Reform blocks LFF journalist from attending its party conference
Reform claimed the decision had nothing to do with the journalist’s critical coverage of the party
Reform UK has rejected a Left Foot Forward journalist’s application to attend their party conference which starts today and finishes on Saturday afternoon.
On Wednesday evening, LFF reporter Olivia Barber received a rejection email.
The email stated: “Thank you for your media accreditation application for the Reform UK 2026 National Conference. Unfortunately, on this occasion, your application has been unsuccessful.”
LFF asked Reform press officer George Pykov why the application had been rejected.
Pykov stated that he believed that the application had been rejected due to the application stating they were covering the conference as a freelancer.
Barber attended as a freelancer last year.
The press officer also stated that the conference, which will take place from 3-5 September, was “overcapacity” for media applications.
He said he did not know what the cap on the number of journalists was.
However, while Reform said it is “overcapacity” for journalists, the party had been selling additional late-registration media passes to journalists for £100.
Shortly after contacting the Reform press team on Thursday, Barber received an email stating “Your Media Conference Pass is confirmed”.
Two hours later, an email was sent stating that her pass had been rejected.
Asked whether Reform declines conference passes if journalists are critical of the party, the press officer said: “No that’s not what it’s about.”
Other Left Foot Forward journalists have been barred from attending Reform’s conference in previous years.
Several journalists who have investigated Reform have also had their conference pass requests for this year’s event rejected.
Investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan wrote on X that his conference pass had been rejected less than an hour after he published a story revealing how Isabel Oakeshott had privately called Reform mega donor Christopher Harborne “untrustworthy”.
Veteran broadcaster Michael Crick also had his request for media accreditation declined.
Reform said it had rejected around 50 journalists from attending its conference, stating: “Reform UK accepted 950 of about 1,000 media applications from a variety of outlets.”
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