Ted Newson: I’m from Nigel Farage’s constituency – this is why Reform’s pivot left is a bad idea

Ted Newson is a politics graduate and a political commentator for Young Voices.

When Reform UK first emerged into the national consciousness, they were a party headed by politicians with strong credentials in the City who had managed to establish themselves as anti-establishment figures, namely Nigel Farage and Richard Tice. While predominantly a low-immigration party, it was expected that Reform would serve to protect small businesses, cut regulatory red tape, and slash unnecessary government spending. This no longer seems to be the case.

Reform’s 2024 Contract with the People aimed to keep taxes low, markets free, and the state small. They did this by pledging to cut tax, free up small businesses, while slashing red tape. Since their impressive rise, priorities have now shifted to traditionally left-wing policies on nationalisation (e.g. the Scunthorpe steelworks, and partial stakes in water utilities), welfare rises, and public stakes in energy projects. This pivot comes at a time when Reform is hoping to attract more Labour voters, but it could be where they give up some ground to the Conservatives.

Should Reform frame themselves too much in the mould of old Labour on issues around nationalisation, welfare spending, and taxation (which must fund these policies), the Conservatives could outflank them for the ‘trad-Tory’ Burkean vote. The party must decide whether it wants to be a small-state party, focused on security and a dynamic economy, or one committed to a more nativist vision centred on generous welfare and strong public services. The current mix risks muddling its message.

It has always struck me that the most willing defectors to Reform have been right-wing Conservatives; those disillusioned with the Tories’ record of high spending, high immigration, and rising crime. Reform should channel this frustration, attacking the Tories on these issues and arguing that only they are the party serious enough to secure liberalised housebuilding laws, greater scrutiny over deportation verdicts, and a simplified tax system.

In conversations with other Reform supporters, a recurring view is that trying to appeal to both left and right alienates voters. It creates distrust in a party that claims to bring accountability back to politics and break the broken two-party system. A leftward shift signals further explicit populism rather than a coherent Reform ideology. In doing this, voters will begin to see Reform as beholden to public opinion rather than to their moral principles, which can only harm the party’s credibility.

This new populist synthesis: economically redistributive and state-interventionist, yet nationalist and socially conservative, is likely to have damaging economic consequences. What Britain needs, more than ever, is a party willing to face hard truths over our economic conditions. With public sector net debt at 96.3 per cent, Reform should focus on fiscal responsibility: cutting business regulation, focusing on getting Britons into work, and looking to deport foreign criminals who are a net drain on our finances. From a fiscally prudent point of view, scrapping the two-child benefit cap and nationalising failing industry are poor policy choices – and ones that can only expand the cost of the British state. This is a cost that the Centre for Policy Studies predicts will reach £1.5 trillion by 2029.

These facts are particularly relevant to my constituency, Clacton-on-Sea, which has an economic inactivity rate of 41.5 per cent, the third highest in the UK. The people of Clacton, especially the young, don’t want lives dependent on the state. They want decent jobs and infrastructure that supports year-round employment. Many seaside towns face similar problems: they’ve been left behind by successive governments, and suffer from low private sector investment, youth crime, and drugs. While generous welfare may provide short-term relief, the long-term solution lies in deregulated planning laws, low business taxes, and targeted investment in roads and coastal regeneration.

In 2023, 54.2 per cent of Britons claimed more from the state than they contributed in tax. To call this a problem is an understatement. If Reform wants to save Britain, it must wean the British people off state dependency and towards self-sufficiency and accountability.