I've developed such a disgust reflex for Farage's ugly, sagging, bulldog mug I would get enormous personal satisfaction seeing him get his pants pulled down in front of the nation by Lowe, successfully pulling the Tories right and swiping the reform base. Farage has turned his nose up at MAGA, publicly washed his hands of populism and Musk thinks he's pathetic. He has no friends left in the States. He's doesn't have any allies in europe either, having made enemies of the ruling EU elites and snubbed the right-wing populist counter-elite. He's burned every bridge, every boat all the way from UKIP to Reform. He is desperate to be initiated into the British ruling class, it's his only option left. He's impulsive, he can change his opinions and principles in an instant via his off hand political calculations. A totally fragile man and should be nowhere near power.
I can see his argument about the online world but I do see a counter to it. Reform has sought to make a lot of headway through online media. It does use Tiktok and even X to get the word out. Not sure how you do that with comments sections and replies full of criticism. Zoomers and target new voters will notice that.
It's funny how we hear X isn't real life, by people posting on X... Simultaneously the bbc, the government, EU etc cannot stop talking about how much unchecked power it has and how dangerousit is. Weird.
I agree that Reform seem to have taken a sort of establishment path. Nigel must think that is the route to be Prime Minister. He is wrong as the country is getting more extreme and most polls say the majority want mass remigration. He is not clear where he stands and almost doesn't seem to care. Is he influenced by Zia? Or Zia’s money? Maybe he has already agreed a pact. I like Rupert Lowe and think they treated him terribly. They seem to be bringing in liberal types so the direction of travel seems clear. I agree that Lowe might end up with the Tories but with a Jenrick leader and a right leaning message. I think the Tories always find a way to survive and that will be it. I just want my country back and all these angry young men arriving in boats sent back to where they came from. They are fighting their proxy wars on our streets and our countryside will be ripped up to house them. They were not invited by us - but they were by Reforms new candidate - so reflect on that.
Blimey that wet Tory candidate is extremely funny - I can only think Nigel is doing this deliberately and sticking two fingers up to the people who worked on the ground (and online) to put Reform on the map.
Actually saw an interview with the local man who wanted to be Reform's candidate - moaning about the Labour Party potentially parachuting someone in. Cough. Splutter.
Of course, he's been dropped like a stone...
The trouble with Reform is they've now got 'a spot' and are taking up bandwidth that (hypothetically) a Rupert Lowe could use more productively. Your analysis is of course right, a new Rupert Party would take a wedge of the Reform vote, not win any MP's and probably be the uniparty's wet dream.
Jenrick won't get anywhere because of the party he's in. Even if he does become the leader (and have Lowe alongside him, a strange move if it happens) then the grandees and 'the wet wing' are going to sabotage them at every turn.
Of course the wet wing could run off to Reform, their new natural home - maybe Reform's new raison d'etre is as a sort of grand European 'centre party' type outfit. They could merge with the Lib Dems and the wet wing!!
Charge them £25 each and Farage/Yusuf are in the money!!
As Pete's father, Dr Richard North, points out so often, Farage's only policy over the years has been to replace the Tory party. The irony is that in so many ways he is a 'wet' Tory at heart.
I've been running through a list of potential Reform candidates for coming by-elections. Lord Adonis, Anna Soubry and Chukkah Umunah are all available...
Being serious the fact that Reform are accepting people who campaigned not just to remain, but rejoin, is jaw-dropping. Maybe Farage will come out in favour of a 'people's vote' just before the 2029 election?
Their election poster will be Farage sat in the front seat of his electric car, with the EU flag hanging off a wind turbine in the background.
This is a very interesting time. In truth I don’t think anyone knows what will transpire. I certainly don’t.
I am so disappointed in Nigel and the current Reform leadership. I was angry at first but as Nigel has doubled down, I see that this was a deliberate move against Rupert and not just a flash of irritation. At least this centre move is happening 4 years out so there’s chance for a reset elsewhere. Andrew Eborn did an interesting interview with journalist Martin Jay with stories about Farage I’d not heard before.
