Reform as a protest vote

[twirlischocolate]

I hear and read of people who would normally vote for one of the main parties but are now thinking of voting reform.

I am in my fifties and I remember being spat at, called a paki just walking down the street and told to fuck off for no other reason than I don’t have white skin. Told by teachers to stop telling tales if I was hit/punched by kids while they were screaming National Front in my face.

After the referendum I heard stories of people being shouted at in the street “we voted leave so leave” The people being shouted at were all brown. I was in the queue at the post office when an old lady in front of me said to the Indian lady who worked there - as we voted leave you’ll be leaving now won’t you?

The people who spat at me in the seventies would now be voting reform.

You may be saying - Farage offers a different way. To me Farage emboldens these people - evidenced by his refusal to disown or deselect various reform candidates recently.

Some people would say that it’s a protest vote and they’ll never get in - but every single protest vote makes him think that people agree with him and makes him louder.

And as to the man himself - he shares platforms with the AFD and says that real live human beings should be left to drown in the channel. Is this who we want anywhere near power?

A few years ago he was so broke he was doing “up the RA” videos for 80 odd quid and suddenly he has a Coutts account. Where has this money come from?

I know none of this matters to those who are absolute reform voters but hopefully it will make those who are protest voters think again.

I know you may ask “but what’s the alternative for the politically homeless?” Maybe an Independent- I don’t know but I really don’t think reform is.

I agree. Reform isn't even a real party. And they certainly don't really have any policies worth advertising - their party election broadcast evidenced that.

ITA. Better to spoil your ballot than vote for this awful bunch.

Yep, I agree with this.

My preference is indie, with spoiling my vote as an alternative if my indie candidate doesn't respond at all / as I'd like to my questions. I would never vote Reform.

Farage comes from money, went to public school and was a trader on the London Metal Exhange. (Family business? )
I strongly doubt he was ever personally broke.
Reform is clearly doing well for donations at the moment, though.

The rise of the far right, like reform, is due wholly to lack of a good option to vote for. Con and lab are both awful IMO.

I probably won't vote.

I agree op.

I think Farage is an out and out fascist. If he ever got near real power, he'd be dangerous.

I will probably spoil my ballot (again. sigh.)
But I'm certainly not going to give any support to Reform at the ballot box or anywhere else.

And the money - I'd imagine Russia is involved in some form. They fund anything that causes chaos in the west.

I’m a British citizen by naturalisation and after 12 years contributing to this country I’ll be fucking straight back off if Reform get what’s predicted and/or we get another 5 years of Tory-led country demolition.

I remember reading a sentence during Brexit which stuck out to me, and is all the more applicable for this election too: "voting XXX as a protest vote is like shitting the bed in protest, but then remembering you have to sleep in it afterwards".

I'm so sorry for your awful experiences 💐

There seem to be a large number of people in the UK who see the terrible state of play (COL crisis, NHS at breaking point, education in a mess etc) and instead of accepting the uncomfortable truth that maybe the government they have voted for all their lives or the Brexit they voted for have actually caused this are totally buying the notion that people in dinghies are the issue.

The pro Reform arguments & posts I have personally seen are coming from the exact same place they always have - ignorance and/or racism.

The best thing about them is the likelihood of splitting the Tory vote.

No empathy, no remorse. Could there be a more obvious narcissist?

I've been politically homeless for most of my life, the last place I'd look for sympathy or shelter is with fucking Farage.

PS I'm sorry for all you have been through OP.

I agree. The people who vote for him are morally defunct.

And that will definitely be helpful.

DH said the other day that Farage comes up with simple solutions for simple minds and I couldn't agree more TBH.

I completely agree with you OP. Anyone who votes for Reform either outwardly or tacitly agrees with Fuckwit Farage's facist views and should be ashamed of themselves. I get that people may feel politically homeless but in that instance they should spoil their ballot. If they chose to vote for one of the lesser parties instead, they need to stand by their decision and the views / ideology of the party they have picked.

I'd rather not vote than vote Reform. There's nothing about them I take seriously.

I'm not generally in favour of spoiling ballots but if you see your only option as voting for Reform as a protest vote, then you absolutely should spoil your ballot.
Because be careful what you wish for.

@Rattenbury DH said the other day that Farage comes up with simple solutions for simple minds and I couldn't agree more TBH.

Agree. Solution by soundbite and emotion. Scratch the surface and there's fuck all there practically and policy-wise.

Just come back to these messages. Thank you for understanding. It gives me some hope

I heard him on the radio yesterday and I found him genuinely quite frightening. He comes across as so sure that he's right, and reasonable. And people buy it. Terrifying

Labour is going to win obviously but there is a real possibility that reform could be the new opposition.

I completely agree. It's scary how easily things can spiral.

That is horrible but a brilliant description of the situation.

I will be voting Labour, but if I were a conservative I would certainly vote Reform ahead of the Tories.

If you want lower taxes, smaller government, free markets, reduced government spending, abolishing ‘green’ taxes to reduce energy bills, a reduction of the welfare dependency culture, a crackdown on ‘wokery’ and real action on uncontrolled mass immigration rather than just more empty words, then the Conservatives don’t represent your views any more than Labour do. If you want to vote for a real right wing agenda, that’s what Reform are offering.

I really hope people won't be so fucking stupid