Why I Voted Reform

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2026/05/meeting-reform-candidate.html.
The results of last Thursday's election are in. The votes in all 136 councils, mayorals and the Welsh and Scottish legislatures have been counted and it has been, as predicted, a massive grand slam for Reform UK. Their victory dwarfs even last years coup, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/05/why-i-did-not-vote-reform.html. Reform gained 1,453 seats, mostly at the gross expense of Labour and the Tories. Labour barely cleared a thousand, reducing them virtually to a second tier party. The Green Party and independents did well. Many leftwing and Muslim voters have abandoned Labour for the Greens. "Great Yarmouth First" which is a local front for Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain, has scooped up all the area's seats, I'm pleased to say. West of the border, Reform have wiped out Labour in the Senedd. They couldn't quite beat Plaid Cymru to the leadership, but they are a close opposition, making it hard for Plaid to win future votes. Eluned Morgan has had the negative honour of being the first head of government in British history to be ousted in an election. She only got about 6000 votes while Plaid beat her with 31,000. As soon as a successor is chosen she will step down as First Minister of Wales and leader of the Welsh Labour Party. Unlike Boris Johnson, there were no contingency plans to parachute her into another seat via a by-election; I don't think you can do that in the Welsh government. The immovable mountain that it the Scottish National Party has held onto power, but it has lost a few seats. The Conservatives lost nine seats (I didn't know there was such a thing as a Scottish Tory anymore!) and only Reform and the Greens have gained. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cr45k7vqw1pt.

I voted for Reform UK. Yes, I know I promised I never would, and I am still not sure if I did the right thing. The problem is when I got to the polling station I was dismayed to find there was no IOA candidate at all. I was shocked; I had not researched beforehand because I assumed there would be one just like last year. The Alliance only have five people on the polls this time round and none of them were in my ward. I was left with the choice of the uniparty or nothing... or Reform. I was tempted to abstain, but then I remembered my conversation with the Reform candidate last Wednesday, see the link above. I know she is just a sample of one, but could it really be that she is not unusual? Are the ranks of Reform really packed with closet Loweists? If so then a genuinely dissident party lies in the form of great potential in Reform, just under the surface; and that Farage and his cronies are a very vocal and brash, but ultimately very thin and weak cage door trying to hold it back. If I am right then I predict we may see the long knives come out at some point and a revolution from below will oust Nigel with all his dithering and deception. Maybe the new Reform could form a coalition with Restore. What will I do next election? I'm not sure, but this is one of the most remarkable elections I've ever seen in this country. Our latest democratic exercise has really made me reconsider a lot of things.
See here for more background: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2019/10/brexit-portal.html.