It seems like a long time since the general election and, politically, it has been a transformational year for Reform UK.

Our local membership in Farnham and Bordon is growing by the week and, nationally, we are a smidgen away from 270,000 members from a standing start of just 13,000 at the time of the general election.

This is in part due to the disastrous policies of the current Labour government, who seem to demonstrate a rare knack of throwing kerosene onto any smouldering political issues which they manage to incorrectly diagnose on a daily basis.

To paraphrase, Sir Keir Starmer has shown himself to be a man who can be relied upon to run the most prosperous country into the ground — a self-made man who owes his lack of success to nobody.

Disastrous and lamentable to watch though the national situation is, we have to ask how we ever ended up with a cabal of 1970s-style socialists in power in the first place.

The answer is that the Conservative Party’s drift to the left over the last 15 years has effectively destroyed it, bringing it to the point where it was (and is) incapable of effectively opposing either Starmer, Rayner or even “Our Rachel” from accounts.

Reform UK, by contrast, have this year been busy routing Labour at the ballot box all around the country, with some eye-watering majorities being turned over.

On almost every key issue Reform UK are seen to be carrying public support along with us, to the horror of the old parties.

We are a pro-common-sense, pro-business, patriotic, pro-Brexit, pro-sovereignty party and we are not afraid of smears, insults or labels.

Our party is open to all, regardless of colour, creed, religion or sexuality and it would appear, thus far at least, our message is increasingly striking a chord with large numbers of people from all backgrounds all around the UK.

So my prediction for 2026–2027 is that the Conservative Party will continue to shrink, Reform UK will continue to win at the ballot box, building on its 677+ council seats, and Labour will get rid of Keir Starmer and install Diane Abbott to bolster its national credibility. Well, you never know — a week is a long time in politics.

Merry Christmas to you all and have a Happy New Year.

Ged Hall, Chairman, Reform UK - Farnham and Bordon