It's been noticed for a while now that men in general and young men in particular are more right wing and likely to vote Reform, what's been missed is that the total opposite has been going on with women. Women seem to be voting Green in quite high numbers, and seem to be more aware of the climate crisis and more socially aware.
Another interesting polarity in an already polarised world.
I find it interesting that this shift is being under reported
I voted Reform in the last UK general election. I did this because I believe the two main parties are different faces of the same coin - I don't believe either of them can change the course of our country's future in a meaningful, positive way. Therefore, I had to pick a party that was neither of these.
Reform was the best choice out of the other parties in my opinion, with the main reason being that they simply had the most momentum and the highest chance of success - with the success simply being that people would realise that having a third party actually win an election was a possibility. When I talked to anyone prior to the election, many were swayed to vote for one of the main two parties because "voting for anyone else is just throwing away your vote" - this is still a commonly-held opinion, but Reform did very well in terms of numbers, and I think they've changed a few minds on just what is possible in UK politics, which is a win for everyone in my opinion.
I also think that the biggest problem the UK is facing is demographic change - I believe that the current level of immigration is unsustainable and will lead to all sorts of problems.
I don’t like Reform because I think they encourage division. I understand people’s concerns about immigration - there are positives and negatives to immigration - but I think it can so easily tip into encouraging some quite nasty sides to human nature when a political party starts using immigration as a political football and to stir up tensions in communities. For example: Reform might infer that you can’t get a dentist or doctors appointment “because of immigration” - when in actual fact the main reason for the nhs dentistry problems is more related to changes to nhs contracts with dentists than it is to do with immigration . So I don’t trust Reform as far as I could throw them - because not only do I think they cause division, I also think they have no real desire or intention to make this a fairer country, or to look after the vulnerable in society.
I think shedding light on what immigration has done, and is continuing to do, to our country is important. I'll admit that I don't read the news much, I try to avoid it because it is so negative nowadays and I think that has a major impact on the health of those who absorb too much of it, but from some research and also my own personal experience, I can see how immigration has damaged various European nations.
Also, when I say "immigration", it's a very broad topic. I have no issue with a controlled number of immigrants coming legally into a country in an attempt to make a better life for themselves and their family, provided that they contribute to the community that they are being welcomed into, and that they make some attempt to assimilate or to be tolerant of their new neighbours in the same way they expect their new neighbours to be tolerant of them.
However, this is not what is happening in the UK and elsewhere. We have a large number of people coming into this country claiming they are fleeing from war in the Middle East. These people have gone through a number of safe countries and then proceeded to risk their life crossing the English Channel to come here - these are not the actions of someone simply seeking safety. We have since seen a major increase in violent crime, not just in the UK but across many European nations.
I could go further on, but I think I've made my point - I think we are playing a dangerous game by giving up our country and our sovereignty, and we are paying for the privilege of doing so, all whilst being called racist because of the actions of our ancestors.
I do agree with your stance on the NHS. They have struggled with finances since day 1.
As for trusting the Reform Party, again, I must agree with you. However, I don't particularly trust any politician, and when I vote it's a case of choosing the "lesser evil".
I think shedding light on what immigration has done, and is continuing to do, to our country is important. I'll admit that I don't read the news much, I try to avoid it because it is so negative nowadays and I think that has a major impact on the health of those who absorb too much of it, but from some research and also my own personal experience, I can see how immigration has damaged various European nations.
Also, when I say "immigration", it's a very broad topic. I have no issue with a controlled number of immigrants coming legally into a country in an attempt to make a better life for themselves and their family, provided that they contribute to the community that they are being welcomed into, and that they make some attempt to assimilate or to be tolerant of their new neighbours in the same way they expect their new neighbours to be tolerant of them.
However, this is not what is happening in the UK and elsewhere. We have a large number of people coming into this country claiming they are fleeing from war in the Middle East. These people have gone through a number of safe countries and then proceeded to risk their life crossing the English Channel to come here - these are not the actions of someone simply seeking safety. We have since seen a major increase in violent crime, not just in the UK but across many European nations.
I could go further on, but I think I've made my point - I think we are playing a dangerous game by giving up our country and our sovereignty, and we are paying for the privilege of doing so, all whilst being called racist because of the actions of our ancestors.
I do agree with your stance on the NHS. They have struggled with finances since day 1.
As for trusting the Reform Party, again, I must agree with you. However, I don't particularly trust any politician, and when I vote it's a case of choosing the "lesser evil".
Yep, I get it. We'll see what happens!
I think vast numbers of people in the uk have that approach of ‘voting for the lesser evil’ (I felt like that at the last election because I really didn’t trust Starmer but I’ve always voted Labour and I felt the Tories were going to be worse than Starmer (and the constituency we were in there was no chance of any other Party getting anywhere). But I now regret giving Starmer my vote as I think he’s turning out worse than I ever imagined.
I now feel completely politically homeless and have no faith in any of them. Not great! And I know so many people feel like this. A lot can happen though in the 4 years before we have another General Election - so it’s hard to say how things will turn out.
