Enticing Boston and Skegness

Introduction

Richard Tice is Reform MP for Boston and Skegness and as such has intrigued me with his contrasting approach to the pomp and celebrity of Nigel Farage together with his apparent political skill in Parliament. Whether if he was my MP I would vote for him or his party is currently highly questionable for me. But, I do understand how Boston and Skegness came to vote for him in an area that has been persistently under-resourced and gaslit by parties of both colours throughout the 21st Century on one particular issue and its impact alone – immigration. This has resulted in a 15,000 majority of nearly 9%. Here I ask the question what do constituents of Richard Tice make of him?

Explaining the sources

Since he has been elected I have had conversations with a number of his constituents of which 20 of them agreed initially to these being recorded. This is an account of what sixteen of them said, but first of all I will explain the process in order that the reader can consider any bias. Note I do not pretend this is representative, but in a world where, in my opinion, too much regard is given to opinion polls, I tend to value anecdotal information.

Starting with myself, I consider I am a homeless conservative. I belong to no political party and have never voted Reform or any of its earlier manifestations. I voted to leave the EU and the deterioration of where I lived in Spalding due to the pressures of uncontrolled legal and illegal immigration was a significant factor. I am pro Unions and not against immigration per se. Sadly we are in a world where people make generalisations and do not consider detail and nuance.

 I restate the sixteen people in this piece cannot be regarded as representative and should be regarded as merely a group of people. Each of them agreed to let me record their words in one form or another. Most wished to remain anonymous, so I took the decision to keep anonymity for them all using a description agreed by them in initials which do not necessarily match their initials. There were a further four that upon reading what I transcribed did not wish to have their words repeated – of those, one was clearly negative towards Mr. Tice and three were positive. It is telling that all four feared that if their words were identified as coming from them it could have a detrimental effect on their work life.

The conversations are in the order in which they took place chronologically from August 2024 to February 2025. Rather than lift quotes from the conversations I disclose the whole dialogue so as to reduce the potential of “editorial bias”. In each case I am represented by my Christian name, “Andrew” and the interviewee is identified with agreed initials. It is to be noted that in every case I did not ask who they voted for, but rather left it for them to disclose if they so wished.

The Constituents

CM – is a teacher and lecturer that moved to the area in 2016 from Coventry.

Andrew: So what do you make of your MP?

CM: Richard Tice, I hate him and everything he stands for. He’s part of the same nationalistic idiocy that led us out of Europe. Reform is not even a party. It’s Farage’s social club of racists.

Andrew: Racists or xenophobes?

CM: There’s no difference. They’re all climate-denying toffs that would send us to Hell in a hand cart.

Andrew: I’m not sure I agree. Xenophobia is a fear whereas racism is a hateful bias, a prejudice, an othering of people that dehumanizes them.

CM: I think when it comes to Boston you are splitting hairs.

Andrew: You are angry.

CM: Yes, because I see how divisive this is and view him as the root of division. Or at least he exploits it.

Andrew: Have you met him?

CM: Not one to one. But yes. He is visible unlike Labour. That Alex Fawbert was a waste of space.

Andrew: And?

CM: He is very personable. He speaks well. In fairness he listened actively, or at least appeared to. He has firm views on education and talks with confidence. But that does not change how I feel.

The conversation drifted off the subject at this point.

PK – is a shopkeeper in the region. Born in Lithuania and has dual citizenship since 2016. They first came to Britain to work in 2005 and settled in 2007.

Andrew: What do you make of Richard Tice?

PK: I reckon he isa good man. He’s just what we need. You English don’t understand because you don’t come from where I am from. You think everyone coming here is good. Believe me they are not. I see it. I know them. This country is great, but you are fucking mad. I see how many Romanians, Russians, Ukrainians, and why oh why do you let in Bulgarians?

Andrew: Possibly for the same reason we let in Lithuanians?

