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Unreformed defectors – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 13,241
edited 2:13PM in General
Unreformed defectors – politicalbetting.com

Spare a thought for Robert Jenrick. Or Suella Braverman. Or maybe Tim Montgomerie. Or, perhaps most of all, the cerebral Danny Kruger. Thatcher had the “Mad Monk”; Farage has Kruger tapping away at preparing for government into the wee hours.

Read the full story here

Comments

  • eekeek Posts: 34,465
    Dale Vince is offering to pay Count Binface's campaigning costs

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/09/dale-vince-offers-fund-count-binface-fight-against-farage/

  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 18,655
    How sad, never mind.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    eek said:

    Dale Vince is offering to pay Count Binface's campaigning costs

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/09/dale-vince-offers-fund-count-binface-fight-against-farage/

    Don't accept it Count.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    Dan Neidle confirms what I have suspected, Gary Stevenson is full of crap.

    https://x.com/DanNeidle/status/2075206427476459826
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    edited 2:19PM
    Forget the MPs who might be rethinking.

    Of far more interest are the legions of former Tory voters.

    "What have we done?" Well, nothing that can't be remedied with an X in a box....
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 40,771
    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    eek said:

    Dale Vince is offering to pay Count Binface's campaigning costs

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/09/dale-vince-offers-fund-count-binface-fight-against-farage/

    Got a lot of time for Dale. The real Deal.

    He was at the Battle of the Beanfield....
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 64,214
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    eek said:

    Dale Vince is offering to pay Count Binface's campaigning costs

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/09/dale-vince-offers-fund-count-binface-fight-against-farage/

    Don't accept it Count.

    Oddball: Ah, Bellamy, for cryin' out loud. That's the the stinking, most awful, stupid joke and you're always pullin' that stinking awful stupid joke. You don't want in this thing, you don't get in this thing. I cut you out of everything. I don't need you. Sixty feet of bridge 5 million in crypto I can get almost anywhere. Schmuck!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    On topic, I'd rather have Jeremy Corbyn join the Tory Party than have Robert Jenrick rejoin.

    There's not enough 'fuck offs' in the world when it comes to Bobby J.

    Perhaps when bitcoin is mined out, we can turn to mining "fuck offs". And use them on Jenrick.

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    Well it was a mistake alright.

    Innocent? Hmmmm....
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    Farage did play one blinder though - in de-c*ntifying the Conservative Party.
  • FossFoss Posts: 2,864
    MarqueeMark said:

    Forget the MPs who might be rethinking.

    Of far more interest are the legions of former Tory voters.

    "What have we done?" Well, nothing that can't be remedied with an X in a box....

    The great thing about the private ballot box is that it requires no public repentance for a previous choice.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    Two areas Farage really is vulnerable is being so close to Trump and his pro Russia/anti Ukraine views.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 90,667
    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    What do you think the plonker intended by it, then ?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 90,667
    MarqueeMark said:

    Farage did play one blinder though - in de-c*ntifying the Conservative Party.

    "The Count versus The C***s".
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 90,667
    Erdogan having trouble with the Secret Santa concept ?

    Belgian PM Bart De Wever unknowingly brought home a loaded, personalized revolver gifted by Turkish President Erdogan at the NATO summit.

    The gift wasn't opened until the delegation landed in Belgium, where they discovered the gun and ammunition.

    The weapon was immediately handed over to airport police, and its fate is still undecided.
    https://x.com/clashreport/status/2075152147365200089
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 73,095
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Two areas Farage really is vulnerable is being so close to Trump and his pro Russia/anti Ukraine views.

    Absolutely but we can now add in taking massive "gifts". So he has three weak areas.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    Nigelb said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Farage did play one blinder though - in de-c*ntifying the Conservative Party.

    "The Count versus The C***s".
    Well one at least....
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    Fraudster Cottrell was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff, says ex-Reform candidate

    Exclusive: Questions grow over close ally’s role in 2024 election in which he held no official position

    George Cottrell was routinely introduced as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff before the 2024 election despite denials that he had any official role, according to a Reform UK candidate who stood aside for the party leader.

    Others who have been closely involved in the party have also claimed Cottrell arranged the Land Rovers that ferried Reform’s newly elected MPs to parliament, and that he covered the cost of a fundraising lunch with potential donors before the national vote.

