The Independent reports that so many newly-elected Reform councillors have failed to turn up for meetings, including those mandated by law, that vital committee meetings up and down the country are being cancelled. Kent County Council is said to be in “absolute free fall” and "on the verge of imploding."
Former Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf resigned his position on 5 June, saying working to get the party elected was no longer "a good use of my time". Two days later, he re-embarked, but not as chairman. He will now head the party's unit looking at identifying spending cuts at councils, inspired by the Musk's US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
This comes just after East Anglia Bylines ran a story about Mr Yusuf completely misunderstanding local government finance. He mistook a £350 million multi-year national 'framework agreement' for a firm contract placed by Kent CC for HR services! This is all in keeping with the party's growing reputation for incompetence.
Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader and MP for Skegness, denies Reform is in chaos. You could have fooled me. This isn’t the normal way to change the role of senior party officials. The former deputy leader of Reform, Ben Habib, also disagrees. He says the party has become 'a circus.'
Yet, through all this chaos and even neglecting the colossal mistake that Brexit has turned out to be, Farage sails on, his popularity untarnished. It really is astonishing.
No matter how incompetent Farage and his ‘party’ reveal themselves to be, he seems to retain the support of many voters. Reform UK may have come third in the Hamilton by-election last week but it was pretty close, considering this was their first attempt in the constituency. A surprising 26 % of the electorate voted for Farage’s mob, not far behind the SNP (29 %) and Labour which won with 31 %.
The BBC even suggested Reform was "the other big winner."
In YouGov’s regular survey on the most popular politicians and public figures, Nigel Farage is second, although this underplays the actual result. By popularity David (Lord) Frost is top, but most people think respondents got him mixed up with the TV celebrity who died in 2013. Laura Trott, the former minor Tory cabinet minister, is third. Again, she is thought to have been confused with the Olympic cycling champion. It just shows how little voters know about politics.
Without the confusion, Farage would easily be the most popular.
Andy Haldane, a former member of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, even claims Farage is 'a tribune' (a champion of people's rights - I had to look it up!) for the working class. The man who proclaimed the way to slash immigration was to quit the EU, after which the number of immigrants quadrupled, is still seen as being the voice of the people. Haldane is probably right, too.
Strangely, when asked about foreign politicians, the top nine places are all filled by people on the left/liberal side starting with Barack Obama. Again this is by popularity, not recognition. In the UK the top four places are all held by people on the right, Boris Johnson included. This probably says something about the UK media's inclinations in that direction.
In any normal functioning democracy, a man who can't manage to hold together a party of five MPs (Rupert Lowe quit in March), work with people to develop sensible policy goals, recruit half-competent candidates and councillors and, apart from the utter disaster of Brexit, has never achieved anything of note, would never get anywhere near power.
I think one of the reasons demagogues like Farage (and Trump) succeed is their support comes from people who don’t get their news or opinion from established, reputable outlets, preferring instead to trust social media, workmates or loudmouths in the local pub. That, and the desire for simple solutions to complicated issues bolstered by a bit of good old-fashioned racism.
When you see what appears to go against all logic and reason you do wonder what is happening on social media, what propaganda is being pumped onto the news feeds of voters to influence those not equipped with critical thinking skills. However, even that may not matter that much now.
The BBC seems hell-bent on seeing Farage in Downing Street. Auntie, with its multiple layers of experts on pronunciation, pronouns and what used to be political balance, appear to have swallowed Reform UK's propaganda. Farage is a near-constant presence on political shows when the LibDems with 15 times the number of MPs barely get a look in.
The national broadcaster, according to The Byline Times, is said to have held a meeting of their Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee in March, the minutes of which show that BBC News CEO Deborah Turness gave a presentation in which she discussed plans to alter “story selection” and “other types of output, such as drama” in order to win the trust of Reform voters.
“The CEO, News and Current Affairs provided the Committee with a presentation on plans to address low trust issues with Reform voters.” the minute's state.
This is apparently driven by the corporation haemorrhaging viewers to GB News. It’s not unlike the Tory party’s thinking in 2013-14 which may not be surprising when you realise the BBC board includes Robbie Gibb (formerly of GB News) and Director General Tim Davie who once stood as a candidate for the Tories in London.
Given all of that, perhaps the Farage paradox isn't a paradox at all.
