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Politics

The Masochism of Voting Reform

142 replies

BreezyMoose · 06/05/2026 11:16

Reform voters are now the largest mass political movement in the UK. While their leaders are bereft of both principles and plans, dismissing all Reform voters as idiots and racists is a lazy cop out that serves nobody.

Voting Labour is an act of crass immorality and stupidity, voting Tory suggests a drag anchor of stasis and apathy, voting Lib Dem smacks of a lack of passion and imagination, but voting Reform is an act of unmitigated masochism and self harm - but it is important we understand why people do it.

On one level its the logical fallacy outlined in Yes Prime Minister, my dog has four legs and my cat has four legs - therefore my dog is a cat. I want reform and here is a new party called Reform so i’ll vote for that. Dominic Cummings used the word Brexit to work the same scam, Morgan McSweeney deployed the word ‘change’ and the Democrats tried the word ‘joy’. It didn’t work for the Democrats because not enough people in the states wanted ‘joy’ - they wanted revenge, which brings us to the masochism of voting for Reform.

Imagine a child wants an ice cream, their parents say no and the child is left angry about not getting what they want and their lack of agency - perhaps in a hot moment they might even start hating their parents. After a while the parents see how upset their child is and offer an ice cream, but the child screams ‘neaaww!!’ and knocks the ice cream out of their parent’s hand and on to the floor. That’s masochism, any parent will recognise it, the child is too into hating their parent in the moment to take the thing they really want, such moments need careful handling.

Many (most?) people in the UK don’t get much careful handling, they are consistently told in both word and deed that their happiness is irrelevant, perhaps this is a hangover of empire, but more saliently it is why the UK consistently ranks as one of the most unhappy nations in Europe. A shocking but normalised backdrop of familial, educational and neoliberal socioeconomic squashes, dehumanises many Britons, seeing them as little more than throwaway units of consumption and production.

One can see from this standpoint, why many focus on the (wilfully over-hyped and politically weaponised) topic of economic migration that is portrayed as further diluting an already anaemic sense of belonging and adding to a sense that to a certain establishment, working class Britons are as disposable as a used vape. Reform voters may be muddled about the motives of Farage, but they ain’t wrong about that last bit.

The throwaway working classes of Britain, face accusatory pressure from people (usually in comfortable positions in the media, government / politics) that they must remain vigilant about (and indeed accept responsibility for) the hurt feelings of a wide range of people in OTHER groups.

It’s easy to see how exhausted white, heterosexual males scratching an increasingly precarious living in a nation that has never cared about their feelings, might resent the quivering sensitivity demanded of them for gay rights, trans rights, people on the ‘spectrum’, ethnic / religious minorities and all the rest. They might just think that being in the majority ethnic group in the UK is actually a curse rather than a benefit, after all there are no government grants for organisations combating discrimination against the white-van-man, no benefits for people in work who lie awake at night worrying about having to put their car repairs and urgent dental work on their credit card - quite the reverse, these are the people that late stage capitalism loves to exploit to the max.

Now Reform are not any kind of an answer for the precariat (they’ll make it worse), but it is nigh on impossible to explain this to Reform voters and here is why:
Reform voters (and many voters for all the other parties) are often not making an evidenced based judgement but an emotional one, they quite understandably HATE the establishment that dehumanises and discards them and more than anything they want to STICK IT to that establishment, they don’t WANT to check the credentials and plans of their chosen champions and the more that smug liberals tell them they should, the less inclined they feel to do it.

This is the masochism, what matters is not healing or hope, but the hatred (carefully cultivated for decades by the billionaire owned media) for what they see as a shadowy triumvirate of invaders - immigrants, the woke and the loony left.

The British political / media class has nobody but itself to blame for the looming triumph of the Farage / Trump playbook. For decades voters have been promised change and got nothing but more of the same and worse. The lived reality of the political clock in the UK stopped under Thatcher and has not changed since. Those parties like Labour and the Lib-Dems who delivered more status-quo neoliberalism are particularly to blame.

Reform voters will soon have the rare pleasure of sticking a plastic straw up the noses of at least some of the establishment, it doesn't matter to them who benefits or even what happens next as long as Starmer, the immigrants and the woke get shafted by it.

This mostly blind back-lash that Farage is surfing has been long in the making and I doubt much can be done to mitigate it now, but for those minded to try...

