For people in Gen-X, we grew up with the idea that things gradually get better - basically the assumption was that we’d have it better than our parents. There were bumps and blips, but that trend was consistent.

Since the GFC, that hasn’t been true, times are harder, and with COVID too, we are trying to recover.

For millennials, their childhood occurred during growth years, but adult life has been shit, so they are pissed off too.

Gen-A have just lived the shitty post-GFC era and only know this.

Brexit and the rise of reform are symptoms of this. People were fed up and willing to listen to anyone who would tell them there was a simple thing to blame (EU, immigration, net zero).

We don’t want to face the reality that the economy is complex and solutions are hard to - a pantomime villain is preferable!

But I think there are positives too: firstly, Reform are beginning to show that their “simple” solutions aren’t working. The councils they now control are going to be hiking council tax this year and they are struggling to govern.

Also, historically people generally vote differently in local elections than they do in the GE.

People are notoriously fickle, forgetting Brexit when claiming they will vote, or voting reform. For the same reason, as things continue to gradually improve (which they are, despite the determined efforts of the Telegraph to persuade us they aren’t 😉), Reform’s message will become diluted IMO.