Reform UK, the successor to the Brexit Party, is calling for an investigation into what it describes as a 'betrayal' of the 2019 Brexit mandate, as disillusioned Conservative voters defect in protest over unmet promises. The party, led by Richard Tice, has gained 8% in recent polls, with 19% of voters saying they would consider supporting it, including 23% of 2019 Tory voters.
Businessman David White, a former Conservative councillor in Barnsley, defected to Reform UK last week, citing immigration as a key issue. 'Immigration is one of the main issues from Brexit that people just don’t feel has been sorted out at all. It’s off the scale,' he said. White is one of 9,000 new members Tice claims have joined in the last two months.
Lynne Dunning, a resident of the former mining village of Goldthorpe, expressed similar frustration: 'People feel abandoned by both parties. I voted for Brexit, but what we’ve got isn’t what people voted for. It doesn’t seem to have happened as it was promised.'
Reform UK is positioning itself as the true guardian of Brexit, promising to lower taxes, reduce immigration, and deliver the economic benefits that were promised but have not materialised. The party's rise threatens to split the Conservative vote in key 'red wall' seats, where the Tories won in 2019 on a platform of 'getting Brexit done'.
With Labour leading the Tories by 15-20 points in polls, and the NHS in crisis, the Conservatives face a growing challenge from both the left and the populist right. Reform UK's call for a probe into Brexit failures adds to the pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to deliver on long-standing pledges.