...start by trying to understand the emotional landscape of Reform voters first, hear and acknowledge their pain, respect their concerns and fears, listen to their frustration and frayed sense of betrayal and try to offer more hope than a one shot stab at revenge. This job has been made very difficult by identity politics and decades of betrayal from faux left wing hustlers like Blair, Brown and now Starmer but there is little to be lost from the effort and perhaps everything to gain.

Sometimes political change is more about a heartfelt commitment to listening and healing than it is about winning the argument. The Greens, now the champions of the left-liberal progressives, would be especially well served by remembering this.

OP posts:
1dayatatime · 07/05/2026 09:51

EasternStandard · 07/05/2026 09:45

It neck and neck for Greens / Labour here. The rest don’t really feature. We’ll see, it’s been Labour forever.

Labour everyday over the Greens for me.

1dayatatime · 07/05/2026 09:50

ACIGC · 07/05/2026 08:08

It’s the Lib Dems here. The other day they put a letter through my letterbox which made zero references to what they have done or will do if elected. It was a whole page of “vote for us so we can beat Reform”

Given the shit alternative I would genuinely consider voting LibDem except to my knowledge they have no policies except "not being the other guy ".

As Kamala Harris proved, you don't win elections on just "not being the other guy ".

EasternStandard · 07/05/2026 09:45

1dayatatime · 07/05/2026 09:42

Well that depends on who is winning the seats from them. I would much rather Labour councillors keep their seats than lose them to either Reform or especially the Greens.

It neck and neck for Greens / Labour here. The rest don’t really feature. We’ll see, it’s been Labour forever.

1dayatatime · 07/05/2026 09:42

EasternStandard · 07/05/2026 09:33

Good. Well deserved.

Well that depends on who is winning the seats from them. I would much rather Labour councillors keep their seats than lose them to either Reform or especially the Greens.

Underthinker · 07/05/2026 09:37

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 09:34

TBF, most people who subscribe to an ideology don't view it that way; such is the level of their delusion.

Most people subscribe to multiple ideologies, it just feels alien to talk about them in those terms, as we often reserve the word for whackier belief systems (like gender ideology).

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 09:34

Underthinker · 07/05/2026 09:32

Hard to know who you are quoting there. But trans ideology obviously exists, although the people who subscribe to it tend not to recognise it as ideological.
Edit: oh I think you were essentially agreeing with me about the above quote.

Edited

TBF, most people who subscribe to an ideology don't view it that way; such is the level of their delusion.

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:33

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

letting males into female spaces - is misogyny because it values female needs below male needs.

There we go - a clear, simple argument about why I think you are a misogynist. Without calling people names.

Now you try.

NeelyOHara · 07/05/2026 09:33

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

So you can’t answer why girls have to accept men in their changing rooms then? Gotcha.

EasternStandard · 07/05/2026 09:33

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:13

I think we are looking at labour losing maybe 2000 seats I think it’s going to be worse than the predictions

Good. Well deserved.

Underthinker · 07/05/2026 09:32

NeelyOHara · 07/05/2026 09:30

“Brexit).
" Their subjugation to trans ideology is complete"
Your use of the term "trans ideology", and the general syntax of your statement, means we can pretty comfortably disregard it altogether.

Who is the ‘we’ you are referring to? Don’t put words in other people’s mouths. Jesus, the absolute arrogance.

Hard to know who you are quoting there. But trans ideology obviously exists, although the people who subscribe to it tend not to recognise it as ideological.
Edit: oh I think you were essentially agreeing with me about the above quote.

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 09:32

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

NeelyOHara · 07/05/2026 09:30

“Brexit).
" Their subjugation to trans ideology is complete"
Your use of the term "trans ideology", and the general syntax of your statement, means we can pretty comfortably disregard it altogether.

Who is the ‘we’ you are referring to? Don’t put words in other people’s mouths. Jesus, the absolute arrogance.

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:29

Underthinker · 07/05/2026 09:23

You'd think someone whose posts are mostly calling other people stupid would be able to easily answer your question @SingleSexSpacesInSchools . I'd definitely rather read their response to that than another of their attempts at satire anyway.

I did think it was quite a clear and succinct question which would be very easy to answer.

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:29

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 09:21

"just because you think women are second class citizens doesn’t mean I do"

I've never said we are second-class citizens, or even alluded to it.
You are again presuming things that serve your delusion. Typical male.

Again, I ask you for a third time. Tell me exactly why my 14-year-old daughter should have penises in her changing room and her toilet toilets l, you can’t answer because you’re a misogynist.

