Media request: has your political allegiance shifted to Reform?

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

We've received the following media request.

Thanks,
MNHQ

I'd like to speak to women from Mumsnet whose political allegiances have changed to Reform in recent times. Ideally they would be willing to be named and pictured (in a piece for the Telegraph). Please contact [email protected] if you are interested.

So the poll shows that 20% of the first 1000 people to respond to the poll intend to vote Reform? It would be so easy for people with an agenda/a bunch of bots to ensure they were in that first 1000-respondent sample. With millions of users available, surely this is a statistically negligible number from which to draw such important conclusions, and publicise them so widely?

And once again, the silent majority will remain silent - for fear of being verbally abused. They will stay silent until they are in the ballot box, when they will vote for Reform. I recently attended a Reform local meeting to see what it was really like. A village hall in Somerset, full of really nice people - young, old, middle-aged. Farmers who have been shafted by Labour; pensioners who lost the fuel allowance, a local vet, a local pub owner who is facing closure due to business rates. The appeal of Reform was obvious. Unless the other parties start listening, then Reform will win in 2029. Interestingly, I had dinner last night with some old school friends - a criminal barrister, a hospital consultant and a woman who owns 12 pubs - they are all going to vote for Reform - I may join them.

Since when did farmers vote Labour?

A hospital consultant voting Reform ?? Right - o.

Anyhoo, yesterday's findings from a TeachrTapp survey of over 11,000 teachers showed 2% stating an intention to voted Reform.

Also only the first 1000 from the Voices Panel. I signed up to that a long time ago and ever see anything about it, I don't even know how to access it now.

So how large is the Voices Panel?

Not in a million years would I vote for those weasels.

What time of day was the self-selecting poll posted, exactly where, and how quickly did it close please?

And does it not concern you at all that a clearly flawed “poll” is being misrepresented in the national press as being in any way indicative of the site’s users?

Yes and if the "poll" was based on number of posts, then it doesn't take into account the fact that those posters also absolutely flood threads with post after post after post of ranting, which will skew any poll of posts in their favour. Normal everyday people don't post like that, only ones that have an agenda.

The ranting about "The Left" always gives away the bad actors too. Genuine UK people understand there are more than 2 parties and it's not compulsory to vote for any of them. In real life, there's no Us vs Them.

It's just deliberate disruptive and divisive tactics. Shame on MN for allowing it.

I'm another floating voter, but my small boat doesn't drift towards fascism.

Fuck off "Reform" and all your backers🖕

That is really interesting as it runs contrary to the research on where Reform's core support lies and the polls.

A good test of whether what you are claiming is accurate will come in May with the Welsh and Scottish national elections. Thee are local elections too, but the national elections will be a better indicator of how the land lies.

Yep, she is a consultant anaesthetist at a London teaching hospital. She worked in Paris for a few years, but other than that, she has worked for 25 years in the NHS in London. She said she is sick of cancelling cancer operations - something she never did in France. That's what I meant by the silent majority. People in all walks of life are sick of the status quo.

And there we have it, "fascism". It is impossible to have a political debate when people resort to "racism", "far right" and "fascism" instead of discussing policy.

I've joined Reform. I'm not 100% sure about them but they are massively the best option we have at the moment, IMPO.

I’m sure she is looking forward to taking on a much lighter caseload when she is working in a hastily assembled, inequitable, profit making (for Reform MPs and all their pals) insurance-based system under Reform. More people will die because they can’t afford the co-pay, but at least she won’t have to have met them first.

Well those are their policies.

What do you expect?

Nope. Not on your nelly.
Also politically homeless
Have voted every which way in my life: Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and Green. I am actually furious that there is nobody to represent me.

Did you have to pay?

I agree with the other posters who have said political homelessness is the real story here. I am a Centrist. A bit right leaning economically and left leaning socially. I care deeply about women’s rights. I’ve voted Tory, Lib Dem and for some independents and small parties in the past. At the last election none of the parties came close to representing anything I would want to vote for. I’m horrified by Reform’s apparent popularity.

I think MN are getting a bit of a hard time here about their poll. They never claimed to be YouGov.

Also, I think the disproportionate amount of attention Farage gets from the MSM is actively harmful to this country’s interest.

There doesn’t appear to be any policy to discuss. Reform is going back on its 2024 manifesto and hasn’t published anything more since then. It’s odd that a Reform supporter would object to the term far right when that’s manifestly what it is.

But this doesn’t make sense. If she values the NHS, which your post implies, then why on earth vote for Reform?

You can be politically disillusioned - and quite frankly, right now, who wouldn’t be? - but that doesn’t automatically mean you look to Reform. That’s just ignorant. As well as nonsensical.

If you're going to sell data to be used to tell a story, you need to understand what you're selling. MN are the data holders and need to be transparent.

Voting intentions is very politically important info, and using poorly interpreted data is incredibly misleading.

I work in intelligence analysis rather than statistical analysis but it's obvious that manipulation of numbers, data and information can completely change a narrative.

Turkeys voting for Christmas again.

In this case, a turkey who has all the benefit of foresight.

I don't know if Jill Forester is still reading this thread, but I'd like her to know that we do all see that any conclusions drawn from this 'poll' and further AI scraping will have to be tenuous and shaky at best. A professional psephologist would be horrified.

I think Jill and I would agree on a few things (given what little I know of her views). We're both horrified at the way in which militant trans entryism has crowbarred men into women's spaces, roles and awards. But having googled her a bit, and seen her portfolio for mostly the right wing press, I suspect this Telegraph article is being written to order with the editorial intention that it promote a specific agenda. (yeah no shit, SherlockGlom)

I'm left-leaning. I voted Lib Dem (yes, despite my terfy leanings) in the last GE in order to unseat the very safe Tory seat (and it worked!). I would consider voting tactically again - I don't live in a Labour area and for all their many current failings, it's the party where I feel most at home. But. I would even consider voting Tory, tactically, if I felt there was a real danger of a Reform candidate getting in. That absolutely horrifies me. So yes, Jill - the REAL story here is that many MNers feel politically homeless. Not that they're drifting towards Reform.

We are all looking with horror at populist politicians and 'strong men' right now. We can see what populist parties with no expertise in governance can do.

I think I paid £25 to join but it was in January/February last year so I may be incorrect.

I also suspect silent Reform voters. Although (as stated above) they will never get my vote, for some people, being politically homeless is not an option. If you are middle aged, traditionally centrist and have maybe leaned slightly right for most of your life (probably deviating to vote for Blair) and/or the Lib Dems at local level, I can see how you might feel so betrayed that you'd almost vote for ANYONE that wasn't Labour or Tory - (excluding Lib Dem as an option based on utter contempt for Women's Rights) particularly if you've had it drummed into you that you should not waste your right to vote.

I think that a lot of people will vote for them in desperation almost as much as protest. In the same way that I voted Remain but believe not ALL Brexit voters were racist and ignorant, but rather, desperate, disillusioned and feeling out of options.

It's terrifying to feel this un-anchored.