Voting for Reform.the north/south

And this is the problem, we have an ageing population. That costs& getting rid of immigrants won’t change that

Yep. I won't be voting reform, and think it'll be an absolute disaster if they get in (I live in one of the Reform run councils & council tax has gone up..). But stereotyping, ridiculing and patronising people who are at their wits end and looking for change, is not the way to prevent a party like Reform getting in.

Check the councils they have already got control of, and see how well they are doing (clue: they aren’t doing what they said)

I have a friend who works in one, the Reform lot came in filled with Bravado about cutting lots of waste, and not increasing council tax. Despite trying, there was no waste to cut, statutory services that they had to provide (which seemed to come as a shock), and they raised council tax.

You get a few performative things such as taking down LGBT flags, but other than that they have made no difference, and in some spaces made things considerably worse.

I’m in the North and thankfully everyone I speak to is of the same view as me - that Farage and co are dangerous and we need to do what we can to stop them getting any power locally.

Maybe the fact that a lot of us are parents of children with additional needs who are petrified what they will do with any power is part of the reason.

Surprising perhaps but it’s not all people you’d imagine but a lot of older middle class people aswell

Thats exactly who I would expect to vote for Reform!

Northern, not many of my peer group will vote for them and I live in a city they have no chance of taking. This is a good thing, as Reform haven't been much cop in local government so far.

I'd expect them to gain seats nationally, albeit maybe not as many as before Trump's latest, erm, adventure, given the way the British public views that. But it won't be a north/south divide. Also see the Greens doing well. It'll be a bloodbath for the big two parties.

If you ignore the smear campaign from the right wing press, labour are actually achieving quite a lot.

Only 20% of the adult population in the UK is under 35. Democracy dictates that they almost certainly won't be the deciding factor alone and have relatively low levels of influence

I don't think there is a massive divide on this either. We live in London, I'm an architect my husband is a surgeon and our children attend private school - I know lots of people who are intending to vote Reform. I was quite surprised, they aren't from the demographic the media tends to portray and posters on here love to parrot.

The main problem in this country is that all the parties lie to get elected, and none are trusted. .

They promise the moon and stars, then fail to deliver anything of relevance. 🙄

I think the smug left are going to get the same shock that all the remainers got with Brexit.

Has that turned out well for the enlightened leavers?

It's not an unlikely scenario is it though? Yougov has Reform at first and the Tories at second if there was an election held tomorrow. I would suggest that Reform forming a government or an alliance being formed between the Tories and Reform is the most likely outcome.

Facebook isn’t a substitute for actually talking to people is it?

Ask yourself what demographic uses Facebook. No one under 35 gives it a second thought unless they have a business they want to promote or something to sell on marketplace.

I think its more likely to be an educated/less educated split tbh and I'm not aware of any evidence that people in the North are significantly less well educated/academically able than those in the South.

I talk about politics to most of my friends. Absolutely none of us would vote Reform. I know some of the parents at the kids school that will, but I would absolutely not be friends with people who voted Reform.

I would struggle to respect people that couldn't see that Farage is laughing at his voters. Life under Reform will be worse for everyone. And ironically probably hitting the people that are voting for him harder than anyone else.

I can see why people are upset and scared, but Reform is not the answer. In fact their divisive and obstructive politics are part of the problem.

Reform have been canvassing in my area. I’m worried that some people will fall for their lies.

So it’s exactly who you’d expect.

The older, wealthy generation who got everything handed to them and are now pulling the ladder up behind them. Cheap housing, mortgage interest set off against taxes, married person tax allowance, low cost of living, free university, the list goes on. The same people who voted for Brexit because they didn’t understand the implications, or even worse didn’t care.

What a lack of nuance!! The North and the South are not two homogenous blocks are they? I live in the South, but the voting patterns of where I live and the adjoining constituency are so different!

I chat with people from all walks of life, and what unites several very different areas is that the Lib Dems are popular on a local level. They have 72 MPs nationally and those we have in our area are effective on tackling local issues.

I really feel that people aren’t being taken in en masse by Reform where I am. Even strong advocates for Farage are quiet. They can see what a disappointment Reform MPs are on the ground, in other areas, and they are aware of what a shit show that the Farage driven Brexit proved to be.

There is interest in Restore, although people are not quite sure of what it stands for.

There is also a swell of support for the greens, especially amongst younger people, who are liking Zac Polansky’s narrative.

No one likes Labour and outside of the cities, not many would vote for them.

No . I see more and more support for Reform on my local fb pages and I’m in the SE . Surprising perhaps but it’s not all people you’d imagine but a lot of older middle class people aswell .

How disappointing. Even my parents, who have some pretty hardline views, aren’t fans of reform.

I think the majority of vocal reform council wannabes and voters come from diverse places. They've convinced themselves they are being "taken over" because they see a high number of non-white faces around them.

Im hoping these people that have "taken over" are also voting... for someone not demonising their culture and beliefs! That should help to balance things out.

Well, I'm a "proud Northerner" and I think Reform/Brexiters should be deported.

This!
Need to actually consider the policies of Reform and discuss their effect if OP doesn’t want to be ‘patronised’

Nothing to do with 14 years of Tories, that make up over half of reform mps?!
You realise we are more economically unstable predominantly because a Brexit (thanks to Farage).
I genuinely don't understand why people trust Farage. He thinks his voters are fools. Him and his billionaire friends will be making huge amounts of money on disrupting the markets. It's a huge game to them. They literally don't give a single fuck about the cost of living and normal people.

Sorry about the typos.