He began the day on Monday at a news conference in central London, and I meet him mid-afternoon as he's being loaded onto a small plane to Aberdeen to travel to a members' rally that evening.

Today, he'll fly to the Shetland Islands before travelling to Glasgow and then London. It will be like this for the entire run up to the May elections as Farage looks to turn his party from one governing a handful of councils in England to a serious party of government.

A leader always on the go

The Reform leader has already done about 40 campaign visits in recent weeks, and will do the same again in the run up to polling day on 7 May.

If the schedule sounds exhausting, Farage seems energised and upbeat as he settles into his seat and orders a gin and tonic.

He tells me campaigning is his favourite bit of the job as he chats with his team about the schedule for the week and the campaign.

Soon lunch comes - a charcuterie and cheese board and scotch eggs, washed down with a big glass of red wine.

This is a moment of relaxation for a leader always on the go, and I think about what a contrast Farage cuts to that of the prime minister, who I've watched from afar on flights, spending his time in meetings, going through his red box, looking at briefing notes or checking over a speech.

Farage does none of that as I sit opposite him on the plane, and he reminds me that he never writes a speech for these rallies.

Later he tells me he works off the "rule of three" - three different points he wants to make weaved into a speech. In the case of Scotland, his pitch is the failure of successive Scottish governments to deliver and what Reform could do for Scotland - be that expanding oil and gas production or cutting income tax.

I cannot quite believe I am even writing this, but Reform hopes to become the official opposition to the SNP in Holyrood in May and sees this election for the Scottish parliament as the first step to seriously competing for power in Scotland in five years' time.

It's astonishing they are in this position: at the last Holyrood elections, Reform didn't even register - winning no seats at all.

The latest YouGov poll for Sky News predicts Farage will take 20 seats in Scotland and eclipse the Conservatives to become the official opposition.

Reform aiming for 'seismic' wins

As in other parts of the country, Reform is benefitting from the collapsing support for Labour and the Conservatives. In Scotland, Labour had hoped to win Holyrood from the SNP after nearly two decades, but that prospect has collapsed in tandem with the drop in support for the Starmer government.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Keir Starmer's resignation earlier this year as he sought to salvage his campaign and create distance from the Westminster government.

Sarwar told me last month that he believed he could still win this election, but polling puts them third.

It is a similar story in Wales, where Labour has held power ever since the Senedd was created in 1999. Now they are battling Reform for second position as Plaid Cymru takes the lead.

Farage tells me he thinks that Reform can win the Welsh Parliament, which would be seismic: "Here in Scotland, to become the opposition would be amazing, absolutely amazing, and if we can embed ourselves there, we can move on in the years to come.

"In Wales, well, we're neck and neck right now with Plaid Cymru. The Labour Party, particularly in The Valleys - the real birthplace of the Labour Party - is almost disappearing off the map. So, to be frank, coming first in Wales is the ambition. Whether we can remains to be seen."

Some big issues to overcome

Farage tells me that he thinks the big story of these elections will be the collapse of Labour - across the Welsh Valleys, the red wall in the Midlands, the North East, the North West and in Scotland.

But Farage has his challenges too. While the insurgent party is benefiting from voters' disillusionment with the Conservatives and Labour, the sheen is coming off Reform a little of late.

Recent polls show Reform's support has fallen a few percentage points from highs of 29% to 30% in the spring and summer of 2025, while a poll earlier this month by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft suggested Reform has lost its outright lead across the UK for the first time in more than a year, putting the party on 21% alongside the Tories and Greens, with Labour on 17%.

It is perhaps some of the pains of moving from a party of protest to becoming a party in power.

There are still big questions around delivery. Recent polling shows that only a quarter of Britons think Reform UK are ready to form the next government, while 58% disagree. This position has slightly worsened from September 2025, when 53% disagreed.

There are some big issues for the leader to overcome. First is his positioning on the Iran war and Donald Trump.

Pollster Luke Tryl says that the "biggest barrier to people voting for Reform is Trump", while the YouGov March tracker poll found that 14% of Britons had a favourable opinion of Donald Trump and 81% had an unfavourable opinion.

When I ask Farage if he has a Trump problem, he tells me "no". But he also spends some of our conversation distancing himself from his old friend while trying to avoid disavowing him: "It's America first, not Trump."

'We're not North Korea'

There is also the question of distancing at a more local level when it comes to delivering on the handful of English councils Reform controls (it has nine with outright control and three under minority control).

Farage gets irritated when he's questioned about promises made by some Reform candidates on council tax that were not kept.

He tells me he cannot be responsible for what potential candidates promised on leaflets, and points out that Reform councils have overall delivered the lowest average council tax increases of any major party.

The nine upper-tier councils controlled by a Reform majority increased Band D council tax for 2026/27 by an average of 3.94% - lower than the overall average increase for councils controlled by other parties, which was 4.86%.