    Questions about the role of Cottrell – who is a convicted fraudster – and the extent to which he has provided undeclared support for Farage have been building over the past week as the Reform leader comes under unprecedented pressure....

    ...Tony Mack, who was initially Reform’s candidate for the Essex constituency of Clacton in 2024, told the Guardian that Cottrell was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff during meetings.

    “I remember thinking that it was an odd term to use for someone who was unelected at that point,” said Mack, a psychotherapist and charity worker.

    Mack has previously alleged that Farage went back on a deal that would have given him a role in the party in return for stepping aside to allow the leader to run in Clacton.

    Mack recalled Cottrell as being “polite and cordial” and echoed long-repeated claims that the younger man sometimes referred to Farage, who is no relation, as “daddy”.

    A Reform spokesperson said: “George Cottrell has no official role in Reform UK, nor has he previously held any official role. He has never been a party employee, he is an unpaid volunteer like many thousands of party members.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/09/fraudster-cottrell-was-introduced-as-farage-chief-of-staff-says-ex-reform-candidate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 27,971
    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    rottenborough said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Two areas Farage really is vulnerable is being so close to Trump and his pro Russia/anti Ukraine views.

    Absolutely but we can now add in taking massive "gifts". So he has three weak areas.
    I am hearing the focus groups really don't like it, but even more they don't like his response to it.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 15,549
    LostPassword said:

    CharlieShark said:

    That's four on the trot in July now, Labour third. Are people still desperately clinging to the Ipsos poll from last month to try and discredit this trend?

    PolliticsUK
    @PolliticsUK
    ·
    2h
    🚨 Westminster Voting Intention:

    ➡️ REF: 23% (-2]
    🌳 CON: 20% (+1)
    🌹 LAB: 18% (-3)
    🟢 GRN: 16% (=)
    🔶 LDEM: 13% (+3)

    From
    @FindoutnowUK

    From 8th July
    Changes with 1st July

    If you look at the opinion poll graph on wikipedia the Tories and Labour have been pretty close for second and third since November 2025. So it's not really that surprising to have a run of polls with Labour in third. There have been loads of them over the months since. There were seven in a row at the end of December and the start of January, and seven in total in June.

    it's not a "trend", it's the status quo.

    Why are you ramping them as though they're something new and surprising?
    No, there is definite movement afoot. Remember PB knowledge it takes about 3 weeks for big political news to show in polls?

    Three weeks of electorate looking at Burnham coming, this is their answer.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 40,380
    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    Don't be silly. Lowe is of a similar age to me and what Thomas Hamilton did to those children haunts me to this day. My Secretary had been listening to the radio whilst working and came in to tell me what she had heard. She was visibly shaken having two children of a similar age to the victims.

    Only a **** would rue the loss of a target practice pistol in the light of dead children. But all these mad right wing ****s value their liberty to do what they want over the lives of children. These right wing grifters really are ****s.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 51,388
    edited 2:39PM
    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    Look where he said it, on a US podcast, courting US money and clicks with a pro-gun message. A desperate attempt to keep his sponsor, the loathsome ketamine fuelled racist Musk, on board. Whether deliberate or simply careless it speaks to a callousness that will be utterly shocking for anyone who remembers that day as one of the darkest in our history. Lowe should never be forgiven for this. He has showed us who he is.
    He wanted to show where his empathy lies. Not with the victims of gun massacres like Dunblane (and countless in the US) but with people like his "bless him he's dead now" father who used to "shoot pistols for Oxford University" and because of pesky Dunblane had his pistols "taken away from him".

    These guys are entitled exploitative ghouls.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    MoonRabbit said:

    LostPassword said:

    CharlieShark said:

    That's four on the trot in July now, Labour third. Are people still desperately clinging to the Ipsos poll from last month to try and discredit this trend?

    PolliticsUK
    @PolliticsUK
    ·
    2h
    🚨 Westminster Voting Intention:

    ➡️ REF: 23% (-2]
    🌳 CON: 20% (+1)
    🌹 LAB: 18% (-3)
    🟢 GRN: 16% (=)
    🔶 LDEM: 13% (+3)

    From
    @FindoutnowUK

    From 8th July
    Changes with 1st July

    If you look at the opinion poll graph on wikipedia the Tories and Labour have been pretty close for second and third since November 2025. So it's not really that surprising to have a run of polls with Labour in third. There have been loads of them over the months since. There were seven in a row at the end of December and the start of January, and seven in total in June.

    it's not a "trend", it's the status quo.

