At the time of writing [2 May 2025] Reform has narrowly won the Runcorn and Helsby byelection, displacing the Labour Party from this seat. Reform is also set to do well in local elections including winning a mayoralty in Lincolnshire. The Workers Party has failed to make an impact in these elections despite having a good candidate in Runcorn and other places. What is going on?

Labour Affairs has argued that Reform is essentially a right wing version of the Tory Party led by someone with a flair for electoral politics and media presence and with ample funding. There is talk among the Tories about some form of accommodation with Reform, which may happen sooner or later. Why is Reform causing the Labour Party such problems if they are a right wing Tory Party? The answer is that they have an appeal to disillusioned Labour voters by prioritising certain issues that appeal to working class voters including restrictions on immigration, increasing police numbers and cutting NHS waiting lists. Nationalising steel and semi-nationalising the water industry are also attractive propositions which Labour is scared of. Reform was also a natural focus for voters looking to give the Labour Party a good kicking. 

Voters do not look at party manifestos but that of Reform is revealing. Restricting non-essential immigration is a minimalist approach to immigration shared by Labour and Conservative parties. It is also evident that Reform wish to undermine the NHS, give bigger tax breaks to the rich than to lower income earners in keeping with its right wing Tory outlook. If Reform were in government the working class would suffer even more than they do under Labour and did under the Tories. They are able to get away with this because they are well funded and get a lot of media attention. What they are currently doing is similar to Boris Johnson’s ‘Red Wall’ strategy in 2019, appealing to Labour voters with left wing sounding promises. As we all know, the Tory Party did not tolerate this pro working class tilt, Johnson was removed and ‘levelling up’ was shaved down to a few token gestures. There is good reason to suppose the same would happen with Reform in power.

What can a party that stands up for the working class do? In contrast to Reform it can advocate taxing the rich more, particularly the assets of the rich such as property. This can at least contribute to the revival of areas neglected by the main parties. It can invest in the revival of local transport, amenities and vocational education in those areas. But a working class party needs resources. The trade union movement continues to back the anti working class Labour Party. This makes no sense. It is time that some trade unions broke ranks and supported a working class party with a realistic appeal to working people. This means dispensing with some left obsessions such as unrestricted immigration and support for identity politics and focusing on what matters to working people. Until this is done a fraudulent party like Reform will continue to run rings around the electorate and no doubt will end up merging with or taking over the Tories.