Last week I believe we witnessed something truly momentous in British politics.
It wasn’t just the sheer scale of Reform UK’s success in these local elections, stunning though that was. What was really extraordinary was that so many of our breakthroughs came in the traditional old Labour heartlands in the North East, the North West, in Yorkshire and the West Midlands. In many of those areas, the evidence could not have been clearer. The votes were a straight switch from the Labour Party to Reform UK.
Now, the usual Westminster chin-strokers will dismiss these results. They always do. They will argue that this was a protest vote against Sir Keir Starmer’s utter uselessness and that at a general election those Labour voters will return home.
They’ve seen these voters stick two fingers up to Labour before, such as when UKIP won the European elections in 2014 and when Boris Johnson advanced into the Red Wall in 2019. “They always come back,” they’ll say.
Well not this time they won’t. Those voters have left Labour for good. And come the next general election several cabinet members will almost certainly lose their seats. In fact, had it been a general election last Thursday, Lisa Nandy, Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds would have lost their seats.
Why am I so confident about that? Because I’ve spent the past five months touring the country and I can honestly say those voters no longer feel any connection to the Labour party whatsoever.
Nowadays they see it as a London-centric party run by a bunch of human rights lawyers with absolutely no proper understanding of their day-to-day lives.
What’s more, they see it led by an inane prime minister who constantly insists on drawing us back closer under European Union rules. Quite rightly, they see that as a complete betrayal of their Brexit vote in 2016.
They also feel that the party that was once on the side of workers is now more on the side of welfare. This is now one of the biggest divides in our society. That is what I found going around the streets and pubs of these towns. Whether it was guys wearing orange jackets working for local councils, paid-up trade union members or the self-employed, these people were genuinely angry.
Frankly I don’t blame them. They know people living in their streets who are gaming the system and living a life on benefits while they break their backs every day.
Those same people were desperate for a party that understands alarm clock Britain, understands how hard they have to work while being taxed to death for the privilege.
These communities are also upset that mass migration, without integration, has broken their towns into pieces.
Almost everyone I spoke to complained about the rise of anti-social behaviour. The acceptability of shoplifting. The drugs being taken on the street. I visited places in Britain where families really fear for their young ones going out at night. It was sickening to hear.
Last Thursday, those once-traditional Labour voters who have been ignored for decades sent a clear message that they want a patriotic party that truly believes in the concept of community - one that is prepared to put the British people first, above the interest of all others at every opportunity.
That is why we won such huge majorities on some of these councils. Reform UK won over 3.8 million votes across Britain - one million more than our nearest rival.
Our ability to attract disillusioned voters from the two main political parties has been nothing short of astonishing. I will have more to say on expanding our offer to those living in the Red Wall in the coming days and weeks. Because we are the only party truly ready to represent them.
The establishment thought Reform UK had peaked. Last week, the British public said otherwise. The truth is we’re just getting started.
It wasn’t just the sheer scale of Reform UK’s success in these local elections, stunning though that was. What was really extraordinary was that so many of our breakthroughs came in the traditional old Labour heartlands in the North East, the North West, in Yorkshire and the West Midlands. In many of those areas, the evidence could not have been clearer. The votes were a straight switch from the Labour Party to Reform UK.
Now, the usual Westminster chin-strokers will dismiss these results. They always do. They will argue that this was a protest vote against Sir Keir Starmer’s utter uselessness and that at a general election those Labour voters will return home.
They’ve seen these voters stick two fingers up to Labour before, such as when UKIP won the European elections in 2014 and when Boris Johnson advanced into the Red Wall in 2019. “They always come back,” they’ll say.
Well not this time they won’t. Those voters have left Labour for good. And come the next general election several cabinet members will almost certainly lose their seats. In fact, had it been a general election last Thursday, Lisa Nandy, Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds would have lost their seats.
Why am I so confident about that? Because I’ve spent the past five months touring the country and I can honestly say those voters no longer feel any connection to the Labour party whatsoever.
Nowadays they see it as a London-centric party run by a bunch of human rights lawyers with absolutely no proper understanding of their day-to-day lives.
What’s more, they see it led by an inane prime minister who constantly insists on drawing us back closer under European Union rules. Quite rightly, they see that as a complete betrayal of their Brexit vote in 2016.
They also feel that the party that was once on the side of workers is now more on the side of welfare. This is now one of the biggest divides in our society. That is what I found going around the streets and pubs of these towns. Whether it was guys wearing orange jackets working for local councils, paid-up trade union members or the self-employed, these people were genuinely angry.
Frankly I don’t blame them. They know people living in their streets who are gaming the system and living a life on benefits while they break their backs every day.
Those same people were desperate for a party that understands alarm clock Britain, understands how hard they have to work while being taxed to death for the privilege.
These communities are also upset that mass migration, without integration, has broken their towns into pieces.
Almost everyone I spoke to complained about the rise of anti-social behaviour. The acceptability of shoplifting. The drugs being taken on the street. I visited places in Britain where families really fear for their young ones going out at night. It was sickening to hear.
Last Thursday, those once-traditional Labour voters who have been ignored for decades sent a clear message that they want a patriotic party that truly believes in the concept of community - one that is prepared to put the British people first, above the interest of all others at every opportunity.
That is why we won such huge majorities on some of these councils. Reform UK won over 3.8 million votes across Britain - one million more than our nearest rival.
Our ability to attract disillusioned voters from the two main political parties has been nothing short of astonishing. I will have more to say on expanding our offer to those living in the Red Wall in the coming days and weeks. Because we are the only party truly ready to represent them.
The establishment thought Reform UK had peaked. Last week, the British public said otherwise. The truth is we’re just getting started.
(This is a slightly edited version of an article published in The Times (London) on 11th May.)
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