𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Once upon a time, long before the days of TikTok brain rot, lived online message boards. In fact, wind the clock back a decade or so and, as a knackered mum of two little ones, rather than venting my spleen here, you could have found me there, doing my level best to survive an endless avalanche of nappy changing and tantrums. Life could be quite solitary, frantically Googling each weird new toddler rash, and Mumsnet was a constant source of solace. 

The online parenting forum, created by Justine Roberts in 2000, is still hugely popular to this day. But back in my days on the forum it was, dare I say it, a bastion of soft Leftie politics. And after being bitten on the bum a couple of times with my scandalous views on, you know, people paying their own way, I learned to keep schtum about politics and focus on finding answers from other members on what to do if you’re told you’re “too much of a loose cannon for the PTA” (true story.)

So I was rather shocked to hear just the other day that the members have a growing Nigel Farage fan club. The new Mumsnet political poll shows 20% of users intend to vote Reform UK in the next election. This places the party ahead of Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – and it is the first time since the poll’s inception in 2009 that Labour has been beaten.

I’m sure many readers will think – what is she talking about? Who cares? It’s one poll on a diddly parenting website. But you’d be wrong. The platform boasts an astonishing eight million users and, in the past, politicians have even hosted live webchats in the hope of securing the ‘Mumsnet Vote’.

So why the sudden switch in Mumsnetter loyalties? In the research, which appeared in The Times, users said they are absolutely fuming over taxes, welfare reform – or lack thereof – the NHS and immigration. Well, quite! Aren’t we all!

And even though Farage isn’t their favourite bloke – the poll found that their overall sentiment for Farage was negative – some said that they liked him as he has “relatability, clear communication, perceived authenticity, political success and consistency”. They also said he was less “PR-scripted” than other politicians.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist – or, rather, a mum who has survived two hours of softplay – to see that when it comes to relatability Labour is going to flunk the test. They don’t help themselves by shoving Rachel Reeves (someone with about as much affability as an AI bot) out in front.

So as the opening bars of Jaws sounds as the local elections approach – duh-dum, duh-dum – Keir Starmer has a new and very serious problem. Because if you know anything about the UK there are a group of people that you should never mess with: British mums.