I really hope Rupert doesn’t join the Tories. I think we need a new party if Reform isn’t it. Unfortunately Matt Goodwin is now so entrenched in Reform I don’t view his commentary on Nigel as neutral any more. I noticed that GB News are no longer calling the show Farage this week. I don’t know whether this is permanent and he has decided to step back.
There seem to be a lot of hints that something is going on behind the scenes. There are other people like Douglas Carswell publishing material for discussion. I’ll be interested to see what evolves over the coming weeks and months.
I think Nigel has read this one wrong. There are plenty of people like me who are Reform members waiting to see what happens. Why resign when I’ve subscribed for a year? As has been pointed out, I’m not a member of a party. Only Nigel and Zia are members as I understand it. I was at the first local branch meeting 10 days ago. It’s these grassroots people I feel most sorry for. They have worked so hard with such hope for a party they believed in. Most are still fighting for the change they so desperately want … but is it Reform? It doesn’t look like it at the moment. Once trust has gone it’s impossible to get back. It seems some of the grassroots at least are losing trust in their leadership.
I have no idea what’s going to happen but I pray it gets rid of the uniparty!
You are right about Matt Goodwin. He probably sees a career with Reform so doesn't give unbiased information. It's a shame it has gone this way but I think something else might arise or a revitalised right leaning Tory party. Reform seem to treat grass root people very badly.
Totally agree. There’s more to come out about grassroots. Also there’s a proper patriotic party in the making with some big names and donors, I’m convinced.
Blimey lots negativity on here. View the bigger picture and get with the beat. The only chance in 2029 is Reform. Love them or despise them for tilting their jib to the mainstream, to achieve power, when you walk into No10 that’s when you can enact the Lowe policies. Cummings being on the fringe tells you there is a plan, so let’s not blow it before it’s even started.
Bit of a mess if Reform is just one more leg of the Uniparty chair. If the Tories want to survive and are ruthless enough to do so, a Lowe/Jenrick alliance would be interesting. It would split the Tories in the right way, and split Reform and I expect most of its activist base would move across. After all, it's not as if there are many other options.
Literally nothing would take me back to the Tories! I wouldn't even vote for them to keep Labour out. Lowe joining the Tories would expose the thatcherite Tory he is and that'll put off anyone who hates Thatcher.
She very much lives on in Lowe who is forever quoting her along with some of the other oldies that don't understand why young people hate her and the Tories.
Why would “young people” hate Margaret Thatcher? She has nothing to do with “young people” of today except her reform of the economy which provided them with the prosperity we enjoyed until recently. I think you are assuming too much to think you can speak for all “young people”. Did you know that they are turning in droves to Reform? Perhaps you are a tad out-of-date.
No easy let alone perfect answers here. Tories don’t deserve to survive, let alone wallow in Thatcher nostalgia. On the other hand, economic reality will catch up with us and we are back to the 1970s.
Put very simply Nigel Farage is an appalling man-manager and team leader consumed with is own self importance.
The sooner he is fully exposed as such the greater the chance of someone better replacing him as the standard bearer of the 'Right' in British politics.
As to the Homeland party being the answer or any of the many other contenders breaking through the system my own gut feel is the political saviour from the 'Right' in this country has yet to materialise.
Unfortunately things have to get even worse before that happens.
I can't help seeing Nige, on current form, as Colonel Mustard with the revolver in the library. As the bodies pile up, Reform is looking more and more like an old-fashioned board game; it's a question of which player is holding the winning cards.
A dreadful candidate for an increasingly dire party.
Not sure whether someone has kompromat on Farage or what, but he has completely lost touch. A terrible look for a politician who supposedly could relate to 'the people'. He seems extremely keen on enforcing speech codes on those near his orbit. From today's Telegraph about the Pimlico Plumbers bloke:
'Mr Farage said: “Charlie is outspoken and more often than not speaks tongue in cheek – that said he should tone it down a bit.'
