“Latex balloons will be used in this show.” That was the warning on the screens around the arena. And there they were, up in the gantry high above the stage, little white and turquoise orbs, straining against their netting. As Nigel Farage closed his speech this afternoon, they were released. Smirking like a little boy with a secret, Farage gently kicked and punched at them as they fell to the floor.
No pyrotechnic was spared for a Farage speech similarly accompanied by fizzing sparklers and streams of ribbons. After all, here was the high point of Reform conference: the keynote address by its party leader. Following the comparably thin appearances of Lee Anderson, Richard Tice and party chairman Zia Yusuf, here was the full populist set piece for the audience to enjoy. They greeted him with whistling applause. Still flush from their election performance, this is a party in a mode of self-congratulation.
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