| Reform 06:58 - May 2 with 28992 views | Benters |
Well done.
They don’t like it up em 👍🇬🇧 |  |
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| Reform on 12:47 - May 2 with 1441 views | vapour_trail |
| Reform on 12:30 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
online somewhere there will be analysis of voting patterns by social class. when you find some data showing that reform voters are largely graduates in ns-sec analytic classes 1 and 2 do feel free to post it. |
You made it up. Thanks for clarifying.
Part of the problem. |  |
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| Reform on 12:48 - May 2 with 1428 views | lowhouseblue |
| Reform on 12:47 - May 2 by vapour_trail |
You made it up. Thanks for clarifying.
Part of the problem. |
again, you gov calculates that in the 2024 election the proportion of social classes c2de supporting reform was twice the proportion of social classes abc1. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Reform on 12:49 - May 2 with 1437 views | hype313 |
Wowzers, some absolute whopper of replies on here today.
Funnily enough, I played tennis with a guy last night, he's just come over from Zimbabwe with his wife and 2 children, as both he and his wife are doctors and have been recruited because we have such a demand for these skills, and they are assimilating into the community really well.
It's a terrible indictment that the debate has become as black and white, well as black and white.
We are being lead by parties who want to divide and conquer, the fact that so many can't see this leads me to think that the vast majority of people this country, on all political sides, are just incredibly thick. |  |
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| Reform on 12:52 - May 2 with 1404 views | Herbivore |
| Reform on 12:46 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
you gov calculates that in the 2024 election the proportion of social classes c2de supporting reform was twice the proportion of social classes abc1. |
Though more people in those lower social classes voted for Labour and the Tories than voted for Reform. So more working class people are voting for the two traditional major parties than for Reform by a wide margin. In fact, only 20% of voters in the lower social class brackets voted Reform. So basically you conflating Reform voters with the working class is wholly inaccurate. I'll await your apology for being deliberately misleading.
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49978-how-britain-voted-in-the-2024-gener |  |
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| Reform on 12:52 - May 2 with 1407 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
| Reform on 11:51 - May 2 by bsw72 |
If Reform has based their public campaigns around sensible conversations relating to managing immigration then fair enough - but they are constantly muddying the water over legal migration, asylum seekers and illegal migrants *just* to get the nationalist votes.
In 2024 legal migration accounts for ~1.2M people, down by 20% on prior year - the vast majority are needed to run essential services. Lose them and the country struggles as we do not have the skills or the people to plug that gap short term. Asylum seekers adds another ~100K people, of which an estimated 28K come over on the small boats. Reform makes a huge song and dance about that 28K, which is 2% of the total - the whole "stop the boats" nonsense.
Let's look at some other claims by Reform / Farage which are simply not true and unworkable, but aimed to whip up people to vote for them:
Claim: More migrants arrived in Britain in two years than in the previous 944 years.
Reform UK leader Richard Tice claimed that more migrants arrived in the UK during 2022 and 2023 than between the years 1066 and 2010, this was not true. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported approximately 2.5 million long-term immigrants during 2022 and 2023. In contrast, between 1855 and 2010, an estimated 32.5 million long-term immigrants arrived in the UK. There is no reliable data on migration figures dating back to 1066, making the comparison baseless.
Claim: The UK can return all migrants crossing the Channel in small boats directly to France.
Another gem but legally unfeasible. Reform UK advocates for intercepting and returning all small boat arrivals to France. However, legal experts have noted that such actions would violate international law including the 1951 Refugee Convention, unless France agrees to accept the returnees, which it currently does not.
Claim: The UK can achieve zero net migration by freezing “non-essential” legal immigration.
Bonkers and highly impractical. Reform UK’s proposal to halt “non-essential” legal immigration seems to forget how the UK relies on foreign workers in critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and hospitality. Would most likely lead to labour shortages and economic disruptions.
Claim: Raising employer National Insurance contributions to 20% for foreign workers will incentivize hiring British workers.
