Nigel Farage opens Reform UK conference in Birmingham as party polls third

Nigel Farage opened Reform UK's Birmingham conference on Thursday, attempting to counter sliding poll ratings and ongoing scrutiny over undeclared donations. The party has fallen to third place in recent voting intention surveys. Farage, recently re-elected as Clacton MP, faces a Commons standards inquiry over an undeclared £5m donation from Christopher Harborne. He claimed the committee has prejudged him as guilty, while former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman warned he could face a stiffer penalty for attacking the process. Reform's conference comes as a More in Common poll from 1 September showed the party at 22 percent, four points behind Labour and one point behind the Conservatives. This marks the party's lowest performance in 18 months.