Tag Archives: Reform Party

It’s Decision Time

Posted on by
3

As I have a postal vote for the General Election, it was time to decide who to vote for. I covered some points from the main party manifestos in previous blog posts. None of those manifestos excited me and I have now read the Reform Party manifesto (or “Our Contract With You” as they call it – see link below).

On Transport they say this:

CRITICAL REFORMS NEEDED IN THE FIRST 100 DAYS: Scrap HS2 Save £25 billion by scrapping the rest of this bloated vanity project. Stop the War on Drivers Legislate to ban ULEZ Clean Air Zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Scrapping Net Zero means no more bans on petrol and diesel cars and no legal requirements for manufacturers to sell electric cars. We will keep the speed limit low where safety is critical. Otherwise, 20 MPH zones will be scrapped. Accelerate Transport Infrastructure Focus on our coastal regions, Wales, the North, and the Midlands. Improve existing rail and road links. Integrated services are critical. Thereafter: Tighter Regulation and New Ownership Model for Critical National Infrastructure The British taxpayer needs to be in control of Britain’s utilities.

There is much in there that I endorse and little that I would disagree with so I have voted for the local Reform candidate. They may not win in my local constituency or win enough seats to have an impact in Parliament in the coming election but I would like to see Reform continue to develop so as to have a major impact on UK politics. They do have a number of good leaders with sensible views – I include Farage, Tice, Habib, Bull, et al.

In conclusion Reform has a better platform than the other major parties and a more practical one. So I have voted for them.

Reform Party manifesto: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/reformuk/pages/253/attachments/original/1718625371/Reform_UK_Our_Contract_with_You.pdf?1718625371

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below.  You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.

It’s Election Day – You Need to Vote!

Posted on by
Reply

Today is election day for Londoners, and for many other parts of the country.

In London other contenders have been catching up on Sadiq Khan according to the latest opinion polls. But he is still likely to win the vote for Mayor as the opposition is split and so many people don’t vote.

So it is extremely important to get out there and vote today!

Personally I have voted for Susan Hall as the only person with a real chance of ousting the liar Sadiq Khan, the destroyer of London’s transport network with his Transport Strategy. But I voted for Reform Party candidates for the other positions. Some tactical voting is the order of the day.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below.  You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.

Comments on the By-election Results

Posted on by
2

Labour might be celebrating the wins in Kingswood and Wellingborough but apart from the fact that by-elections are rarely good forecasts of general election results there are some things worth pointing out.

In reality the Labour vote did not increase, but the Tory vote dropped because it was eroded by support for Reform candidates. The problem for the Conservatives is that they have failed to retain the support of right leaning supporters when Reform have adopted the policies that attract traditional conservative voters. Such as much tighter control on immigration (the Conservatives have talked about this but action has been insipid and ineffective).

But Reform have some way to go to win seats because unfortunately many people vote the same way as they always have without looking at manifestos or the historic track records of the candidates. Democracy in the UK has become sclerotic because of those factors. We do need proportional representation but that is as far away as ever.

For example, look at the winning Labour candidate in Kingswood – Damian Egan. He was an Irish immigrant to Bristol but was elected as a Lewisham Councillor and then Mayor of Lewisham. His track record there included strong support of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) which has created strong opposition from those opposed to road closures which he ignored. But he did not talk about that in Kingswood but more on the deficiencies of the NHS.

Reform are attracting good candidates and building local representation but they still have a way to go to obtain mass support. They and the Labour party have won protest votes in these by-elections but it takes time and money to win general elections.

Note: I support both Reform and Conservative Parties but the Conservatives need to be much more effective in governing the country if they are to win my future vote.  

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below.  You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.

Oxford Revolt and New Political Parties

Posted on by
2

It is symptomatic of the public’s disillusionment with local politics in the UK that new political parties are forming. The latest is one in Oxford called the Independent Oxford Alliance (IOA). They have the usual gripe that their elected councillors from the major political parties are not listening to their concerns about the LTNs and other issues. To quote from a report in the Daily Telegraph: “We’ve come to the conclusion that the only way we can change things given that the councils are not listening to residents is to actually change things from within”. In a statement, the party added: “The last straw for many residents has been the disastrous local transport policies imposed on Oxford and the rigged consultations to justify them. IOA believes it is wrong for councils to deliberately cause congestion with LTNs and effectively tax all but the wealthy out of their cars with emission zones and parking charges”.

There was a new party formed in Chislehurst where I live called Chislehurst Matters who won seats at the last council elections based on a manifesto for change – exactly what they wanted was not totally clear.

On the national scene we have the Reform Party who might achieve 10% of votes according to a recent YouGov poll, more than any other of the smaller parties and enough to undermine the Conservative vote.

In all these cases, it is a coalition of disaffected voters supporting the new parties where they think the main Conservative and Labour parties are not representing their concerns, or are pushing policies such as Net Zero Carbon that are increasing their costs and attempting to change their way of life (such as stopping the use of cars to travel).

My view is simple: local politics should be fought on local issues and the public should vote for who they think will represent their views, not on the national party labels.

On other news it is good to see the BBC has “shelved” Top Gear for the foreseeable future. Let us hope it now dies quietly. I suggested on the 12th September that it was overdue to be killed off – see https://freedomfordrivers.blog/2023/09/12/time-to-kill-off-top-gear/

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below.  You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.

Howard Cox Standing for Mayor of London

Posted on by
4

Howard Cox has announced that he will be the Reform Party candidate for Mayor of London next May. As the founder of FairFuelUK which has been very active in promoting the interests of motorists, with successful campaigns, he should give Sadiq Khan a good challenge.

Mr Cox has promised to scrap the ULEZ scheme and LTNs. He will certainly get my vote and surely stands a good chance of getting a significant proportion of the votes of Londoners, particularly in outer London.

Telegraph article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/09/reform-reveals-london-mayor-candidate-is-fuel-campaigner/

 Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below.  You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.