Nigel Farage’s populist Reform Party overtakes Conservatives, polls show

euronews (in English)

Reform, which is run and largely funded by multimillionaire businessman Richard Tice, has a largely populist agenda that aims to attract voters on both the far left and the far right.

Transcript

00:00Like many English coastal communities, Skegness is a seaside resort where the economy continues to struggle.

00:08Immigration remains a key issue, but many are now turning to the Labour Party for answers, while others shift further right.

00:19Nigel Farage's Reform Party is gaining traction among former Conservative voters.

00:28It's time we looked after our own, instead of letting other people come to live on us.

00:32And so you'll be voting for reform?

00:34Yes, I definitely will.

00:35I think that reform will take a lot of votes off the Tories, which will probably result in a Labour victory.

00:42And how will you be voting?

00:44Conservative.

00:45In terms of Nigel Farage, does he appeal to you at all?

00:48Mr Farage? I think he's a bit of a... I don't know.

00:51He's just a clown.

00:52A clown? I think he's just... Oh, yes, a bit of bravado with him. I'd beat my chest and stuff like that.

01:00Skegness is a typical eastern coastal community and it mirrors a trend across England's coastline.

01:06Once 77% Tory at the last election, it's now leaning Labour.

01:11Right-wingers here are handing the seat to Labour by splitting the vote between the Conservatives and Nigel Farage's Reform Party.

01:19The most recent poll shows Labour at 45%, the Tories at 22% and Reform at 13%.

01:26So is this likely to push the Conservative Party further right beyond the general election?

01:33The future could rest on the success of a now likely Labour government.

01:38When economies don't do very well, it becomes really tempting to make lump sum blame or to find a scapegoat.

01:45Dr Veronica Lamarche is a social psychologist at the University of Essex who studied British right-wing populism.

01:52I think Nigel Farage can present a really simplistic picture of what the future of Britain could look like.

01:58Fundamental to reform's ideology, people coming into the UK and blaming them for all the troubles that we see in the country at the moment.

02:07A vote for the Reform Party could give Labour an enormous majority in early July.

02:12How the Conservative Party reacts is something Nigel Farage...

02:16Never say die.

02:18...is already second-guessing.

02:20Luke Hanrahan, Euronews, Skegness.

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