The British, tired, consider an electoral bet on the joker Farage

By Kylie MacLellan and Ben Makori

ROMFORD, England (Reuters) – Britain’s two main political parties are fighting hard over the east London town of Romford, but some voters are tired of broken promises, lack trust in politicians and are reluctant to vote for the electoral joker: the reform of Nigel Farage UNITED KINGDOM.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are trailing the center-left Labor Party by around 20 points in national polls ahead of the July 4 election, with the reformists’ growing popularity threatening to split the center-right vote.

Romford has voted Conservative in every election since 2001, but this time the fight is expected to be much closer between the Conservatives and Keir Starmer’s Labor opposition.

Voters Reuters spoke to on Friday at a bustling downtown market, where everything from plants to handbags were on offer, cited a range of issues that concerned them, including immigration, health care health and cost of living.

Only Sunak or Starmer have a realistic chance of becoming prime minister, but the surprise mid-campaign return to the political frontline of prominent Brexit campaigner Farage, a right-wing populist, has caused many to think again about the way of voting.

“You don’t know who to believe,” said Jacqueline Harry, 68, when asked which party had seduced her with election promises. “It’s confidence, if they actually want to do it.”

Harry, a retired factory worker, said the country was in a disaster, she didn’t trust the Tories and wanted change. Usually a Labor voter, she was tempted by Farage but fears it would be a wasted vote.

“We like what he says. But is it enough?” she said.

A survey released this week finds that public trust in government has fallen to record lows, with 45% of respondents “almost never” trusting it to put the needs of the nation ahead of the interests of their own political party.

“SPEAK FROM HIS SPIRIT”

The Reformers, formerly the Brexit party, have risen in the polls since Farage took over as party leader and said he would stand for parliament. On Thursday, he overtook the conservatives for the first time, according to an opinion poll.

The move is indicative of how a Tory campaign riddled with missteps has left voters ripe for harassment from former commodities trader Farage, who presents himself as a man of the people in the face of an out-of-touch political elite.

“I always look at the manifesto. I like to stick to that, but I think Nigel Farage summed it up on the news this morning when he said the manifesto represented lies,” said Barry Couchman, 76 years old, retired, who previously worked for a water company. business.

Couchman supported the Conservatives in the recent election, but said he felt the country needed change and this time he didn’t know who to vote for. His wife was considering voting Reform and he was impressed by Farage’s style.

“He just speaks with his head,” he said.

The Reform candidate is unlikely to win in Romford. As with most seats across the country, the party has enough support to come second or third, but Britain has a first-past-the-post electoral system.

In March, a prominent former conservative vice president, suspended over accusations of Islamophobia, defected to the Reform Party, giving the party its first MP.

The Conservatives’ response to Farage’s rise was to say that voting for anyone other than them could give Starmer a huge majority – a warning which resonated with some in Romford.

“I want to vote Conservative, but I like the Reform Party. I agree with everything they say – but what scares me is if it’s a wasted vote?” said market trader Caron Webb, 51.

“If I vote for them and the Conservatives don’t get in because there are more people voting Labor, that’s my main concern.”

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, Writing by William James and Kylie MacLellan, Editing by Angus MacSwan)