‘Reform? They haven’t gone away’

Gorton and Denton was undoubtedly not our finest hour and, rightly, most hot-takes have focused on the Green threat. However, many have interpreted the result as a zero-sum game – if Greens are up, Reform must be down. This is wrong. As David Blunkett puts it: “communities are searching for stability, and too many are tempted by Reform UK’s superficially plausible solutions to deep-rooted problems”.

Despite not winning, Reform recorded a strong result in Gorton and Denton. The constituency has seven wards. The four Manchester wards (Gorton) are on average nearly 60% non-white, 40% Muslim and 42% of residents are either students or graduates. This is not Reform-friendly territory! Yet Reform still managed to poll 29% across the constituency, suggesting they gained around half of the votes in the three Tameside wards (Denton). Many of our seats in the North and Midlands look much more like Denton than Gorton.   

Like all far-right parties, Reform benefits from (and therefore encourages) a sense of decline. Their argument is ‘things have been going wrong for a while now, and mainstream parties are responsible, so roll the dice and give Reform a go. What have you got to lose?’ As a lady in North Sheffield put it to us “I just think the area’s going downhill – I don’t know what else I can do”.

READ MORE: ‘Three chords and a different truth: how ‘Strong Labour’ beats the populists’

We cannot deny the difficult moment our country finds itself in. We see it in our own families: a third of Brits born in 1980 are poorer than our parents. We see it in our streets and communities: Shiregreen & Brightside in North Sheffield used to have over 10 pubs; now it has one. Reform will weaponise this sense of decline, which is why they welcome it, and why we are in the fight of our lives.

This ability to tap into a perceived sense of loss is amplified by some in the media. And as we have seen in America, social media is being used as a vehicle to fan the flames of hate and division. Once those flames take hold, it is hard to extinguish them. And the biggest losers from this? The communities that need help the most. 

So it is time to fight back! That is why we have collaborated with some of those most experienced in fighting the far right – Campaign Lab and the Co-operative Party – to produce a short guide for any Labour or trade union member who wants to fight Reform in their community. The guide has been generously supported by Community and Lord David Blunkett. The guide is going to be published on the Labour Learn site. 

In this guide we outline a typical Reform campaign, analyse the groups that we should appeal to at this moment and describe the type of language we should use (not because it is politically expedient, but because it is authentically ‘us’). We set out practical suggestions for social media, community and face-to-face activity which will raise Labour’s local profile, alongside advice for holding local Reform representatives to account. These suggestions work, whether you’re on your own or in a fully-functioning CLP.

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Our hard-fought 2024 coalition faces potent threats from both left and right. We need to avoid kneejerk responses that address the concerns of one wing of our support at the expense of losing the other. But we do need to attract new voters who are repelled by Reform, by being visible in our communities, showing that we are the local alternative to Reform. 

This means appealing to Reform-curious voters who voted Labour in 2024 – and we have to start by genuinely wanting to listen to these voters. On a recent podcast, a London-based commentator suggested that Labour faces a choice between its “natural supporters – graduates and ethnic minorities” or “white working class reactionaries”. This moral superiority is wrong and is patronising to voters of all ethnicities. 

We have to understand that, while every Reform voter is different, they are linked by the hope (and excitement) that they see in Nigel Farage’s party. Putting it mildly, a word cloud of the public’s current thoughts on Labour would not see many words like ‘hopeful’ and ‘exciting’! 

We have to fight Farage’s false hope and fake solutions by showing that we are the champions of decent people who rely on their wages and public services, and who play by the rules. Our values are your values. That means dropping the approach of being the sober adults in the room: where something isn’t right, and voters are angry, we’re angry too. Why wouldn’t we be? We live here too. 

As David Blunkett puts it in our guide: “The fight against Reform is the most important political struggle that most of us will ever face. It is a battle that we, our communities, and our country cannot afford to lose.” He’s right – we are in a fight and a struggle. We hope that this guide will be a useful weapon in our Labour armoury.

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