{"id":2571063,"date":"2026-02-18T12:24:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nigel-farage-appoints-jd-vances-british-sherpa-as-head-of-policy-for-reform-uk\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T12:25:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:25:58","slug":"nigel-farage-appoints-jd-vances-british-sherpa-as-head-of-policy-for-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nigel-farage-appoints-jd-vances-british-sherpa-as-head-of-policy-for-reform-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigel Farage appoints JD Vance&#8217;s &#8216;British sherpa&#8217; as head of policy for Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnigel-farage-appoints-jd-vances-british-sherpa-as-head-of-policy-for-reform-uk%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2571063&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Nigel Farage&#8217;s Reform UK has appointed James Orr, an English theologian and ideology of religion scholar at Cambridge University, as its head of policy, describing him as JD Vance\u2019s \u201cBritish sherpa.\u201d Orr will lead the party\u2019s policy growth as Reform seeks to capitalize on a surge in support ahead of the May 7 elections. orr has links to U.S. vice President Vance, who has called him a mentor; Orr has discussed the future of right-wing politics with Vance and met with him during his UK visit. In a parallel move, Farage announced a formal Shadow Cabinet for Reform UK to show it is a serious third party, naming Robert Jenrick as Shadow chancellor, with other appointments including Richard Tice as shadow Secretary of Business, Energy and Trade; Suella Braverman as Shadow Secretary of education, Equalities and Skills; and Zia Yusuf as Shadow Secretary of Home Affairs. Jenrick recently defected from the Conservative Party to Reform. Farage said the shadow cabinet demonstrates Reform is no longer a \u201cone-man band,\u201d stressing the party\u2019s own brand and leadership beyond Farage himself. The article also notes Farage\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >long-standing alliance<\/a> with Donald Trump. Additionally, Keir Starmer announced an examination into Labor smear campaigns alleging a link to Russian conspiracy narratives.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Nigel Farage appoints JD Vance&rsquo;s &lsquo;British sherpa&rsquo; as head of policy for Reform UK<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2500190\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Reform U.K. leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nigel-farage\/\">Nigel Farage<\/a> has tapped a New Right intellectual with ties to President Donald Trump&rsquo;s administration as his party&rsquo;s new head of policy.<\/p>\n<p>James Orr, an English theologian and philosopher whom <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\">U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance<\/a> has described as his &ldquo;British sherpa,&rdquo; will lead <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4444508\/reform-uk-defector-andrew-rosindell-party-success-rule-britannia-nostalgia-culture\/\">Reform U.K.&rsquo;s<\/a> policy-crafting as it hopes to ride its current wave of popularity into the May 7 elections.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4461314\/zelensky-accuses-russia-trying-drag-out-negotiations-peace-talks-stall\/\">Zelensky accuses Russia of &#8216;trying to drag out negotiations&rsquo; as US-brokered peace talks stall<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4461255\/zelensky-sanctions-belarusian-president-for-killing-of-ukrainians\/\">Zelensky announces sanctions against Belarusian president for &lsquo;the killing of Ukrainians&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4461218\/eleven-killed-us-southern-command-strikes-on-suspected-narco-terrorist-vessels\/\">Eleven people killed as US Southern Command carries out three more strikes on suspected &#8216;narco-terrorist&#8217; vessels<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I will help to build the most serious policy operation in British politics &ndash; and give our Shadow Cabinet the support they will need to govern,&rdquo; Orr said in a statement following the announcement. &ldquo;Britain needs new ideas. Britain needs Reform.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. James Orr speaks during Turning Point USA&rsquo;s AmericaFest 2025, on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Orr is a philosophy of religion scholar at Cambridge University who works in the prestigious institution&rsquo;s faculty of divinity.<\/p>\n<p>Asked in 2024 if he had input into then-vice-presidential candidate Vance&rsquo;s policy thinking, Orr said Vance was actually something of a &ldquo;mentor&rdquo; to him as they swapped ideas on the future of right-wing politics on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had wonderful conversations over the years about politics, political philosophy, faith, religion,&rdquo; he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/10\/27\/nx-s1-5153343\/meet-jd-vances-british-sherpa-mentor\">explained<\/a> at the time. &ldquo;Senator Vance and I have a sort of kind of camaraderie on trying to work out what the new right should look like in the 21st century.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Orr was among a select group of British Conservatives who met with Vance during his visit to the United Kingdom in August, alongside then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy and then-Tory MP Robert Jenrick.