Spot on, happy to buy you a beer if you enable payments (might have to find one of the cheaper pubs at £6) I saw speak at Bridgnorth, really entertaining, have you thought of standing as a candidate?
A well thought out and intelligently informed article based on this speech. It’s so clear that the current deeply embedded infrastructure and formal and informal systems are not there to support change of this magnitude and they will create “a trench footed quagmire” to neutralise Reform at no benefit all to the people it intended to help. So is it It’s all about planning, preparation & creating a constant stream of wins to maintain confidence, after all it’s an elephant that cannot be eaten in one go…it’s a marathon but sprinting is important so both strategic and tactical planning will be essential to build a roadmap to progressive success. Having change agents deployed throughout the formal and informal networks will underpin the delivery and roadmap implementation. It sounds challenging because it is. Reform must continue to build credibility and momentum while being agile to react quickly enough to situations that will undermine from behind closed doors. To this end early and credible intelligence must have a direct link to leadership to enable the party to head off dissenter's. Just some thoughts about some of these challenges. Management is about doing things right and leadership is about doing things right.
A strong and thoughtful piece. Your reflection on the scale of institutional resistance is especially important—too often, insurgent movements underestimate the system’s capacity to absorb, stall, or destroy reform from within. You’re absolutely right: electoral success is only the first battle. The deeper war is administrative, cultural, and psychological. If Reform is to avoid becoming just another broken promise, it must prepare not just policies, but an army of principled, competent reformers ready to govern—and govern well—on day one. We must not just win power, but wield it wisely and ruthlessly for the national interest.
My gut feeling is that we will need upwards of 2000 plus people, trained and ready. It’s a huge and costly administrative task, but something I will go into more deeply later.
Gawain that is an excellent summary of the problem which I have read elsewhere using many times more words. I do believe the issue is becoming more widely understood but preparation for a Reform government needs draft legislation, early days strategies and battlefield shaping so reform can begin day one and not be thwarted.
I like your insider narrative, as a confirmed Reformer it's hard to sit on the outside and ruminate on all the what ifs, to be plagued by thoughts on what you could do to help, but struggle to get your thoughts heard other than throwing them down the black hole that is the Internet.
Here ,we are working on building up our local Branch, the inner sanctum seems very remote, hopefully we can help when the call to arms ( not literally) intensifies.
It's reassuring to find out about the other work going on behind the scenes, I think there are quite a few online who think they are the only ones who see the pitfalls, some don't see pitfalls at all, these folks are the most worrying of all
Anywhoo, the battle has commenced thank goodness, onwards and upwards I think.
I found this a very interesting read and I feel encouraged that at least someone has recognised the problem. I hope that in the next few years the infrastructure can be built to prepare for it. I agree it is extremely difficult, first of all to find the right people and then more boringly to manage and administer getting the best from them. But nothing is impossible so we can hope. I look forward reading more in future.
First, Farage remains averse to cooperation and delegation, thinking he can run the country as an entrepreneur led start up.
Nothing he's saying or doing suggests anything other than Farage can't run a government.
Second, the Herculean effort to unwind Blair era legalistic state will prove to be too much, especially if economic gains aren't achieved quite early on taking office.
Dr. David Betz of Kings is predicting massive issues socially if change is not rendered, and the fear is this comes on Farage's watch. The guy that increasingly angry Brits are pinning all their hopes on.
The problem is, Reform get one shot at this, and with voters' patience wearing wafer thin, almost no time.
So, eg if Farage runs a GE campaign and wins on a policy of dragging dinghies back to France and this fails dramatically, he doesn't get a second chance.
The left think the danger is Reform winning.
I'm thinking the danger is Reform winning big and policy imploding.
Farage owes voters something more than policies as vibes.
Well, Badenoch certainly will at conference in October, and I'm sure it'll be more fleshed out than Farage's "back of a packet of Rothmans" vibes.
Gawain, I've been a Tory voter since '83, and loathe them for what they've done to the country in 14 years, seemingly worsened further by Labour, but I'm not prepared to trust to a wing and a prayer re Reform, unless I see something more than "tow the dinghies back to France, £20k tax free allowances for all".
Spot on, happy to buy you a beer if you enable payments (might have to find one of the cheaper pubs at £6) I saw speak at Bridgnorth, really entertaining, have you thought of standing as a candidate?
I’m standing for the party board. I’m not going to go to paid subs until I hit 1000, need to work out how other things work.
Nice one, I was going to go for it but getting 10 chairs is looking more challenging than I first thought :-)
They do seem a valuable commodity right now😆
Have you got your 10? I could have a word with my chairman in Telford if you need, now im not standing
I think branch chairmen/women should go for who they most trust to do the job of being a board member.
