According to The Guardian, Reform insiders are becoming increasingly irritated by the party's association with Andrew Tate and other extreme online celebrities, with some warning that Tate's extreme and misogynistic content could taint Reform's credibility. The party is trying to end its association with more controversial figures on the right such as Tate as it prepares for power, amid public revulsion that could weaken its appeal to female voters and the broader electorate. Nigel Farage appeared loth to criticize the online 'manosphere' influencer Andrew Tate while courting online popularity before the party's boom in the polls, and in 2024, he said in online interviews that Tate was an 'important voice' for the 'emasculated' and giving boys 'perhaps a bit of confidence at school'.
Tate is becoming better known among mainstream voters as his conduct is reported in programmes such as Louis Theroux's recent Netflix documentary Inside the Manosphere. Reform has also struggled to shake its association with the rightwing agitator and convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, otherwise known as Tommy Robinson, with the party making it clear that Robinson is not welcome as a member. However, Robinson recently endorsed Reform's candidate Matthew Goodwin for the Gorton and Denton byelection, and Goodwin did not disavow Robinson.
A Reform UK spokesperson said the party has consistently been clear that Robinson is not welcome. According to The Guardian, Luke Tryl, who runs the polling company More in Common, described research backing up the theory that associations with extreme online personalities could put new voters off Reform, finding Tommy Robinson has an approval rating of +15 with 2024 Reform voters, but new Reform voters give him a -11 approval rating, which sinks to -15 among women, while Andrew Tate has a -34 negative approval rating among 2024 Reform voters. These polling results highlight the potential electoral risks of such associations.