TRIGGERnometry - January 20, 2026


Why Reform Has No Choice - Konstantin Kisin


Episode Stats

Length

10 minutes

Words per Minute

170.4523

Word Count

1,726

Sentence Count

119

Misogynist Sentences

1

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary


Transcript

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00:00:45.600 Why reform has no choice.
00:00:51.020 Over recent days, there's been much debate in British politics about the future of Nigel
00:00:55.180 Farage's Reform Party.
00:00:57.040 Cemented by the defection of Robert Jenrick, the conservative shadow secretary of state for
00:01:01.060 justice and shadow Lord Chancellor, who was pushed by Tory leader Kami Badenoch as he was
00:01:05.620 about to jump ship, reform is developing a reputation for moving to the center.
00:01:10.320 Jenrick followed in the footsteps of a number of senior or formerly senior conservatives,
00:01:14.320 including Nadeem Zahawi, Nadine Doris, Jake Berry, and others.
00:01:18.740 As a curious aside, the last time I saw Jake Berry was on Question Time, when he challenged
00:01:23.160 me on my criticism of net zero to explain that net zero is the solution, not the problem.
00:01:28.860 We have to let go of some of our obsessions like net zero and so on, and we will find out
00:01:33.620 if the government is prepared to do that.
00:01:34.820 OK, man there in the glasses.
00:01:37.560 Just to pick up on what Constantine said, you are so wrong.
00:01:41.820 We do not deliver a growing northern economy by turning our back on net zero.
00:01:46.380 The north of England, this county, this region is a global leader in green technology.
00:01:53.940 We deliver a better levelled up north of England by having green collar, highly paid, secure jobs
00:02:00.540 for people who live in this region.
00:02:02.960 Net zero is the solution, not the problem.
00:02:05.560 I think it's good for your voters to hear that.
00:02:07.680 I'm sure Conservative Party voters will be pleased.
00:02:09.740 But the programme was recorded as Nadeem Zahawi was in the process of being sacked as Conservative
00:02:17.040 Party chairman because he'd failed to declare that HMRC was in the middle of an investigation
00:02:22.300 into his personal tax affairs when he was appointed to various ministerial positions.
00:02:26.980 This anecdote alone gives you a flavour of the sorts of concerns many have raised about
00:02:31.900 the increasing Torrification of reform.
00:02:34.540 Last night, it was confirmed that another MP, Andrew Rosendale, had defected to reform,
00:02:39.480 bringing the number of reform MPs to seven, of whom more than half are now Tory defectors.
00:02:45.000 Lee Anderson, Danny Kruger, Robert Jenrick, and Andrew Rosendale himself.
00:02:48.680 The worry for many is that as Conservative refugees become more numerous than native reformers within
00:02:54.180 the party, the centre of gravity will shift away from reform's radical agenda towards the very
00:02:59.880 policies and personalities they so thoroughly rejected at the last election.
00:03:04.500 Reform's defiant position against the failed status quo was what won them their legion of
00:03:09.200 supporters.
00:03:10.080 Now, some feel they're cosying up to it.
00:03:12.460 Personnel is policy, after all.
00:03:14.660 And having forced out tough-talking right-wingers like Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib, reform appears
00:03:19.780 to be going slightly vegan.
00:03:21.040 It's rare for me to be accused of naive optimism, but in this instance, I do not actually share
00:03:26.100 these concerns for a number of reasons which we'll come to shortly.
00:03:29.420 But first, and much more importantly, we have to recognise that reform has no choice but to
00:03:34.420 continue salvaging what they can from the rotting carcass of the Conservative Party.
00:03:39.360 Why?
00:03:40.260 Because Britain is not America.
00:03:42.180 Our electoral system does not allow a charismatic leader with a small band of acolytes to storm
00:03:47.700 to power in the way that President Trump did with just J.D.
00:03:50.960 Vance, RFK Jr., Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, and Vivek Ramaswamy at his side.
00:03:56.220 To become Prime Minister, Nigel Farage has to have 650 men and women stand as candidates
00:04:02.200 in constituencies across the country, and more than half of them to actually be elected.
00:04:07.200 Even now, when much of the public is fed up with the status quo and Keir Starmer enjoying
00:04:11.500 the lowest favourability ratings in history, having a reform rosette pinned on you will
00:04:16.940 not guarantee victory in a specific constituency, especially to an unknown, politically inexperienced
00:04:23.380 candidate.
00:04:24.260 Once elected, that MP will be faced with the reality that standing as an MP is almost the
