You don’t have to look too far to get an idea of just how much of an impact Reform UK is already having around the country.

Step onto the streets of most constituencies in Britain and you’ll find one of the party’s new branch offices.

They have mushroomed at a staggering rate since July’s General Election, from zero to more than 400.

Every seat in Wales and Scotland now has an office and, very soon, party insiders say, they will have one in all constituencies in the UK.

Nigel Farage, Reform’s leader, has always promised a “political earthquake” in British politics.

That happened when the Right-wing populist party stunned Westminster by securing five seats at the election.

Now Reform is building up, almost literally brick by brick, from the rubble left after that historic vote.

Its target?

To be in government after the next general election with Farage as prime minister.

When trying to understand the remarkable rise of Reform, you need to reflect on what went before.

In the autumn of 2018, while Theresa May was tying herself in knots trying to get Brexit through the Commons, a new political party was being born.

The Brexit Party – advocating a no-deal Brexit – was created and briefly led by Catherine Blaiklock until she resigned after her Islamophobic tweets came to public attention.

This put Farage, a former UKIP leader, in charge and the party’s fortunes quickly blossomed.

Some 29 Brexit Party MEPs were elected to the European Parliament in May 2019, including future leader Richard Tice and former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe.

But then Boris Johnson got Brexit done and rode a wave of support to a landslide election victory in December of that year.

Britain’s exit from the EU prompted a name change and the Brexit Party morphed into Reform UK, with the party opposing further COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic.

A year later, in March 2021 Farage quit politics and resigned as leader to be replaced by Tice.

For all of Tice’s capabilities and with Brexit done and dusted, it seemed Reform had reached its limit.

But then the Tory party pressed self-destruct.

Badly wounded by partygate and other Tory scandals, Johnson was ultimately run out of town by his own team.

His replacement, Liz Truss, lasted 49 disastrous days, plunging the country and the Conservatives into turmoil.

Rishi Sunak picked up the reins but the damage was done.

A damaged economy and rampant inflation meant the clock was ticking on the 14-year Tory regime.

It meant that Farage, by then a TV presenter with GB News and soaring in popularity thanks to a stint in the jungle on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, was licking his lips.

It was time for the big beast to return to the political fray.

He did so on June 3 this year, one month before the General Rlection, taking control of Reform once again. And we know what happened next.