which is also eyeing the Runcorn parliamentary byelection and mayoral elections on the same day.
But some party activists are already looking ahead to 2026, when London’s local elections take place, eager to learn if they can turn values among minority ethnic communities – particularly regarding enterprise, education, family and faith – into votes.
“We’re putting the same effort into bringing over true Labour voters as we did into bringing over Conservatives. London is the acid test,” said Neville Watson, Reform’s only Black branch chair.
Hainault is an east London ward that will be voting on 1 May, in a Redbridge council byelection in which Forhad is standing. He stood in last year’s general election as the candidate for Ilford South, where he said he was attacked on the campaign trail for standing for Reform, but did not report it to police.
Forhad came to the UK from Bangladesh in 2010. “The main reason I joined Reform is because of the policies they have, the contract they have with the people, the country, on the NHS, on immigration,” he said. “Myself as an immigrant, the way illegal migrants are brought in this country, that’s impacting everyone.”
Watson, who chairs Reform’s branch in Enfield, north London, says he “firmly” supports “positive immigration that is managed, coordinated and thoughtfully timed”.
“It’s about space, not race,” the father-of-three said when asked how he reconciled his identity as the son of Jamaica-born Windrush generation parents with perceptions of his party. “I have the values my family – who put so much in – have always stood for: hard work and aspiration.”
A community activist with a background in social enterprise, youth work and SEND, Watson “personally” supports economic reparations for the “unimaginable wrong” of slavery. He said it had driven a “deep-rooted and sometimes subconscious racism” and “left a deep, indelible mark on the lives of a people”.
So what attracted him to Reform? “Brexit,” for starters. He added: “I sought a political home where I could express my authentic voice, one that embraces my Christian faith with confidence. Reform UK represents the values that were once central to mainstream politics but have now shifted to the right. It’s a space where these principles can thrive and be championed unapologetically.”
Like Watson, Navtaij Sangha, a former British army bursar from a “military Sikh family”, is a north London-based Reform activist who believes Britain is exemplary. “Where in the world would you have access to the best education, the best job opportunities?” the 45-year-old management consultant said. “There may be barriers and challenges, but it probably is somewhere like the UK.”
He added: “We haven’t got it 100% perfect. But I think it’s class that drives [inequality], not race.”
Forhad, setting out from home to put leaflets through doors, agrees. He is insistent that if he can get on, anyone can.
“All this campaigning I feel I owe to this country, because this country has given me everything: my life, my future, my career,” he said. “The way this country has given me the foundation, with my intellect, my talent, that’s understood by Reform UK – and they valued my contribution. Some of the negative campaigning that Reform is a racist party I think is complete nonsense.”
He added: “Myself, I’m a Muslim, but I believe my religion is a private matter, nothing to do with my politics, because if I consider myself as a Muslim voter then I’m not considering my residents who are Christian, or Jews, who are Hindu, who are atheist. I have that kind of positive mindset.”
Labour dominates Forhad’s area, at ward and constituency level. But he sees an opportunity to win people over on local issues – such as potholes, policing and Ulez – along with the message of “family, community, country”.
In north London, Sangha has been working on a long-term strategy for how Reform “can take the big cities … something the Tories cannot do”.
Like Watson, Sangha thinks Labour, which enjoyed a 46% vote share among minority ethnic voters, has taken that popularity for granted. His father, Mohinder Singh Sangha, is a Labour councillor in Leicester.
Research has found that 35% of minority ethnic voters born outside the UK supported leave in the EU referendum, compared with 21% of those born in the UK, for a variety of reasons.
“I think discussing immigration is not a bad thing,” Sangha said. “People that came in the 60s, the 70s … huge numbers of those settled immigrant communities voted for Brexit.”
He added: “It is very easy to allow the debate to be hijacked by people who are frankly just nasty racists. But it’s equally destructive to just label anyone who wants to discuss these things as far-right.”
Sangha said voters from British minority ethnic communities he had met while campaigning were wary of what he called “identity politics”.
He said: “They kind of want to be left alone, to just get on with life, earn a living and bring up kids. And now suddenly the politics they’ve tried to escape is being imported.” He doesn’t accept that Reform has its own brand of “identity politics”.
“I’m a big believer in the UK nation state,” Sangha added. “There has to be some kind of national unity … people just want things to work.”
Watson said “past missteps” – incidents that may lead people to question whether Reform is really a force for national unity – were “opportunities to learn and grow”. Like Sangha, he said he had encountered patronising and divisive attitudes from some people on the left before joining Reform.
“There’s a common misconception Black and Asian voters form a homogenous group,” he said. “While we may share certain aspirations – such as striving for the best for our children and valuing entrepreneurship, family and gender roles – our perspectives and priorities are as diverse as our communities.”
Asked how he would answer criticism that Reform has a track record of statements and positions that are harmful to Britons from ethnic minorities, Watson said: “I’d acknowledge their concerns and emphasise that Reform is committed to evolving and listening.
“It’s important to highlight that the party’s focus is on creating policies that benefit all Britons, regardless of background. Actions speak louder than words.”
• This article was amended on 22 April 2025. Neville Watson has three children, not two as an earlier version said.
