I am annoyed that East Sussex isn't having local elections this year because they want to merge the local councils into the county council.
The problem is that the county council is headquartered in the west of the county and seems to progressively ignore everything to the east - road connections deteriorate, road quality deteriorates (repairs) etc. being the most obvious example. Need to do anything important re the county council then one needs to go west.
It will only be worse if the local councils are removed.
Early results for places with elections at the time of posting show Reform having large wins.
They don't appeal to me but they clearly appeal to quite a number of the population.
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Funny you should say that, I've always noticed how much better the road quality is when ever I've crossed over from East to West Sussex... thought I was just imagining it.
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Reform seem to have done pretty well, still lots of votes to be counted.
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Disappointing that so many can vote for a party with no credible policies led by the empty vessel Farage. Reform doesn't seem to be very good at vetting its candidates so there's a good chance some real stinkers have been elected and consequently some juicy revelations in the coming months.
I'm actually quite concerned to have decent people in local government. Reform is the leading party in Herts CC voting so far despite it's threadbare plans and no proposals to pay for them. Farage has said it doesn't matter because it's a long time to the next general election, or something like that. The Reform policies I can recall are tax cuts for smaller companies, scrapping net zero, tax relief on school fees, "leaving ECHR", and scrapping the licence fee. Expect Badenough to chase after them. I hope Labour has more sense than to try and compete.
Labour IMO is being severely and deservedly hammered for the winter fuel fiasco and threatening PIP, both of which were very badly done and communicated.
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Just remember, Farage is a major contributor to Brexit, the gift that keeps on giving.
Plus, the Russian State paid him over £548k through Russia Today in 2018 alone.
Plus, he is IMHO likely to do a lot of damage to the NHS www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/farage-reform-nhs-local-elections-starmer-b2742970.html
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Isnt this just a mid term protest vote? The tories are toast after the Liz Truss debacle, so just cannon fodder, its a labour cutting benefits protest.
You wait till you see what Farage does to your benefits.
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Results coming in suggest its a bit of landslide for reform. They've come from nowhere to win several councils.
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>> Isnt this just a mid term protest vote? The tories are toast after the Liz
>> Truss debacle, so just cannon fodder, its a labour cutting benefits protest.
Absolutely.
But if, as it seems, they are getting control of councils that will be 'fun'. Practically none of them, presumably, will have been councillors before and (stereotyping alert) a load of obnoxious UKIP types and Tommy Robinson fans drunk on their new-found importance throwing their weight about could be interesting.
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We live in a democracy and Reform have triumphed - get used to it. Tory and Labour have failed to persuade voters - it is they who need to massively up their game.
First - Reform have Farage - a very effective communicator. Badenoch and Starmer are completely uninspiring. Although superficial, presentation is at least as important as policy.
Second - policies are simplistic "black and white" solutions to perceived issues. Whether one agrees is irrelevant - the public are happy to believe in simplistic solutions.
Third - other parties sit on the fence delivering anodyne rhetoric for fear of alienating one or another interest group. Tories failed to deliver due to Covid and years spent diverted by Brexit wrangling. Labour have made a poor start.
All have a vote, yet most are incapable of complex policy, economic or political analysis. They simply know what affects them personally. So a populist vote for Reform is unsurprising.
I find the Reform presentation attractive but not give them my vote - their views on Brexit, net zero etc are completely at odds with my own views. Tory and Labour need to radically improve their offering, communicate it effectively, and DO rather than PREVARICATE.
The success of Reform in local and mayoral elections may be a positive outcome. Over the next four years it will become apparent whether they can deliver effective change, or expose their inadequacies before the next general election.
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>> We live in a democracy and Reform have triumphed - get used to it.
Getting used to the most popular party being right-wing nut-jobs is not something we should be doing IMO.
>>Tory
>> and Labour have failed to persuade voters - it is they who need to massively
>> up their game.
They certainly need to up their communication.
>> Labour have made a poor start.
I judge that Labour has made a reasonable start given the appalling starting point, the challenge of getting any growth at all, and unfortunately the death knell for the growth strategy is Trump's ongoing attempt at destroying world trade.
Sadly they did not read the room very well or pay sufficient attention to the narrative. Labour is essentially getting the blame for the shambles left by the Conservatives, aided by Labour's own lack of practise perhaps.
>> So a populist vote for Reform is unsurprising.
I must agree.
>> I find the Reform presentation attractive
I don't...it's unrealistic which has been admitted dismissively by Farage. If you mean style...I'm afraid Farage nauseates me.
>> The success of Reform in local and mayoral elections may be a positive outcome. Over
>> the next four years it will become apparent whether they can deliver effective change, or
>> expose their inadequacies before the next general election.
