When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall

Just generally it’s nice to see people realise being a councillor isn’t an easy ride. I see so many comments made about how being a councillor is an easy way to make loads of money on Facebook / reddit / nextdoor comments, and good to see some people actually put their time where their mouth was and have found out

I’m still waiting for the 350 million pounds per week for the NHS.

It’s easy to be a bully with a bullhorn.

The reality of it all is a different matter.

The same thing will happen if they take No10, they won’t a fucking clue what they’re doing; the civil service will come under a staggering weight of attacks from Reform because they’ll tell them the uncomfortable truth about being in power, it’s fucking hard and just because you say you’re going to do xyz, it doesn’t mean you are able to.

They’ll do what republicans have done in the US…fire any civil servant who tells them an uncomfortable truth; they will immeasurably harm the civil service because of it.

> “I made a commitment to serve the people of my division as a local councillor and to represent their best interests on anything to do with council services: buses, transport, roads, hedges, potholes, bins, all the things that one would expect a council to be involved in,” said O’Connor, who represents St Columb Major, St Mawgan and St Wenn division.

> “But the position I found myself in as deputy leader and also as a Reform UK councillor, was that the national agenda right was being emphasised.”

> O’Connor said the two key propositions from Reform UK on a national level were challenging immigration and net zero. “The direct impact of immigration in Cornwall is negligible,” he said. On net zero, Reform councillors sitting on planning committees – like all councillors – are required to be apolitical in their decision-making, he added.

This is what Reform voters need to realise. You can shout about stopping the boats all you want but there is so much more to politics, especially local politics, than that. If you win as a councillor or MP, you won’t be standing on the White Cliffs of Dover and personally sinking any boat you see, nor will you be turfing out asylum seekers from hotels. Instead, it will be all about bon collections, the costs of elderly care and getting SEND children to school, or potholes. It is like how working as a doctor in the ED is not like an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, it is mostly elderly people with chest pains, or broken bones. It is why voting for a party based on a single issue is such a terrible idea.

Cornwall is over 90% White British and I remember seeing a “vote for the ocean” sticker there once.

Call me crazy but I really don’t think Cornwall is the correct playground for a party that wants to bang on about immigrants, how bad Net Zero is, and how climate change isn’t an issue.