This is both discriminatory and economically harmful. Unless Reform go down the route of changing discrimination laws then a policy like this would be seen as discriminatory and illegal. Additionally, it would likely deter businesses from hiring necessary foreign talent again leading to skill shortages and negatively impacting the UK economy.
Claim: The UK can save £150 billion annually by cutting bureaucracy and foreign aid without affecting frontline services.
Reform UK continue to claim that significant savings can be made without impacting essential services. However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has challenged this stating that such savings would likely require substantial cuts to public services, affecting their quantity and/or quality.
I don't believe that all reform voters are racist, I think there are a number of concerned and angry people who are voting for them as they are desperate for change and feel disenfranchised by the other parties.
My concern arises from the fact Reform are trying to get themselves elected on policies which are completely non feasible, knowing that the target audience believe their propaganda and not question the underlying practicality of what is being promised. |
To me the question around asylum seekers and net migration is two different things which get tangled up by people in both sides of the debate. In my opinion irregular migration is largely a non/issue weaponised by both the media and politicians. It’s a small number that could easily fit in a football stadium - mostly people genuinely felling persecution or war. Those that aren’t are returned.
It’s used as a political football to detract from snowballing legal net migration. It’s reached a point where the numbers could fill Bristol twice in a single year. I think most people accept with an aging population we need migration to fill skills gaps and the aging population. However, in my opinion it’s head in sand to deny a million extra people a year isn’t going to put strain on public services and housing costs (I posted an analysis by Bank of Canada that supports this). There has to be some sensible debates about what is sustainable- ignoring it is just playing into the hands of populists. Whilst we need younger people to pay into the system, we are still seeing record taxes as well as record migration. We also see firms hiring skilled workers from abroad rather than training people, or in the case of the NHS not appropriately funding the training - that’s a failure of government policy (and worries me for the prospects of the next generation of workers).
That said I really thought the nonsense going on in the US would see the end of Reform in the mainstream- it’s an insight into what things would look like in the UK - and deeply worrying. |  | | |
| Reform on 12:52 - May 2 with 1402 views | Horsham |
| Reform on 10:43 - May 2 by NeedhamChris |
I didn't downvote you because of your son. Let's not weaponise things to make a point.
We're in full agreement about the negatives of Reform and as a parent of two young boys who are 2 and 0 - I worry about what life would be like with Reform in power.
Where we fundamentally disagree is how to engage with it - and I downvoted you because I read your post and all I see posts like yours doing is entrenching people further and further into the views that you're worried about.
"half these fools voting for them" - "party of nasty thick racists" - it's just a really ineffective way of changing minds and I think such a poor way to debate. Since when is calling someone a fool or racist going to engage someone?
I wish you and your son all the best - and I hope we're both happy in the future and support for Reform dissipates. But as someone also concerned about the future of my children - I am within my rights to give a view on what I see as people making that scary future MORE likely. |
Not everyone has to lay there story out there but I will say this that as another person who has kids with disabilities I am quite in tune with his concerns for the future as it feels to me like society is moving toward a prevailing attitude ranging from wanting to cut financial support to the disabled to outright spite and bigotry.
That’s how it feels it’s going. My kids will probably be dependent on me until I die and if I feel a particular political persuasion is being hateful towards them I’m not going to worry too much about offending their supporters. |  | | |
| Reform on 12:57 - May 2 with 1345 views | lowhouseblue |
which is twice the percentage they received from abc1 | |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Reform on 13:04 - May 2 with 1321 views | leitrimblue |
| Reform on 12:57 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
which is twice the percentage they received from abc1 |
So only 20% of working class voters voted reform?
But your suggesting that people calling reform voters racist ( which I don't think is a wise move anyway) are calling the working class racist.
I wonder why that is? |  | | |
| Reform on 13:08 - May 2 with 1298 views | Herbivore |
| Reform on 12:57 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
which is twice the percentage they received from abc1 |
Ffs. | |
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| Reform on 13:09 - May 2 with 1294 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Reform on 10:21 - May 2 by Libero |
Very worrying times. It makes me fear for my son's future, he has high support needs and everything I've read from Reform surrounding disability and the benefits required to support disabled people is absolutely abysmal, totally inhumane.
