Quote Originally Posted by MadAmster View Post
No. I don't think he's near power. Reform has won a number of councils, 10 or 12 wasn't it? That's their opportunity to show that they have some sensible people with the right kind of qualities to run a council. If they can do that, enough people might be persuaded to vote for them in the hope that they can transfer local administration success through to national and international policies. They've given themselves a chance. If they are as "successful" as UKIP was with the one council they ever controlled (bankrupt inside 7 months) then Reform won't be the largest party at the next election. They've given themselves a chance to show what they can do. If they do that wisely, they'll win the next election. Failure at local level would, IMO, see them fall by the wayside nationally.

Not close but they have opened the door.

If they do screw up locally, I have no idea what will happen at the next GE. They won't win. I don't see red or blue doing well either. LibDem? Unlikely but it could happen. Red, Blue, Reform all with similar numbers of seats in the 150 to 175 ballpark? 100+ for LibDem and then the MP from the colonies (they aren't equal partners in a Union) and the odd green etc. A coalition would be the likely outcome but would other parties join in or would the biggest or two others form a minority government?

So many things can change between now and then

PS - I know, as does every other poster on here, that red/blue Tories is "my phrase" so I don't understand the need to emphasise it.
I didn?t mean the power of government, I meant the power of influence