I've interviewed Reform UK voters – and they're much more progressive than you might think | Sacha Hilhorst

wcc

May 18, 2026 - 07:26

0 1

I've interviewed Reform UK voters – and they're much more progressive than you might think | Sacha Hilhorst

Over the past five years, I’ve spoken to people struggling to get by in post-industrial northern England. They’re crying out for more radicalism, not less

Among other defeats, the recent local elections saw Labour lose heavily across the Midlands and the north of England. The results are reminiscent of the 2016 Brexit vote and, with the return of those electoral geographies, some of the old tropes have resurfaced, too.

Once again, England’s post-industrial towns are cast as the angry, reactionary counterparts to booming, progressive cities. Certainly, Reform UK is winning there now, but that is not the full picture. These places should not be chalked up as lost causes for the left.

Sacha Hilhorst is a Hallsworth Fellow at the University of Manchester and a senior research fellow at Common Wealth Continue reading...