Reform UK's leaked plan to win in London
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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UK Independence Party
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The article discusses UKIP's rise and fall as a precursor to Reform UK, and understanding UKIP's organizational failures and electoral history provides essential context for evaluating Reform UK's new strategic approach
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Focus E15
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The article mentions Reform UK adopting 'old-school Liberal Democrat tactics from their time as an insurgent party' - the Focus leaflet strategy pioneered by the Lib Dems revolutionized local campaigning in Britain and understanding this tactic illuminates what Reform is attempting
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London Underground 1972 Stock
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The article discusses the Bakerloo line's aging 1972 tube stock as the oldest passenger trains in daily UK operation - understanding the engineering and history of these trains explains why their replacement is such a significant transport policy issue
I spent much of the 2010s as a Westminster reporter covering the rise and fall of UKIP as a political party. Nigel Farage won the Brexit referendum but on a domestic electoral level his party would frequently talk big about a looming electoral breakthrough, make a splash on social media, then collapse at the polling booth — especially in London.
UKIP was constantly undone by unforced amateurish errors in the capital. I remember watching as they held a chaotic “diversity carnival” outside the Whitgift Centre in Croydon, where a steel drum band went on strike and stopped playing because they hadn’t been told it was a political event. On another occasion I was with Farage as he bemoaned UKIP’s party name being missed off the London mayoral election ballot paper because someone hadn’t filled out a form correctly.
This week London Centric obtained internal training documents given to Reform UK candidates ahead of next year’s local elections, where the party will be hoping to take advantage of a fractured left-wing vote to make substantial gains in parts of London.
Heavily influenced by old-school Liberal Democrat tactics from their time as an insurgent party, the leaked guidance suggests Reform UK will focus on local issues such as bin collections, sets out how the party can appeal to Remain voters and those upset by Conservative cuts to benefits, and urges its local candidates to stay off social media at all costs. It should be of serious interest to supporters and opponents of Farage’s party alike.
London Centric members can scroll down to read it.
The one Google Map you need for London’s restaurants?
Finding a new restaurant to try can be a pain. You might be the sort of person who takes out a subscription to Vittles in the hope of being tipped off about the best South Korean in New Malden. You might rely on the fabled 3.5 star filtering system for Chinese restaurants. Or, as many people do, you might simply key the word “restaurant” into Google Maps when you’re hungry.
As a result we’re obsessed with this new attempt by data scientist Lauren Leek to sift online recommendations using machine learning in order to uncover more than 5,000 “underrated gems” across the capital. So we gave her a ring to find out more about
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