Reform UK’s Chairman Claims Party Will Take Up To 400 Seats At Next General Election

Posted on 07/02/2025 by Boris Clair

Reform UK’s chairman has claimed his party will secure between 350 and 400 MPs at the next general election.

That would equate to a landslide victory and would be just a few seats short of the majority of 412 Labour secured in July.

It would also be a world away from the five MPs Reform returned seven months ago.

But, speaking about his party’s astonishing rise, Zia Yusuf told the BBC’s Radio 4′s Political Thinking podcast he thinks Reform “will win between 350 and 400 members of parliament” at the next election, which has to be held before August 2029.

It comes after Reform came out on top of a YouGov poll of voting intentions earlier this week, with 25% compared to Labour’s 24% and the Tories’ 21%.

Another pollster, Find Out Now, claimed on Thursday that Reform had a four-point lead over the other two main parties on 29%, while Labour had 25% and the Tories lagged behind on 18%.

The findings are another boost for Reform’s leader Nigel Farage – who already claims to be the “official opposition” to the government – and will worry Labour and Tory quarters ahead of the local elections in May.

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Find Out Now voting intention:
Reform UK: 29% (+2)
Labour: 25% (+2)
Conservatives: 18% (-3)
Lib Dems: 13% (+2)
Greens: 10% (-)

Changes from 27th January
[Find Out Now, 5th February, N=2,487] pic.twitter.com/he05V9LJa2

— Find Out Now (@FindoutnowUK) February 6, 2025

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Find Out Now voting intention:
Reform UK: 29% (+2)
Labour: 25% (+2)
Conservatives: 18% (-3)
Lib Dems: 13% (+2)
Greens: 10% (-)

Changes from 27th January
[Find Out Now, 5th February, N=2,487] pic.twitter.com/he05V9LJa2

— Find Out Now (@FindoutnowUK) February 6, 2025

Yusuf also took aim at the Conservatives, telling the BBC: “History will judge Boris Johnson as one of the most damaging prime ministers in this country’s history.”

He said the increase in net migration during Johnson’s time in office was “a total betrayal of everybody who voted for Brexit”.

He added: “He took public spending close to Soviet Union spending. So there was nothing Conservative about him.”

His comments are particularly cutting considering Reform – when it was known as the Brexit Party – chose not to contest 317 Tory-won seats in the 2019 general election so as not to split the Leave vote.

Boris Johnson went on to win a landslide victory and the Brexit Party did not secure a single seat in the Commons.

Yusuf addressed worries about the world’s richest man and Donald Trump’s new informal advisor, Elon Musk, donating up to $100m to Reform, too.

“I can understand those concerns. We’re going to play by the rules,” he said.

Pressed on whether his party would accept any donations from the tech magnate, Yusuf said: “Who knows if he will or if he won’t, but if was to make a donation and it was within the rules and it helped us win, then why not?”

Keir Starmer Warned Labour’s Mandate For Change Is Based On A ‘Time Bomb’

Posted on 08/12/2024 by Boris Clair

Labour’s majority in parliament is a ticking “time bomb”, according to a brutal new report – and not because a threat from the right.

Keir Starmer’s party may have won by a landslide in July, taking 411 seats while the Tories languish on just 121, but new findings from Labour-linked think tank Compass claims it still offers a weak mandate for change.

After all, it was a shallow victory as Labour actually won just a third of the popular vote, and that poses a major threat further down the line.

On Thursday, pollsters at Find Out Now put Nigel Farage’s populist Reform Party in second place behind the Tories with Labour in third – just five months after voters hit the ballot box.

But, Compass’s new findings, first reported in the Guardian, have found Labour should be more concerned about their lack of voter loyalty – just two in five who backed Labour in July said they would consider themselves to be Labour supporters – than pressure from the right.

That’s because around 48% of Labour’s voters in July said they would be likely to vote Green or Lib Dem in the future, compared to 23% who said they were more likely to go to Reform or the Tories.

Compass’s report Thin Ice claimed: “They won [in Red Wall seats] because they were not the Tories, because Tory voters stayed at home and because Reform split the regressive vote.

“The 2024 general election was a one-off event in which unprecedented Tory ineptitude met almost unparalleled Labour discipline, but without any deep expression of what, if any, change Labour was offering.”

The pollsters said: “The timidity of this strategy, resting on ‘not being the Tories’, is a time bomb.”

