Restore UK
A Personal Take
Four parties are saying the same headlines. I would vote for any of their leaders.
I spent months trying to find the hair-splitting differences. Which I found, to my satisfaction at least. Others will tell you it's all about personalities. I don't think so.
If you are as confused as I was, this might resonate with you.
I have not been able to get Reform councillors (or any councillors) to engage with real issues.
They are silent, or only repeat what Nigel has said before them. The party is reliant on him. They are the very professional futile hangers-on that Reform rightly derides the Conservative Party for having.
Also too many of the Reform voices alienate people. Not because they are ahead of the curve, but because it's on things that don't sound sensible. The Chinese control of the World Health Organisation, or how twelve families control the World Economic Forum, G8 and Davos, or the Fabian Society and the Kalergi Plan on creating a world-wide utopia without borders, for the benefit of the rich, or how Boris took advantage of Covid to make money for his friends. Infantile. I would not want people like that democratically incharge of branches when we all thought we were voting for Nigel!
They are ineffective and chaotic.
Ben Habib, the deputy leader of Reform, left because there was a lack of planning and no preparation for an early election. His plan was to hit the ground running with developed manifesto ideas which could be enacted from day one. I joined Advance. He is now closing down Advance but taking those ideas into a cross-party think tank, GBPAC, to generate ideas for all parties.
Rupert Lowe left Reform. The information about this, from Reform, is negative. Listening to him on Youtube, I feel comfortable. Beyond the headline issues which all four parties share, there is no disconcerting evidence of poor thinking like Proportional Representation. He says what I believe, like dual nationality families who knew about and covered up the Grooming Gangs, should have their British citizenship withdrawn like happened to Shamima Begum. Like other European countries have always done. (European Parliament / ECHR ).
Nigel Farage's policy of contesting every seat has had fantastic success. Twice! He put Reform on the map politically as a viable electable government. He brought in seasoned politicians whose ambition to achieve the right things was thwarted by the defacto true Conservative party of faceless self-interest constituency groups selecting 'safe pairs of hands who will not rock the boat', who end up betraying the leadership and voters every time. The very Westminster Elite which Nigel, Richard Tice and others correctly talk about.
The problem with Nigel's success is, he is now hearding cats. And that success is based on a turnout of 23 to 24 %. The public are still not voting.
Rupert Lowe doesn't want any candidates in his party, who do not have a track record of saying what he believes. None who were part of the betrayals. We're told he is anti-democratic, but anyone who has managed projects knows it's direction or chaos, herding cats or implementing solutions.
My background is, I was one of the 11% swing from Conservative to Tony Blair. Then back to Conservative. UKIP / BREXIT then Conservative. Reform after the professional politicians stabbed Boris and the country in the back. One of the first 9 in Reform in Scarborough, attending meetings and making notes. Most see Reform as Nigel Farage. I see it as the prospective Parliamentary candidates I spoke to, and the times I spoke to organisers like Sir Richard Tice. I also spoke to other Reform members and there began to be a split between disenchanted Conservatives, and Boris's disenchanted Red Wall Labour who had been betrayed by both parties. This party of alleged Little Englanders, is Labour in aspiration and delivery. Voting for Restore, for me, is not splitting the vote. I could no longer vote for Reform. At least the Conservatives pretend to support what I believe. Restore hasn't put a foot wrong yet, for me.
A foot wrong would be opening up Restore to having condidates no-one has ever heard of. There needs to be shared ideas, not bums on seats. In this, Ben Habib deregistering Advance UK as a political party and joining an existing think-tank, the Great British Political Action Committee, is constructive. Ideas come from all parties. Les Streeting said of the NHS, that it needed solutions which lasted across successive governments. Ideas matter more than people getting a meal ticket. Rupert is weary of professional politicians.