Populist right-right Reform British Party sends shockwaves across British political establishments, surpassing polls for the first time.
A YouGov poll on February 3rd shows that if the election is currently called in the UK, 25% will vote for British reform, 24% will vote for the current governing Labour Party, and 21% will vote for the Conservative Party. got it.
According to the poll, 14% vote for the Liberal Democrats and 9% vote for the Green Party.
Founded in 2021 as a renewal of the Brexit party, Reform Britain focuses on fighting immigration, housing and what it calls “awakening ideology,” according to the party’s manifesto.
In the general election in July 2024, reformed Britain led by Nigel Farage secured 4.1 million votes. This is considered a victory given the younger age of the party.
Hope Not Hate, the UK’s far-right campaign group, recently released a poll surveying 17,000 people, which allowed Reform UK to take up to 169 seats in Parliament out of 650, and said it would be “the UK’s major It has been discovered that it has emerged as a political force.
“Nigel Farage Reform UK is trying to present itself as a fresh alternative by eliciting disillusionment to promote their own extreme agenda. If they succeed, they will be The politics of the group drags further into division, hostility and mistrust,” the group wrote on X on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that some Labour MPs have established pressure groups in areas where Reformed Britain placed second in the general election to strengthen the bases.
The unnamed MP told the news outlet: “One of our main messages about leadership is that we need to do more, especially about the illegal transition.”
Al Jazeera spoke to Professor Aurelian Mondon, a senior lecturer in politics, language and international studies at the University of Bath, about the importance of these polls and what the growing popularity of the far-right party talks about the country.
Al Jazeera: Reform UK has put your government vote to the top for the first time. Are you surprised by this?
Mondon: Unfortunately, this continues to be a long trend and I’m not surprised because it’s done nothing to stop it.
In fact, I argue that the labor government paved the way for reform by focusing on the pet issue. [issues the party focuses strongly on like immigration] Prioritize supporters.
This leads to mainstreaming their ideas, and some people feel encouraged by voice support for reform, as even the nominal left government agrees to their diagnosis.
Al Jazeera: What do these studies suggest about people’s feelings about reform?
Mondon: It says more about how people feel about labor than about reform. Don’t read this poll. It is important to suggest that reform is a course to win the next election.
What should be relevant to us is that labour has proven unable to accommodate many of the crises facing Britain, moving on the path of austerity and mainstreaming of far-right ideas.
At the end of the day, and as we have seen in countless cases, you don’t need reforms to win to set the agenda.
Al Jazeera: Last summer, far-right riots targeted several Muslim and ethnic minority communities across the country. How do you characterize the political response to those tensions?
Mondon: The lack of proper responses to these riots from mainstream actors showed that anti-fascist sentiment is much more popular than the counterparts, but there was a disregard for opposition protests. It encouraged the extreme minority.
It is notable that these sections of the population are consciously ignored by the labour government, either at the sharp edge of far-right politics or as publicly and decisively opposed. .
Al Jazeera: Figures like tech billionaire Elon Musk engage in hateful speeches about immigration with his supporters, and are involved in the political disparities in the UK. What does this tell you about how right-wing populism is growing?
Mondon: This is a symptom of the wider failure of an institution that did not counter the rise of what my colleagues and I call “repulsion technology oligarchy.”
When it is always clear that commitment to democracy is at best, so much power and wealth should not be given.
Masks are no exception, they are the product of mainstream failures facing an increasingly weak democratic system.
Al Jazeera: If reforms become more common, will people be more open about their party support and their agenda?
Mondon: Unfortunately, this can happen in other contexts and can happen here.
Not only does it increase poll reforms, but also the repetition of mainstream politicians and the media as if they were based on legitimate concerns, puts great pressure on the community at the sharp end of these politics. Masu.
Al Jazeera: Will we be able to reform the UK one day?
Mondon: Only if mainstream actors continue this path and refuse to counter its rise by dealing with the many crises facing this country and planet through radical reform.
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