{"id":147268,"date":"2024-06-18T13:49:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T12:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=147268"},"modified":"2024-07-24T10:24:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T09:24:08","slug":"reform-uk-releases-contract-manifesto-what-was-the-press-and-public-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/reform-uk-releases-contract-manifesto-what-was-the-press-and-public-reaction\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform UK releases \u2018contract\u2019 manifesto – what was the press and public reaction?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Phoebe-Jane Boyd, Dahye Lee, and Ingrid Marin.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

After a wave of manifesto releases<\/a> last week, Reform UK have released their ‘contract’ for the UK General Election.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In rebranding the manifesto as a \u2018contract\u2019, and repositioning the vote for country leadership as \u2018the immigration election\u2019, have Farage\u2019s efforts to distinguish his party from its competitors, and get people talking, made an impact?<\/p>\n

Here is analysis of the UK General Election 2024 conversation across online and print news, TV, radio, and podcasts as well as TikTok, Threads, Facebook, blogs, and forums, from midday 17 June, as we map the media and audience reaction.<\/p>\n

What topics cut through the conversation regarding Reform UK\u2019s manifesto?<\/h3>\n

\"Reform<\/p>\n

Reform UK’s manifesto\/\u2019contract\u2019 has significantly impacted one theme – immigration. As anticipated by anyone paying attention to Farage\u2019s media appearances, the data shows just how much the topic has cut through into the public consciousness – immigration (+15.04%) emerges as a critical topic.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s primary commitment to freeze what it has branded \u2018non-essential\u2019 immigration, and deport individuals crossing the Channel in small boats, has dominated the news coverage alongside the switch to the \u2018contract\u2019 nomenclature.<\/p>\n

Perhaps surprisingly, this narrative has gained momentum on TikTok – the home of Gen Z<\/a> – through Channel 4\u2019s coverage, amplifying engagement among younger supporters of the Reform UK party.<\/p>\n

\"Reform<\/p>\n

While conversation across other social media platforms has been comparatively quiet in comparison to that of other parties, Labour supporters – particularly vocal pro-Palestinian activists – have passionately engaged with Reform UK\u2019s immigration agenda. This segment of social media users are actively positioning Labour as the antidote to Reform UK’s potential influence on the 2029 election.<\/p>\n

\"Stand<\/p>\n

Energy and sustainability, largely overlooked in Reform UK’s pre-manifesto discussions, have also come into focus with a modest increase (+1.02%). The controversial move to abandon Net Zero goals in favor of bolstering fossil fuels has been extensively covered by the press, including BBC, ITV, LBC, and Sky News, alongside the party\u2019s core policy pledges.<\/p>\n

The practicalities of Reform UK\u2019s manifesto – will it help the party\u2019s chances at the voting booths this year?<\/h3>\n

The \u2018contract<\/a>\u2019 was ambitious and could be considered somewhat scattergun in its policies – perhaps a reflection of Reform UK\u2019s diverse voter base. Reform committed to around \u00a3140bn in spending commitments and tax cuts including raising income tax thresholds; abolishing stamp duty; tax relief for independent schools; and abolishing inheritance tax for all estates under \u00a32 million. The party revealed this would be funded through \u00a3156 billion in savings in public spending and an assumption of increased tax revenue from higher growth.<\/p>\n

These plans have drawn criticism around credibility, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies noting<\/a> that Reform\u2019s tax cuts and spending commitments would cost more than stated. Meanwhile, the Tax Policy Associates observed<\/a> that \u00a333bn of Reform\u2019s commitments were found to be uncosted – this amounts to nearly double the unfunded commitments in Liz Truss\u2019s mini-budget.<\/p>\n

Concerns around the fiscal credibility of Reform UK\u2019s manifesto are maybe not so important, however. A recent poll<\/a> by Ipsos revealed that a significant portion of voters do not believe the main parties will be able to fund their own manifesto commitments anyway. The poll showed that 50% did not believe Labour could afford their plans, while 62% thought the Conservatives\u2019 plans were unaffordable. 57% were not confident in the affordability of the Liberal Democrats plans either.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this best encapsulates the relative apathy in the UK right now regarding choices at the 2024 General Election: with the UK facing significant economic and political challenges in the forthcoming years, a majority of voters do not believe that the main parties\u2019 manifestos can deliver.<\/p>\n

Could Farage\u2019s warning during the 7 June TV debate that change is on the way, with support for Reform UK set to grow, prove true?<\/p>\n

For regular updates on what is happening in UK politics and public affairs,\u00a0sign up to our weekly Point of Order newsletter<\/a>, going out every Friday morning.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reform UK have released their ‘contract’ for the UK General Election – have Farage\u2019s efforts to distinguish his party from its competitors, and get people talking, made an impact?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":147272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7383,7272,3725,3729,7271],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147268"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147279,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147268\/revisions\/147279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}