Rod Liddle: UK Correspondent on the rise of Reform Party in the UK's general election

Reform UK has launched their manifesto for the general election. 

A YouGov poll has placed Reform ahead of the Tories by one percent, Reform sitting at 19% and the Tories at 18%. 

UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking that it's a second resurrection for leader Nigel Farage. 

He said that national polls are suggesting the parties are neck and neck, and if the trajectory is right at the moment, it may translate into Reform getting four or five seats in Parliament. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ron Little is beck with us this Tuesday morning, Roder,
very good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
To you, Good morning to you, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
So a couple of hours ago the manifesto was launched
for the Reform Party. It's out of the box thinking.
According to Nige Nige, when the pole came out the
other day and he's beating the Tories, must be having
the time of his life.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
He is an agent of misrule who is thoroughly enjoying himself.
It's like a second resurrection for him, he having carried
Britain to leaving the European Union back in twenty sixteen. Yes,
he is having the time of his life. And so
of course our the Reform Party, who prior to his
intervention and the news that he would lead the party

(00:40):
and stand in Clacton, were looking pretty bereft and would
have made scant difference to this particular election. It's all
changed now. The latest polls suggest that in many constituencies
Reform is way ahead, and the national polls suggesting that.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Their neck and neck amazing, isn't it. That's what I
wanted to ask you, sir, since we last talked nineteen
seventeen or nineteen eighteen or whatever it was does it
trendslate though into seats once again, this first past the
post system. Can they win actual seats and if they can,
how many?

Speaker 2 (01:17):
It still doesn't translate. Frankly, it may translate if the
trajectory is right at the moment, into four or five seats.
It is so incredibly difficult to break into the two
party system which we have here because of the first
part of post system. They've got to be getting up

(01:38):
towards thirty percent of the vote before they really really
start to get large numbers of seats. That's the problem
they have. It's a problem all the non main two
or three parties have and that remains the case. But
what it does, I mean, it takes an enormous suaze
of votes of the Conservative Party. Seeing evidence and Kirs

(02:01):
Starin has been asked about this that they're taking quite
a large sway of votes off the Labor Party as well,
and that would figure because of course, an author of
the red Wall seats were people who wanted Brexit, were
in favor of a very conservative social policy and they've
switched back to Labor. But now say, ah, yeah, no,

(02:23):
that's what we agree with.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Really, I was watching We're streeting over the weekend. He's
a labor man, and he was sort of refusing to
rule that council text rises, reevaluations, all that sort of
stuff when they talk about that stuff or when labors
pressed on that stuff. Is there any fear out there
that they're going to say one thing and do something
completely different when they're in government.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yes, there is. I mean that there is a feeling
that they're going to raise taxes. I suspect the feeling
that they're going to raise taxes in many, many areas,
which will injurious be injurious to a lot of people.
But to a great degree, the public sort of signed
up to that. It's kind of baked in. I don't

(03:05):
think there is a great reluctance amongst the public to
support more investment in public services and industry. There may
be a greater reluctance to invest in our welfare bill,
you know, but those nuances don't come through it during
an election campaign.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
How's your campaign going, Ron.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Quietly, It's okay. I was out leaveletting today and nobody
actually assaulted me. I wasn't milkshaked. I looked after a
constituent's dog while he went into the chemists are. We're
doing all right, but but you know, you do have
to stress help. I've got the backing of reform, even

(03:49):
though I disagree with them on a bunch of issues
for this election, but you cannot overstress how difficult it
is to make headway in a system which is basically
set up for two parties, and the reason it's set
up for two parties is to ensure a degree of
stability and to mitigate against change. The feeling from the

(04:11):
electorate at the moment is that what it really wants
is change, and that's a problem.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
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Speaker 2 (04:18):
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