Immigration is Reform’s one issue, and also what I’ve unfailingly see Reform voters cite as their only reason for voting
Starmer has been pushing immigration as an issue and modelled the party’s policy after Reform. He even gave a speech in which he invoked the most famous anti-immigration speech in British political history. Insiders have said explicitly that the strategy was to court right-wing voters in exactly the manner that you’re suggesting
2 years ago Labour won the general election with 33.7% of the vote. 2 weeks ago they got 20% of the vote in the local elections
2 years ago Reform got 14.5% of the vote. 2 weeks ago they got 31%
This is a party who have explicitly tried the approach that you’re suggesting and it hasn’t had the effect that you think it should. Instead it has lost Labour the support of core voters and given support to Reform by legitimising and reinforcing their platform
This real-world example is the opposite of what you’re claiming would happen
And it should be obvious - “the far-right are right about immigration, therefore you should vote for us instead” is never going to be a sensible message
This is less about the specifics (which you are misrepresenting and oversimplifying) and more about your hypothesis not being supported by the evidence
But WRT the specifics it is worth noting that there has also been a rise in votes for the Green Party, who have very progressive policies WRT immigration, diametrically opposed to Reform. Their vote share went from 6.4% 2 years ago to 18% 2 weeks ago
Yes, I read that, but Reform is getting more votes than the Green Party. I’m not too familiar with British politics but I suspect that Britons are also dissatisfied with the economy. The economy is usually the top issue. When Trump won in 2024, he made border security a top issue, but Americans were also dissatisfied with the economy.
Immigration is Reform’s one issue, and also what I’ve unfailingly see Reform voters cite as their only reason for voting
Starmer has been pushing immigration as an issue and modelled the party’s policy after Reform. He even gave a speech in which he invoked the most famous anti-immigration speech in British political history. Insiders have said explicitly that the strategy was to court right-wing voters in exactly the manner that you’re suggesting
2 years ago Labour won the general election with 33.7% of the vote. 2 weeks ago they got 20% of the vote in the local elections
2 years ago Reform got 14.5% of the vote. 2 weeks ago they got 31%
This is a party who have explicitly tried the approach that you’re suggesting and it hasn’t had the effect that you think it should. Instead it has lost Labour the support of core voters and given support to Reform by legitimising and reinforcing their platform
This real-world example is the opposite of what you’re claiming would happen
And it should be obvious - “the far-right are right about immigration, therefore you should vote for us instead” is never going to be a sensible message
I’m not familiar with British politics but if voters want the country to be tough on immigration, then parties must adopt that stance or be voted out.
This is less about the specifics (which you are misrepresenting and oversimplifying) and more about your hypothesis not being supported by the evidence
But WRT the specifics it is worth noting that there has also been a rise in votes for the Green Party, who have very progressive policies WRT immigration, diametrically opposed to Reform. Their vote share went from 6.4% 2 years ago to 18% 2 weeks ago
Yes, I read that, but Reform is getting more votes than the Green Party. I’m not too familiar with British politics but I suspect that Britons are also dissatisfied with the economy. The economy is usually the top issue. When Trump won in 2024, he made border security a top issue, but Americans were also dissatisfied with the economy.