{"id":42,"date":"2025-08-11T15:58:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/?p=42"},"modified":"2025-08-16T01:09:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T00:09:55","slug":"beyond-the-polls-understanding-the-rise-of-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/2025\/08\/11\/beyond-the-polls-understanding-the-rise-of-reform-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the polls: Understanding the rise of Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Listen to the full interview below<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>Britain&#8217;s political landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cd6j8e38p79o\">Reform UK&#8217;s recent success<\/a> in local elections, coupled with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/7\/3\/could-far-right-reform-really-in-a-uks-general-election-now\">YouGov polls<\/a> suggesting they could win 271 seats in a general election, points to a deep public unease. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">This mirrors a broader global trend: in Germany, the AfD <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cx29wlje6dno\">has doubled its support to over 20<\/a> percentage, while in the US, <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/06\/politics\/nationalism-conservatism-what-matters\">nationalism is increasingly defining the right<\/a>, with many voters feeling more comfortable with identity-based political messages over traditional conservative philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simpler solutions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">Dr. Majid Khosravinik, a Reader in Digital Media &amp; Discourse Studies at Newcastle University, unpacks this phenomenon. His research into society, politics, and digital populism suggests people are weary of established systems, seeking &#8216;simpler solutions to complex problems.&#8217; He highlights that issues like immigration and nationalism, are key drivers for this discontent.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52\" style=\"width:619px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-770x513.jpg 770w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_6103-370x247.jpg 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u00a0<strong>GENERAL TIREDNESS<\/strong>: Dr. Majid Khosravinik, explains that the current political shift is about a general &#8220;tiredness&#8221; people feel with politics today. <strong>P<strong>hoto credit<\/strong><\/strong>: Martine Arnoe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do people think?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px\">But what does this mean for the everyday person? I took to the streets of Newcastle to hear directly from people about how they feel about this changing political climate and the growing appeal of parties like Reform UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-soundcloud wp-block-embed-soundcloud\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why is there a rise in right wing politics? by Martine Torstad Arn\u00f8\" width=\"1170\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F2151022512&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxheight=1000&#038;maxwidth=1170\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A party for action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electoralcalculus.co.uk\/blogs\/ec_whyreform_20250515.html\">analysis from Electoral Calculus<\/a>, Reform UK is tapping into this by focusing on key voter priorities: the economy, immigration, and healthcare. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"934\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_7723-934x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-53\" style=\"width:338px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_7723-934x1024.jpg 934w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_7723-274x300.jpg 274w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_7723-768x842.jpg 768w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24201\/2025\/08\/IMG_7723.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 934px) 100vw, 934px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>AGREED<\/strong>: In an Instagram story I&#8217;ve asked my followers if they agree with Dr. Khosravinik. <strong>Photo credit<\/strong>: Screenshot @bymartinearnoe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">The article highlights that people feel mainstream parties aren&#8217;t addressing immigration, with Reform UK seen as the party for action. It also notes public frustration with slow economic growth and rising taxes leaves voters looking for alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7baba184a90e132a9203f592fd6d741a wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>I have tried to&nbsp;reach&nbsp;out to Reform UK to give them the opportunity to share their views, but they have yet to respond.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/disclaimer-individual-student-website\/\">Please read this disclaimer!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to the full interview below. Britain&#8217;s political landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. Reform UK&#8217;s recent success in local elections, coupled with YouGov polls<a href=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/2025\/08\/11\/beyond-the-polls-understanding-the-rise-of-reform-uk\/\" class=\"more-link\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Beyond the polls: Understanding the rise of Reform UK&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,4,6,5,7],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-afd-party","tag-politics","tag-reform-party-uk","tag-right-wing","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}