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Abortion is becoming a new front in Reform UK’s culture war

openDemocracy May 20, 2026
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Data analysed by The Fuller Project and openDemocracy reveal that British far-right political parties and influencers – including Reform UK – are taking inspiration from the United States and seeking to turn abortion into a new front in the culture wars.

At a time when Nigel Farage’s party has made sweeping gains in the local elections, our analysis of almost 80 Reform, Reform-supporting, and far-right X accounts found that between April 2024 and April 2026, mentions of abortion increased by 40% compared to the previous two years. This is despite a new law coming into force at the end of April 2026 which prevents women in England and Wales from facing a criminal investigation for having an abortion, and despite high public support for abortion across the UK.

Between April 2024 and April 2026, nearly half of the selected accounts increased their abortion activity, with overall impressions of posts mentioning abortion almost quadrupling compared with the previous two years. These posts were shared around 153,000 times and received more than 800,000 likes.

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