# I was violently assaulted at Reform's conference for protesting. Here's why I did it

**By:** Lucy Jackson  
**Published:** 2026-09-05T18:09:22Z  
**Source:** [The National](https://www.thenational.scot/news/26525360.protester-violently-assaulted-reform-conference-speaks)

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Protester violently assaulted at Reform conference speaks out

    

                    
                        
    
                            

    
    
        A demonstrator is removed during Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's speech at the Reform UK conference (Image: Joe Sene)
    

        
        
    

         
            
                
                
  A PROTESTER who disrupted Reform UK's party conference in Birmingham has spoken out after they were violent assaulted by audience members.

  Footage which has been widely circulated on social media shows Reform UK members attacking a woman as she disrupted Nigel Farage's speech on Friday.

  As the woman is being escorted out by security staff, a number of conference attendees can be seen crowding her.

  A demonstrator shouts whilst Reform UK leader Nigel Farage delivers a keynote speech during the Reform UK conference in Birmingham on Friday (Image: Stefan Rousseau)

  She is physically pushed as Reform members pull her hair and grab her mouth, while one man can be seen wielding a walking stick and striking her in the head.

  West Midlands Police have urged the protester to come forward, saying in a statement: “We’re aware of a video circulating from the Reform UK conference showing an incident with a protester.

  “We haven’t received a complaint but would ask the woman involved to come forward and contact us so we can carry out enquiries.

  “Anyone with any information should contact us on 101 quoting log number 924 of September 5, 2026.”

  Activist group Climate Resistance has taken responsibility for the protest, saying they were "horrified at the violence" directed towards activists.

  The protester - who did not wish to be named - spoke to The National about the violence she experienced from Reform UK supporters.

  "When we disrupted a lot of audience members around us just immediately became very aggressive," she said.

  "I had people pushing me, pulling my hair and even grabbing me by the head and the jaw.

  "There's also other members of the group that I saw being hit with the same walking stick of the man that hit me.

  "Thankfully, I just came out with a couple of small bruises."

  In response to the incident, Reform chairman Lee Anderson said the party would be having a "whip round" for the audience member who was seen hitting the protester with a walking stick.

  Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson (Image: Joe Sene)

  He said: “I did see an old chap, a pensioner somewhere with a walking stick.

  “Look, I don’t condone any sort of that behaviour, but if anybody wants to have a quick whip round later, we are collecting for a new walking stick.”

  The protester condemned Anderson's remarks as "a pretty vile and pathetic response".

  "It really just underscores the point that we came to make, which was that Reform is conning people, and Nigel Farage is a conman.

  "He'd rather scapegoat migrants than talk about the harm that the billionaires he takes money from are causing.

  "He will gladly claim to be anti-establishment while schmoozing with the billionaire class."

  The protester explained how another individual had their clothes ripped, while some are experiencing headaches due to the violence they were subject to, with the group still deciding whether to report the matter to the police.

  Another protester shows a bruise they received (Image: Supplied)

  Another protester had their shirt ripped (Image: Supplied)

  "The focus really shouldn't be on whether the police will investigate this particular assault," the protester said.

  "But rather on how Reform incites and celebrates this sort of violent behaviour."

  The protester said Climate Resistance decided to take action at the Reform UK party conference to expose "just how glaring and wide this gap between Reform's anti-establishment rhetoric and their actions is".

  She added: "Reform are bankrolled by billionaires who serve the interests of the super-rich.

  "It's not just about the £5 million from Christopher Harborne, but also the £24m in donations that he's [Farage] taken from fossil fuel interests.

  "It shows that this man is not a man of the people, and he's really weaponising people's fears around not being seen by politics today."

  The protester said that the attacks against her weren't "necessarily entirely unexpected" but that it was "incredibly violent".

  "It makes me really scared for the future of this country, especially seeing the reaction to it," she said.

  "On one hand, we're all receiving lots of lovely messages asking if we're okay, and then on the other hand I'm reading some of the vilest comments I've read in my life."

  Farage could be seen laughing during the disruption as he said: "We've got a screamer. Oh dear."

  Addressing the conference hall, he said, “that poor young girl, she looked like she was going to do herself an injury”, before adding, “boring, boring, boring”.

  The Reform UK leader later hit out at the reaction to the incident, telling the media: “It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.

  “Yet, well, we have a big event that people have paid a lot of money to come to and we get people there trying to disrupt it and we remove them. Suddenly we’re in the wrong. Utter nonsense.

  “This is just also one-sided. It is ridiculous. There were people there trying to disrupt our conference. We always have them. We always have them and we remove them quickly and expeditiously.”