A very good assessment. All of us who are utterly appalled at the Globalist consensus of failure that the main parties represented wanted Reform to be a viable Populist alternative. And it should have been fairly easy. Conservative failure on one side, particularly Boris failure after initial success,should have shown what ego battles, disunity, and pretending to be conservative or populist and then delivering globalism results in. Trump and MAGA success built on never flinching and never backing down on key populist points like border security should have told them what succeeds. What does Farage deliver? Weak, conformist takes on Islam, Tommy Robinson, Southport, even praising Starmer, together with internal division (with only 5 MPs!) and the absolute disaster of referring it all to the police. You can broaden appeal without causing an internal split and without betraying the core vote simply by giving populist takes on these subjects and sticking to attacking Labour.
Good piece. Goodwin has a point about the purity spiralling of the online right and the need to remain attentive to electoral success. He conveniently sidestepped the attack on Lowe. The problem with Farage is that he seems intent on weakening the party line even when under no pressure to do so. Nothing Lowe said is extreme by any metric. The losers in this are the long suffering British public who have the choice between a milquetoast Reform and the same sold crap from the uniparty. I like the idea of Lowe forming a party, but I feel it would split the populist vote. Perhaps the electoral road is closed. I hope I'm wrong.
Good piece Pete - those of us who have been warning about Farage for years are finally being proved right, something good will come out of this. It needed to happen.
Quite. I'm frankly a bit baffled by Farage's stupidity on this. He's made lots of "mistakes" but mostly seemed quite calculated.
He had a chance to prove doubters wrong - Lowe had become slowly less unanimous in his support, but could have been an easy win for Farage to nip it in the bud and bring him back into the fold, and prove he wasn't what many said he was. But he didn't.
Now he just looks like a petty narcissist - which might just well be the case
Well written and I am angry at people like Matt Goodwin now going on about 'online right' as if we are extremist. Surely he is an online right so why differentiate. Its just another way of labeling folk 'far right'. I know a lot of these folk have career interests in Reform so want it to survive - but in what form and if not for deportation of illegals, then why support it. It Is sad to see Reform use the same nasty tactics on Rupert Lowe as other parties. Cancelling and calling the police. I think Zia is a globalist and watering down policies. Rupert has been misrepresented and deliberately so. I think a lot of folk will not want to vote for Reform now and only hope something else forms of people who mean what they say. Illegal immigrants should be removed- end of.
I also noticed on GB News they are quoting polls saying nobody knows Lowe and slating Lowe. Seems very unfair as he is the one victimised. Probably they are backing Nigel as he is on their channel. Going off them now too. Oh dear!
Farage seems to have lost sight of the point of himself, a bolshie individualist who knew what was needed in terms of leaving the EU but who has struggled to concentrate on UK politics since he started to move in the same exalted circles as US billionaires. It has distracted him and disappointed his constituents. He won't stick to any promises now; he shot his bolt with Brexit and even then applied for a German passport, which showed what steadfast faith he had in it.
Bad choice as leader, and I hope Rupert Lowe does start a new party; he has just the sort of moral code and ethics that the English will be glad to follow.
I enjoyed your particularly acute observation between Mr Farage and showbiz. As any performer knows you do not want a colleague poking a hole in the mystic ohma mid way through the act but that's exactly what Mr Lowe has done. Bizarrely egos appear to be very fragile for a party with such certainty of outlook, and self confidence so low. The lead performer hasn't had the nouse nor balls to ignore the poke but instead contributed to its enlargement by reacting poorly.The dry ice is off, the curtains are up, the house lights are on, the performer with his tatty suit and dodgy make up is on full rude display. The mystic ohma is gone, how long will it take to get it back particularly with the visages of Trump & Putin painted fawningly on the back drop Couldn't happen to a nicer person, but hey don't we all wanna try to be rich and influential without the responsibility ?
