Farage's populist right Reform Party wins its beach head in parliament (UPDATED)

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Farage's populist right Reform Party wins its beach head in parliament (UPDATED)

Published: Friday, July 5th, 2024 @ 9:45 am
By: John Steed ( More Entries )

UPDATE: With all votes counted, Farage's Reform Party won 17% of the vote nationally and five seats in the House of Commons. As the Conservative Party starts the process of finding a new leader, the longest serving Tory MP called for trying to bring Farage and Reform into the Conservative Party.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13606689/Tory-Reform-Nigel-Farage-Priti-Patel-Kemi-Badenoch-Suella-Braverman-Tugendhat.html

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Brexit hero Nigel Farage and his populist nationalist anti-immigration Reform Party won its beachhead in the British parliament in elections yesterday. Reform exceeded expectations on its vote percentage with 14% of the vote, compared to the winning Labour Party which had 34%. It beat more established parties like the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, and Green party in vote share, although because Reform's votes were more widely distributed across the country and the Liberal Democrats more concentrated, the Liberal Democrats won more seats.

Farage won his own seat of Clacton by a wide margin over the Conservative incumbent and Lee Anderson, who had won his previous election as a Conservative and switched to Reform was easily reelected. Reform has won at least two other seats. They have also finished in second place in almost 100 other seats.

A split in right of center votes let Labour win an overall majority, although they would have clearly lost if Conservative and Reform votes had been cast for one party. The Conservatives had won a thumping majority five years ago under Boris Johnson, a small "c" Conservative, but he was ousted as leader in an intra-party coup by Rishi Sunak, a more moderate type, who raised taxes, dithered on immigration, failed to cut all ties with the EU, and pushed the green agenda.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/05/nigel-farages-reform-uk-party-shocks-with-significant-gains-expected.html

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1919289/number-of-seats-tories-nigel-farage-reform-uk

https://conservativehome.com/2024/07/03/piers-mckenzie-baker-the-conservatives-need-farage-if-they-want-a-new-generation-of-voters/

Here is one of Farage's campaign videos from the election:

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Comments

Steven P. Rader said:

( July 5th, 2024 @ 7:04 pm )

The story of why it happened is at least as interesting as the result, and after all the result was baked in the cake now for weeks. I think I even remember seeing what was certain to happen mentioned on this site days or weeks ago.

The gist of it is that while Boris Johnson was driving, Rishi Sunak pushed him out of the drivers seat and grabbed the wheel, then drove the party into the ditch. It is deja vu of when John Major pushed Margaret Thatcher out of the drivers seat, greabbed the wheel and drove the party into the ditch a few decades ago. That should have been a learning experience but clearly wasn't.

As to the future leadership of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, a dynamic well spoken small "c" Conservative black female MP, appears to be the frontrunner, and the party grassroots is loudly demanding a say in the process this time.
www.dailymail.co.uk

Big Bob said:

( July 5th, 2024 @ 4:09 pm )

750 words to say crushed.
Might be a new record.

Steven P. Rader said:

( July 5th, 2024 @ 4:03 pm )

A former British colleague I had worked with in Europe who had held roles in the UK Conservative Party much of his life told me before the election that he expected this result. Rishi Sunak had lost the confidence of the party base and they had Reform nipping at their heels from the right. I see in the British newspapers that at the latest count, Reform had picked up a fifth seat.

This election was more a referendum on Rishi Sunak than anything else, and he was not very well liked even within his own party. I see Boris Johnson now has a plan to revive the Conservative Party, but its way forward is still uncertain until new leadership is selected.

This election has many similarities to John Major's race after he ousted Margaret Thatcher in a palace coup in the middle of her term, and then went down to resounding defeat in the next election. Rishi Sunak stabbed Boris Johnson in the back to take his job, and had the same result at the next general election. Both Major and Sunak were Tory "wets" (less conservative and more opportunistic) but their main reason to oust the sitting prime minister in both cases was personal ambition. Thatcher and Johnson were both small"c" Conservatives who had led their party to major victories, only to see themselves ousted, replaced by weak leaders, and the party go down to defeat the next election.

In Sunak's case, he particularly alienated the party base by the way he went about his power play. After stabbing Boris Johnson in the back and causing his ouster, the party had a two step process to choose a new prime minister. First parliament reduced the choices to two in a series of votes and then all party members cast a ballot between those two. Sunak was the top choice of the parliament caucus, but lost by a wide margin to Liz Truss among party members. Sunak then set about undermining Truss and bringing her down. Truss was another snall "c" Conservative. Sunak then managed to change the procedure to elimintate the party members voting on the replacement, so he won with only the parliament caucus. That created a lot of bitterness among party activists which has lingered since and made Reform more attractive.

Boris Johnson may be the Conservative Party's only hope of getting back on its feet. Johnson has also had an ability to work things out with Farage in the past. If the new leadership is another "wet" then look for the party to be replaced by the Reform Party.