Underthinker · 07/05/2026 09:23

You'd think someone whose posts are mostly calling other people stupid would be able to easily answer your question @SingleSexSpacesInSchools . I'd definitely rather read their response to that than another of their attempts at satire anyway.

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 09:21

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:15

Again, specifically you tell me why my 14 year-old daughter should have penises in her changing room and toilets. be exact.

just because you think women are second class citizens doesn’t mean I do

"just because you think women are second class citizens doesn’t mean I do"

I've never said we are second-class citizens, or even alluded to it.
You are again presuming things that serve your delusion. Typical male.

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:15

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Again, specifically you tell me why my 14 year-old daughter should have penises in her changing room and toilets. be exact.

just because you think women are second class citizens doesn’t mean I do

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 07/05/2026 09:13

Imdunfer · 07/05/2026 08:48

This is the tragedy of Labour.

How did it get so taken over by relative wealthy idealogues that it forgot who it was supposed to be representing?

When the Boris Red Wall vote showed them clearly that this had happened why did they do nothing to put it right?

Who did they leave for the working class to vote for but Reform, and now the Greens?

Now they've swung back to policies that attract those votes but they done such a hash of a job of managing the country so far that it's not working.

It's going to be a Labour bloodbath today.

And just how stupid does Starmer think his back benches are, threatening them with a General Election if they depose him? There is no reason whatsoever why, with their majority, that would happen.

Edited

I think we are looking at labour losing maybe 2000 seats I think it’s going to be worse than the predictions

MaybeNotBob · 07/05/2026 09:10

Kamala targeted the wealthy Manhattan voters, because that's what mattered to her. She didn't care about Birmingham Alabama, and all the rest of the "hillbilly" towns.
How did that go for her?

Rather more importantly, how's that going for Birmingham Alabama?

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 09:03

Imdunfer · 07/05/2026 08:59

And puts the end of the loo roll against the wall before leaving the toilet seat up? 🤣😂🤣

Worse still, I heard Zack puts the loo-roll on backwards, so the end hangs straight down at the back instead of over the roll and at the front which is the way a Patriotic British loo-roll should be.

He also eats scones with the jam on before the cream. The man has No Shame

Princejoffyjaffur · 07/05/2026 09:03

SionnachRuadh · 06/05/2026 11:30

i ain't reading all that
i'm happy for u tho
or sorry that happened

😀

Imdunfer · 07/05/2026 08:59

TemperanceWest · 07/05/2026 08:57

I heard he leaves the top off the toothpaste.

And puts the end of the loo roll against the wall before leaving the toilet seat up? 🤣😂🤣

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 08:58

TemperanceWest · 07/05/2026 08:57

I heard he leaves the top off the toothpaste.

Jesus. Are there no depths to which this monster won't stoop!?

TemperanceWest · 07/05/2026 08:57

ThatLuckyLurker · 07/05/2026 08:32

Oh I do agree with you about The Green party being, basically, the Worst Thing Ever.

I've done some digging into their leader and am alarmed at what I've read. Here is a summary...

(Disclaimer: Reform voters. This summary is long and contains lots of them words and stuff, so you may want to stop reading now so you has enuf head power for putting a little X in a little box later)

Millions of impressionable voters will soon be heading to the polls, dreaming of saving the planet, hugging trees, and finally getting proportional representation. Their inspiration is the charismatic supervillain who currently goes by the name of Zack Polanski. Who knows what he will be called tomorrow?
Younger generations have clearly been hypnotised by the Green Party’s new leader, but do they really know the man behind the pocket watch? This stunning investigation from Normal Island News reveals the hideous truth. A truth so grim that Britain’s newspapers have borrowed from antisemitic cartoons from the 1930s to depict Polanski’s true face.

As Antisemitism Tsar John Mann explained on three separate podcasts: “It’s the Green Party’s fault that everyone is being antisemitic towards Zack.” Presumably, it’s also his family’s fault for anglicising their surname decades ago… to avoid antisemitism.

Antisemitism against Jews who disagree with the Israeli government is the only acceptable form left so naturally, we’re making the most of it. We were waiting for an excuse to attack Polanski for being gay, but it turns out he’s vegan and his boyfriend is a criminal who was arrested at an Extinction Rebellion protest. That’s the type of scumbag we’re dealing with here, someone who wants to save the world…

This nightmare began on 2 November 1982 when a baby called David Paulden emerged in the godforsaken lands of Salford, screaming “Globalise the intifada!” Disgracefully, he was not born wearing a grey suit. Even worse, to this day he does not speak like a robotic accountant who enjoys beige.

