Where is the left-wing Reform?

As the Labour Party leans towards the right, progressive voters have been left with few alternatives

Reform supporters waiting for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to speak during an election campaign event at Trago Mills, Devon
Reform UK supporters are 'further left' on some key economic questions 'than the typical British voter'
(Image credit: Finnbarr Webster / Getty Images)

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK emerged as the biggest winner of the first major polls since Labour swept into government last year. The right-wing populist party won its fifth seat in Parliament in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, as well as two mayoralities and hundreds of local council seats.

The results mean the party, seen until recently as an underdog in British politics, has now arrived as a serious force. But it has many progressives asking: where is a serious left-wing populist alternative?

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 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.