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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Voting for Reform.the north/south

741 replies

Jollyjupiter · 24/04/2026 00:16

As a proud Northerner i can say 80 per cent of my peer group will vote for Reform in May. Do you think it will be a North v South split?

OP posts:
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Boomer55 · 24/04/2026 07:05

I live in a NKent/London borough. Reform have been throwing the kitchen sink at this area, as this is one of their target seats.

It’s always been Tory, but I think it may well shift to Reform.

Myfridgeiscool · 24/04/2026 07:07

Farage couldn’t do a proper days work. There’s no way he’d turn up to run the country, he just likes creating disharmony.
Voting for reform is like a turkey voting for Christmas.
Not too many flags up where I live and I’ll be voting tactically again.

GCAcademic · 24/04/2026 07:12

Brexit got the country into much, much worse mess than it was in already and has directly enabled the levels of immigration we're seeing now. But, sure vote for the architect of that and for the party that is performing so poorly at local council level - councillors either resigning because they're corrupt or can't be bothered once they find out they have to do a bit of work, or going back on all the ill-advised promises they made.

Amiacoolorwarmcolour · 24/04/2026 07:17

People don’t appreciate what they have. That us the issue.
Plus most people are selfish and will always vote for themselves, human nature.
Do you want to pay less in taxes? Yes, do you care who that will affect if urs not you? No,
Do you want to keep working until you drop dead to support other sections of society? No. Are you gappy that these other people will have to find ways to support themselves? Yes.
Also lots of people don’t have critical thinking. You pay less tax then services get cut. Then people moan about the lack of services yet they don’t want to pay for them!
The same logic apples to moaning that women should not have children unless they themselves can afford them. Then moaning that as women are having less children, who will do the jobs which are needed in the future? Well you can’t have it both ways.

Amiacoolorwarmcolour · 24/04/2026 07:18

Sorry about the typos.

OnceUponATimed · 24/04/2026 07:18

This reply has been deleted

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

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.

AnythingButThis · 24/04/2026 07:19

Hallamule · 24/04/2026 03:02

If the cap fits...

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

ExpressCheckout · 24/04/2026 07:20

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

Pineapplewhip · 24/04/2026 07:22

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.

justmeandthedogs · 24/04/2026 07:22

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

hattie43 · 24/04/2026 07:22

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 .

Bikenutz · 24/04/2026 07:23

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.

justmeandthedogs · 24/04/2026 07:24

hattie43 · 24/04/2026 07:22

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 .

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.

Amiacoolorwarmcolour · 24/04/2026 07:25

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

OnceUponATimed · 24/04/2026 07:25

ThejoyofNC · 24/04/2026 07:01

Do you ask everyone you know who they would vote for?

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.

5128gap · 24/04/2026 07:25

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.

Bikenutz · 24/04/2026 07:26

hattie43 · 24/04/2026 07:22

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 .

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.

Itchthescratch · 24/04/2026 07:27

TinySaltLick · 24/04/2026 01:07

In the unlikely scenario reform did ever manage to win a general election, ironically the surprise would fall primarily at the feet of the supporters themselves when they discover the majority sit within a demographic hardest hit by the very policies they have been hoodwinked into voting for

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.

lovealieinortwo · 24/04/2026 07:28

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?

Boomer55 · 24/04/2026 07:28

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. 🙄

Marchitectmummy · 24/04/2026 07:29

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.

Itchthescratch · 24/04/2026 07:30

Bikenutz · 24/04/2026 07:26

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.

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

justmeandthedogs · 24/04/2026 07:30

Boomer55 · 24/04/2026 07:28

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. 🙄

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

BrownBookshelf · 24/04/2026 07:30

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.

lovealieinortwo · 24/04/2026 07:30

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!

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