    Why are you ramping them as though they're something new and surprising?
    No, there is definite movement afoot. Remember PB knowledge it takes about 3 weeks for big political news to show in polls?

    Three weeks of electorate looking at Burnham coming, this is their answer.
    Don't be silly.

    See here in 2007.

    Labour didn't get consistent leads until Gordon Brown became leader/PM.

    I would cite more examples but I am going out.

    Only partisan hacks are over analysing the polls now.



  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 90,667
    In US politics, this is being underreported, I think ?
    The Democrats have to get a new name on the ballot by next week; Platner might still blow up the whole process.

    Platner is holding the seat hostage. He hasn't withdrawn yet. People reporting that he has are incredibly sloppy.
    https://x.com/davetroy/status/2075212575629848694

    If they don't, Collins will almost certainly be reelected.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,780
    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    I think he made the mistake that many have made in the internet era, of not realising that the internet is global, and it's harder to say one thing to one audience (in this case, alt-right Americans) and another to another audience (such as British people who remember Dunblane).

    He exaggerated his argument by minimising Dunblane for the benefit of the American audience, forgetting that British people would be listening too.

    I forget which 19th century American President it was who was notorious for giving contradictory stump speeches to different audiences, but it was easier to get away with back then, when media was often local rather than national, let alone international.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 64,214
    kinabalu said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    Look where he said it, on a US podcast, courting US money and clicks with a pro-gun message. A desperate attempt to keep his sponsor, the loathsome ketamine fuelled racist Musk, on board. Whether deliberate or simply careless it speaks to a callousness that will be utterly shocking for anyone who remembers that day as one of the darkest in our history. Lowe should never be forgiven for this. He has showed us who he is.
    He wanted to show where his empathy lies. Not with the victims of gun massacres like Dunblane (and countless in the US) but with people like his "bless him he's dead now" father who used to "shoot pistols for Oxford University" and because of pesky Dunblane had his pistols "taken away from him".

    These guys are entitled exploitative ghouls.
    It's another case of taking on the views and positions of "those you swim with"

    In this case hard right Americans - this is the classic minimisation rhetoric you see after American school shootings from such people.

    See anti-semitism picked up from hanging around with groups that are anti-semitic etc.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,780
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Two areas Farage really is vulnerable is being so close to Trump and his pro Russia/anti Ukraine views.

    I'd like that to be true, but it would seem that his greatest vulnerability is simple greed, and lying about it. Which is a +1 for the British electorate if it comes to pass, compared to American voters being more tolerant of the same, but I don't think the Trump/Putin love is nearly as damaging as I would like it to be.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 64,214
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MoonRabbit said:

    LostPassword said:

    CharlieShark said:

    That's four on the trot in July now, Labour third. Are people still desperately clinging to the Ipsos poll from last month to try and discredit this trend?

    PolliticsUK
    @PolliticsUK
    ·
    2h
    🚨 Westminster Voting Intention:

    ➡️ REF: 23% (-2]
    🌳 CON: 20% (+1)
    🌹 LAB: 18% (-3)
    🟢 GRN: 16% (=)
    🔶 LDEM: 13% (+3)

    From
    @FindoutnowUK

    From 8th July
    Changes with 1st July

    If you look at the opinion poll graph on wikipedia the Tories and Labour have been pretty close for second and third since November 2025. So it's not really that surprising to have a run of polls with Labour in third. There have been loads of them over the months since. There were seven in a row at the end of December and the start of January, and seven in total in June.

    it's not a "trend", it's the status quo.

    Why are you ramping them as though they're something new and surprising?
    No, there is definite movement afoot. Remember PB knowledge it takes about 3 weeks for big political news to show in polls?

    Three weeks of electorate looking at Burnham coming, this is their answer.
    Don't be silly.

    See here in 2007.

    Labour didn't get consistent leads until Gordon Brown became leader/PM.

    I would cite more examples but I am going out.

    Only partisan hacks are over analysing the polls now.



    I think Burham (and Labour) got a small bump when he was in the new, and getting elected. Since then he has dropped back.