Nigel’s ego clearly matters to him far more than saving the UK from the globalists. Sadly you were right all along Pete and I was wrong to give Farage what I thought was the benefit of the doubt as the best hope of electing a nationalist. I will follow Matt Goodwin’s advice for the moment and stick with Reform as I have nowhere else to go but Farage is on notice from me that my vote is hanging by a thread and he’s drinking in the last saloon. I’m very sad.
Good summary. What a waste as the Farage/Lowe tension on immigration could have been managed really well, covering both wings of the party with an honest dilemma we all need to address.
Very good analysis and for me, as an ex UKIP member, District Chairman, four times election candidate and who also held the job of Office Manager in Birmingham for six months, I speak with some authority on Nigel Farage who is a very poor team leader and uses and abuses his grass roots for his own ends.
Until elected to Westminster Farage "got away with murder" protected by being out of sight in Brussels but now he has to face the Westminster press pack and has nowhere to hide.
It is my very strong opinion that for the good of politics in this country, especially the growth of the 'Right', Farage needs to be exposed and his personality cult cleared from the scene to allow something serious to grow in his place.
Whether Rupert Lowe can keep up the fight and ultimately drive the final stake through Nigel's heart (assuming he has one!) is yet unknown but I hope he does succeed for the good our country.
Yes, it will be good to see him gone, but we still need an alternative to the 2 party system. Will Reform just fold or will something good come out of it all? I hope for the latter.
We'll see how the cookie's crumbling very soon with the Runcorn & Helsby by-election. If Labour sneak it, it could be game over for Reform. Putting it out of its misery may open the gate for Lowe and Habib. If Reform win It, though, Farage will double down and then we'll have years more of the pantomime.
Suddenly Reform have most to lose in Runcorn. No more free hits for Farage and he’ll be expected to win each by-election. And the tragedy is they may well have without this self-inflicted wound.
It didn't take very long for you (Pete North) to be proved totally correct about both Reform and Farage. In my previous comments I have criticised your negativity about Farage and I now realise that I was blinkered in my outlook by my desperate desire for some new political direction to be made manifest in our benighted country. I will be very surprised if the net result of the distasteful events of the last few days do not herald the demise of Reform as a serious emergent political force in the UK. My apologies to you for my previous criticisms - I meant no offence I was simply naive in my belief that Farage/Reform could, if given the chance, be the answer to the Uk's woes.
I’m with you on this Malcolm. I didn’t want to hear criticism of the leader of our only hope either but have to accept it now. How nice to read a polite apology. How noble and civilised and rare these days!
I’m with you on this Malcolm. I didn’t want to hear criticism of the leader of our only hope either but have to accept it now. How nice to read a polite apology. How noble and civilised and rare these days!
Agreed The Tories destroyed the economy with a debt so huge, you can see it from the moon. Labour wanted them to spend even more so, somehow, they must both go.
One has to hope Reform reads your pieces Pete. You're the best advisor they have.The party seems incapable of self-reflection.
After the Lowe debacle it has many supporters (I include myself) doubting it's veracity and character.
Farage is firmly sitting on the fence regarding Reform's raison d'etre - ie: illegal immigration. It would seem he's used the problem as a elevator to personal public prominence and nothing more.
Lowe was the most active and most vociferously pro-UK, pro deportation MP. Without Lowe Reform seems shallow and undefined.
That Zia Yusuf, (chaiman) former darling of the WEF, is nothing more than a Trojan Horse within the party is probably a conspiracy theory gone too far - but the less critical will still back Reform as the only hope the UK has.
Unless Farage puts meat on the bones of his immigration policy he's lost my support and detractors and the wavering following, will continue to probe and expose any duplicity. It's not looking good. Nor should it.
A very good assessment. All of us who are utterly appalled at the Globalist consensus of failure that the main parties represented wanted Reform to be a viable Populist alternative. And it should have been fairly easy. Conservative failure on one side, particularly Boris failure after initial success,should have shown what ego battles, disunity, and pretending to be conservative or populist and then delivering globalism results in. Trump and MAGA success built on never flinching and never backing down on key populist points like border security should have told them what succeeds. What does Farage deliver? Weak, conformist takes on Islam, Tommy Robinson, Southport, even praising Starmer, together with internal division (with only 5 MPs!) and the absolute disaster of referring it all to the police. You can broaden appeal without causing an internal split and without betraying the core vote simply by giving populist takes on these subjects and sticking to attacking Labour.
