To be fair, England has been a strictly two party system for so long that it isn't really surprising all the parties outside of Labour / Tories have no clue how to handle things now that they suddenly exist as more than election spoilers.
Absolutely dismal to have my anxieties to that effect confirmed. I want to be wrong, because the incumbent major parties are so smug and self-serving. I like the romantic notion of an outsider breaking in and shaking things up. But, well, America found out how likely that is to produce stable and competent politics. Sorry ModSquid, in the end I was so busy with work I forgot to read any manifestos and forgot to vote. Got a to-do list longer than a horse's whatsit.
Minor parties fielding paper candidates not expecting them to win is hardly new... ...the odd bit is they've increasingly been winning. Having newly elected [whatevers] quit immediately because they can't [or won't] do the job is still not a great look. Nor is having to yeet them after the fact bc the party did no vetting or due diligence on them [or deliberately turned a blind eye].
I mean it's not entirely unique to them but It is... notable... that it is a persistent and consistent problem afflicting whichever grift party Farage has attached himself to.
Reform is actually a private grift/company, registered at Companies House. Reform UK Party Limited, company number 16260766, Farage listed as a director. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/16260766/officers
I have voted conservative but will vote tactically against reform if needed in the next election (seat was Con-LD marginal, probably Ref-LD next time). Would not vote for the greens though, as they now seem to want to be the left-populist mirror to Farage's bunch.
Greens are better than Reform ... barely, but better ... if that's where my tactical vote has to go, to stop Reform, it would. I really wish they'd have the first choice, second choice, third choice system for general elections / all MP elections. First past the post is stupid. It's not even representative, it's just scraping the bare-minimum line in many places where there's a larger proportion of the electorate who DOESN'T want whoever scraped the bare-min. If we could vote for first choice, second choice, third choice, we'd be able to indicate which party we'd be happy with, or two compromises. They'll never do it because it means old-style electioneering will carry them to power. But they are failing to see that older, conservative voters are dying and parties will need to adapt.
I just read the title as "electrons for five year olds" and thought god don't give them even more energy
If it came to that I would find a bottle of malt and have to take a look at their platforms but the situation would probably be FUBAR at that point. Parties support PR up to the point where they might win a majority and then they discover FPTP.
Let's just create a Celtic Federation of Ireland, Scotland and Wales which joins the EU as a new member.
Unfortunately there's no such scientifically distinct grouping BBC News - DNA study shows Celts are not a unique genetic group - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31905764?app-referrer=deep-lin But I reckon after the UK was dragged out of the EU those areas should ditch the UK and apply to join. I say that as I now live in Scotland