Compass’s director Neal Lawson told the Guardian Starmer should look to base a coalition on the progressive majority to bolster support.

Otherwise, he warned, “if Labour fails to deliver in government, its huge but fragile majority will crumble, sending us on a bullet train to the populist right.”

The report comes after a tumultuous first few months in office for Labour, including backlash to cost-cutting policies like changing winter fuel payments for pensions.

Starmer attempted to “relaunch” his government with six new missions last week.

He wanted to turn the focus onto pursuing clean energy, building more homes, recruiting more police officers, putting a greater emphasis on early years education, introducing higher living standards and reducing NHS waiting lists.

But, it looks like it will be a steep hill for Starmer to climb to get back on top, seeing as his net approval ratings are now on -29, according to pollsters at Ipsos.

The Tories Have Called For Another General Election Just Months After Their Landslide Defeat

Posted on 27/11/2024 by Boris Clair

The Tories have called for another general election less than five months after their landslide defeat.

Kemi Badenoch’s spokesman said the party was ready to go back to the polls after she invited Keir Starmer to resign so the Conservatives can take over.

At PMQs on Wednesday, Keir Starmer said the Tories “haven’t got a clue what they’re doing”.

Badenoch replied: “Mr Speaker, if he wants to know what Conservatives would do, he should resign and find out.”

Asked afterwards if the Tory leader really wants the PM to quit, her spokesman said: “Yes, we would love a go to get back in government and sort out the mess [Labour] have made.”

He was then asked if the party wanted another general election and said: “Why not?”

A Liberal Democrat source said: “Give us a chance, Ed’s wet suit isn’t even dry yet.

“Kemi Badenoch’s bizarre rant at PMQs shows the Tories have lost the plot.

“While Ed Davey challenged the prime minister with questions about the big issues of the day like winter fuel allowances or end of life care, Badenoch is indulging in petty political games.

“As the Conservatives fight the battles of yesterday, we will be fighting to make take even more bricks out of the Blue Wall come the local elections in May.”

Green MP and party co-leader Carla Denyer slammed the Tories’ suggestion.

She told HuffPost UK: “Kemi Badenoch is understandably trying to divert people from the dire record of the Conservatives in government over 14 years.

“It would be great if the Conservatives could reflect a little on their past failures, and choose to offer positive, constructive Opposition.

“We want Labour to deliver the real change needed to put the country back on its feet and that’s what we are pressing for every day in Parliament.”

Meanwhile, a petition on the parliament website signed by more than 2.7 million people calling for another election will be debated by MPs.

Petitions which receive at least 100,000 signatures are automatically considered for debate in the Commons.

Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone, who is chair of the public petitions committee, confirmed that the debate will take place on January 6.

Ironically, that will be the fourth anniversary of the coup attempt by Donald Trump supporters, who stormed the Capitol in Washington in an attempt to overturn the result of the 2019 presidential election.

Badenoch referred to the petition at PMQs, but Starmer told her: “We had a massive petition on July 4 in this country.

“We spent years taking our party from a party of protest to a party of government. They’re hurtling in the opposite direction.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg Vows His New Family Reality TV Show Will Not Be Like The Kardashians In Its First Trailer

Posted on 20/11/2024 by Boris Clair

The first trailer for former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg’s new family reality TV show has just landed and it’s already rather eye-opening.

Filmed at the old Etonian’s 17th Century Somerset mansion Gournay Court, the five-part docu-series appears to follow Rees-Mogg, his wife Helene de Chair and their six children around in the run-up to the general election.

Judging from the two-minute clip, the new show will give viewers access to a whole range of alarming insights into Rees-Mogg – such as the politician’s household staff admitting he likes his underwear to be ironed first.

The outspoken figure also opened the two-minute trailer by admitting he has “been involved in some political controversies”, possibly alluding to the time he lounged on the government front benches in the Commons during Brexit debates.

Rees-Mogg admitted that though it is “probably a sin”, he also “quite enjoy[s] winding people up.”

The footage was filmed in the build-up to the 2024 general election and includes clips of his then-constituents telling Rees-Mogg they hoped he would lose his job, and telling the camera crew: “I would be over the moon if Rees-Mogg is gone.”

Yet the GB News presenter seemed to downplay the impact of losing his seat despite spending the last 14 years in parliament.

