The dinner began with a priest saying grace. It ended with Nigel Farage leading the room in a raucous singalong to “YMCA”, the gay anthem that has become a staple of Donald Trump’s rallies. Jeroboams of white burgundy and double magnums of claret flowed liberally. “It was all very optimistic,” recalled Lady Victoria Hervey, a socialite who was at the dinner. “A real feel-good atmosphere.”

Oswald’s, one of Mayfair’s most exclusive private-members’ clubs, is no stranger to extravagance. But at this fundraiser for Reform UK, the populist anti-immigration party that is leading the polls in Britain, even the backroom staff were startled by the excess. Below the club’s chandeliers a five-piece band serenaded each guest in turn. So did a bagpiper and an opera singer. Celebrities, politicians and financiers tucked into sea bass, roast beef and chocolate mousse amid the relentless popping of Dom Perignon corks. Tickets for the event, which took place in January 2025, cost up to £25,000 per person. 

As the guests partied at Oswald’s another event was kicking off in a red-brick two-storey building in Blackpool, a run-down seaside town in the north-west of England.  At the Talbot, two pints of Strongbow cider cost £6 and a plate of homemade beef stew much less. Quiz nights always draw a decent crowd, and this one was no exception. “I’ve been coming here 30 years,” said Margaret Murphy, a retired bartender with a tiny frame and snow-white hair. “You’ve got the bingo and the snooker, and everyone’s welcome; it’s like an extension of the family living room.”