Anyone else gutted about reform ? Feels like it’s going to turn very trump here

[ShrunkInTheWashAgain]

In this country soon

They have won a few hundred council seats. It is very little in the wider scheme of things- for example, the greens have a couple of hundred seats more across the UK than Reform. Plus the turn out was very low.

Reform has a long way to go, despite Farage's crowing. It may be that they go on to more success, but it is not a given by any means.

Whether you like Reform or not, there’s no doubt that this victory is of seismic proportions, no matter how much people play it down!

IMHO the only thing seismic event right now is the inflation of Farage's ego!

We won't know for a few years yet whether this truly is a seismic event in British politics. I obviously hope it is a blip. Next year's elections might give some sort of additional pointer.

If the US is anything to go by, the nostalgia is for the time when it was ok to be openly racist.

Reform is not the solution either. But I suppose people are fed up and have limited other options.

I am so happy, I can already feel my anxiety at what's happening to our country decreasing and I feel much more hopeful.

Bloody brilliant!

I agree they are awful but as one political commentator pointed out, they have never actually run anything before. It's far easier to shout criticism from the sidelines, so this is their big chance isn't it? RUN something, show us what they can do. I don't think they'll make a great job, if NF performance as an MP is any indication!

Not really. Hopefully the next 4 years will show just how useless the councillors are in the - very few - councils where Reform have taken control.

Not gutted because not surprised. Became gutted long ago. I've lost all hope for humanity.

Problem is, my LA is one of the guinea pig Reform authorities so we get to benefit from Reform playing at bloody politics!

It's more proof that people are fucking stupid, in my opinion.

We are in an area where Reform have taken the county council and when I checked they won our ‘borough’ as well , I’m not surprised and I doubt it will make any great difference to me as aside from bins / roads I’m not a big user of local services but it does make you think about the mentality of the people who live around you .

@SilverButton you need to YouTube Marc Carneys first press conference (yesterday) he’s presenting himself as very centrist vs “left”.
Trumps influence wasn’t a left right issue it was a request for a calm strong presence. The Conservative Party’s leader although presenting great ideas is too volatile and aggressive (like a small yappy dog) and not the right personality to take on Trump.
The vote was for Marc Carney not the party which recognizing the strong conservative appeal have totally shifted from the left.

Reform are a single issue party who just swept the board in elections for county councils - a level of government that has no power whatsoever to do anything about that issue.

That tells you all you need to know about how fuckwitted our own home grown fuckwits are.

@frozendaisy You really dont get it. Yes saved as much for old age as anyone who was on low wage could do. Therefore not eligible for pension credit or winter fuel allowance as marginally above the cut off and equity release has already been used to some extent - and that is generally a mistake. Too proud to accept help from kids if offered, you cant force help onto someone.

There are people living on 50p above pension credit levels because of their past savings but you are full of bitterness because they own a house - by house sharing. Maybe you should try that.

It has 8 councils. There are 317 in England. Not what I’d describe as seismic.

Sorry. Hopefully your neighbours will see sense in the next few years.

The trouble is that like trump, they can do permanent damage very quickly.

I am very worried about it but I’m not surprised. Everyone feels poor and miserable and they are looking for something to make them feel better. There is a lot of po-faced lecturing from wealthy middle class politicians which goes down like a lead balloon. Reform are blaming foreigners which is a strategy that is popular the world over.

this is absolutely it. Immigration is a big concern in this country and that’s why Reform do so well. People feel like they are answering the real concerns. This government needs to actually do something about some of these concerns that are affecting ordinary people. Even in leafy hertfordshire there are hotels being turned into places for asylum seekers to stay- this just upsets everyone and turns them into Reform voters! Why aren’t they tackling our immigration concerns. I’m a left leaning liberal and will never vote reform but I do see a lot of things being mishandled. Yes the Conservatives started it, but is it being addressed?

This is why people are voting for Reform -

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14669083/town-convulsed-fear-male-migrants-arrived-hotel.html

Labour is an abomination and the Conservatives are not much better, both cheeks of the same arse.

It reminds me so much of a colleague who spouted off about voting Brexit at every opportunity. “We need to stop ‘them’ coming to OUR country and using OUR NHS! The hospital is bloody full of foreign nurses and doctors from the Philippines and India too”

She lives in a three bed council property alone with her partner. Two sons in their thirties live in council properties with their partners, five kids between them with different mothers. All on benefits. All smokers. How she didn’t see the irony (or that the Philippines and India are actually not in Europe, but who the bloody hell else would want to work in our hospitals anyway) left me stunned, but this is what we are up against.

She probably believes that Farage’s plan to bat the migrant boats away to France is flawless.

I blame the social media algorithms. If you click on an article or video relating to migrants you’ll be fed more and more of this stuff. So many people see the world only though the prism of social media these days. It’s so damaging and as far as I can see it’s irreversible.

Over 600 councillors! There would have been more if all had held elections.