Nigel Farage has done a remarkable job in positioning himself as the depository of people's anger and frustration, Royston Smith says
Royston Smith served as the Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen from 2015 to 2024
The last time I wrote about the Reform Party’s chances of replacing the Conservatives as the centre right party in the UK, I said that I didn’t think that they would. But that is not to say they couldn’t.
If they are to succeed in that ambition they will have to significantly change their approach to politics. It is not enough to remind people what is wrong with the country, we already know that.
In grown-up politics you need to offer solutions. Thus far, the Reform Party, has failed to do so.
We often blame our troubles on the left-wing establishment but they are not alone. The big corporates in this country are as powerful as government.
Frequently it is their obsession with equality and diversity that sets the weather for Whitehall. They are not the majority and they employ relatively few people when compared to Small and Medium Sized businesses (SME’s).
While the establishment and big business in the UK use their political heft to influence policy the employees of SME’s and the self-employed go relatively unnoticed.
The same is true for politicians. They have, for too long, ignored the majority while they wander around wearing their politically motivated lanyards and pandering to the powerful Chief Executives and luvvy celebrities.
The Reform Party understand that and Nigel Farage tapped into it. What Reform needs to do now is move beyond identifying problems and offer the solutions people are desperate for.
They could talk about the NHS, but rather than repeating Labour’s mantra about it being broken, be brave and suggest a complete reform of our healthcare system along the lines of Germany’s or Norway’s.
Who, in this country, wouldn’t want to stay healthier for longer and see a doctor when they need one? Now is not the time to be timid, tell people the truth.
Our safety and security are intertwined with Europe. Russia is the aggressor. It is imperative we support Ukraine in word and deed. They are on the front line and if they fail we fail.
Parroting Trump’s isolationist rhetoric will not do. We need to collaborate with our allies to keep the world safe from would be aggressors.
Follow the lead of Katharine Birbalsingh and the fantastically successful Michaela Community School in Wembley Park.
She argues that education should be about teaching children knowledge, not learning skills. That’s why we have teachers. Be bold and equip our kids with the tools they will need to compete on a global stage.
Government does too much, and too often doesn’t do it well. It should do less, and what is does do it should do better. An organised political party should be honest enough to say so and articulate what it would stop doing.
Nigel Farage has done a remarkable job in positioning himself as the depository of people's anger and frustration, but if Reform are going to take the next step and be a serious challenger they will have to significantly change their operation.
MORE FROM GBN MEMBERSHIP:
A new and invigorated Conservative Party, will be chasing many of the four million people who voted Reform at the last election, Farage’s first challenge is to hold onto them and then to broaden Reform’s base and therefore its appeal.
Elections are not won on the centre ground. They are won on the common ground. In the last election the Reform Party positioned itself on the common ground and millions turned out to vote for them.
If the Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, can organise itself properly and start addressing some of those major issues facing this country, then there is a chance that they could replace the Conservatives as the UK’s centre right party.
But there are a lot of ‘ifs’ and I still don’t believe Reform will be disciplined and organised enough to improve very much on the position it now finds itself in.
