We're hosting our first Coffee House Shots live event of 2025 on the 26th of February at the

Emmanuelle Centre in Westminster. Join Michael Gove, Katie Bulls, Kate Andrews and very special guests,

Jonathan Ashworth and Robert Jenrick for a look to the year ahead. They'll be tackling such questions

as, can the Chancellor reframe the budget in her first spring statement? What will Trump's first

100 days look like? And will reform cause and upset at the local elections?

For tickets, go to spectator.co.com.uk forward slash coffeehouse live.

Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, the Spectator's Daily Politics podcast.

I'm Cindy You and I'm joined by James Hill and Paul Goodman, Conservative Peer and journalist. Now, James, this has been quite an exciting week because on Tuesday there was quite an exclusive event about the most dynamic force in politics today. Tell us about it.

Yes, so this was a big Reform Party fundraiser, estimates, provided of course, by reform, it was about it. Yes. So this was a big reform party fundraiser estimates provided of course

by reform suggests that it was about a million pounds was the amount raised by this fundraiser

Oswald, which is one of the Robin Burley clubs in the centre of London and the greater than not

so good of the reform adjacent movement packed in there. Derek Chazora and Holly Valance were the celebrity flavourings offered.

And from what we tell in the ample media coverage given to this, there was a fantastic food,

great company, Nigel Farage singing God Save the King. And it really points to an issue which

we've talked before about Tory membership numbers, reform were now overtaken them on membership numbers, and now they're going after their donors as well. And this is really all

about replacing the Conservatives as the main vehicle in British politics on the right or

anti-Labour, if you will. And so, you know, they've got bigger membership. They're going to have

more donors. And then it's about sort of beating them in Wales and Scotland next year on all, of course, geared towards 2029.

And really, I suppose part of the issue is about what does a party in opposition offer in the first year of opposition when there's no election on the horizon?

Well, reform have obviously clocked the fact that, you know, they want to make it fun, so they were luring over these donors.

Farage gave a speech in which she talked about,

we need the ammunition, provides the ammunition to get on fundraising. I spoke earlier to someone who was formerly involved in Conservative Party fundraising, and basically the more clarity you get

...