Thomas M. Allison

I don't want any bad blood between Restore supporters and Reform supporters. Reform leadership wanted us gone, and we didn't want to be without political representation, so we did our own thing. Without doubt we believe Farage & Tice made a whole series of unforced errors. And he was warned by critical friends, and they got thrown out too. You might think as a Reform supporter that means we should just shut up, go away, remain invisible, but vote Reform on command anyway for a party that has no intention of representing our interests. We disagree, we think in a Democracy we have every right to seek political representation, and compete for votes. Often enough those votes come from people who prefer what we offer, but were previously Reform voters. Indeed many of those people were activists, candidates, even an MP for Reform. But we were thrown out, told we were not needed or wanted. Yes, in an ideal world, the Reform tent would have been a broader coalition. Combining Civ Nats & Eth Nats who could argue behind the scenes, but Reform felt otherwise. So if you want dear Reform supporters, double down on the insults and the rage if you want. But it won't change anything. We are only 8 months old, growing strong, with a robust activist base. We will just keep doing the work. Shame it had to be this way, but that wasn't our decision.