If you voted Reform, I would love to know why?

[AplineDaisies]

I am not here to judge so would just like to hear from Reform voters for their reasoning.

I'm from a very multicultural part of the country where there is a lot of immigration in some areas.

Some places with high immigration have a lot of problems. There's lots of crime, there have been stabbings and gunshots (which had been almost unheard of before the last year or so), there's a lot of fly tipping and antisocial behaviour and the areas are becoming generally run down and unpleasant to be in. Car and bike thefts are through the roof and people feel too unsafe to drive through certain areas.

People are seeing these areas and thinking that it's the fact that the residents aren't born here that's the problem. It's too easy to make this assumption without considering the bigger picture. I don't think it's where the people are from that's the issue, I think it's poverty and deprivation.

There are also areas that are traditionally very white British with similar issues, the common denominator is the fact that they are also deprived areas.

I don't think people mix enough with people from other cultures and they just judge based on first impressions. I know people that are outwardly very racist towards groups but they readily accept individuals of other races once they get to know them.

I also know people from the same culture as those in these deprived areas that would never consider living there themselves because they have money and wouldn't want to live there because of the problems! It's never purely about where you're from.

I'm glad we imprison people who admit in court that they are guilty of inciting racial hatred during a race riot.....calling for humans to burn other humans alive.

Brexit is neither here nor there at this stage. The referendum was 10 years ago, whatever our attitude to it or thoughts about it, it is irrelevent.

What is worrying is how people are ignorant of what they were voting for this time. These people are the ones who can really influence so many aspects of our day to day life in very meaningful ways. It is about rubbish collections, local potholes, schools etc etc. You need to get people in who will pay attention to the local details.

It is going to be interesting, for eg, to see what happens in scotland with the green candidate who doesn't answer inquiries about rubbish collections but is very busy making sure that transwomen in the scottish parliament can use the ladies.

What about those people who voted for the reform chap in Sunderland with a conviction of serious violence against his partner and burning a child with a cigarette. Is he going to make sure potholes are fixed? What about the one who was voted in and immediately resigned because he's going on holiday?

These people are taking the piss. They don't care about what happens to you so why are you giving them this power?

Because they are voting for an ideology, not a political party. They dont care about details, they care only for what Reform [pretends to] stand for - Traditional Values, Limit Immigration, Stand For an Ordinary Man etc etc. They don't even care that in reality Farage is a dodgy public school career politician. This is the same situation as with Trump in the US - people are fed up, they think this is someone who will make things better, they are not prepared to let go of this illusion even if it is an illusion only.

Edited - also, people who vote for populists are usually not interested in boring details and want thing done quickly and decisively. Which is not good news in politics.

But how can your local councillor influence immigration which is a central government policy and not within their remit.

Local councillors remit is largely bin collections, libraries, local transport, parks and potholes NOT immigration. Your MP is the one who influences that.

So the question remains why did people vote for Reform in their local election and what is their view on the issues they can influence such as bin collections, libraries, local transport, parks and potholes?

You are looking too deep. It's about immigration, benefits, being left out. Not libraries or vat on private schools

this is where i start to bandy the word "stupidity" around.

I don't know what the problem is - maybe those school "civics" lessons need to be resurrected. A local election isn't the time to get hugely ideological. It is about potholes, library closures, bins, council tax, closing public parks etc etc. What you need is a local council stuffed to the rafters with people who care about that, who know what the local people's priorities are and who are prepared to take tough budged decisions to give the greatest number of people possible what they want.

If you are worried about immigration at a local level, for sure, the knee jerk is "i' going to vote reform" because they will "stop the boats". But your local chap in Sunderland is going to have zero clout to do that and likely zero interest.

Where immigration does touch local politics is where large groups of asylum seekers are housed, and i fully agree that ghettoisation is a problem.

We have lost the ability to separate the local from the national and international. We have lost the ability to make decisions based on information and local knowledge because the stupidity is spreading. Fly tipping is a MASSIVE issue in some areas. Local councils really need to be on top of handling that and being seen to handle that. I'm not in the UK, but my local mayor is REALLY good at listening to people's ideas about how to make life in our town better. So we have events that are easy to set up, often sponsored by local businesses, and they are enthusiastically supported. Easy, quick fix.

But he also works hard to attract businesses to this area, a few towns band together to do that too. Local jobs in a rural area are brilliant. He is from here, he understands the pressures. And that is why he keeps on getting voted in, and i vote for him. Despite him being from a party that i quite despise at this stage and would never vote for in a national election.

