Luke Graham: There is a ‘uniparty’ in our politics, but it’s not made up of who you think

Luke Graham was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ochil and Perthshire South from 2017 to 2019, the candidate in Perth and Kinross-shire in 2024, and a former head of the Downing Street Union Unit.

Over the past fortnight, Reform UK, Plaid Cymru (PC) and the SNP have all launched their campaigns for upcoming local and devolved elections, each promising to “send a message” to the political establishment.

On the surface, this presents itself as a moment of insurgency — a challenge to the “uniparty.”

In reality, it reveals something far more boring: a politics of recycled grievance, thin solutions, and limited credibility.

If you watched the Reform, SNP or PC launches and their subsequent press conferences/interviews it is clear that they all follow the same pattern: rage at the current situation, identification of the group responsible (Westminster/England/immigrants) and then insertion of vacuous statements about standing up for Scotland/Wales/England.

This is not simply rhetorical critique. It goes to the heart of a growing paradox in British politics: voters are deeply dissatisfied with public services, economic performance, and political leadership — yet are increasingly drawn to parties that offer protest rather than practical solutions.

This should be laughable, especially in Scotland where the SNP have been in power for almost 20 years and has overseen a surge in dissatisfaction in public services (rising from 15 per cent to 41 per cent since 2011 according to Deloitte’s 2026 State of the State research) and despite more than 60 per cent of voters backing unionist parties, the SNP remains on course to hold on to the devolved administration in Edinburgh.

Reform UK reflects a similar dynamic at the UK-wide level. The “insurgent” party led by a man who has been a professional, paid politician for over 25 years and its team of former conservative ministers, the claim is equally laughable. Their performance in local government has seen them go back on the claims of “no increases to council tax” to “we just increase council tax less than others (maybe).” This is not a trivial adjustment; it is an early indication of how Reform will act if they get into power.

Crucially, it is not only the broken council tax promise that matters, but the response. It was a particularly uncomfortable watch to see Nigel Farage try and explain the difference between “national” and “local” sections of the same leaflet on live TV. It showed Reform don’t offer “a new way of doing politics,” it merely confirmed a lot of the electorate’s fear – they want the change promised by Farage but are not convinced Reform are the people to deliver that change.

Similarly in Scotland, journalists can fill months of column inches with the stories of SNP promises from over a decade ago that remain unfilled – laptops for school children, a better devolved NHS, superior education to England – all broken promises with no remorse, no accountability, just unbridled arrogance as they look towards another victory due to the failure of unionist parties to unite their 60%+ vote.

The consequence is a fragmented and unsettled electorate. Across the UK, frustration is palpable. People are exasperated that we appear unable to change anything at speed while the pace of life is accelerating on a seemingly downward trend.

In such an environment, protest voting becomes rational — even if it is not necessarily effective.

In order to tackle this, politicians not only need a solid policy platform that is actually achievable in a parliament, but they also need to change the way they communicate. Everything in our current politics is framed in blame and politicians putting themselves ahead of people, taking responsibility for nothing.

Ask the SNP why satisfaction with public services has plummeted since 2011, it isn’t John Swinney or the SNP’s fault, its Westminster. Ask Nigel Farage, man who spent 20 years shouting to leave the EU while being paid £120k a year by the very same organisation, about the economic costs of leaving the EU – not his fault, its “everyone else who is wrong”.

No politician is going to get everything right, but people’s frustration is growing with politicians pretending to never be wrong.

This sounds incredibly dour, but as those who are out on the doorsteps can attest, there is no love for the SNP, while the shine has come off Reform and some of those who voted for them in 2024 are now starting to reconsider their vote.

Our party was justifiably humbled by the 2024 General Election. But that defeat also creates space for renewal. New, radical policies that are individually appealing and, when taken together, make a coherent and impactful programme of government.

Equally important is how that programme is communicated. If we express a willingness to take responsibility — to acknowledge trade-offs, to explain constraints, and to set out a clear direction of travel, we can win back people’s trust. Voters do not expect perfection, but they do expect honesty and competence.

So, for all Conservatives taking their message to the streets over the coming weeks, the need for our centre-right politics has never been greater. It may be a tough set of elections for our party, but with Kemi’s polling on the up hopefully, and with some hard work, our party can follow.