Mumsnetters voting Reform

[Illjustplayostrich]

Mumsnet mothers have always leaned Labour. Now Reform is ahead

https://www.thetimes.com/article/dbd39087-465c-4587-9eaa-292606ffb775?shareToken=a99daa444e8bc0f9444cca2bf01f3851

I'm slightly startled by this. I'm a centrist, slightly more right leaning perhaps but frankly I'm open to any government who will get a firm grip on the public finances and go about growing the economy in a sustainable way. My impression of this site is that it's definitely more left leaning and and Reform enthusiasts tend to get shouted down. Personally, I think we should be talking about them a lot more as it's highly likely they will form part of the next government.

My impression is that they are promising the earth but don't have people with the necessary skill set to make that happen. I really worry that they will get voted in and find out that they can't fix all the problems within 18 months, leading to yet more disillusionment amongst voters.

Thanks. A very revealing and alarming read - and pretty much covers everything we’ve been discussing as concerns.

Maybe a Reform supporter reported the one with the Guardian article as they didn't like it? I can't see any other reason for it to be reported. More likely MNHQ just accidentally deleted some posts as explained.

Glad they’re back, it didn’t make sense.

Back to the thread, so did we all agree on why MN’ers are backing Reform in greater numbers?

Meanwhile, and for context, perhaps.

Going on to promise that voters would “feel the difference in their pockets”, Sir Keir added: “2026 is the year that we’re going to be turning a corner where – when we say we want national renewal of the country, and we do – it becomes a reality, and people begin to feel the difference in their pockets, in the ability to pay the bill.

“That’s why we say we are turning a corner into 2026.”

The change of emphasis to cost of living issues marks Sir Keir’s fourth reset during his time in office, 18 months to the day that he entered Downing Street.

DT.

TBH I’m not surprised if there’s been a shift.

One, it was 15 years ago that we last had a Labour government. And online comments about governments always skew to criticism rather than praise. Labour’s cocking it up and getting the brickbats just like the governments that came before it.

Two, MN’s centre of gravity was a lot more well-heeled, middle-class, ‘right thinking’ and holier-than-thou in the past. You could see it in more than the politics: the anti-vaxxers were generally Arnica network ‘crunchy’ mum types, for example, who’ve disappeared (think god). Fewer rants now about the evil poison of McDonalds or KFC. Also the determined anti-grammar and independent schools voices are relatively fewer now.

Three, the remaining vocal MN Labour advocates, who are willing to go down with the ship, are solidly on the left of Labour. They are more politically aggressive than the average Labour voter but there aren’t many of them on or off MN.

Four, the TWAW nonsense turned plenty away from Labour and the Libs.

Times change and people change along the way.

Your third point particularly resonates for me - back in the real world, very few of our family, friends and colleagues are willing to express any support for Labour, and those that did, now seem hugely embarrassed.

There was a great article in the FT recently, explaining why many people now ‘despise’ (their words), Starmer and Reeves.

I’d agree with all of that actually.

Mumsnet moving from left-leaning to Refom reflects a shift in the wider society. I think trans and crimes committed by asylum seekers (so eagerly defended by the political and lawyer class) has peaked a lot of people, for good or ill.

The Overton Window hasn't so much shifted as been kicked in.

Yes, well said.

We are not here by accident.

Three, the remaining vocal MN Labour advocates, who are willing to go down with the ship, are solidly on the left of Labour. They are more politically aggressive than the average Labour voter but there aren’t many of them on or off MN.

Your public service attempts at re-educating such posters are clearly not working, Rummly!

Does any of it work? Maybe the pro Labour puts more people off on here given the poll.

Like those public information films from the 1970s, my audience refused to listen.

So, for old times’ sake, look both ways when crossing the road, don’t put rugs on polished floors, or play near dark water. And don’t vote Labour.

'Twas a joke, a reference to something "tongue in cheek" that Rummly said a while back.

You forgot not flying kites near pylons. And not trusting Farage.

👍

Or vote Tory... unless anyone wants a repeat of their 14 years in power? just a few die hard's on here.

Tories on 19%, Lab on 20% so i'm not really sure where this "No one supports Labour" comes from?

Whatever the poll, there is very little between either party, for the Tories, thats a worry, i mean if they can't do better against Starmer and co, then they really do have no hope and will go the way of the Liberals in the 1920s..

So i suppose the rise of Reform has a silver lining.....

Do you think Tory voters who delivered us Brexit, a shoddy Brexit deal, austerity, a huge rise in immigration, a backlog of asylum seekers stuck in hotels without being processed, a broken NHS, a state education system on its knees, Boris Johnson (I could write an essay here!), Dominic Cummings, Liz Truss and Kwarteng’s disastrous budget ever feel embarrassed? Do they get embarrassed by people who simply blame Labour, and ignore all of the defections - politicians, donors, voters, councils - from Tory to Reform and pretend that the Tories have no part to play in the rise of Reform?

Btw all the people here who think that Reform not being very good at governing will be enough to put voters off are so wrong.

Look at France. The FN (their name back in the day) has held mayorships and regional positions etc. since the 90s, plenty of them corrupt, inept, inefficient … but it has never ever stopped them from growing.

Why? Because only the RN is ready to say things out loud: too much migration, not enough integration.

As long as other parties won’t face the issue head on, try to silence doesn’t matter what they do, they could turn lead into gold but ppl would still vote for Reform or similar.

Of course the Tories have a big part to play, they were useless especially in the government when it was just bride after bride to the electorate to keep them in - Rishi's NI cut for example and not reigning back the government topups post covid Now the Labour government are showing a similar if not worse level of competence so people will be driven to Reform. Both the main parties have wasted their opportunity.

I don’t think anyone wants a long term Reform government. They want Reform for 1 term and will weather the chaos while they introduce their hardline immigration policies. That issue mostly solved, they can then vote somebody different in at the next election, and that political party will have a golden chalice as they won’t have to make immigration policy decisions that look mean but can simply not change the ones that by that point are in existence.

Reform have really increased since the 2024 GE though. From a four or five MPs can’t recall to MRP over 350. That must be completely a new thing compared to other parties.

I think it's totally irrelevant, the next election is years away. A lot can and will happen in that time. There's another party Advance UK which will also split the reform vote. One thing is for certain: If Kier is kept as leader labour don't have a hope in hell of a turnaround.

Exactly… so it wasn’t Labour that expanded the policy. It was introduced by the Conservatives, thankfully!

That is a poll though. In reality, Reform has 5 seats. Or 4. Doesn't matter right now what the polls are showing.

What might be a more reliable indicator is how many Senedd seats they actually gain in May. I can't remember how many seats the polls are predicting, but it is a lot. But whether that actually happens is anyone's guess. We shall see.

Misinformation. This is simply not true. No senior people in reform are discussing banning abortion. People across the country of all political persuasion are a little concerned about some recent relaxations and suggested more debate or research might have been needed and that the problems these measures were designed to address could have been dealt with differently. Reform are more invested in protecting women whether from physical attacks or invasion of their spaces by trans individuals than any other party.