PK: No, no, no, the likes of you don’t get it. Not all Lithuanians are good. You see people come here for two reasons. Either they are running away or they are here and set up a life. Believe me, too many are running away, especially from Russia. So many how do you say….

Andrew: “Crooks”?

PK: Exactly too may crooks. Believe me they don’t play nice. They try it on with me but I will have nothing to do with their money. Mr. Tice he gets it. He understands you are full. Full of bad people. They hurt how you view the good. I am proud to say I vote for him.

Andrew: I deliberately don’t ask that. I reckon if I did people would not talk to me.  Indeed, I have the impression that few would admit if they voted for Reform. Why do you think that is?

PK: I value my vote more than you British. You are too polite and don’t say what you mean. (pause) Plus I am immigrant. It is harder to call me racist.

KS – A student and first time voter.

Andrew: What do you think of your MP?

KS: I see him speak well in Parliament, but I just wish he was Conservative. He would make a good leader. Farage will weigh him down.

Andrew: Have you met him?

KS: No but I’ve seen him about. At least everyone knows who their MP is.

Andrew: Could you name the previous MP?

KS: No

JS – housewife living near Spilsby.

Andrew: What of Richard Tice?

JS: Well, people get what they vote for. Not sure if he will make any difference. I avoid Boston nowadays. I don’t know anyone there. You know what it’s like.

MH – a businesswoman employing 20 employees.

MH: Richard Tice is the first politician I have met that understands business. I don’t care about his politics as long as he fights for the area. Something has to change.

Andrew: Have you met many politicians face to face?

MH: Let me think. (pause) at least six. He helped my friend with some advice. He clearly has a good business head and I think he could be good for the area and help attract business.

DW – retired grower.

DW: Andrew, why on earth do you want to know about Richard Tice?

Andrew: I don’t want to know about him. I want to know what his constituents make of him.

DW: Why?

Andrew: Because he intrigues me.

DW: Well, to start with he has been the most visible MP in my life time. Body would have given him a run for his money. He is very clever at managing people and adapts to each person he meets. He appears to listen.

Andrew: And why do you think people voted for him?

DW: Because they were being ignored. You’ve seen it. Since the late 90’s Boston and Skegness have gone downhill in every way. Being a safe seat meant Labour didn’t give a shit and the Tories took them for granted. Add to that immigration and that stupid report gaslit the locals and really got people’s backs up when Mary Beard spoke about it.

Andrew: Funny you should say that. I view that as a turning point for Boston that episode of Question Time.

DW: Spot on. It really got people’s backs up.[i] Add to that the crime and the murders and people don’t feel safe. The whole area has been let down on the basics. The days of the same old thing with the occasional change of the colour of government is over. The bastards will have to earn their living. Although I wouldn’t do the job on an MP’s pay.

Andrew: Why do you think he does the job?

DW: The jury’s out on that one.

LW – Mid 20’s born in UK to Polish parents.

LW: I voted for him. You let too many people in. Even my parents say so. It’s got to stop.

MS – professional late 50’s

MS: I’ve seen him talk. He clearly has vision and if he had any power he could be useful. I just feel he’s in the wrong party. If you compare him to say Rupert Lowe or Farage they come across as ranters and people switch off. But Tice is much more measured in his approach. What concerns me is when it comes to things like pylons or energy he may court popularity over common sense.

KB – Retired nurse

KB: I get why people voted for him. But he’s not my man. I disagree with him on climate and energy. He’s a climate change denier.

Andrew: I’m not sure he is. He doesn’t buy the air of crisis that people demonstrate.

KB: But we are in crisis.

Andrew: OK. Is there anything else about him.

KB: I don’t trust him.

Andrew: Do you trust the government?

KB: No, definitely not. Labour destroyed the NHS under Blair saddling it with debt. Tories never grasped the nettle. I trust none of them.

K – retired police officer.

K: I followed the hustings with interest. I’m not sure any of the candidates really appreciated how fed up people are. Too many dismissed a vote for him as a protest vote, but it is so much more. Within the county this area lost out to Lincoln and this shows in basic services. When on the job I could see it first-hand………still do. I’m under no illusions though. He is clever and speaks well.

