Reform Party

Background and History

The reform party mainly came from the TRG, Tory Reform Group. They started due the Morgan and Corey taking leadership from the favourite, Skulldaggery after a second ballot. From then on, there was much dismay between the leaders and the One Nation Tories led by Skull. Notable members of this group were Chi and Harveyb as many remained secretive of their membership of the pressure group. Tensions grew between the TRG and the rest of the party, so when the Party Conference came at the end of the 2015 election, an alternative bill was present from the TRG and was ripped up by then Shadow Education Secretary Michael Howard. This was the final straw and the TRG left the Conservatives to create a new party, the Reform Party.

Ideology

The ideology of the Reform Party is in effect, One Nation Conservatism, but to break it down, centre right economics and centre left social policy. This meant that to many, they were seen as the Conservative party, which they left. This does have some evidence behind it, however comparing the proposed budget by the tories, they appeared closer to the FDP then the Reform Party. Many policies which the Reform party supports, like increasing the Defence budget, would have to be put on hold though, depending if they got elected, due to the dire economic problems of not having a budget since Labour's leadership switched hands in 2013. Therefore, their main aim for the moment was to fix the economic issues that the country faced at that time.

Setup and lead up to election

The party obviously had caused controversy and there were tensions between the party and the Conservatives, who ended up winning the 2015 election with a minority government, though the Reform party was able to take 6 of their seats due to the defections. This lowered the power of the Conservative party and meant that any form of coalition was out the question, though there were thoughts of trying to reconnect with the members who left them. Leading up to the long awaited Kings Speech from the tories, senior adviser and leader of the 1922 committee, Aaron Goldsmith and Chief Whip Daniel Hamilton were kicked from the party over disagreements with the leadership, mainly Morgan, and decided to join the Reform party. Goldsmith was immediately made Chairman of the party and Campaign manager for any election that happened. The Kings Speech was voted down by the MP's. A by election then was announced in Cumbria, and the only parties standing were Goldsmith for the Reform Party and Nicktrains for the Conservatives. Polling was looking for a 40pt advantage for the Reform party who were campaigning very well and gaining momentum. The budget then went to Parliament, written by Morgan, it was slammed by everyone in the opposition and was defeated. Following this, a Vote of No Confidence was successful. Corey tried to prorogue Parliament and cancel the Cumbria By Election, angering many in the Reform Party. A General Election was then called.

General Election

After this, the Reform Party set an alliance with the second most popular party seats wise, the SDP in the hope to take out the Tories. The pact entailed details of where the parties would stand. The SDP broke this on occasion, campaigning in seats that were decided for the Reform Party. Eventually the pact broke down. Tensions between those two parties rose and leader of the SDP, Dan Watts, and members of the Reform Party, notably the Chairman were arguing a lot on Twitter, and used some unsavoury language. This was also reflected in campaigns with both parties slamming the other one. The Reform Parties strategy was focused campaigning by only standing in 55 seats. This meant they were able to focus in on more of the seats they were standing in, and increase the chance of them winning in those seats. They ended up campaigning over 150 seats, the only party to campaign over 100 times. They received some scandals though, with paedophiles joining the party, Chairman, Aaron Goldsmith immediately announced that they were kicked from the party and asked all parties to have investigations to clear politics of paedophiles. They also received criticism due to members howling abuse at SDP members on the campaign trail. However, they received endorsements from British Commerce, Greenpeace, the BMA and the FSB. In the election, they had a resounding success. Winning the first majority since 2010. They won 41/80 seats, winning 74.5% of the seats they stood in.

Into the Future

After a King speech being passed, and a budget on its way, it is looking like the Reform party will be able to finally create some stability which has been missing for many years in the United Kingdom. It remains to be seen if they can unite the country and get the recovery kick started. However, for now, there is hope that they will be successful with this majority, especially after members of the Liberal Democrats, Independents and the FDP voted for said Kings Speech.