Why do people not understand this kind of thing?

sigh.

only one of those things you mentioned is in the remit of the local councillors.

What did Reform offer locally? what about the Greens?

I live in Hackney and we got Greens who are very entrenched in supporting Trans Rights, Gaza and other worthy causes. However, we have a massive issue with bin emptying and post not being delivered for weeks. I don't know how TR or Gaza have anything to do with that.

Or are you not understanding what a local councillor can actually do for their area?

Local councillors (which is what you were voting for FYI) have absolutely no control over immigration or benefits as these are central government policies. Every councillor in the UK could be Reform and it doesn't change that their job is to solve issues at local government level e.g. libraries, bin collections etc

What has your local councillor promised to do out of curiosity?

Yes they are but the voters are hearing the whistle. And it's immigration, benefits etc. They have made a choice and it's signalled a change. The pot holes/bins etc were there before so why would you vote for the status quo which isn't appearing to do anything.

What I'm trying to say is this local elections for many people is a way to demonstrate where they stand politically, and they dont give a monkey about actual running of the council. Whether I would have voted for any party that wound have had a clear and intelligent agenda on how to solve many issues hackney has - schools, SEN, bins, roads, etc etc.

That is what I am worried about. Farage has said he wants UK ICE, he has said he wants to do away with ILR, retrospectively....
We did not believe Trump when he said things like that, dismissing it. Now look, he went and did it!

I am very worried at Reform's, well Farage's, way of blaming groups of people, making them targets and parroting around how easy they have it. Well, I think Farage can get his hands on 5 million pounds far too easily.

Exactly the same could be applied to voters of The Green Party. Their popularity has greatly increased within the Muslim community - mainly because of their pro Palestinian stance with Gaza. Yet the party also has in its manifesto making prostitution acceptable, stand very strongly with the trans community, want to legalise drugs, amongst many other liberal policies which don’t align with the Islamic faith.

Abso-fucking-lutely

Post not delivered for weeks?!?!?
Bless you. I hope they sort that soon!
It is a new low in my long long list of wrongs in the country.

Yep. Shocking, isn't it? No post, bin store overflowing and full of rats - and Hackney Council is our landlord.

It is beyond shocking!

Of course it matters if you voted for the renamed Brexit Party.

To the people criticising reform voters saying it's not a general election it's about pot holes 😂 I would say the same applies to the greens and Gaza.
I didn't vote as we voted last year but have voted Labour Tory and reform previously.

I think people are registering there dislike of this awful government. People have consistently voted for taking back control of our borders. The conservatives failed both with legal and illegal immigration reform promised to fix this.
Greens are open borders. labour/greens /lib dem still think it's far right or racist to have concerns about immigration and the strain on resources and culture/ womens safety.
Many immigrants are voting reform because they want to protect the country they have settled in contributed to and love. There's a general sense that the politicians do not listen to ordinary people and that there is unfairness. Work should be rewarded reforms policy of only taxing people at 20 000 to encourage people out of the benefits trap and into work. Leaving the ECHR as it's been miss used and abused and prevented us from deporting people with no right to be here. We should be able to act for the benefit of our country not foreign courts.The sneering at ordinary people who want to protect our country and the gas lighting is horrendous people have Had enough. I don't particularly like reform I like Kemi but conservatives have failed on so many fronts. we need radical change and not of the green kind. I completely understand why people have voted reform.

Exactly this, I would love to hear how someone with a Muslim faith squares the circle of voting for party who actively support things expressly forbidden by their religion.

Does anyone really vote for a councillor standing for a party they don't agree with?

Did you vote a councillor in an opposite party to that you lean towards?

What if your reform councillor promised everything that you want them to do, would you vote for them then?

People are voting reform to show they have had enough with how things currently are. They have spoken loudly in the only way they can. If they all do a terrible job then this is a win for the anti reform voters as they will lose voters before the general elections. The votes here may send a message to Labour that if they don't step up their game, recognise and deal with the issues that are important to the voters, then they will be losing it to reform in 2 years time.

The OP asked why people voted reform, they have answered. Most saying illegal immigration and welfare overspending. No amount of trying to shame people, name calling or telling them their concerns are fabricated is going to change that.

Don't need anymore benefit dependants here. We have a housing shortage in the UK whereas the people coming here are from countries that do not.

Fully aware that this fact and logic makes me a horrible nazi racist, thank you.

Where have I shamed, name called or told people their concerns are fabricated?

Not saying you personally have. But a lot of people on this thread have taken to those tactics thinking it will change things.

Your posts do indicate though that you are implying voters are not understanding what they are voting for, hence the paragraphs prior