When Nigel Farage told a journalist this week that she should “write some silly story… and we won’t bother to read it”, it sparked an immediate – and divided – reaction. For some it was a “master class” in dealing with the mainstream media, but for others it was “rude, dismissive, misogynistic, arrogant”.
Behind the scenes, Farage’s treatment of the Financial Times’ Anna Gross – prompting cheers and applause among reformers in the room – sparked concern and anger among lobby journalists across the political spectrum.
As the Reform UK leader was leaving the event, a Guardian political reporter suggested he had been rude and upset the journalist. “Good,” Farage responded.
This is not the first time Farage has been accused of encouraging a female journalist. When former BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Mishal Hussain asked about the potential consequences of shooting down the Russian planes last October, Farage responded: “Listen love, you’re having a hard time.” A month later he was accused of playing a “silly little game” when The Telegraph’s Camilla Tomini asked who his chancellor was.
Amid a busy news cycle, his recent decency can be easily forgotten. But Farage has appointed a hard-line anti-abortion theologian to head his policy, and in a week when his party promised to repeal the Equality Act on his first day in government, it raises the question: Is reform UK and its leader particularly a women’s problem?
Run-ins with female journalists are a clear example of Donald Trump’s influence, said Jane Martinson, former chair of Women in Journalism.
“Nigel Farage is really providing a sort of Trump-lite for the British public, a respected journalist and patronizing newspaper because he disagrees with its scrutiny,” she said. “It’s all about ignoring people’s right to know and trying to control your own message by turning on the messenger, especially if they’re just ‘crazy’ women.”
Reproductive rights and equality campaigners reacted with horror after Farage appointed James Orr, a right-wing theologian who opposes abortion even when it involves rape, incest or a serious risk to health, to replace Zia Youssef as his policy chief. The Cambridge University professor, who heads the Center for a Better Britain thinktank, is an influential figure in the Trump administration and has been praised by the vice president, JD Vance, who once described him as a “British Sherpa”.
Abortion rights chair Kerry Abel said it was a “terrible moment for Britain” and accused Farage of “borrowing tactics from America’s culture wars”, particularly in relation to anti-abortion ideology.
The appointment comes a week after Matt Goodwin, the Reform UK candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, was accused of a “handmaid’s tale future” after YouTube footage emerged of him calling for “young men and women” to be given a “biological reality” check.
For Heejung Chung, director of King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Farage’s rhetoric about women – and towards women – is part of a worrying trend to delegitimize debate on gender inequality and women’s rights in a way that was “unthinkable” even five years ago.
“It seems like a consistent and deliberate strategy,” she said. “I don’t think he’s an old-fashioned guy with questionable views who wants to lead people to think that their problems are because of women, or equality and diversity policies, or immigrants. Like Trump in America, it changes the discourse and it’s very dangerous.”
There are signs that Labor and others on the left are ready to meet Farage on this battlefield. On Thursday, Keir Starmer said the plans to withdraw the Equality Act, which gave women extra protection in the workplace, were “shocking” and un-British, arguing that the reform would send women back to the “old days”.
Stella Creasy, Labor MP for Walthamstow, described the attack on the 2010 law as “calculating, playbook, rage-baiting politics” and bad economic policy. “The Equality Act will bring more talent to the labor market, which is good for productivity and good for growth,” she said. “It’s about saying: ‘Here’s someone who knows why the world isn’t fair.’ It’s not saying: ‘How do we fix it?’
Paul Novak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, called for a united front against the “vicious misogyny” running through Reform UK. Farage is also a political risk, saying “reforms have already had a problem with women voters”.
While it’s true that the reform electorate skewed heavily male, change did happen. In the last election, Rev Men made up 61% of voters who voted for Ran UK, but that figure has fallen to 55% with voting intentions in 2026, according to polling from More in Common.
Luke Traill, executive director of More in Common, said there was a “reform bottle” among women who backed the party, with those in focus groups expressing concern about the risk of backing Farage, while also being interested in the radical change his party could bring.
Farage should be wary of comparisons with the US president, as 25% of women see Farage’s support for Trump as the main reason for not voting for reform, compared to 21% of men.
Farage may also want to consider how he treats journalists at future press conferences. “Rudeness is the sort of thing that people notice,” says Traill. “It’s the sort of thing that, if it becomes a pattern, can go down badly. If you think about that bottle, it’s all weighted towards saying, ‘This is a huge risk.'”
Asked for comment, a Reform UK spokesman said: “Nigel Farage treats all journalists equally. Scrutiny is a two-way street.”
