Antivax conspiracists have been in the Reform orbit for a while. As have the climate change denial folks (which is more or less Reform policy), most recently the “15 minute city” flavour.
I have a feeling the next branch might be the “cashless society” stuff that’s brewing.
Reform seems to be the natural party for cranks, more so than UKIP was.
The problem is having one singular “industry standard” in the first place. If Adobe is eventually dislodged for something else it would eventually become just as bad, because there would still be no meaningful competition to keep it in line.
Truss is out! Defeated by Labour candidate Terry Jermy by only 630 votes.
There's a chance Liz Truss could lose her seat this time. She previously had a large majority but her failed stint as PM tarnishing her and a strong challenge by a local independent could unseat her.
Global pork markets will never be the same again.
From the results that have come in so far, the right wing populist party Reform UK is quickly rising as a new political force. They've placed second in at least three constituencies so far.
If Starmer's Labour fail to make visible progress to the country's fortunes we could be facing a Trump moment in the form of Nigel Farage.
And as for the S*n, they just put their weight behind whoever is going to win.
I was a bit surprised the S*n did switch to Labour. From what I've heard there still a grudge amongst Murdoch and his minions towards Starmer, due the prosecutions he pursued as DPP during the phone hacking scandal.
After seeing the first few results come in, my main worry is how Starmer's Labour will react to the rise of Reform. If Labour cannot visibly begin to turn things around, and they also fail to effectively counter the building populist undercurrent, we could be heading for some dark times.
We will have to see what exactly Starmer's Labour will actually do once it has power.
First result is in at Houghton and Sunderland South.
Labour hold with 18,847 (47.1%) but Reform second with 11,668 (29.1%). Turnout also down compared to last 2 elections.
Yeah I was hoping they would fall under 100. The exit poll is just another poll though - it still could change yet. Maybe the projections won't properly account for the effect of Reform and independents.
13 seats for Reform feels like it would be more than a foot in the door for Faragism if the exit poll is accurate for them. I hope Labour will be able to provide effective counters to this.
Of course it's also possible that with suddenly gaining MPs in double digits, the inexperienced party might keep tripping over itself before it can trip anyone else.
More potential for drama I guess. Labour's attitude is too subdued.
Except in England, where it is still largely grey and miserable. We are still patiently waiting for summer.