However, it is equally true that Reform politicians made promises they did not keep.

North Northamptonshire candidates signed a letter pledging a freeze. Council tax there has gone up by 4.99%.

A Kent County Council leaflet promised to "cut your taxes", but it was raised by 3.99%.

Leaflets being distributed by a Reform candidate in the Staffordshire region said Reform would "freeze council tax and biz rates". Council tax went up by 3.99% there, too.

Farage answers this by saying: "We're not North Korea. I can't control individuals and thousands of people."

He repeats his point that he didn't promise cuts, but it raises questions about delivery and keeping promises - the exact points Farage and his team criticise other politicians about.

On the cusp of success

Should Reform win more councils and perhaps even a national parliament in May, those questions and that scrutiny is only going to increase.

Three months ago, Farage said he was halfway ready to form a government. On Monday he told me he was now 75% of the way there with a leader appointed in Scotland and Wales, and four major spokesperson figures.

He is now on the cusp of real success in a set of elections that look set to be an important staging post on Reform's journey towards trying to win the general election in 2029.

If it goes Farage's way, he'll have proven he can win at the ballot box - but delivering in office is going to be a much harder task, and test.

This interview is the first in a series that Beth Rigby will be conducting with party leaders ahead of the May elections.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said a former detective inspector and four serving officers - a commander, a detective chief inspector, a detective sergeant and a detective constable - are all being investigated for possible gross misconduct.

Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, both eight years old, died when a "distinctive gold" Land Rover driven by Claire Freemantle crashed into an end-of-term tea party on the lawn of The Study Preparatory School.

More than a dozen people were also injured.

Ms Freemantle was not charged for the incident after it was announced she had suffered an undiagnosed epileptic seizure behind the wheel.

"On the 6th of July 2023, our lives were irreparably shattered by a cruel tragedy," said the families of Nuria and Selena in a statement.

"The past 33 months have been incredibly difficult for everyone affected, including those who lost family, were seriously injured or witnessed the horrific incident, and we are still trying to come to terms with what happened on that fateful day."

They said they were "encouraged" that the IOPC had opened an inquiry, adding they have "always sought the truth" around the events of "that devastating day and subsequent actions taken by the Metropolitan Police".

"We have always maintained that the initial investigation was flawed. When the Crown Prosecution Service took the decision for no further action against the driver on the 26th of June 2024, we asserted that the original investigation was poor, and we were unconvinced that the investigation was conducted thoroughly.

"The truth must come to light," said the families.

The girls' families have always maintained the investigation was flawed.

IOPC director Amanda Rowe said the police watchdog's "thoughts are with the families and friends of Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau and all those who were affected by the tragic incident".

"We are investigating complaints made against 11 Met Police officers over their handling of the initial investigation into the road traffic incident."

"The complaints relate to concerns about the standard of the investigation, including its management and direction, the conduct of the investigation team, and their engagement with the victims," said Ms Rowe.

"We are also investigating allegations that Met officers provided false and misleading information to those affected and whether the officers' treatment of those affected was influenced by their race."

She said that as part of the investigation, IOPC investigators have met with the complainants.

The Met police said in 2024 it was reopening its investigation into the crash and rearrested Ms Freemantle in 2025.

After the IOPC's announcement, it said officers had submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS on 17 March 2026 that prosecutors were continuing to consider.

"Our thoughts remain with Nuria and Selena's families, as well as everyone who has been impacted by this terrible tragedy. We understand this prolonged process has compounded their grief and suffering," said Commander Charmain Brenyah, who leads the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command.

"It is right that our initial handling of this incident be independently scrutinised, and we will provide every assistance to the IOPC as their investigation continues."

The chief inspector of prisons placed the Category A jail in special measures in 2024 and - after a fresh inspection in January 2026 - concluded it remains in a "precarious state", with a high number of serious assaults and weak security fuelling drug problems.

The report highlights the challenge of specialised gangs piloting drones to fly drugs and weapons into the prison, formerly known as Strangeways.

Inspectors wrote: "Drones continued to bring large quantities of drugs into the jail, which was leading to high levels of violence and instability.

"A failure by leaders in the prison service and absurdly bureaucratic planning processes meant just a handful of windows had been replaced, with the consequence that organised crime gangs continued to operate with impunity."

It said that - despite additional staff being deployed to detect drones and search cells for drugs - there was no improvement in reducing positive drug test results, which at 38% is one of the highest rates in England and Wales.

The report found that the prison "had made very little progress in installing secure windows and grilles to stop drugs getting in, and half of the prisoners surveyed during the inspection said that it was easy to get hold of illicit substances".

It continued: "The level of serious assaults was among the highest in the adult male estate, and violence against staff had increased."

