The ties between Maga and Reform reveal an alarming pattern

Since leaving the White House in 2025 with Donald Trump returning to power, I have spent the past two years listening to people who feel politically unanchored. Voters in the United States and the United Kingdom are turning to movements that promise simple answers to complicated problems because they no longer believe the major parties see what they see or feel what they feel. The appeal of Reform, Restore and fringe Maga figures grows out of that frustration, and the links between Nigel Farage and American political voices show how these narratives travel across borders and feed the same fears. Shorts After more than 15 years working in US politics, including service to two presidents and most recently as White House press secretary, I have watched how quickly trust erodes when institutions fall behind the pressures people face. I sat in senior level briefings where immigration, border security and crime were not abstractions but daily operational challenges. I have seen how policy decisions collide with public sentiment. Voters are frustrated, from watching immigration systems that feel overwhelmed, border policies that seem inconsistent and crime debates that never quite match what communities experience. When people look at Democrats, Republicans, Labour and the Conservatives, they see institutions that have drifted away from the realities they face. Movements like Reform UK and Rupert Lowe’s breakaway party, Restore Britain, have stepped into that space with messages that feel direct and uncomplicated. They speak to voters who believe the country has lost control of its borders and who worry that national identity is slipping away. In the US, fringe Maga voices push a similar story. They argue that institutions have failed and that only disruption can restore order. These groups do not operate in isolation. They borrow from one another, repeat one another and amplify one another. Nigel Farage’s long relationship with American political figures shows how narratives move across the Atlantic and they reinforce the same fears in two very different political cultures (Photo: Henry Nicholls / AFP via Getty Images) Farage’s long relationship with American political figures is part of that pattern. It shows how these narratives move across the Atlantic and how they reinforce the same fears in two very different political cultures. The Reform leader has accepted more than £83,000 in earnings, accommodation and flights from groups or events that support the US anti-abortion movement, The i Paper revealed in June. His appearance before US Congress in September 2025, in which he criticised the UK’s free speech rules, was reportedly orchestrated by the Alliance Defending Freedom – one of America’s most influential Christian groups – and he earned £13,000 for a speech last August at the Keep Arizona Free Summit in which he reportedly told American lobby groups they were “saving western civilisation”. The fears of Maga and Reform supporters are powerful. They are fears about safety, about identity, about whether leaders understand what ordinary life is like. They are fears that our countries are changing too quickly and that the people in charge are not being honest about it. When voters hear outsider voices speak directly to those anxieties, they feel seen. They feel heard. They feel that someone is finally acknowledging what they have been trying to say for years. Sarah Rogers, the US undersecretary of State for public diplomacy who Trump recently assigned to oversee the government-funded international broadcaster Voice of America, has impressed right-wing figures in the UK including Conservative peer and free speech campaigner Toby Young. The problem is that the major parties have not kept pace with the pressures people face. Immigration systems have not been modernised. Border enforcement has not been consistent. Policing debates have become abstract. Economic insecurity has been treated as a talking point rather than a lived reality. People notice when institutions fall behind, and they respond by looking elsewhere for answers. A New York Times/Siena poll from May found that 43 per cent of voters were dissatisfied with both major political parties. Polling by Politico found that 32 per cent of British voters would consider backing Reform, while up to 20 per cent would “consider” voting Restore. More than half of those surveyed who would consider backing the latter did not vote at all in 2024. This is the environment in which Reform, Restore and Maga aligned voices thrive. They offer certainty at a time when mainstream parties seem unsure of their own direction. They offer conviction when institutions feel slow and reactive. They offer a story that feels coherent, even when it oversimplifies the complexity of immigration, crime and national identity. The rise of these movements is not simply a political trend. It is a warning. It shows what happens when institutions lose touch with the people they are meant to represent. It shows how quickly frustration can turn into disillusionment and how easily disillusionment can turn into support for movements that promise disruption rather than governance. The major parties do not need better slogans. They need to rebuild trust by addressing the underlying issues that have pushed voters away. They need to modernise immigration systems, strengthen border management and speak honestly about crime and public safety. They need to reconnect with the realities people face and show they understand the pressures shaping daily life. If they do not, the political landscape on both sides of the Atlantic will continue to shift toward movements that thrive on fear rather than on solutions. And voters will continue to look for answers in places the major parties never expected.