I asked the people of Runcorn a number of questions…about parties, leaders, policies, and the state of British politics in general. Their responses were revealing…and extremely concerning.
In this constituency, which has been represented by a Labour MP since 1983, I found clear anger and frustration toward Starmer's government. As a result of that, the anti-establishment message pushed by Nigel Farage and the Reform party appeared to be gaining traction. Their criticisms of immigration, globalisation, and 'wokism' were resonating with voters - which may explain why Starmer has recently adopted very similar rhetoric.
Some people even refused to speak to me outright, citing a (completely irrational) fear of being imprisoned for speaking out against Labour and Starmer. We’ll be posting some of these conversations with the people of Runcorn on our social media channels soon…keep an eye out for those.
Frustration with Starmer was definitely a factor but the underlying reason for Reform’s growing popularity was clear: ordinary people do not feel represented in this democracy. Across every part of the political spectrum, people are fed up.
They don’t think their vote matters.
They don’t think politics is working for them.
They don’t think anyone in Westminster cares about them.
The result? A vote for the group they see as ‘the outsiders’ and ‘the disruptors’ – in this case, Reform UK.
We can see this in the polls:
