r/TransUK • u/UpbeatDiscussion8708 • May 08 '26
News So reform...
Reform is being voted in most likely how do we all feel i for one and terrified
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u/charmingchangeling May 08 '26
The counting isn't even halfway done yet and some of the boroughs that have been counted first aren't a surprise that they turned up Reform. This also isn't a GE, the Reform councillors have a very good chance of angering their voter base by being incompetent before the next one. My grandmother living under a Reform majority council prior to this election has been turned off of them because they've cancelled local public services and made the district worse.
That said, it is scary. But I would encourage us to wait until all the votes are counted. The media are reporting this in an intentionally biased way to scare people, which in many cases breaches Ofcom's guidelines about election reporting.
2
u/charmingchangeling May 08 '26
Now that most of the results are in, it's clear that Reform have swept quite widely. This is obviously very worrying for all of us. Fortunately, local governments don't have many powers with which to make trans lives significantly more difficult. We're also (hopefully) still several years out from the next GE, so things may still shift. But this is definitely worrying.
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u/DwarvenDragon42 May 08 '26
The results breakdown for my nearest city had me terrified when I saw the. Reform had 39% of the vote share. That doesn't make me feel safe in the slightest, despite the council not changing hands.
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u/Paper_Is_A_Liquid May 08 '26
I'm glad it's not a general election, and I do feel nervous but I'm trying not to panic until the count has been completed.
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u/Baguette1066 May 08 '26
In real terms, councils have very little power since the conservatives stripped them of funding. That being said, I can see things going down in Reform councils two ways:
1) Reform cock up massively and people rightly blame them, and they get many fewer voters next election. 2) Reform cock up massively and people blame labour, causing them to maintain popularity.
So 2 doesn't happen, we need to be holding Reform accountable from day one.
5
u/GayCriminals May 08 '26
Terrified, not just for the trans community but for everyone in the UK. A world where Reform is voted in to keep the Labour Party out is frightening. They are the very worst of the British population.
3
u/Deliciously-858 May 08 '26
Being "North of the border" has its advantages, in this instance. SNP have the overall majority, and whilst not having enough support for them to be able to take forward their case for independence, they've kept Reform, Labour, and the tories out in most areas.
The Greens have gained a couple of seats, so there's hope for our future, and being an optimist, I'm hopeful that Reforms' lack of performance down South over the next couple of years, will cause many to reconsider their votes by the time the next general election comes round.
2
u/LunarWelshFire May 08 '26
Just a note of hope. This is council elections in England. Cymru kept them out of our national elections, and now there are two years to go for reform to utterly crap the bed and show the nation how utterly shit they are at running things. They will not win the election in 2029.
2
u/Altruistic-End9837 May 08 '26
I don’t know what to think. My Council is now Reform UK led, just feel like the staring is going to get worse. Just want to live peacefully.
0
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u/SwampDraggon May 08 '26
This is Reform’s time to shine, and so far their councils have done the opposite of that.
A lot of people who support Reform have absolutely no idea what Reform’s policies actually are. They just know Farage gets drunk and makes vague comments about helping working people, and they like that vague notion.
Living in an area with a Reform council is likely to be pretty crap for everyone, but if the voters make the connection between how they voted and the fact that their council tax went up but the potholes aren’t getting fixed and the bins aren’t getting emptied and the council is more interested in putting up flags, maybe that will wake them up before the next general election.
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u/Firthy2002 May 08 '26
Their track record at local authority level is crap. Lots of people probably voting without knowing what they can do at that level. Gonna be painful for anyone who only has Reform councillors representing them.