00:04:29.700 exact opposite of being an MP.
00:04:32.100 A political campaign is about making speeches, knocking on doors, and selling yourself to the
00:04:37.160 public.
00:04:37.440 But once the sale is made, your constituents need you to solve their problems.
00:04:41.880 Making witty comebacks on TV requires an entirely different skill set to filling potholes.
00:04:46.900 And metaphorical potholes are no small matter, nor one to worry about once the election is
00:04:51.700 in the bag.
00:04:52.660 The only way reform can succeed as a political project is to win the war of the next election
00:04:58.260 and then win the peace by actually delivering both locally and nationally.
00:05:02.800 Which brings us to the final reason why reform has no choice.
00:05:06.300 If elected, the biggest challenge they face is turning the sinking oil tanker that is Britain
00:05:11.680 around.
00:05:12.560 This will require an understanding of how the machinery of government works, something that
00:05:16.960 can only come from experience of being in government.
00:05:20.160 Many recent defectors are being described as Tory failures.
00:05:23.660 And in a sense, this is fair and correct.
00:05:26.120 The Tories failed.
00:05:27.300 But what the public do not know is that the Tories failed despite many of their ministers
00:05:31.460 being talented and brilliant people.
00:05:33.660 This is not a joke.
00:05:34.820 It's a tragedy.
00:05:35.540 Having met a number of the people who would be at the very top of your list of incompetent,
00:05:41.720 self-serving, unprincipled, slithering creatures, I can tell you the tragedy is that most of them
00:05:47.280 are none of those things.
00:05:48.700 Many were good, capable people trying their best within a party that had lost its way,
00:05:53.520 dealing with an openly rebellious civil service and operating within the suffocating straitjacket
00:05:58.820 of powerful Blairite legislation, which curbed their ability to actually govern the country.
00:06:04.160 Put simply, you need Tory failures to avoid reform failing in the same way.
00:06:09.160 This was, of course, what President Trump and his team learned from his first term in office.
00:06:14.160 They spent four years trying to do things and being obstructed at every turn.
00:06:18.760 It was only on his triumphant return to office that the Trump administration has been able to
00:06:23.900 actually implement their agenda.
00:06:26.040 This explains part of my lack of acute concern about this trend within reform.
00:06:30.720 This was always going to happen.
00:06:33.080 Indeed, by the time of the next election, I expect the entire Tory right to have switched to reform with
00:06:38.040 up to 60 reform candidates being current conservative MPs.
00:06:41.980 But the other reason for my optimism is that ultimately the direction of a political party
00:06:46.200 is set at the top.
00:06:47.720 Nigel Farage, his immensely impressive great Cardinal James Orr, and the rest of the leadership cadre
00:06:52.800 are no wets.
00:06:54.120 As long as they're in charge, reform will remain radical in the healthy sense of the word.
00:06:58.780 They're not extremists, which is a strength, not a weakness.
00:07:01.320 The very online world rewards the hotness of one's takes, but electoral politics in Britain
00:07:07.100 rewards a strong, clear-eyed focus on the silent majority, who are tired of economic stagnation,
00:07:12.860 illegal immigration, rising crime, and crumbling infrastructure.
00:07:16.020 The public are angry, and they are frustrated.
00:07:19.460 But they aren't extremists, nor will they tolerate extremism.
00:07:22.960 For every vote won by posting unworkable demands on Twitter, there are five to be lost in the
00:07:28.500 country at large.
00:07:29.280 Many activists and commentators feel that the next election is the last opportunity to turn
00:07:34.440 things around.
00:07:35.540 I agree.
00:07:35.920 However, urgency requires more pragmatism, not less.
00:07:40.680 Whether you're a centrist like me or an ardent right-winger, the recognition of this reality
00:07:45.180 must force you towards realism.
00:07:47.820 Reform is the only party capable of winning the next election.
00:07:51.620 Purity spiraling about how they are not right-wing enough will only make the outcomes you want
00:07:56.140 less likely.
00:07:57.280 We're drinking at the last chance saloon.
00:07:59.640 Drink responsibly.
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00:08:05.020 days, weeks, sometimes months ahead of time.
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00:08:49.800 health research.
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00:09:03.300 statistics.
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