Tone it down? Why? So you can win over the Lib Dems of Runcorn?
of 47 million or so voters only a minority follow politics. The disaffection among potential Reform voters may not be as widespread as those of us who see through Farage hope. The Runcorn by-election will be a good test though it is a test of Labour voters willing to switch to Reform, the Tories never making much impact in Runcorn.
Lowe was elected as Reform. Were he to join another party (or form one) then he should force a by-election as Carswell and Reckless did when crossing the floor to UKIP in 2014. That would be interesting. What hs should not do is just form or join another party without putting that to the people who voted for him.
I have seen a lot of comments saying yes Farage/Reform are flawed but the other parties are so bad that they will support Reform anyway as the only hope. They are set to be very disappointed.
It’s a conundrum (for anti mass migration supporters).
Vote for Reform and get confirmation of them turning into the Uniparty.
Or.
Vote for a new part of the people and risk the horror of the Uniparty returning to power.
I don’t think we have much of an alternative. As Ben Habib says, the next election is the last chance for the UK to survive as a recognisable country (Christian basics).
There is a wealth of talent waiting to be tapped for a new party with 4 years to organise, massive financial resources available and the backing of the most powerful nation in the world.
Nigel may well see his only route to power being a merger of Reform with the Tory’s - Nigel being the leader of course.
Certainly Labour have cooked their goose and I don’t see any competition emerging from other parties.
I've developed such a disgust reflex for Farage's ugly, sagging, bulldog mug I would get enormous personal satisfaction seeing him get his pants pulled down in front of the nation by Lowe, successfully pulling the Tories right and swiping the reform base. Farage has turned his nose up at MAGA, publicly washed his hands of populism and Musk thinks he's pathetic. He has no friends left in the States. He's doesn't have any allies in europe either, having made enemies of the ruling EU elites and snubbed the right-wing populist counter-elite. He's burned every bridge, every boat all the way from UKIP to Reform. He is desperate to be initiated into the British ruling class, it's his only option left. He's impulsive, he can change his opinions and principles in an instant via his off hand political calculations. A totally fragile man and should be nowhere near power.
Goodwin is just a predictable hack at this point.
I can see his argument about the online world but I do see a counter to it. Reform has sought to make a lot of headway through online media. It does use Tiktok and even X to get the word out. Not sure how you do that with comments sections and replies full of criticism. Zoomers and target new voters will notice that.
It's funny how we hear X isn't real life, by people posting on X... Simultaneously the bbc, the government, EU etc cannot stop talking about how much unchecked power it has and how dangerousit is. Weird.
I agree that Reform seem to have taken a sort of establishment path. Nigel must think that is the route to be Prime Minister. He is wrong as the country is getting more extreme and most polls say the majority want mass remigration. He is not clear where he stands and almost doesn't seem to care. Is he influenced by Zia? Or Zia’s money? Maybe he has already agreed a pact. I like Rupert Lowe and think they treated him terribly. They seem to be bringing in liberal types so the direction of travel seems clear. I agree that Lowe might end up with the Tories but with a Jenrick leader and a right leaning message. I think the Tories always find a way to survive and that will be it. I just want my country back and all these angry young men arriving in boats sent back to where they came from. They are fighting their proxy wars on our streets and our countryside will be ripped up to house them. They were not invited by us - but they were by Reforms new candidate - so reflect on that.
Blimey that wet Tory candidate is extremely funny - I can only think Nigel is doing this deliberately and sticking two fingers up to the people who worked on the ground (and online) to put Reform on the map.
Actually saw an interview with the local man who wanted to be Reform's candidate - moaning about the Labour Party potentially parachuting someone in. Cough. Splutter.
Of course, he's been dropped like a stone...
The trouble with Reform is they've now got 'a spot' and are taking up bandwidth that (hypothetically) a Rupert Lowe could use more productively. Your analysis is of course right, a new Rupert Party would take a wedge of the Reform vote, not win any MP's and probably be the uniparty's wet dream.
