Ahead of local elections, a new group has been organising to ‘stop Reform’ from sweeping electoral victories across the UK – and have introduced a new website to do just that.
Stop Reform UK: a new site to keep the far-right out
Multiple analysts and pollsters have been predicting the prodigious rise of Reform UK at the local elections on 1 May. The far right party is looking set to win hundreds of seats. In part, the surge corresponds to the continuing collapsing votes for the Conservatives. The mainstream party is now angling for a coalition with Reform – a party itself packed with former Tory councillors and candidates – and largely expected to scoop up its seats in the upcoming elections.
However, Labour’s nosedive in the polls after successive controversial policy decisions is also playing a role. Its lurch to the right in a bid to entice the Conservative voter base and Reform supporters is likely about to be shown for the electoral blunder it is as well.
Polling expert and political scientist professor John Curtice told the Independent on Sunday that less than half of voters it had polled are planning to vote for either of the two major parties.
Separately, pollster and House of Lords peer Robert Hayward has indicated that Reform is set to absorb many of these votes – potentially nabbing up to 450 seats across the UK.
A ‘real threat to the country’s political stability’
So now, a new site brings together a pool of resources to counter Reform ahead of the local elections.
The site aims to stop Reform UK in its tracks because it warns that:
The growing resonance of its far-right rhetoric, means that Reform UK could become a more significant player in future elections. The normalization of its anti-immigration platform, especially as mainstream parties like Labour shift to the right on these issues, poses a real threat to the country’s political stability.
It has spelled out a litany of reasons why it’s vital that the public put a stop to the rise of the far-right party. There are pages on everything from Nigel Farage’s role in the 2024 race riots, the party’s corporate shilling-agenda and interests, and its dangerous policy platform that will undermine human rights, and embolden bigots attacking marginalised communities.
Crucially, the website serves as a record for the party’s persistent propaganda and misinformation-mongering. It has put together pages to debunk Reform’s lies. These cover topics like immigration, the climate crisis, and the NHS. Needless to say, these are issues that Reform has weaponised in a campaign of disinformation to win voters.
Reform will ‘never provide real answers’ to the problems people face in the UK
A spokesperson for the new site explained the reason the group has set up the new tool:
Reform UK is gaining frightening levels of support due to the effectiveness of Farage’s campaigning abilities, coupled with the Labour Party’s unpopular policies and inability to quickly tackle cost of living concerns. Polling for the 2025 local elections shows Reform are likely to win hundreds of council seats, and are competitive in two mayoral elections, as well as parliamentary by-elections in Runcorn and Helsby. If successful, this will feed the narrative that Reform is an up- and-coming national party and provide momentum for future electoral wins.
Reform UK is looking likely to get over 100 seats at the next general election and form a far-right coalition government with the Tories, which will be very damaging to the country. This would be a similar government to Trump’s in the US and we can all see how dangerous and harmful that is.
In response, a group of us set up stopreformuk.net because we want to contribute to preventing Farage and other Reform UK candidates from gaining traction on their destructive far-right rhetoric, to ultimately stop them from getting into government and implementing policies that will never help ordinary people. The website brings together all the information out there about why we need to stop Reform UK, historical and current information about the Reform UK party, why they have been so electorally successful, information debunking Reform’s lies and slogans, and how to take action to stop Reform UK.
They explained how the website gives voters multiple ways to fight back against the far-right:
The website’s Take Action page lists a variety of ways that people can get active. For anyone who has a local, mayoral or by-election coming up on 1st May, an important first action is to make a tactical vote for the best placed candidate to beat the Reform candidate. Go to www.stopreformuk.vote and insert your postcode to find out who to make a tactical vote for. The Take Action page also gives information about organizations that are working at the local level to stop Reform UK, such as HOPE not hate, Stand Up to Racism, and Greens Organise. If people prefer taking action on social media, the Take Action page gives various suggestions.
However, they also noted that all this should only be the start:
Finally, we suggest taking action to lobby the Labour Party over tightening up the rules on foreign donations, introducing critical thinking to be taught in schools, and replacing our first-past-the-post voting system with proportional representation, which would increase the scope for more left-wing representation and break the Labour strangle hold on centre-left politics.
It is completely understandable that so many people are disgusted with Labour and the Tories, and are looking for something better. Reform UK will never provide real answers to the UK’s problems, but stopping them without addressing wider issues is far from enough. At the least, we also need to apply pressure on Labour to do better through mounting campaigns, protest movements and tactical voting initiatives.
Featured image via the Canary
