What can an individual do to keep Reform out?

[Thepoliticsofchaos]

I have a young friend (a university student) who is getting depressed about the prospect of Reform getting in next election. He thinks that the UK is fucked, basically. He's left-leaning, I assume a Labour voter. I've advised him to get politically engaged (so that in the future he'll at least be able to feel that he did what he could). He's not the most outgoing of people, though is interested in politics. Can anyone suggest how he could become usefully politically engaged to try to reduce the Reform vote? Not just joining a party and turning up to meetings, but actually doing something?

Leaflet drops for the party of his choice, university debate society, and remembering to actually vote in 2029. Although his time would be better spent, and he would feel more useful, volunteering for one of the charities left short of money by the current economic climate.

When it comes to politics, there is no point getting depressed, that won't help him or anyone else.

He can use his own vote. And leave others to decide how to use theirs. That's democracy.

I'm not sure what can be done to stem the flow now - Labour are sadly the instigators of their own demise.

Encouraging other young people to use their vote (however they choose!) is a good start.

Really? 'Depressed' about the possible outcome of an election that is unlikely to happen for four years??

In what way does he think the "UK is fucked, basically"?

Maybe he could join Advance or Restore?

I will be honest. I’m worried too. As much as I don’t want to engage with them, I do. I have polite discussions about what we risk if they get in power.
and I hope, it makes them think (or at least anyone on the fence who sees or hears it).
I’ve had awkward real life conversations.
no idea if it will make a difference. The heartening thing is the number who are also doing the same.

Labour need to get better at their own PR. They are making good strides (as well as a few mistakes) they need to shout about it better.

Repost on social media all the positive things about the party he wants voted in.
My Labour Mp is a wonderful person and working really hard and it’s very easy to repost some of his posts with achievements so far.

Also speak to your party’s representatives about issues you think may cost them the vote (immigration concerns, gender ideology, etc) - to make them aware of how their messaging on these issues comes across to ordinary citizens.

One mistake everyone seems to be doing is focus too much on criticising Reform which only gets more people defending them and more publicity for them overall.

More positivity about what Labour have already achieved and what they are planning to do next is what people need to be talking about to turn the tide.

The biggest thing he could do is to encourage other young people to register to vote ahead of the next election, and then actually vote when it happens.

Join a campaigning group, Union, political party.All will have opportunities to fight back, leafletting, demonstrations, recruitment, publicising, picket lines. Speak up, challenge views he doesn't agree with. Being frightened, doing nothing, keeping quiet is understandably a reaction but fascist intimidation, street violence etc has to be met head on. 'First they came for the Communists and I did nothing because I wasn't a Communist, then they came for the Trade Unionists and I did nothing because I wasn't a Trade Unionists, then they came for the Jews and I did nothing because I wasn't a Jew........when they came for me there was no one left to protect me. 'No man is an island.' An attack on one small vulnerable section of society is an attack on us all.

Some good suggestions. Unfortunately, he's not the type to speak up when he knows that that will adversely affect his day to day life. I do think that volunteering for an organisation that practises what it preaches (eg a charity) might be a good idea. And I like the idea of speaking positively about Labour rather than just focusing on criticising Reform. He's quite knowledgeable and is good at expressing himself, so should be able to manage that. And maybe he should try to get involved with the Labour party shortly before the next election, to help with leafleting etc. I need to think about getting more involved too. I had a chat this morning with a man in his 30s who's a talented salesman, trying to persuade him to become politically active because he's interested in politics and concerned about the rise of the far right and I think he would actually be good at it. But he said that he just wants to focus on enjoying his little bubble before things get even worse than they are now.

It might be worth reinforcing the idea of focussing on positives of other parties with the fact that voting against a person or party rather than voting for someone or something is rarely a good idea. I cautioned people before the last election that voting "anyone but Tory" was a bad idea unless they were sure that whoever they voted for was in line with their ideals.

I think a lot of the current government's woes are down to the fact that so many people voted for them but are not truly behind them

I’d advise him against getting politically-engaged tbh. It doesn’t sound like he’s got the personality for it, and hitching his mood to something he can’t affect the outcome seems bad. Reform will get in or they won’t—it won’t depend on him—and he’d be better-off neither feeling responsible for it nor dooming about it for the next few years.

@QueenOfHiraeth I think that in the UK it's often important to vote tactically. We don't have proportional representation, so our votes are often thrown away. I voted tactically a couple of elections ago, voting for a party I hated. That MP got in, and I loathed him and felt sullied by my vote for his entire term! It's not a healthy system, but voting for someone who has no chance of getting in is a vote thrown away, surely? I threw away my vote last election, because I didn't have the stomach to vote for either of the parties that had a chance of winning in my constituency.

I don't know why anyone would put themselves out there about politics these days. People are called racists, Nazis and far right at the drop of a hat for having fairly normal views that most other people have. If your friend is left wing he will be similarly considered beyond the pale by vast sections of the population. Things have got so abusive because of social media and your voice will be one of millions so few will listen. Vote. That's all that can be done. And don't ram your own political views down other people's necks. Top tip.

@Sskka You may well be right. But being completely passive at at time of crisis and knowing for the rest of your life that you were passive isn't a great way forward either.

It's not a time.of crisis. The election is 4 years away. And Reform are not "far right".

If there is a crisis it's because of the shambolic government we currently have.

One person can make a big difference in politics / policy. I'm not saying that this one person can, but I don't think we should assume that no one person can make a difference. Farage is just one person, and he's certainly making a difference.

I agree, nothing could be worse than this business hating, growth stifling, pensioner, disabled and farmer hating, Labour government. It's enough to make anyone depressed. They can't sack the chancellor who lies on her own CV and is so far out of her depth because they have no one to replace her.

@Thepoliticsofchaos Tactical voting can be useful but it is just worth him understanding how it works and having an awareness of the potential consequences if too many people vote tactically and the country ends up with a government that most of them don't want.
Interestingly, I did the same as you and voted contrary to my inclinations last time but, by some happy coincidence, I have been proved wrong and the MP elected is working really hard for the area

Alastair Campbell has written a book called But what can I do? About exactly this point. Perhaps that could be a starting point?

Campaigning for a political party is perfectly democratic.

Quite right. As is openly calling out policies, behaviour, or ideologies in parties other than those you support, or fact-checking them, or pressing their representatives to provide solid, factual information of how some of their promises might be fulfilled.

The essence of a functional democratic state is informed choice. That cannot be achieved if you solely consume information (or, dare I say it, propaganda) from a single party.

Join the Green party. They seem to be the only ones calling out Reform on their bs and calling a fascist a fascist. Like their leader did on BBCQT last night. Greens are the biggest party in London right now.

More positivity about what Labour have already achieved and what they are planning to do next is what people need to be talking about to turn the tide.

There's literally nothing to be positive about with the Labour government. The recent conference highlighted just how woefully inept they are. The first thing we should be focusing on is removing Starmer then getting them out of power at the earliest opportunity. That's where I'm concentrating my efforts.