Jenrick won't get anywhere because of the party he's in. Even if he does become the leader (and have Lowe alongside him, a strange move if it happens) then the grandees and 'the wet wing' are going to sabotage them at every turn.
Of course the wet wing could run off to Reform, their new natural home - maybe Reform's new raison d'etre is as a sort of grand European 'centre party' type outfit. They could merge with the Lib Dems and the wet wing!!
Charge them £25 each and Farage/Yusuf are in the money!!
As Pete's father, Dr Richard North, points out so often, Farage's only policy over the years has been to replace the Tory party. The irony is that in so many ways he is a 'wet' Tory at heart.
I've been running through a list of potential Reform candidates for coming by-elections. Lord Adonis, Anna Soubry and Chukkah Umunah are all available...
I assume you are joking?!
If not Reform, that is already holed below the waterline, will cease to be a contender well before 2029
Reform will take literally anybody these days by the looks of it - I was joking but not all that much!!
Well not just anybody - to get in and survive you have got to be prepared to kiss Farage's arse!
Being serious the fact that Reform are accepting people who campaigned not just to remain, but rejoin, is jaw-dropping. Maybe Farage will come out in favour of a 'people's vote' just before the 2029 election?
Their election poster will be Farage sat in the front seat of his electric car, with the EU flag hanging off a wind turbine in the background.
You read it here first. Or something...
Well it looks pretty clear Farage is not a leader. You need to be able to form a team in order to be one, and Farage has proven unable to keep a team.
Calling the police on one of your MP’s is a point of no return for me.
This is a very interesting time. In truth I don’t think anyone knows what will transpire. I certainly don’t.
I am so disappointed in Nigel and the current Reform leadership. I was angry at first but as Nigel has doubled down, I see that this was a deliberate move against Rupert and not just a flash of irritation. At least this centre move is happening 4 years out so there’s chance for a reset elsewhere. Andrew Eborn did an interesting interview with journalist Martin Jay with stories about Farage I’d not heard before.
I really hope Rupert doesn’t join the Tories. I think we need a new party if Reform isn’t it. Unfortunately Matt Goodwin is now so entrenched in Reform I don’t view his commentary on Nigel as neutral any more. I noticed that GB News are no longer calling the show Farage this week. I don’t know whether this is permanent and he has decided to step back.
There seem to be a lot of hints that something is going on behind the scenes. There are other people like Douglas Carswell publishing material for discussion. I’ll be interested to see what evolves over the coming weeks and months.
I think Nigel has read this one wrong. There are plenty of people like me who are Reform members waiting to see what happens. Why resign when I’ve subscribed for a year? As has been pointed out, I’m not a member of a party. Only Nigel and Zia are members as I understand it. I was at the first local branch meeting 10 days ago. It’s these grassroots people I feel most sorry for. They have worked so hard with such hope for a party they believed in. Most are still fighting for the change they so desperately want … but is it Reform? It doesn’t look like it at the moment. Once trust has gone it’s impossible to get back. It seems some of the grassroots at least are losing trust in their leadership.
I have no idea what’s going to happen but I pray it gets rid of the uniparty!
You are right about Matt Goodwin. He probably sees a career with Reform so doesn't give unbiased information. It's a shame it has gone this way but I think something else might arise or a revitalised right leaning Tory party. Reform seem to treat grass root people very badly.
Totally agree. There’s more to come out about grassroots. Also there’s a proper patriotic party in the making with some big names and donors, I’m convinced.
May Goodwin worked at Chatham House think tank wrote a paper on how to control the right !!!
HE SAID JOIN IT
SO THERE YOU ARE
Blimey lots negativity on here. View the bigger picture and get with the beat. The only chance in 2029 is Reform. Love them or despise them for tilting their jib to the mainstream, to achieve power, when you walk into No10 that’s when you can enact the Lowe policies. Cummings being on the fringe tells you there is a plan, so let’s not blow it before it’s even started.
