Let us know about free updates
Simply sign up for Life & Arts Myft Digest and it will be delivered directly to your inbox.
First of all, be serious. If you decide to vote for Nigel Farage, it is unlikely that the question is “Can you accept it?” “Would you shut up about it?”
My own experience with voters of reform is that they actually have itching to tell you about their preferences. This is especially true among social groups that may provide shocking value. I have recently been to many events where someone is absolutely ruptured to enjoy the rage created by a new voting preference. “This time I voted for reform,” people declare. There’s nothing they want other than indulging in the always fun, modest opinion that they’ll communicate to those who need them to get out of their privileged and elite bubbles.
Either way, please feel free to reassure you despite the meaning of the question of mixing in the social world that you may not be kind enough to see playing Footsie on Farage. I really don’t worry about “coming out” as a reformer, as almost every friend has already solved it. If there are “shy” reformers, all I can say is that they have to be really shy.
People who live on the edge of the rage of the political spectrum generally cannot wait to sneak the opinions of friends and colleagues, so if your opinions match Farage’s, people around you already have a good idea of whether you have already put your X in the ballot box. And secretly, you want them to know.
This is not just about reform. There are many issues, from Brexit to Gaza, to trans rights to climate change, immigration, tax rise, to culture, vaccines, and lockdowns where people deal with lockdown (X) feeds where people deal with social events like Twitter. And it is rarely difficult to guess from these which party they have chosen. Politics is now central to the identity of many people. Corbynites, Radical Greens, Brexiters and Rejoiners are all disproportionately interested in parading their opinions.
Obviously, your concern about social stigma applies only when it is likely that people around you will feel differently. But we all remember finding ourselves behind the enemy lines during the Brexit division. There is an important part of the country that has lost the shocking value of voting for reform. And the success of the party’s election is to provide people with more confidence in declaring their loyalty.
Patently, there are still places and social circles where people may not think of you much about such declarations. In liberal circles, you know that entrance like this marks you down as wrong. Again, what do you care about? If you are voting for reform, you must lightly empty those people. They also know that the central aspect of reform ideology is light empty for urban metropolitan liberals, even if they don’t know what it is like in the real world, so you don’t think much of them. They are the enemies inside. What do you even do to interact with the elitists of these big cities? Is it a fear that you are yourself? Still, don’t it bother you. Reform is a growing movement with space for everyone. Don’t tell them you work for the BBC.
To be fair, we must say that there is no easy victory even if we declare the intentions of the current vote. Perhaps the vote for them is a vote for the baggage, so perhaps apart from the Liberal Democrats, almost all parties’ loyalty comes with the baggage. And that’s fair enough. Many of us remember when Lib Dems was last held in the government and the experience of responsibility hurting voters for nearly a decade.
The Greens still have a cute reputation unless you live on the council they run, but there is a growing sense that they are left-wing Killjoys who help those who disrupt your journey to work. Labour has sold out voters by receiving welfare from pensioners. Conservatives, let’s say, well, they’re not theirs. Abstention sounds noble, but it only shows a lack of responsibility for the citizens.
You are not obligated to discuss how you vote. He even has a fun Frisson from Haut to remind people that it’s a secret vote. So, if you’re worried about revealing your vote, don’t tell people. In fact, don’t tell people, even if you’re not worried. Stay quiet, it’s a victory for everyone.
First look at our latest stories – Follow FT Weekend Magazine on X and FT weekend on Instagram