Good piece. Goodwin has a point about the purity spiralling of the online right and the need to remain attentive to electoral success. He conveniently sidestepped the attack on Lowe. The problem with Farage is that he seems intent on weakening the party line even when under no pressure to do so. Nothing Lowe said is extreme by any metric. The losers in this are the long suffering British public who have the choice between a milquetoast Reform and the same sold crap from the uniparty. I like the idea of Lowe forming a party, but I feel it would split the populist vote. Perhaps the electoral road is closed. I hope I'm wrong.
Agreed. Goodwin himself has pointed out time and again that Lowe's view on deportation for illegal people has popular support.
So found his characterisation of Lowe's support as "online right" very Starmer-esque.
I think he and Farage have misunderstood Lowe's more broad appeal. By far and away the most substantive of the Reform MPs.
Good piece Pete - those of us who have been warning about Farage for years are finally being proved right, something good will come out of this. It needed to happen.
Quite. I'm frankly a bit baffled by Farage's stupidity on this. He's made lots of "mistakes" but mostly seemed quite calculated.
He had a chance to prove doubters wrong - Lowe had become slowly less unanimous in his support, but could have been an easy win for Farage to nip it in the bud and bring him back into the fold, and prove he wasn't what many said he was. But he didn't.
Now he just looks like a petty narcissist - which might just well be the case
well many of us have suspected he's like that for a number of years, it's why I never touched anything of Nige's with a bargepole...
Don't disagree at all - think he just removed the benefit of the doubt from everyone else and will come to realise it
Well written and I am angry at people like Matt Goodwin now going on about 'online right' as if we are extremist. Surely he is an online right so why differentiate. Its just another way of labeling folk 'far right'. I know a lot of these folk have career interests in Reform so want it to survive - but in what form and if not for deportation of illegals, then why support it. It Is sad to see Reform use the same nasty tactics on Rupert Lowe as other parties. Cancelling and calling the police. I think Zia is a globalist and watering down policies. Rupert has been misrepresented and deliberately so. I think a lot of folk will not want to vote for Reform now and only hope something else forms of people who mean what they say. Illegal immigrants should be removed- end of.
Yes Goodwin has gone down a few pegs in my regards on this. Sounded like Starmer
I also noticed on GB News they are quoting polls saying nobody knows Lowe and slating Lowe. Seems very unfair as he is the one victimised. Probably they are backing Nigel as he is on their channel. Going off them now too. Oh dear!
Farage seems to have lost sight of the point of himself, a bolshie individualist who knew what was needed in terms of leaving the EU but who has struggled to concentrate on UK politics since he started to move in the same exalted circles as US billionaires. It has distracted him and disappointed his constituents. He won't stick to any promises now; he shot his bolt with Brexit and even then applied for a German passport, which showed what steadfast faith he had in it.
Bad choice as leader, and I hope Rupert Lowe does start a new party; he has just the sort of moral code and ethics that the English will be glad to follow.
I enjoyed your particularly acute observation between Mr Farage and showbiz. As any performer knows you do not want a colleague poking a hole in the mystic ohma mid way through the act but that's exactly what Mr Lowe has done. Bizarrely egos appear to be very fragile for a party with such certainty of outlook, and self confidence so low. The lead performer hasn't had the nouse nor balls to ignore the poke but instead contributed to its enlargement by reacting poorly.The dry ice is off, the curtains are up, the house lights are on, the performer with his tatty suit and dodgy make up is on full rude display. The mystic ohma is gone, how long will it take to get it back particularly with the visages of Trump & Putin painted fawningly on the back drop Couldn't happen to a nicer person, but hey don't we all wanna try to be rich and influential without the responsibility ?