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">Jenrick, who&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4434459\/conservative-party-defections-to-reform-uk-continue-with-former-home-secretary\/\">defected from the Conservative Party<\/a>&nbsp;last month to join Farage, was among another set of Reform UK allies whose responsibili<\/span>ties within the party were heightened this week.<\/p>\n<p>Farage announced on Tuesday his own &ldquo;Shadow Cabinet,&rdquo; a form of &ldquo;government-in-waiting&rdquo; typically fielded by the opposition in parliament to critique the true Cabinet at 10 Downing Street and offer policy alternatives. Jenrick was named as Shadow Chancellor, focused on policies pertaining to the Treasury.<\/p>\n<p>Other party heavyweights who were <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=flO0BVNFoFM\">named to Farage&rsquo;s shadow cabinet<\/a> include: Richard Tice as Shadow Secretary of Business, Energy and Trade; Suella Braverman as Shadow Secretary of Education, Equalities and Skills; and Zia Yusuf as Shadow Secretary of Home Affairs.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, Reform UK&rsquo;s Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick, party leader Nigel Farage, business, trade and energy spokesman Richard Tice and education, skills and equalities spokeswoman Suella Braverman during a press conference in London, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau\/PA via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Typically, only the Labour Party or the Conservative Party forms a shadow cabinet while the other party is in government. Reform has pushed its own shadow line-up as a display of seriousness about its third<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/speculation-grows-over-manchin-launching-third-party-challenge-to-biden\/\" title=\"Speculation Grows Over Manchin Launching Third-Party Challenge to Biden\">-party campaign<\/a>, which has eclipsed both Labour and the Tories in terms of support.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4460536\/keir-starmer-investigation-labour-smear-campaign-journalists-russian-conspiracy\/\">KEIR STARMER ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO LABOUR SMEAR CAMPAIGN ALLEGING JOURNALISTS PART OF RUSSIAN CONSPIRACY<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Farage also explicitly told supporters that this shadow cabinet is an attempt to prove to the country that <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4438744\/nigel-farage-in-charge-tory-defections-reform-mount\/\">Reform U.K.<\/a> is no longer a &ldquo;one-man band&rdquo; operation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I tell you what I&rsquo;m really pleased about, a year ago, you look at opinion polls, and Farage&rsquo;s popularity and the party&rsquo;s popularity were two different things. There was a big gap between the two,&rdquo; Farage said. &ldquo;Now, if I was hit by a bus tomorrow, Reform has its own brand, Reform has its own identity, and now Reform has its own senior characters with their own departments to lead, so I&rsquo;m enormously proud of that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">Farage has been a c<\/span>lose ally of Trump since before the president&rsquo;s second term, dismissing contentious squabbles between the U.S. and Britain as&nbsp;respectful <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/4453893\/nigel-farage-donald-trump-friends-disagree-friends\/\">disagreement between friends<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraphrase:<br \/>\nReform UK leader Nigel Farage has appointed James Orr, a Cambridge philosopher-theologian described by U.S. VP JD Vance as his \u201cBritish sherpa,\u201d to head the party\u2019s policy. Orr will direct Reform UK\u2019s policy work ahead of the May elections, saying he aims to build a serious policy operation and support the Shadow Cabinet. Orr has previously described Vance as a mentor in discussions about the future of the right in both the U.S. and U.K., and he was part of a small group of British conservatives who met Vance during his U.K. visit. Farage also announced a formal Shadow Cabinet to demonstrate Reform\u2019s seriousness as a third party, with Jenrick named Shadow Chancellor and others such as Richard Tice, Suella Braverman, and Zia Yusuf in senior shadow roles. Farage has long allied with Trump, often portraying U.S.-UK tensions as respectful disagreements between friends. <\/p>\n<p>Title (55 characters max):<br \/>\nFarage taps Vance&#8217;s sherpa as Reform UK policy head<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3468,"featured_media":2571064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP25354701864293.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[74028,32082,32382,74029,62027],"class_list":["post-2571063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-british-sherpa","tag-jd-vance","tag-nigel-farage","tag-policy-head","tag-reform-uk"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP25354701864293.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2571063"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2571067,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571063\/revisions\/2571067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2571064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2571063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2571063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2571063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}