That's my hope. Locals are a bit like by-elections in the present circumstances. They are unlikely to reflect the next GE result. Also, every new Reform councillor is new. Many will be utter duds, some will be found to have dodgy pasts. Ex UKIP and Brexit Party bloviators and Tory rejects like Lee Anderson and Andrea Jenkins are unlikely to bring much credit to Reform
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>Getting used to the most popular party being right-wing nut-jobs is not something we should be doing IMO.
You're making the same mistakes that the Tories made. The same mistakes that resulted in Brexit. The same mistakes the Democrats made and the same mistakes that Labour are busy making.
You're not asking yourself why voters are so downright P'd off that they see the opposition as an attractive alternative.
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>> Disappointing that so many can vote for a party with no credible policies led by
>> the empty vessel Farage.
Most of their policies seem pretty flimsy, that said it says as much about them as it does Con/Lab
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Many did not like the policies of the Tories and after 14 years voted with their feet.
In July last year much of the voting was a protest vote against the Tories.
Labour scooped up huge number of votes and won a landslide victory.
9 months on Labour are struggling - their "July Midas touch" deserted them.
A whole host of unpopular policies saw Reform sweep to success in many areas.
By-Election where the Labour MP had a 15K majority fell to Reform. The sitting MP resigned after punching a man in the street. Today the knockout punch was directed at Labour.
Cancelling the winter heating allowance for many, chopping overseas aid, cancelling /dropping benefit payments, upping National Insurance for employers, job losses, allowing huge increases in council tax, water costs, high electricity & gas charges despite falls in Europe, immigration increasing + illegal immigration increasing.......................
May 2026 sees the Scottish Elections - will Reform gain ground? They have no MSPs so can only stay the same or go up.
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>>
>> May 2026 sees the Scottish Elections - will Reform gain ground? They have no MSPs
>> so can only stay the same or go up.
>>
>>
I think Reform will do pretty well in Scotland. Traditionally right wing parties never did well there, but times change.
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There is a by-election sue soon so maybe Reform could have an MSP
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>> In July last year much of the voting was a protest vote against the Tories.
>> Labour scooped up huge number of votes and won a landslide victory.
>>
Labour hardly "scooped up" a huge number of votes - in 2019 they "scooped up" 32.2% of the vote. In 2024 the managed 33.7% - hardly a massive increase - 1.5%.
They won a massive majority as Reform and LibDems largely split the Tory vote - Reform got 14.3%, Tories reduced from 43.6% to 23.7%.
The protest vote meant the Tories lost votes to Reform (where Labour were in 2nd place) and to Lib Dems where they were usually second placed.
Far from a vote of confidence in Starmer, Reeves and Co it was anyone but the Tories!!
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"Brilliant news, isn't it. Labour have ruined this country and now they've been punished,' says Colin Jones, outside his memorabilia shop."
Labour haven't been in for a year yet, and the 14 years of the Tories screwing up the country have been forgotten.
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Not taking sides but how long does that reason stand up I wonder? I notice Trump is using it too now.
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At the end of the day, all policians are useless*, and the electorate has unrealistuic expectations.
* Useless yes, but to be fair little actual control, its now a global economy and we in the uk just a small wheel.
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The difference is the US economy was being described as miraculous at the end of Biden's term. 4% growth, employment growth, low interest rates and low inflation, investment growth.
I don't think anybody will argue that that was what the Conservatives left. There was a reason they went early on the GE.
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>The difference is the US economy was being described as miraculous at the end of Biden's term.
Miraculously pretty average with ballooning national debt and a credit rating downgrade?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xl5vnlzpwo
www.investopedia.com/us-national-debt-by-year-7499291
For fun:
www.usdebtclock.org/
www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html
Note the UK external debt and guess what that means for the UK economy.
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> Miraculously pretty average with ballooning national debt and a credit rating downgrade?
>>
>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xl5vnlzpwo
>>
>> www.investopedia.com/us-national-debt-by-year-7499291
>>
>>
It was doing pretty well under Biden, far better than now. But people didn't feel the increase, they'll notice the drop off under Trump though. His approval ratings at 100 days are the worst in 80 years.
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Inflation hit 9% in 2022, not all Biden's fault of course, but people definitely did feel the increase, particularly low income folks. Gas prices and groceries saw increases well into double digits.
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The US economy is pretty big, resilient and diverse, sure it will move around a bit when things like covid hit, but it takes a lot to screw it up. Wall street does from time to time, covid did, and Trump will 2nd term - he is not thinking,
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Local Elections... - Rudedog