Bit of a mess if Reform is just one more leg of the Uniparty chair. If the Tories want to survive and are ruthless enough to do so, a Lowe/Jenrick alliance would be interesting. It would split the Tories in the right way, and split Reform and I expect most of its activist base would move across. After all, it's not as if there are many other options.
Literally nothing would take me back to the Tories! I wouldn't even vote for them to keep Labour out. Lowe joining the Tories would expose the thatcherite Tory he is and that'll put off anyone who hates Thatcher.
Margaret Thatchers died a few years ago. Did you know?
She very much lives on in Lowe who is forever quoting her along with some of the other oldies that don't understand why young people hate her and the Tories.
Why would “young people” hate Margaret Thatcher? She has nothing to do with “young people” of today except her reform of the economy which provided them with the prosperity we enjoyed until recently. I think you are assuming too much to think you can speak for all “young people”. Did you know that they are turning in droves to Reform? Perhaps you are a tad out-of-date.
No easy let alone perfect answers here. Tories don’t deserve to survive, let alone wallow in Thatcher nostalgia. On the other hand, economic reality will catch up with us and we are back to the 1970s.
I also doubt if reform will win this by-election.
Put very simply Nigel Farage is an appalling man-manager and team leader consumed with is own self importance.
The sooner he is fully exposed as such the greater the chance of someone better replacing him as the standard bearer of the 'Right' in British politics.
As to the Homeland party being the answer or any of the many other contenders breaking through the system my own gut feel is the political saviour from the 'Right' in this country has yet to materialise.
Unfortunately things have to get even worse before that happens.
Let’s wait and see before we all desert the ship there’s to much of this going on maybe everyone likes labour or conservative to be in power longer
REFORM WILL WIN!
I can't help seeing Nige, on current form, as Colonel Mustard with the revolver in the library. As the bodies pile up, Reform is looking more and more like an old-fashioned board game; it's a question of which player is holding the winning cards.
A dreadful candidate for an increasingly dire party.
Not sure whether someone has kompromat on Farage or what, but he has completely lost touch. A terrible look for a politician who supposedly could relate to 'the people'. He seems extremely keen on enforcing speech codes on those near his orbit. From today's Telegraph about the Pimlico Plumbers bloke:
'Mr Farage said: “Charlie is outspoken and more often than not speaks tongue in cheek – that said he should tone it down a bit.'
Tone it down? Why? So you can win over the Lib Dems of Runcorn?
of 47 million or so voters only a minority follow politics. The disaffection among potential Reform voters may not be as widespread as those of us who see through Farage hope. The Runcorn by-election will be a good test though it is a test of Labour voters willing to switch to Reform, the Tories never making much impact in Runcorn.
Lowe was elected as Reform. Were he to join another party (or form one) then he should force a by-election as Carswell and Reckless did when crossing the floor to UKIP in 2014. That would be interesting. What hs should not do is just form or join another party without putting that to the people who voted for him.
I have seen a lot of comments saying yes Farage/Reform are flawed but the other parties are so bad that they will support Reform anyway as the only hope. They are set to be very disappointed.
It’s a conundrum (for anti mass migration supporters).
Vote for Reform and get confirmation of them turning into the Uniparty.
Or.
Vote for a new part of the people and risk the horror of the Uniparty returning to power.
I don’t think we have much of an alternative. As Ben Habib says, the next election is the last chance for the UK to survive as a recognisable country (Christian basics).
There is a wealth of talent waiting to be tapped for a new party with 4 years to organise, massive financial resources available and the backing of the most powerful nation in the world.
Nigel may well see his only route to power being a merger of Reform with the Tory’s - Nigel being the leader of course.
Certainly Labour have cooked their goose and I don’t see any competition emerging from other parties.
Even Lowe or Farage wouldn't make me vote Tory again....not even to keep Labour out