For the first time anyone can remember, in a contest for a Westminster seat in an English city, the two parties vying for power won’t be Labour or the Conservatives, but instead be two insurgent outsiders. This is a twin-pronged revolt against the political mainstream – against a clique that has become ever more detached and tin-eared since the advent of globalisation in the 1990s.
The concerns articulated by both outfits, Reform UK and the Green Party, mirror those seen in all developed countries around the globe. In Reform, we have a party that appeals to small-c conservatives and a disaffected working class who inhabit deindustrialised areas, who feel their homeland has been degraded by an aloof, footloose liberal-left who cares little for them or their country. In the Greens, we have a party that has enjoyed a surge in popularity by taking a sharp turn to the left, appealing to a graduate class for whom the ‘elites’ are instead neoliberal capitalists, who must be humbled through punitive tax hikes. The Greens have remained steadfast passengers on the woke bandwagon, still proud to fly the Progress Pride flag, while simultaneously making gainful overtures to Muslim voters. Time will tell how well that interesting marriage works out.
I’m not sure I agree.
Reform is roughly what the guy says, but the Greens are simply the same old same old Uniparty just on stronger drugs, waving its knickers round its head. ie their emotions and policy prescriptions are the same as the LibDems, just with more teenage hormones, the LibDems being much the same as Tory and Labour, just with more teenage hormones.
Green is where you go when the Uniparty’s prescriptions fail to adjust reality to your trip.
It’s noticeable that in many countries with long standing Green parties, the Greens have begun to fade. I suppose in the UK with the LibDems having previously parked on a lot of Green turf, the Greens as a political thing seem newer and shinier and hence less disappointing, than the older parties. But they belong to the same headlong flight from reality team as the rest, they’re just running faster.
I think Reform see the world roughly as it is, though I have my doubts as to whether they have the cojones to face up to it in practice. Which is not surprising, as its a pretty scary prospect.