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Reform has tapped into something that Rishi hasn’t taken seriously
An ex-MP fighting for re-election says it’s remarkable that some Conservatives still believe the party shouldn’t talk about immigration
While the rest of us were watching in horror as three separate polls spelled out disaster for the party, on Wednesday afternoon Angela Richardson, the Conservative Party’s deputy chairman, tried to persuade us that there was nothing to worry about.
“The polls are wrong”, she posted in the Conservative MPs’ WhatsApp group, alongside a smiling selfie with activists in Guildford, Surrey, which she is hoping to retain, but, in truth, will be lucky to hang onto come July 4. Various supporters of Rishi reacted with blue hearts.
They are deluded. I now think we will be lucky to end up with 100 seats. Our best hope is if traditional Conservative voters return to us at the last minute because they are concerned about Labour winning a gigantic majority.
One lady came up to me while I was delivering leaflets on a housing estate and said she was very worried about Starmer. But I’ve also had people I’ve met a few times before, who like me personally, say they are going to vote Reform.
Reform has tapped into something, which in some ways shouldn’t be surprising. All over the world, particularly in Europe, this sort of thing has been happening and if parties on the centre-Right don’t seize the zeitgeist, they fall. Specifically, the issues around immigration are of monumental significance to millions in this country – particularly 2019 Conservative voters – and the reality is that Rishi has not taken that anywhere near seriously enough. A lot of people in senior positions in the Conservative Party also don’t get that.