Completely agree but I don't even think he's aware you're going for it, if you've got the ten happy days but happy to help
A well thought out and intelligently informed article based on this speech. It’s so clear that the current deeply embedded infrastructure and formal and informal systems are not there to support change of this magnitude and they will create “a trench footed quagmire” to neutralise Reform at no benefit all to the people it intended to help. So is it It’s all about planning, preparation & creating a constant stream of wins to maintain confidence, after all it’s an elephant that cannot be eaten in one go…it’s a marathon but sprinting is important so both strategic and tactical planning will be essential to build a roadmap to progressive success. Having change agents deployed throughout the formal and informal networks will underpin the delivery and roadmap implementation. It sounds challenging because it is. Reform must continue to build credibility and momentum while being agile to react quickly enough to situations that will undermine from behind closed doors. To this end early and credible intelligence must have a direct link to leadership to enable the party to head off dissenter's. Just some thoughts about some of these challenges. Management is about doing things right and leadership is about doing things right.
A strong and thoughtful piece. Your reflection on the scale of institutional resistance is especially important—too often, insurgent movements underestimate the system’s capacity to absorb, stall, or destroy reform from within. You’re absolutely right: electoral success is only the first battle. The deeper war is administrative, cultural, and psychological. If Reform is to avoid becoming just another broken promise, it must prepare not just policies, but an army of principled, competent reformers ready to govern—and govern well—on day one. We must not just win power, but wield it wisely and ruthlessly for the national interest.
My gut feeling is that we will need upwards of 2000 plus people, trained and ready. It’s a huge and costly administrative task, but something I will go into more deeply later.
Gawain that is an excellent summary of the problem which I have read elsewhere using many times more words. I do believe the issue is becoming more widely understood but preparation for a Reform government needs draft legislation, early days strategies and battlefield shaping so reform can begin day one and not be thwarted.
It is a mammoth task, but the candle is worth the effort.
I like your insider narrative, as a confirmed Reformer it's hard to sit on the outside and ruminate on all the what ifs, to be plagued by thoughts on what you could do to help, but struggle to get your thoughts heard other than throwing them down the black hole that is the Internet.
Here ,we are working on building up our local Branch, the inner sanctum seems very remote, hopefully we can help when the call to arms ( not literally) intensifies.
It's reassuring to find out about the other work going on behind the scenes, I think there are quite a few online who think they are the only ones who see the pitfalls, some don't see pitfalls at all, these folks are the most worrying of all
Anywhoo, the battle has commenced thank goodness, onwards and upwards I think.
We can only do what we can, but we must.
I found this a very interesting read and I feel encouraged that at least someone has recognised the problem. I hope that in the next few years the infrastructure can be built to prepare for it. I agree it is extremely difficult, first of all to find the right people and then more boringly to manage and administer getting the best from them. But nothing is impossible so we can hope. I look forward reading more in future.
It is going to be very difficult, but as they say, faint hearts never won fair lady.
Gawain, I fear two things.
First, Farage remains averse to cooperation and delegation, thinking he can run the country as an entrepreneur led start up.
Nothing he's saying or doing suggests anything other than Farage can't run a government.
Second, the Herculean effort to unwind Blair era legalistic state will prove to be too much, especially if economic gains aren't achieved quite early on taking office.
Dr. David Betz of Kings is predicting massive issues socially if change is not rendered, and the fear is this comes on Farage's watch. The guy that increasingly angry Brits are pinning all their hopes on.
I'm wholly pessimistic about things.
It’s not going to be easy, granted. But what choice do we have?
The problem is, Reform get one shot at this, and with voters' patience wearing wafer thin, almost no time.
So, eg if Farage runs a GE campaign and wins on a policy of dragging dinghies back to France and this fails dramatically, he doesn't get a second chance.
The left think the danger is Reform winning.
I'm thinking the danger is Reform winning big and policy imploding.
Farage owes voters something more than policies as vibes.
This I think is precisely my point.
Well, Badenoch certainly will at conference in October, and I'm sure it'll be more fleshed out than Farage's "back of a packet of Rothmans" vibes.
Gawain, I've been a Tory voter since '83, and loathe them for what they've done to the country in 14 years, seemingly worsened further by Labour, but I'm not prepared to trust to a wing and a prayer re Reform, unless I see something more than "tow the dinghies back to France, £20k tax free allowances for all".
Fingers crossed Gawain! But why "Fainting in Coils"?
The name of my first blog. It’s a quote from the Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland.
But why name your blog after that particular quote?
I like the sound of the words.