Farage promotes Jenrick and Braverman as he unveils new Reform front bench

Nigel Farage said Reform UK was “the voice of opposition” to Labour as he unveiled his party’s first frontbench appointments.

Two Conservative defectors, Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman, were given prominent spokesperson roles along with senior Reform figures Richard Tice and Zia Yusuf.

Mr Jenrick, a former communities secretary under Boris Johnson, was named Reform’s economic spokesman barely a month after joining the party from the Tories.

Pledging to “oppose the wrecking ball that is Rachel Reeves and this Labour Government”, he said he would put together “the most comprehensive plan of any political party” to “fix Britain’s broken economy” and cut the welfare bill.

Prior to Mr Jenrick’s defection, both Mr Tice and Mr Yusuf had been regarded as potential economic spokesmen for Reform.

But Mr Tice, the deputy leader, was named as the spokesman for business, trade and energy, proposing a new “super department” aimed at increasing growth to 4% of GDP.

He said the party would focus on using oil and gas to help boost the economy while abandoning net-zero targets, and create a “serious” British wealth fund.

Mr Tice also insisted he was “delighted” with his appointment, while Mr Farage issued a warning that he would not “tolerate dissent” in public among his senior team.

Mr Farage said: “If people mess about, behave badly and are disloyal, they won’t be here very long.”

Mr Yusuf, the party’s policy chief, was named home affairs spokesman, promising to cut both legal and illegal migration, including by withdrawing from any international treaty preventing mass deportations.

Ms Braverman, who was twice sacked as home secretary, was made Reform’s spokeswoman for education and equalities just weeks after joining the party.

She said Reform would set of target of 50% of young people going into “trades” rather than to university, scrap the equalities department and repeal the Equality Act.

Ms Braverman suggested the legislation would be revoked to build a country “defined by meritocracy not tokenism” but the TUC accused Reform of thinking “discrimination should be legal”.

“Scrapping the Equality Act would be a sledgehammer to hard-won rights working people fought for over generations,” TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said.

“This is a blank cheque for bad employers to mistreat their staff.”

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said Mr Farage’s appointments were a “top team of failed Tories” who had spent “over 3,000 days inflicting untold damage” on the UK.

She said: “They failed Britain before – they’d do the same again under Reform.

“Today’s appointments clearly reveal that neither keeping our nation safe nor tackling NHS waiting lists are priorities for Farage or Reform UK.”

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said Reform’s front bench “a line-up that looks more like a tribute act to the old Conservative Party than a credible alternative”.

He added: “Even now, some are already eyeing their next career move, while others who were clearly expecting promotion have been left out in the cold.

“Today’s underwhelming announcement proves Reform remains a one-man band.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper described Reform’s front bench as a “Reform-Tory ‘Fifty Shades of Blue’ love-in”.

She said: “Robert Jenrick voted for Liz Truss’s economic disaster of a mini-budget, now he wants to do the same damage to the economy all over again.

“Nigel Farage is welcome to give his colleagues new name badges but it won’t change the opinion of the country, that Conservatives, current or former, are totally unfit to govern.”