There there's the fact they're a party of nasty thick racists...
Beggars belief that there's a taste for their nonsense- but half these fools voting for them won't have read any documentation and are just bewitched by Farage's facade. [Post edited 2 May 10:22]
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‘Nah, he doesn’t have needs. He’s just been over-diagnosed and needs to man up’ is pretty much the Reform argument.
I feel for you. We will have a Reform government, as we’ve seen this play out before with Brexit and it’s largely unstoppable. People want a scapegoat and aren’t prepared to worry about it being a stupid idea that won’t help. At that point I hope they’ve changed their views on disability and climate and pretty much everything, otherwise things will get far worse. |  |
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| Reform on 13:12 - May 2 with 1265 views | Swansea_Blue |
The div list works well lol | |
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| Reform on 13:16 - May 2 with 1249 views | Kievthegreat |
| Reform on 12:57 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
which is twice the percentage they received from abc1 |
Lib Dems got 25% more votes among ABC1 than they did C2DE. |  | | |
| Reform on 13:18 - May 2 with 1236 views | Herbivore |
| Reform on 13:12 - May 2 by Swansea_Blue |
The div list works well lol |
I've never been a fan of it but I might have to make an exception soon. I think their brand could best be described as toxic disingenuity. | |
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| Reform on 13:22 - May 2 with 1195 views | lowhouseblue |
| Reform on 12:52 - May 2 by Herbivore |
Though more people in those lower social classes voted for Labour and the Tories than voted for Reform. So more working class people are voting for the two traditional major parties than for Reform by a wide margin. In fact, only 20% of voters in the lower social class brackets voted Reform. So basically you conflating Reform voters with the working class is wholly inaccurate. I'll await your apology for being deliberately misleading.
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49978-how-britain-voted-in-the-2024-gener |
reform only got 14% of the vote in 2024 - they didn't have majority support in any class. the point is that their support is disproportionately from classes c2de and since the general election that support has almost doubled. [Post edited 2 May 13:23]
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| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Reform on 13:24 - May 2 with 1178 views | Herbivore |
| Reform on 13:22 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
reform only got 14% of the vote in 2024 - they didn't have majority support in any class. the point is that their support is disproportionately from classes c2de and since the general election that support has almost doubled. [Post edited 2 May 13:23]
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Toxic disingenuity. | |
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| Reform on 13:28 - May 2 with 1133 views | Libero |
| Reform on 13:09 - May 2 by Swansea_Blue |
‘Nah, he doesn’t have needs. He’s just been over-diagnosed and needs to man up’ is pretty much the Reform argument.
I feel for you. We will have a Reform government, as we’ve seen this play out before with Brexit and it’s largely unstoppable. People want a scapegoat and aren’t prepared to worry about it being a stupid idea that won’t help. At that point I hope they’ve changed their views on disability and climate and pretty much everything, otherwise things will get far worse. |
You get it.
When Farage made those pathetic and inaccurate comments it was pretty triggering, as someone who has had to fight *every* step of the way to get the bare minimum support for my boy, who clearly has high support needs.
I WISH it was that easy, it isn't. It's sincerely draining having to advocate for the very basics and fighting ignorance sewn by these fck nuggets.
All these whoppers talking of asylum and conflating it with the matter at hand, which is the rise in fascism across the world, are the exact people who have drunk the kool-aid and while many of them may well be reasonable, kind, empathetic people in other aspects of their life, I have zero tolerance for such profound ignorance - especially as someone who has worked directly with asylum seekers too. I get it upsets people, but the reality is the vast majority of people spewing their bile on this subject have absolutely no idea wtf they're talking about.
-then there's the overarching macro issue about the spread of misinformation, how easily swayed people are, 'post expert age' hypernormalisation, etc.
