David Vance SubstackRead More
Politics is a long and winding road, one moment you are up, the next you are down.
When former Reform Chairman Ben Habib first announced the formation of Advance UK things seemed pretty promising. Ben had set an internal target of 30,000 members before registering it as a party and that was reached in September of last year. Advance UK was then formally registered with the Electoral Commission on 4 December 2025.
So far, so good.
It gained a lot of high‑profile backing from the likes of Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk who publicly endorsed the party, calling Nigel Farage “weak sauce.” Advance UK helped sponsor Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London last September where Habib spoke to an estimated crowd of over 100,000. Advance also held a major conference at London’s Emmanuel Centre in February and has begun contesting elections, including the February 2026 Gorton and Denton by‑election, where its candidate finished seventh. Behind the Monster Raving Looney candidate.
And that’s the problem right there. No popular traction. This is shame.
