Marching up her driveway, leaflet in hand, a Sheffield woman became an unlikely internet sensation last week after footage from her Ring doorbell camera was shared online. 

The focus of her fury was Matt Smith, vice chair of Reform UK Sheffield West, who had been canvassing in the area when the woman confronted him. Social media users were quick to herald her as a “legend”, while others lambasted the woman for still being in her dressing gown at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. But beyond the noise, the exchange appeared to reflect a wider tension within local politics, prompting observers to question whether, in challenging Mr Smith, the woman spoke for the rest of Sheffield, or not.

So just how popular is Reform with Sheffield residents?

Last year saw Sheffield appoint its first, and only, Reform councillor John Booker, after a snap election was called in Stocksbridge and Upper Don. Cllr Booker may have clinched the win by just 192 votes, but his success was viewed by many as a mere sign of things to come.

Buoyed by its victory in the north of the city, Reform will be targeting wards across Sheffield ahead of the City Council election in May. Laura Moynahan, Labour councillor for Manor Castle, worries that, as residents continue to grapple with a cost-of-living crisis, many of them are simply looking for someone to blame. “I think Reform is a real risk, we shouldn’t underestimate the threat they pose,” she says. “I’ve actually had people say about us building new houses in Manor: ‘Oh, you’re building those for the boat people.’”

Further east, Woodhouse is another area where a shift towards the far-right does not feel implausible. At the Sheffield City Council election in 2024, Reform candidate Andrew Hizzard lost out to the Liberal Democrats by just 10 votes – and a trip into Market Square suggests that a win for Reform is not out of the question.

Dave Franklin, a long-time resident of the area, reflects: “Woodhouse has been under a Labour council for years and it has just degenerated, it’s getting worse and worse. I’ve been listening to Reform more than anything.” Mr Franklin’s dissatisfaction, fuelled by fears around the recent influx in immigration, was shared by numerous other locals, including one Mervyn Greaves. “I’ll be honest with you: I like Nigel Farage,” says Mr Greaves. “Asylum is a fantastic thing, but it’s for people who do really need it.”

Other residents, however, appeared much more reticent to express their full-throated support for Reform. While Joanne Smith agreed that Labour had let the area down, she appeared unsure of the party’s central message. “I don’t really know what Reform’s policies are,” she says. “They just make a big thing about immigration and I don’t have any thoughts on it.” Richard Taylor, who has lived in Woodhouse for well over a decade, was quick to echo Ms Smith’s confusion. “All Reform keeps saying is ‘Deportation!’,” he says. “But they’re not saying what they’re going to do about education, housing, or potholes.”

A party plagued by controversy

Reform Sheffield East has been at the centre of significant controversy in recent months, after concerns regarding its candidate selection process led to four members being permanently expelled from the party. A report published by YorkshireLive in January of this year featured allegations that, when asked to role-play a gay couple attending a councillor’s surgery, one man kissed the head of a potential candidate. This is a claim that those expelled members have since vehemently denied. 

Among them was former chair of the branch Mark Harrop, who remains adamant that Reform failed to follow the proper disciplinary process. “We’ve been denied natural justice,” says Mr Harrop. “We don’t know the evidence that was presented, we’ve never seen it.” 

More recently, Mr Hizzard, the previous Reform candidate for Woodhouse, announced that he had not been nominated to represent the party at the election in May. In a post published to Facebook last week, Mr Hizzard claimed that he had been “wronged by the party from a great height.” He complained of infighting within Reform and claimed that, in expelling its members, the Sheffield East branch had “thrown a whole year’s work down the drain.”

A spokesperson for Reform UK told YorkshireLive that, while the party does not comment on internal matters, it had followed the disciplinary process “to a tee”.

How might recent events affect Reform’s chances in May?

Mr Harrop was keen to reiterate that, while canvassing in Sheffield last year, both him and his colleagues received “mass support” from local residents. But, with Reform Sheffield East having come to blows so publicly, is it possible that the party could be losing its momentum?

Cllr Moynahan explains: “It’s a bit confusing because we don’t know who our Reform candidate in Manor Castle is. It seems to me that they’re all falling over one another about who can be more right-wing.” Mr Harrop, now a member of Restore Britain – the party set up by Rupert Lowe – is concerned that recent events will have a significant impact on voters’ confidence in Reform. “I think Reform has lost traction, they’re wading through concrete,” he says. “Within six months to a year, I think it’s going to start to go backwards.”

Speaking to residents in Woodhouse, it appears that Mr Harrop’s concerns are not unfounded. When asked about reports of infighting within the Reform party, Joanne Smith responds: “If they’re doing this now, how are they going to run the country?”

Despite various attempts to get in contact, Reform UK did not respond to Sheffield Wire‘s request for comment.