So yeah- forgive me if I think that people who vote for a thick, ignorant, clearly and overtly racist and bigoted party who cosplay as working class people and trade on not being like 'the political elite' despite being funded by the usual array of hedge funds and deplorables, are thick w@nkers. [Post edited 2 May 13:35]
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| Reform on 13:33 - May 2 with 1098 views | Libero |
| Reform on 12:52 - May 2 by Horsham |
Not everyone has to lay there story out there but I will say this that as another person who has kids with disabilities I am quite in tune with his concerns for the future as it feels to me like society is moving toward a prevailing attitude ranging from wanting to cut financial support to the disabled to outright spite and bigotry.
That’s how it feels it’s going. My kids will probably be dependent on me until I die and if I feel a particular political persuasion is being hateful towards them I’m not going to worry too much about offending their supporters. |
Indeed - the subtle lean into ideology associated with eugenics is becoming more and more prevalent because of these total arseholes.
There is no reasoning with stupid - we're in a horrible situation where many of us are just waiting for the inevitable. | | | |
| Reform on 13:36 - May 2 with 1066 views | _clive_baker_ |
| Reform on 08:58 - May 2 by CrayonKing |
100% this. Labour (and the Tories) trying to become Reform Lite just validates Reform's position in the eyes of their voters. At some point you've got to grow a spine and tell people they're wrong. |
This is a very pertinent point. The more the mainstream political parties attempt to mop up every vote, all it does is validates their rhetoric. It effectively acts as a proof of concept that provides credibility to parties like Reform. The consequence is 'look, everyone is talking about this, it must be the single biggest issue that needs addressing in this country, who is the party that's built its whole existence on it?'.
All this behaviour does is results in what in business would be called clustering. Rather than seeding that to opposing parties and using it as a counter point off which to leverage and amplify their own message, all we get is political parties converging and becoming more and more alike.
I want to see my party need to stand for something in a principled way. I don't expect them to be all things to all people. Imagine a world where parties stick to their north stars and resist the temptation to 'compete' on every issue. Each party with their own distinct roles, surely that's a much healthier state for politics. |  | | |
| Reform on 13:38 - May 2 with 1050 views | lowhouseblue |
| Reform on 13:24 - May 2 by Herbivore |
Toxic disingenuity. |
as at april 2025 yougov has the % of uk population that think immigration is too high at 70%. you are simply out of touch on this issue. if you listened to views outside of your bubble you'd be less surprised when it's pointed out to you. | |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Reform on 13:52 - May 2 with 975 views | glasso |
| Reform on 10:57 - May 2 by TractorWood |
From Blair onwards, Unis have become money spinners built on ludicrous fees, spurious demand for spurious degrees and masters etc, Rest of World students who pay a premium over UK students and the purpose built student accommodation bubble.
This props up absurdly paid middle and senior management. There is clearly going to be a slow or rapid burst of the bubble. |
As someone who works in 'middle or senior management' I'm definitely absurdly paid. And what I mean by that, is that it's absurd how little of my pay is left each month after I've paid my mortgage and bills. | | | |
| Reform on 13:53 - May 2 with 972 views | Herbivore |
| Reform on 13:38 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
as at april 2025 yougov has the % of uk population that think immigration is too high at 70%. you are simply out of touch on this issue. if you listened to views outside of your bubble you'd be less surprised when it's pointed out to you. |
And he pivots and he swerves and he makes stuff up. Again. Toxic disingenuity. | |
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| Reform on 13:54 - May 2 with 965 views | J2BLUE |
Hopefully they have peaked early and fall away long before the next election. |  |
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| Reform on 13:55 - May 2 with 961 views | leitrimblue |
| Reform on 13:38 - May 2 by lowhouseblue |
as at april 2025 yougov has the % of uk population that think immigration is too high at 70%. you are simply out of touch on this issue. if you listened to views outside of your bubble you'd be less surprised when it's pointed out to you. |
And I'm guessing you wrongly believe that 100% of that 70% are working class? 
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm sure you said before you were a lifelong Labour Party member? | | | |
| Reform on 13:56 - May 2 with 955 views | Churchman |
As far as I’m concerned, Reform are a bunch of charlatans and grifters. They’ll not be getting my vote.
However, people I know do support them and clearly at the moment so are a lot of other people. Labour and the opposition have to ask the question why and in Labour’s case what are they actually doing about it? |  | | |
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