“The conference – the party’s biggest yet, presumably booked in before they started slipping dramatically in the polls – doesn’t even kick off properly until Friday”
Voice of the Mirror has its say…
It didn’t take long for Reform UK’s big party conference to descend into rank hypocrisy.
The conference – the party’s biggest yet, presumably booked in before they started slipping dramatically in the polls – doesn’t even kick off properly until Friday. But today was their “business day” – a chance to woo fatcats and lobbyists before the rank-and-file members turn up.
Deputy leader Richard Tice, opening proceedings, took the opportunity to have a pop at China and talk up British manufacturing. Presumably he hoped nobody would notice he was standing just a few yards away from a gift shop set up to flog piles of Reform-branded Chinese tat to Farage fans over the weekend.
But the Mirror did. Sorry, Richard.
And it isn’t just Chinese goods on sale at the nicknack stand. Goods from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are also up for grabs. Only a handful of items carry a ‘made in UK’ label – including a tea towel. Just like “man of the people” Nigel lording it up in swanky private members clubs, it’s another lesson in paying attention not to what Reform UK say, but what they do.
Because the two are often at odds.
Zack seeks to crack his way into Parliament
Green leader Zack Polanski is hoping to finally turn his social media profile into a real job in politics – as he stands in the high-profile race to replace Keir Starmer as the MP for Holborn and St Pancras.
If he’s selected, it will be the first real test of whether the Andy Burnham bounce has buoyed Labour enough to hold on to the seat in the face of a big name Green challenger.
And it’ll be Polanski’s first real test of whether he can convert TikTok likes and Instagram followers into votes. One to watch.
Speaking of awkward characters and dusty old buildings
The first trailer for the new Harry Potter HBO series has landed and it looks…almost exactly like the movies we know and love.
While different actors will portray JK Rowling’s beloved magical misfits, the haunted halls of Hogwarts appear pretty much identical to the cinematic saga. Presumably this is so they don’t have to mount a costly refurb of the franchise’s bicoastal American theme park attractions to match reimagined sets.
The one thing missing from the new retelling is John Williams’ iconic music – a thoroughly baffling decision.
