The independent tactical voting website www.StopReformUK.vote has told progressive voters to back Labour in the Cliftonville County Council byelection if they want to beat Reform UK.
The impartial website, which stresses the advice is “not an endorsement of any political party” but is solely intended “to stop Reform from holding or winning seats in your area”, has said Labour’s Joanne Bright is the best placed candidate to beat Nigel Farage’s party.
The website goes on to explain that the advice is based on an analysis of “the most recent district elections from 2022, 2023 or 2024, in the wards underlying the County division in order to identify the current strength of the parties in this division and how much campaigning has been done since 2021.”
StopReformUK.vote’s analysts are clear that all the evidence “indicates that [Labour] are the most likely challengers to Reform on this occasion.”
Labour came second last year in the County Council Elections in Cliftonville, while the Green party trailed in a distant fourth with just 12% of the vote.
Labour MP for East Thanet, Polly Billington MP, said:
“The Greens can try and hoodwink voters with all the dodgy bar graphs they like, but they can’t escape the fact that this impartial analysis shows they cannot beat Reform in Cliftonville. Instead, a vote for the Greens risks splitting the vote and handing victory to Reform’s poisonous politics of division.”
“The reality is, the Greens came a distant fourth place last year in Cliftonville, with just 12% of the vote. Only a vote for Labour on 9 April can send a message to Reform that Thanet is sick of their public service cuts, chaos, and division.
“I hope voters next week back our fantastic candidate Joanne Bright, a brilliant local campaigner with a track record of delivering real change in our community.”