Richard Tice's rebel right-wing party, formerly led by Nigel Farage, dominated the recent local elections in two districts of Derby. Photo: Carl Court/Getty. Images
When you walk into the Blue Peter pub in Derby, it seems like an unlikely place for Britain's newest political stronghold.
Despite the chain's soulless branding, traces of its old rough and drunken reputation remain. However, this nine-decade-old Art Deco inn is literally at the center of a curious political tale.
The Blue Peter itself is in Alvaston North, but cross the road and you find yourself in South Alvaston, placing it right in the middle of Britain's spiritual reform headquarters.
Richard Tice's rebel right-wing party, formerly led by Nigel Farage, dominated last week's local elections in these two neighboring districts, home to population of around 30,000, eight schools, a velodrome and Derby County Football Club.
And although reform advisers were not elected anywhere else in the country, they won all six available seats in Alvaston with more than half of the vote.
«None of them do anything»
Blue Peter was generally disappointed with the national political picture, claiming that «none of them do anything anyway.»
42-year-old Ricky Worsley lives and works in Alvaston. He is apathetic towards national politics, but supported Reform because of its superstar local councilor Alan Graves, who leads Reform Derby.
«He's a really nice guy and the only one who has time for you — I wouldn't have voted for reform if it wasn't for him,» said Mr. Worsley.
Former Labor Advisor Mr. u Graves is seen as a «pillar of the community» and, unlike many other representatives, actually has a reputation for getting things done.
Locals say he gives them a say in issues including dog disturbances, park bench repairs, installation of CCTV and blocking unwanted development.
High praise for Alan Graves
Nick Neocleous, 49, runs Steve's Fish and Chip on the main street of Alvaston. His reluctance to talk about politics was replaced by high praise for Mr. Graves, a well-known patron. Not only did he vote for the reforms last week, but he insisted that he would support them at the national level.
Julie, 61, who walked her dog Ollie, didn't agree with all the reform policies, including the promise of zero immigration, but voted for them and would do it again because of Mr. Graves.
«I don't I definitely agree with all politicians,” she said. «But if you contact Alan for any reason, he will contact you and actively take action.»
Mr Graves attributed the success of Reform in Derby to voters who wanted a «touchy relationship» with representatives.
He said: “We are not politicians, we are ordinary people in politics. We have diverse experience from business people to electricians. We are real people.
«We have created the foundation for the future in Derby, and with a lot of goodwill and hard work, we can turn this into an excellent national result for Reform.» 12 per cent in the target areas of Derby, despite a large Labor push when Sir Keir Starmer visited the city. This support dispelled Labor's hopes of winning a majority in the city council, which is not under full control.
Professor Sir John Curtis, election guru, said the reform «worked the way you might expect» for local elections and emphasized «very heavily» local connections in Derby.
«Looking at the balance of party support, it looks like that the Labor wards could have won, not the Tories,” he said.
Brett Ticker, 76, is a retired engineer at the local Rolls-Royce nuclear plant. A factory that believed the revival culture was pushing people to reform in working-class neighborhoods like Alvaston because «you can't say anything else.»
So it's not surprising that Reform hopes to replicate his success on a larger scale.
Derby is a «key target»
Mr Theis told The Telegraph that the victory is in Derby, home to North Derby, now the site of the Conservatives, and the South Derby, represented for the past 40 years by Margaret Beckett of the Labor Party, has been a «key target».
“We have had a huge success in this local election thanks to the hard work of our outstanding, well-known local candidates,” he said.
“We are going to do our best, and this work begins now. Their experience has helped educate our other candidates and will continue to do so in a successful campaign.”
Tory voting in Derby is historically unpopular, and South Derby, which encompasses Alvaston, has only ever elected Labor MPs.
But while the Conservative candidates received no more than 10 percent of the vote in Alvaston, there is no deficit. right-wing sentiment as the county previously supported Ukip councilors and Derby supported Brexit in 2016.
So reform is benefiting from these socially conservative but anti-conservative voters. Chris Hopkins of opinion polling firm Savanta said voters told him they would «vote for reform to kick-start the Tories» amid high taxes and record immigration.
Hyperlocal strategy
The hyperlocal strategy also worked wonders. Although the party is known nationally as Reform UK, it is marketed as the Reform Derby in the East Midlands city, and the ballot was marked «Reform Derby — Alvaston and Allenton First».
Lord Hayward, a fellow Conservative and poll expert, said «there is no doubt that the vote was a personal vote» of Mr. Graves and others, suggesting that it had «nothing to do» with broader politics. Mr Hopkins added: «I think it's unlikely that their success — if you can call it that — in the Derby will be broadcast nationally.»
However, the targeted approach means that the reform has created strong relations with constituents by focusing on issues that matter to them.
Now we are committed to making Derby our flagship district. Its spring conference was held there, and a party source indicated that it could become the equivalent of the Brighton Pavilion, home to a single Green Party MP.
It is understood that the reform wants to repeat the Alvaston plan, using local politicians as “ showcases» for the broader agenda in other Red Wall areas including Hartlepool, Barnsley, Doncaster and Sunderland.
How these ambitions actually materialize next year will answer the question of whether the reforms will succeed in the suburbs was an anomaly caused by popular local candidates, or a harbinger of a political earthquake in the East Midlands and beyond.
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