“I’m not a dog, I don’t lick my wounds,” he told the camera crew.

The video also showed a few of the Rees-Mogg children admitting they are “quite posh” and talking about their “mansion” in Somerset.

The former politician also told his producers he was “well aware that there are risks in reality TV,”, but added: “I think this will be a rather different kettle of fish actually from The Kardashians.”

Previously asked by HuffPost UK in July what the show would be like, he replied: “Aha, wait and see. Wait and see. Wait and see. Wait and see.”

Asked if he was trying to imitate Donald Trump, who rose to fame by starring in the US version of The Apprentice, Rees-Mogg said: “When I appear orange, then you will know that it’s Trump.”

Naturally, not many people on social media were impressed with the trailer.

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I feel like this will be entertaining to watch – although maybe not in the way he had hoped?

— Poppy (@poppy_edwards_) November 20, 2024

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I feel like this will be entertaining to watch – although maybe not in the way he had hoped?

— Poppy (@poppy_edwards_) November 20, 2024

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No wonder they give out Discovery+ for free

— Silver Bowl Head Dog (@silverbowldog) November 20, 2024

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No wonder they give out Discovery+ for free

— Silver Bowl Head Dog (@silverbowldog) November 20, 2024

The backlash against Keir Starmer’s ruthless decision to suspend seven MPs for voting against the government has been completely slammed – even from within the Labour Party.

On Tuesday, a handful of MPs on the left of the party voted for an amendment calling for the two-child benefit cap – which prevents parents from getting help from the state for their third child – to be scrapped.

The government’s bid to keep the cap won by some margin, but the prime minister still chose to kick the rebels out of the parliamentary party for six months.

The move has attracted a huge amount of scrutiny from the new prime minister.

Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) which is the governing body of the party, claimed Starmer was showing “complete control freakery, authoritarianism”.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “Starmer thinks that he’s showing that he’s a strong leader but really it’s complete control freakery, authoritarianism, showing people what he’ll do if people disagree with him.

“I don’t think this benefits him, the party or anyone in the long run just because, I mean these are backbenchers, they’re not frontbenchers, these people are there literally to represent their constituencies and they have to go back and explain why they would have voted.”

Rahman then claimed: “There’s no reason why even if these seven people had voted against it, why they had to have the whip taken away from them.

“I mean, they literally voted to end child poverty in the way that they thought voting against this would.”

He said everyone in the Labour Party agrees the cap is “heinous, it’s cruel, it’s punishing” anyway.

Labour’s Nadia Whittome, who did vote with the government, criticised the suspension, too.

She said: “The government’s approach to party discipline has been appalling. No MP should have lost the whip for their vote this evening, especially on a policy that almost everyone in Labour opposes.”

Meanwhile, Zarah Sultana, who lost the whip over the vote last night, told the media this morning she was victim of a “macho virility test” but that she “slept well knowing that I told a stand against child poverty”.

Another one of the now ousted rebels, Aspana Begum, told Sky News: “I myself was quite shocked and surprised at the way I was treated.

“I had a very difficult election. Many people said to me, you know, we’re happy to support you as an individual but we’re finding it very hard to support Labour at the time, for a number of different reasons.”

She said some voters are “not seeing a difference between the two main parties in parliament”.

“It’s unacceptable, but that demonstrates the way in which that draconian stand was taken in regards to the scrapping of the two-child limit,” she said.

The backlash also extended to the House of Lords.

Labour peer, Prem Sikka, wrote on X: “Solidarity with the seven. With big majority Starmer silencing debate, just as Tories did. Sooner or later the cap will go.”

He also told the Lords it was “disappointing” the cap still had not been abolished, and there was “no shortage of money”.

He added on X: “Would the government find the money if a bank collapsed tomorrow? Poverty is a political choice.”

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Here is what I said about lifting 1.6m children out of poverty.

It is 100% affordable.

Minister didn’t respond.

Would govt find the money if a bank collapsed tomorrow?

Poverty is a political choice. pic.twitter.com/yE4Kyg3D6n

— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) July 23, 2024

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Here is what I said about lifting 1.6m children out of poverty.

It is 100% affordable.

Minister didn’t respond.

Would govt find the money if a bank collapsed tomorrow?

Poverty is a political choice. pic.twitter.com/yE4Kyg3D6n

— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) July 23, 2024