Tommy Robinson-linked party’s launch in Wales halted

Martin Shipton

A new far-right political party linked to the criminal activist known as Tommy Robinson was unable to hold a launch meeting in Wales after anti-fascists persuaded the venue to cancel the booking.

The meeting had been due to go ahead this week at the Master Gunner pub in Gabalfa, Cardiff.

Advance UK is led by Ben Habib, who had been deputy leader of Reform UK but fell out with Nigel Farage in 2024 when he was removed as deputy leader. In response, Habib stated his intention to form a party to the right of Reform.

Initially called the Integrity Party, the name was quickly changed to Advance UK.

Elon Musk

In August 2025, Elon Musk declared his support for the party, stating: “Advance UK will actually drive change. Farage is weak sauce who will do nothing”, and Habib himself claimed that Musk had urged him to set up a party earlier in 2025. Advance claims to advocate for the UK’s “Christian constitution,” freedom of speech and rejection of international institutions including the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the World Economic Forum.

Later in August 2025, Advance UK announced that four former parliamentary candidates for Reform were defecting, along with one former branch chair.

At “Tommy Robinson’s” ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally, held in London on September 13 2025, “Advance” was listed as one of the sponsors for the event.

Registration

A week before, Habib claimed that Advance had reached their target of 30,000 members. Following this, he applied for registration as a party with the Electoral Commission.

The party was due to hold an official launch event at the Crowne-Plaza Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne on September 27. However, following online criticism, the hotel management cancelled the booking on “health and safety grounds”, according to Newcastle City Council.

Now the party’s launch in Wales has also been disrupted, with a launch event at the pub in Gabalfa, Cardiff being cancelled this week.

A spokesperson for the anti-fascist campaign group Stand Up To Racism told Nation.Cymru: “We found out yesterday morning that Advance UK, which broke off from Reform because they think it is not tough enough on immigration and is very close to ‘Tommy Robinson’ were going to have their launch meeting on Wales at the Master Gunner pub.

“The pub was not aware of who they had booked. Stand Up To Racism Cardiff explained what Advance UK was, that they were far-right with fascist leanings and were a danger to the community, and that as members of the community we felt unsafe having people fuelled by hate and division, talking up racism in our community.

“Our message was very well received by the worker at the pub. She also felt threatened by them being there and said that she would close down the pub. If the landlady disagreed she was going to walk out. Eventually we heard that the landlady cancelled the booking.

“Advance UK is now saying the cancellation was because of threats of physical violence, which is completely wrong. We had a constructive and positive conversation, explaining what Advance UK was and why they were so dangerous to the community, especially our diverse community in Cardiff.

“This is a victory for anti fascism and shows the power of workers. A very good contribution was made by the worker there. It shows workers have the power to stop these racist attacks in our communities. It was a really good outcome and shows Cardiff does not welcome fascists and racists to our inclusive and diverse community.”