Other concerns included a very high use of force by staff, prisoners unable to access purposeful activity including education, inmates getting limited time out of their cells, rubbish attracting rats, and "filthy" kitchens.

The report warned: "Along with isolation, loneliness and poor mental health, this inactivity was contributing to high rates of self-harm, and there had been four self-inflicted deaths since the previous inspection.

"Manchester remained a prison in a precarious state, and it was continuing to perform at unacceptably low levels."

Inspectors commented on a sports pitch, which could not be used because it needed to be resurfaced, stating it was a "wasted opportunity for much-needed outdoor activity".

They also concluded the special accommodation cells were in poor condition, some with damaged flooring, blocked air vents and water leaking from the ceiling.

However, reflecting on some changes made at the prison, "inspectors recognised the work that the governor and his team had put into improving the stability of the jail".

Read more from Sky News:
Prison drones 'threat to national security'
Drones flying drugs into HMP Wandsworth
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Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said: "Leaders at Manchester had made a determined effort to start grappling with some of the issues identified in 2024 and we saw some early evidence of improvement.

"However, without more determined action from HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service] to improve physical security, drugs will continue to undermine those efforts.

"That work must be prioritised, and issues around staff recruitment and education provision tackled, if Manchester is to deliver the rehabilitative activity that prisoners need to successfully re-establish themselves in society when they are released."

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the most effective way to reduce the supply of drugs at HMP Manchester is to reduce demand for them in the first place.

"When almost half of people held at Manchester prison are unemployed and spending more than 21 hours a day locked in their cells, is it any wonder that rates of drug use and violence are sky-high?" she said in a statement.

The FBI claims Daniel Moreno-Gama was captured on CCTV hurling the incendiary device towards the entrepreneur's property in California and setting a gate on fire.

Less than an hour later, the 20-year-old allegedly then travelled to the company's headquarters and threatened to burn down the building.

Court documents suggest Moreno-Gama is opposed to artificial intelligence and believes the technology will contribute to "our impending extinction".

OpenAI is the maker of ChatGPT, one of the world's most popular chatbots.

It is believed the suspect travelled from Texas, with FBI Special Agent Matt Cobo saying: "This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious."

Moreno-Gama is due to appear in court later today and could face life in prison if convicted.

Surveillance footage appeared to show a person dressed in a dark hoodie approaching Altman's driveway before tossing the Molotov cocktail.

Meanwhile, at OpenAI's headquarters, a suspect is seen grabbing a chair and using it to hit a set of glass doors.

Security guards who confronted him told investigators that he "stated in sum and substance" that he intended "to burn it down and kill anyone inside".

Incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, a lighter and a document were allegedly recovered when Moreno-Gama was arrested by police in San Francisco. No one was injured.

US Attorney Craig Missakian has said authorities "will treat this as domestic terrorism, and together with our partners, prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law".

Advocacy groups campaigning against artificial intelligence have condemned the incident, and say "violence and intimidation of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of AI".

Hours after the attack, Altman had posted a picture of his husband and their toddler in a blog post.

"Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case, I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me," he wrote.

While the billionaire said "fear and anxiety about AI is justified", he said it is important to "de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally".

OpenAI has been facing growing scrutiny for its role in national security, including criticism of a proposed deal with the US government that would allow its technology to be used in classified military operations.

Sir Keir Starmer's official salary is £172,153 - but according to the TaxPayers' Alliance, 320 workers in local government were on a bigger pay packet in 2024/25.

The pressure group has claimed this has risen by a third over the past 12 months, with one executive at Staffordshire Council - whose job title is unknown - earning £457,000.

Overall, it is believed 4,733 council employees across the UK are now on a six-figure salary, and that's the highest level since the TaxPayers' Alliance began keeping records in 2007.

Of those, 1,255 took home at least £150,000 a year, an increase of 163 compared with the pressure group's last Town Hall Rich List report in 2025.

TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive John O'Connell said: "Taxpayers are caught in a pincer movement with a record-breaking tax burden on one side and a bloated public sector feathering its nest on the other.

"Our latest Town Hall Rich List exposes a surging class of council bosses enjoying six-figure packages, even as they plead poverty, slash frontline services and hike council tax bills far beyond inflation.

"Residents can see exactly how many local bureaucrats are receiving plush packages and judge for themselves whether they're getting value for money."

As reported by the Sky News Data and Forensics team, some households in England have seen exceptionally high council tax rises come into effect since the new financial year began.

A handful of local authorities have been allowed to raise their council tax rates higher than the usual 5% minimum as part of new finance arrangements.

North Somerset, Shropshire, and Worcestershire were permitted to raise their council tax by nearly 9%.

In Windsor & Maidenhead, Trafford and Warrington, residents saw council tax rise by nearly 7.5% while, in Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, council tax increased by more than 6.7%.