Nigel’s ego clearly matters to him far more than saving the UK from the globalists. Sadly you were right all along Pete and I was wrong to give Farage what I thought was the benefit of the doubt as the best hope of electing a nationalist. I will follow Matt Goodwin’s advice for the moment and stick with Reform as I have nowhere else to go but Farage is on notice from me that my vote is hanging by a thread and he’s drinking in the last saloon. I’m very sad.
Good summary. What a waste as the Farage/Lowe tension on immigration could have been managed really well, covering both wings of the party with an honest dilemma we all need to address.
Very good analysis and for me, as an ex UKIP member, District Chairman, four times election candidate and who also held the job of Office Manager in Birmingham for six months, I speak with some authority on Nigel Farage who is a very poor team leader and uses and abuses his grass roots for his own ends.
Until elected to Westminster Farage "got away with murder" protected by being out of sight in Brussels but now he has to face the Westminster press pack and has nowhere to hide.
It is my very strong opinion that for the good of politics in this country, especially the growth of the 'Right', Farage needs to be exposed and his personality cult cleared from the scene to allow something serious to grow in his place.
Whether Rupert Lowe can keep up the fight and ultimately drive the final stake through Nigel's heart (assuming he has one!) is yet unknown but I hope he does succeed for the good our country.
Yes, it will be good to see him gone, but we still need an alternative to the 2 party system. Will Reform just fold or will something good come out of it all? I hope for the latter.
We'll see how the cookie's crumbling very soon with the Runcorn & Helsby by-election. If Labour sneak it, it could be game over for Reform. Putting it out of its misery may open the gate for Lowe and Habib. If Reform win It, though, Farage will double down and then we'll have years more of the pantomime.
Suddenly Reform have most to lose in Runcorn. No more free hits for Farage and he’ll be expected to win each by-election. And the tragedy is they may well have without this self-inflicted wound.
It didn't take very long for you (Pete North) to be proved totally correct about both Reform and Farage. In my previous comments I have criticised your negativity about Farage and I now realise that I was blinkered in my outlook by my desperate desire for some new political direction to be made manifest in our benighted country. I will be very surprised if the net result of the distasteful events of the last few days do not herald the demise of Reform as a serious emergent political force in the UK. My apologies to you for my previous criticisms - I meant no offence I was simply naive in my belief that Farage/Reform could, if given the chance, be the answer to the Uk's woes.
I’m with you on this Malcolm. I didn’t want to hear criticism of the leader of our only hope either but have to accept it now. How nice to read a polite apology. How noble and civilised and rare these days!
I’m with you on this Malcolm. I didn’t want to hear criticism of the leader of our only hope either but have to accept it now. How nice to read a polite apology. How noble and civilised and rare these days!
I still can't bring myself to forgive the Tories- particularly after 2019. Great analysis - but self inflicted wounds from Reform. Very disappointing.
Agreed The Tories destroyed the economy with a debt so huge, you can see it from the moon. Labour wanted them to spend even more so, somehow, they must both go.
This is the time for all of Farage's victims to get together and campaign for the same party.
I thought of this the other day, but a chat show hosted by Kilroy would be a far more entertaining vehicle. This is the end, surely?
One has to hope Reform reads your pieces Pete. You're the best advisor they have.The party seems incapable of self-reflection.
After the Lowe debacle it has many supporters (I include myself) doubting it's veracity and character.
Farage is firmly sitting on the fence regarding Reform's raison d'etre - ie: illegal immigration. It would seem he's used the problem as a elevator to personal public prominence and nothing more.
Lowe was the most active and most vociferously pro-UK, pro deportation MP. Without Lowe Reform seems shallow and undefined.
That Zia Yusuf, (chaiman) former darling of the WEF, is nothing more than a Trojan Horse within the party is probably a conspiracy theory gone too far - but the less critical will still back Reform as the only hope the UK has.
Unless Farage puts meat on the bones of his immigration policy he's lost my support and detractors and the wavering following, will continue to probe and expose any duplicity. It's not looking good. Nor should it.
Civil war is inevitable. There is no political solution to our Balkanisation problem.
Nailed