Clacton’s MP has signalled Reform will invest £5million ahead of May’s local elections.
Nigel Farage admitted his leadership will be questioned if Reform’s poll lead does not turn into wins.
The Reform leader said claims of racism at Dulwich College in London have had no impact and are “maybe solidifying our core support”.
Reform’s war chest was boosted by a £9million donation in August from businessman Christopher Harborne.
Mr Farage plans to spend about £5million over the next four months on direct mail and social media, The Times reported.
If Labour does badly in Scotland, Wales and English councils, pressure could pile on Sir Keir Starmer, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch could face questions if the Tories flop.
Mr Farage, whose Reform party has led in national polls since April last year, admitted he must now deliver at the ballot box.
He said: “It’s double or quits. As far as I’m concerned, we are just going to go for it.
“If we come out of it without a single penny in the bank account and everyone is exhausted… It is the single most important event between now and the general election.
“On it depends the future of our Prime Minister, the future of the Leader of the Opposition and indeed my own relative strength or otherwise as leader of Reform.
“If we bombed people would ask questions. My entire focus and energy is on the planning and preparation for it.”
He said Reform would put a “big emphasis on social media” to reach people who did not vote in the 2024 general election.
He said: “Our key audience is people who did not vote, to motivate them to get registered and offer them a fundamental change,”
Mr Farage has come under intense scrutiny after Guardian reports carried claims from contemporaries at Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Reform leader said the claims, including that he told a Jewish classmate “Hitler was right” and said “gas them”, will not hurt him at the polls because voters see it as a “mainstream media” attack.
“It’s having zero effect,” Mr Farage said. “It’s maybe solidifying our core support.”
In December 2025 the Electoral Commission closed an inquiry into claims Reform UK overspent the £20,660 campaign spending limit in Clacton in the 2024 general election, saying it found no credible evidence of offences.
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