AW – Polish born UK citizen first came to UK in 2003 doing seasonal work and moved here to live in 2006. Married with three children aged 15-21.

AW: I voted for him. So did my wife. You look surprised.

Andrew: I am a little. As they led the campaign out of Europe.

AW: I will explain to you. You see when I first come here to work I was single and 24.

Andrew: What did you do?

AW: I worked picking and packing flowers the first time. You see it was hard for young single people to get full time well paid work when I lived in Poland. There was plenty of work. But not stable. The stable jobs were held by married men. So I had several part-time jobs or seasonal and it was hard. You see single men were paid less and women also.

Andrew: Paid less than married?

AW: At that time yes. Coming to England for three or six months paid well. That is how I met my wife. She came over to work. We could earn more money here and it would buy more back home.

Andrew: But what made you move here?

AW: It is not that England is better. Poland is better in many ways. But we could see more choice and more opportunity here. We did not initially plan to stay, but one thing led to another and we settled. You see, what really pissed us off was how it was hard to be in well paid work when we were single.

Its not right. We did not want our children to experience that. My eldest boy is nearly the age I was when I came over. But I don’t like what I see happening. When he started working in the factory they gave him a better paid job once they knew he could speak Polish. There is discrimination against English. Yes, I am Polish, but this would not happen in Poland.

It was good in Covid. Everyone decided where was important to them. Many left and fewer foreigners came in so our wages went up. Now you see them forgetting this and using more and more cheap immigrants. They let anyone in and now trim those that worked in Covid. Its shit.

Andrew: You feel strongly about this.

AW: Hell yes. Its for my children I want it to be better. I love it here but we have dual nationality now. I have a choice if it gets worse. This country is crazy. So much is anti-English. I feel sorry for you.

Andrew: I’m lucky in my position.

AW: For now, but you see it will change your country.

Andrew. Don’t you mean our country?

AW: ……yes of course “our country”. Our country needs to be more selfish. Start with everyone speaking English.

Andrew: Really? Isn’t that xenophobic?

AW: What do you mean? Like racist?

Andrew: Sort of, but more linked to nationality.

AW: No it is what is right. There is a poster outside my work, “No English Required”. This is stupid. I told my manager it was not right. He said “It is equality.” It is not equality. Everyone talking the same is equality. This causes problems especially as they cannot tell one European language from another.

Andrew: So what do you make of Richard Tice?

AW: I like him. He speak well and make sense. He’s a businessman and talks the talk and walks the walk. You need more like him.

MS – 70 year old lady.

Andrew: What do you make of Richard Tice?

MS: I don’t really. He’s visible and appears to be a good constituent MP. But he’s in the wrong party.

Andrew: Which party does he belong in?

MS: He’s an old-fashioned Tory.

Andrew: Is that good?

MS: For me no. But at least its honest. So many Tories and Labour could cross the floor and no-one would notice. The largest differentiation is Green and Reform. I don’t rate either, but at least they are different.

AT – Retired health worker.

AT: I’ve seen him give good advice – he seems to have an efficient office. I would trust him to run a business. But too often he appears to want to run everything like a business. I fear this. It doesn’t work and actually increases management in my experience. He’s gaining popularity.

RB – accountant age late thirties.

RB: Why are you interested in him?

Andrew: He intrigues me. But I’m trying to understand what people think of him.

RB: He’s fanciable. He’s quite sexy.

Andrew: Oh, that’s not quite what I expected.

RB: People vote for a personality and let’s face it he has it in spades.

Andrew: Have you met him?

RB: Yes, or rather I have been at functions when he was there. He has charisma, plus he speaks well. I see more of him on TV than Kemi Badenoch and he doesn’t oppose something for the sake of it.

Andrew: And what about the area?

RB: He’s switched on with schools and he gets why people voted for him. Let’s face it, I don’t go into Boston if I can avoid it. It’s a different world to what it was when I was a kid.