    I would expect another bump/bounce when he actually gets to be PM and is in the news non-stop. The question is what after that. The first few policy changes/announcements will be critical.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,749
    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 40,771
    edited 3:04PM
    The Tories must be pleased to have had 4 opinion polls in a row showing them in second place, if you include Freshwater which Wikipedia doesn't.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election#National_poll_results
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 40,380
    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    So that discounts Bobby J. and Suella then.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 129,583
    LostPassword said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Two areas Farage really is vulnerable is being so close to Trump and his pro Russia/anti Ukraine views.

    I'd like that to be true, but it would seem that his greatest vulnerability is simple greed, and lying about it. Which is a +1 for the British electorate if it comes to pass, compared to American voters being more tolerant of the same, but I don't think the Trump/Putin love is nearly as damaging as I would like it to be.
    Remember during the last election campaign how Farage had to reverse his position on Ukraine.

    https://www.euractiv.com/news/support-for-farages-reform-uk-party-drops-after-ukraine-comments/
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 23,263
    Mexicanpete said:

    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    So that discounts Bobby J. and Suella then.
    And Tice, Anderson and Yusuf

    Farage usually knows where the line of acceptable public behaviour is. He mocks it and leans over it, but he knows it's there.

    His lieutenants generally aren't as smart.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 40,380
    Stuartinromford said:

    Mexicanpete said:

    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    So that discounts Bobby J. and Suella then.
    And Tice, Anderson and Yusuf

    Farage usually knows where the line of acceptable public behaviour is. He mocks it and leans over it, but he knows it's there.

    His lieutenants generally aren't as smart.
    I am still dusting myself down after Jenrick called for Burnham to seek a mandate for a change and call an election. Just like Jenrick did when he left the Tories. Wait, have I got that right?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    Farage brings out those who don't normally vote.

    Tice? He is a rather less, er, enticing prospect....
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 19,918
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Fraudster Cottrell was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff, says ex-Reform candidate

    Exclusive: Questions grow over close ally’s role in 2024 election in which he held no official position

    George Cottrell was routinely introduced as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff before the 2024 election despite denials that he had any official role, according to a Reform UK candidate who stood aside for the party leader.

    Others who have been closely involved in the party have also claimed Cottrell arranged the Land Rovers that ferried Reform’s newly elected MPs to parliament, and that he covered the cost of a fundraising lunch with potential donors before the national vote.

    Questions about the role of Cottrell – who is a convicted fraudster – and the extent to which he has provided undeclared support for Farage have been building over the past week as the Reform leader comes under unprecedented pressure....

    ...Tony Mack, who was initially Reform’s candidate for the Essex constituency of Clacton in 2024, told the Guardian that Cottrell was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff during meetings.

    “I remember thinking that it was an odd term to use for someone who was unelected at that point,” said Mack, a psychotherapist and charity worker.

    Mack has previously alleged that Farage went back on a deal that would have given him a role in the party in return for stepping aside to allow the leader to run in Clacton.

    Mack recalled Cottrell as being “polite and cordial” and echoed long-repeated claims that the younger man sometimes referred to Farage, who is no relation, as “daddy”.

    A Reform spokesperson said: “George Cottrell has no official role in Reform UK, nor has he previously held any official role. He has never been a party employee, he is an unpaid volunteer like many thousands of party members.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/09/fraudster-cottrell-was-introduced-as-farage-chief-of-staff-says-ex-reform-candidate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    You can have any number of chiefs of staff, but you can only have one daddy.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 40,380
    edited 3:24PM
    MarqueeMark said:

    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    Farage brings out those who don't normally vote.

    Tice? He is a rather less, er, enticing prospect....
    Perhaps Farage is bored already. The cut and thrust of real Hitleresque Naziism from the Whitehouse must be a more interesting prospect than batting for those who swig from cans of Madri as they go about their business on their mobility scooters navigating manfully the pavements of Jaywick and Clacton.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,813
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Fraudster Cottrell was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff, says ex-Reform candidate

    Exclusive: Questions grow over close ally’s role in 2024 election in which he held no official position

    George Cottrell was routinely introduced as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff before the 2024 election despite denials that he had any official role, according to a Reform UK candidate who stood aside for the party leader.

