Voting for Reform.the north/south

[Jollyjupiter]

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?

I don’t regard people who vote reform as dispicable.

I do regard the actual party this way, their manifesto is built on polarising people.

Almost all of them.
I also do not think you’re aware of what you’ve let into your party - and what they are.

Why do they concern you? I'm interested, if you've time to answer. Thanks.

Would you say the Greens are despicable. Their manifesto is certainly just as polarising as Reform

I live in an echo chamber by choice but also keep up with the world. I am confident few in my circle that will vote Reform because my circle contains a lot of people from groups Reform is hostile to and also people who are the extreme opposite of the typical Reform voter demographically.

That said I am expecting a huge Reform surge in the council elections.

What’s wrong with being polarised?

Is this a serious question? Polarisation is the enemy of a cohesive society that is capable of effective debate and compromise.

I certainly agree that their manifesto is polarising and I doubt many of their policies would hold up economically.

I don’t think they are dispicable to the extent of reform, for the reason that reform seeks to target groups of people by identify, blaming the vulnerable for the failings of the overly rich.

I would like to say I do believe there is a need for immigration reform in this country, I just abhore the way reform demonise this demographic to win over voters.

Yes it’s a serious question. How is people choosing to live their life separate to those they vehemently disagree with harmful?

No idea if it will be a North South divide. My boyfriend though living in SE will vote for them in both council and general elections. I won’t.

Immigration reform is much needed and most parties seem to pay lip service to it.

I know of another man who would vote for Tommy Robinson’s party. The people I know who would vote for extreme parties are working class, who often see their jobs (blue collar) as being threatened by immigrants. But my boyfriend works alongside immigrants in the building trade.

It will be interesting to see what Reform do when in power. Anybody can promise everything if they aren’t in power and didn’t realistically think they would get there. (That can be said about the Greens too.)

Please God, Buddha and FSM we NEVER have to find out.

"Interesting" will not be the fucking word.

Im from the North but live down South. Most of my family are now reformers instead of Labour. My work colleagues and friends in Herts/London tend to be on the left and liberals. So maybe youre right, hard to gauge. Both side have good points and bad points. This country needs reform and get us back on track.

I think it’s a foregone conclusion we will find out but when they are a shit show will their voters take responsibility.

Of course they won't it's the essence of their platform that all your problems are someone else's fault and you have to vote for them because woke liberals forced you.

It'll be getting rid of them that's the trouble. You really think they have any truck with democracy - that could act against them?
We have seen the pattern before.

It’s an unhelpful framing, true.

But the exact issue is that Farage is a con-man taking advantage of difficult social and economic circumstances to empower and enrich himself and his crooked cronies. It’s the Trump playbook.

Yes the situation is shit and the country is in a mess. No, Reform is not the answer. Things CAN get worse, and they will.

I don’t necessarily think it’s a foregone conclusion. Le Pen’s NF party in France got lots of votes but never actually in power (as far as I’m aware) to control (as far as I recall). I don’t know much about their council elections either.

The worrying part for me, not kept an eye on it lately, is the rise of the far right parties in Europe. Really worrying.

And apparently they are gaining ground all over Europe. Can’t be bothered to link articles but Google is a good source.

It’s not a general election and has no bearing on how the country is run overall. You should be voting for who you want to be the local councillor for your area. Think very carefully about if you want someone to add positively to your community or if you want a crack pot with no experience who will cut local services and raise council taxes.

I don’t think there’s a north south divide, but I think that poorer/more deprived/less educated areas are are more likely to vote reform.

My boyfriend isn’t from a poor, more deprived or less educated area but his dad was a migrant (Irish) and despite getting A levels (boyfriend not the dad) he went on to work in construction. But is a manager. Earns very well. And yes he votes Reform, can’t stand immigrants, Indians in particular. No, these aren’t my views at all. It might split us up eventually.

Reform, the party whose leader has been referred to the parliamentary standards commissioner https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5pr0gp3gro

Someone who thinks the rules don't apply to him, yet wants people to trust him.
This is a man who had Nahan Gill, imprisoned for taking Russian bribes as the leader of his party in Wales (poor judgement here is an understatement).
Reform is a party who is causing mayhem in the councils it currently controls.

Why the hell would anyone vote for that?