Real politicians are wheeled into cupboards at night so their batteries can recharge, but this guy has repeatedly failed to explain how his batteries are charged — I bet he is not using wind or solar. Fucking hypocrite.
As a child, David attended the elitist Stockport Grammar School, proving that he didn’t believe in equality even then. Upon leaving school, he arrogantly decided he was too good for a proper job, instead wasting his life in the gig economy doing youth work, mental health counselling, and hospitality.

At the age of 18, David Paulden changed his name to Zack Polanski to avoid a £3.50 library fine, a fee that he still hasn’t paid to this day. Thanks to interest, late fees, and inflation, that £3.50 has risen to £1,768,089, an amount that Polanski is clearly keeping for himself. The man is hoarding wealth that belongs to Stockport Library Services. Who is the one-percenter now?

Polanski’s ego was so inflated, he tried his hand at acting and appeared in several low budget abominations, such as The Art of Suicide, Seven Crosses, and The Gallon Challenge, none of which matched the quality of cinematic masterpieces such as The Iron Lady, or even Melania.

Polanski might no longer be appearing in movies, but he is still acting: his latest role being someone who cares about the environment, international law, and the struggles of ordinary people. No credible politician would stoop so low.

Alarmingly, Polanski invented the climate crisis in the 2000s when the world was still reeling from the Millennium Bug. He kept this lie going for over two decades to distract from the fact that he increased the size of a woman’s boobs through hypnotherapy. When news crossed the Atlantic, he was briefly hired by Kristi Noem’s husband, proving he will do anything for money, unlike the politicians who take donations from the Israeli lobby.

Polanski is such a fraud that he once claimed to be a spokesperson for the British Red Cross, but he actually just organised events for them and spoke on stage at their fundraisers. Fucking scumbag. Who raises funds for the Red Cross? As Netanyahu keeps telling us, it is basically a front for Hamas, meaning Polanski has undeniable ties to terrorism.

Polanski once said something nice about Greta Thunberg and even praised notorious terror leaders such as Jeremy Corbyn. Previously, he was a good boy who amplified the line that Corbyn was a threat to Britain’s Jews, but then he was radicalised by the truth. At that point, Polanski became a threat to Britain’s Jews, even though he is one of Britain’s Jews. I still don’t understand why this smear isn’t landing.

Eleven years ago came the most shameful episode of Polanski’s career when he officially stood for nothing. Well, he stood for the Liberal Democrats, but that’s more or less the same thing. Polanski might have switched allegiances to the Greens, but he is still a moral vacuum, unlike the politicians who drone “Israel has the right to defend itself” in unison.

While he lectures us on our carbon footprint, it turns out Polanski can’t even do his recycling properly. Being a serious journalist, I rummaged through his blue bin and planted… I mean found non-recyclables such as crisp packets. I also found an unwashed tin of beans and an egg carton that wasn’t free range.

Clearly, Polanski is worse than the companies poisoning our water supplies with data centres that do AI porn and mass surveillance.

Despite his shady past, Polanski stood as Green leader in 2025 and won a totally believable 85% of the vote, making him the UK’s Kim Jong Un. Just know that if he becomes prime minister, it will be because he rigged that vote too.
There is no way the public would knowingly vote for someone who is not an establishment puppet…

While uniparty politicians tell the truth about everything, Polanski is always inventing ridiculous conspiracy theories. For example, he claimed the media had erased the Muslim victim of the Golders Green stabbings from headlines. This might be factually correct, but Polanski also claimed that Keir Starmer sent weapons to Israel while it was committing genocide. This might also be factually correct, but he also claimed that the Metropolitan Police have replaced London’s pigeons with feathered surveillance drones. This might also be correct, but are you not tired of his conspiracy theories?

Polanski poses such a national security threat that the prime minister sensibly mimics Farage and attacks the only political leader on the left. The fact all party leaders agree Polanski is the real problem proves that 47 years of Thatcherism are his fault. Why did Zack cause the housing crisis? What was he thinking?
Britain deserves better than a man who believes workers deserve a living wage, breathable air is a good idea, and genocide is wrong. We deserve better than a gay, vegan, name-changing Jew who wants to lead us into a bright green future.

We say: ENOUGH! We demand Polanski’s immediate resignation. We demand he finally pays that library fine. And most of all, we demand that someone wheels him into a cupboard at night like a normal politician. The people deserve nothing less.

I heard he leaves the top off the toothpaste.