    Others who have been closely involved in the party have also claimed Cottrell arranged the Land Rovers that ferried Reform’s newly elected MPs to parliament, and that he covered the cost of a fundraising lunch with potential donors before the national vote.

    Questions about the role of Cottrell – who is a convicted fraudster – and the extent to which he has provided undeclared support for Farage have been building over the past week as the Reform leader comes under unprecedented pressure....

    ...Tony Mack, who was initially Reform’s candidate for the Essex constituency of Clacton in 2024, told the Guardian that Cottrell was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff during meetings.

    “I remember thinking that it was an odd term to use for someone who was unelected at that point,” said Mack, a psychotherapist and charity worker.

    Mack has previously alleged that Farage went back on a deal that would have given him a role in the party in return for stepping aside to allow the leader to run in Clacton.

    Mack recalled Cottrell as being “polite and cordial” and echoed long-repeated claims that the younger man sometimes referred to Farage, who is no relation, as “daddy”.

    A Reform spokesperson said: “George Cottrell has no official role in Reform UK, nor has he previously held any official role. He has never been a party employee, he is an unpaid volunteer like many thousands of party members.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/09/fraudster-cottrell-was-introduced-as-farage-chief-of-staff-says-ex-reform-candidate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    Who's the Daddy?

    "You are, Nigel...."

    Sick bag supplies hit critical shortages....
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 40,771
    Elections coming up

    Norfolk police and crime commissioner by-election: 16th July
    Manchester mayoralty by-election: 30th July
    Clacton by-election: probably 13th August
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,555
    MarqueeMark said:

    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    Farage brings out those who don't normally vote.

    Tice? He is a rather less, er, enticing prospect....
    Tice is, though, the perfect 1980s drama serial villain. A mixture of Charles Frere and pre-Gail Paul Robinson.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 73,095
    Andy_JS said:

    Elections coming up

    Norfolk police and crime commissioner by-election: 16th July
    Manchester mayoralty by-election: 30th July
    Clacton by-election: probably 13th August

    I suspect turn-out wont be "brisk" at any of those.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 21,505
    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    I concur. Farage and Reform have taken some knocks, and I'd be delighted if this was the end of the party, but every party has set backs and it's not clear Farage's are fatal yet.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,367
    Great Threader @rottenborough. Really enjoyed it, partly due to schadenfreude of course but also because it's really crisply and wittily written.

    Nice one!
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 18,655
    kinabalu said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    Andy_JS said:

    What Rupert Lowe said must have been an innocent mistake, because no politician would knowingly torpedo their own electoral chances by deliberately saying something like that.

    Look where he said it, on a US podcast, courting US money and clicks with a pro-gun message. A desperate attempt to keep his sponsor, the loathsome ketamine fuelled racist Musk, on board. Whether deliberate or simply careless it speaks to a callousness that will be utterly shocking for anyone who remembers that day as one of the darkest in our history. Lowe should never be forgiven for this. He has showed us who he is.
    He wanted to show where his empathy lies. Not with the victims of gun massacres like Dunblane (and countless in the US) but with people like his "bless him he's dead now" father who used to "shoot pistols for Oxford University" and because of pesky Dunblane had his pistols "taken away from him".

    These guys are entitled exploitative ghouls.
    Yeah that's what struck me too. These people are so fucking repulsive, my skin crawls just thinking about them.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 73,095
    Mexicanpete said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    rcs1000 said:

    tlg86 said:

    "I doubt there is a single person in the entire political ecosystem who thinks Reform have a chance without their frontman at the helm."

    I'm far from sure about this.

    Indeed: it is entirely possible Reform would be more successful with a frontman who is less ... divisive.

    Most importantly, the factors driving the rise of Reform -living standards no longer rising like they used to- are true across the Western world. And across the Western world, parties like Reform have sprung up. Or, in the case of the US, the insurgents grabbed control of one of the existing parties of government.
    Farage brings out those who don't normally vote.

    Tice? He is a rather less, er, enticing prospect....
    Perhaps Farage is bored already. The cut and thrust of real Hitleresque Naziism from the Whitehouse must be a more interesting prospect than batting for those who swig from cans of Madri as they go about their business on their mobility scooters navigating manfully the pavements of Jaywick and Clacton.
    The argument stands up that populists Reform like parties are rising all over western world but they mainly do have a Farage-like figure. LePen, Trump etc.
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