Andrew: You’re not that old.

RB: Precisely. You know what I mean. Its turned into a shit hole.

Andrew: Sort of, but I believe that is harsh.

RB: Do you feel safe in Boston?

Andrew: Obviously I don’t go so much now. I believe it is safe to an extent, but no better than Spalding.

RB: Its not that though. It’s the services everything is struggling. All these people came here and nothing expanded. Let’s face it the opposite happened. The basics are no longer being provided adequately. That’s what people notice.

TB – graduate at the time of speaking doing casual work in Skegness.

Andrew: What do you make of Richard Tice?

TB: I don’t And don’t ask me who I voted for because I didn’t vote.

Andrew: Any reason for not voting?

TB: Yes. I was too busy to vote and there was no-one worth voting for.

Andrew: Do you think that is a cynical approach?

TB: No. I believe it is the truth. Look let’s face it Labour and Tory are the same, Green want to send us back to the Middle Ages and Reform want to deport everyone and privatise  everything to sell it off to their cronies to cash in. None of them are any good. Fuck the lot of them.

BS – this final constituent is a retired farmer and businessman that I went out of my way to approach because he is a person I regard as being wise. I explain this in the dialogue.

Andrew: I remember meeting you for the first time in 1988. It stuck me how astute you were talking about business and the economy at the time. I recall you talking about a speech you had heard by John Major and you predicted, correctly as it happens, that he would be the next Prime Minister. That’s why I have sought you out to get your view on Richard Tice.

BS: Really? I remember seeing John Major give a speech at a dinner and he was clearly in favour of turning the Conservative Party away from Thatcher’s individualism towards a social approach. Margaret Thatcher had the hazard of a large majority. It gives you the ability to not listen to people. That then brings about your own demise.

Andrew: An elected dictatorship?

BS: Not quite. Where did you get that phrase?

Andrew: Richard Body in one of his books.

BS: I studied Political Philosophy and do not believe that such a thing is possible under the present system. Yes a large majority gives you immense power, but only if you use that power to change basic freedoms or the controls and checks that government is subject to that a dictatorship can begin to take root.

Andrew: And what are those basic freedoms?

BS: Ability to own property and the rule of law. Its only when these two are in place that ideas and speech can flow freely and people’s wishes and dreams start to be fulfilled. As for the controls and checks, bizarrely the archaic House of Lords does a good job, but the best control is a competent opposition. This is where proportional representation breaks down. It creates coalitions and dilutes opposition to rely on an opposing consensus. Sadly in opposition both Labour and now Conservative have been woefully wanting.

Andrew: We’ve got away from what I wished to talk about.

BS: Ah! Richard Tice. Well I don’t believe you have because he is the product of two things – a serially successively incompetent opposition to government, and ordinary people not being listened to. I find it amazing that both parties have committed both sins.

Andrew: Why do you think that has happened?

BS: Oh I believe that is simple. Look back and you see politicians that had real life experience. John Major was very modest background which would be regarded as poverty nowadays, similarly Jim Callaghan. A lot of Thatcher’s Tory Ministers had backgrounds in industry and had ordinary backgrounds that balanced the traditional land owning gentry. Similarly Labour had people from ordinary backgrounds, industry and Trades Unions that balanced the educated University classes. This balance is lost with University becoming a gateway qualification for MP’s as in so much of life.[ii]

Andrew: Is that a bad thing? I bet you went to University.

BS: Yes I did. The reason it is bad is that it can tunnel your vision towards intellectual solutions. Everything has its place. But you see it opens the doors to charlatans that focus on intellectual solutions that are easily available from the vast ocean of academia without examining real life and real people and seeking their advice. If I had run my businesses like that I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes. Look at Rachel Reeves, possibly the worst Chancellor in my lifetime totally out of her depth and, worse still, convinced she is right about everything. Arrogance comes before a fall and she will fall a long way.

The problem is, Andrew, government is failing to get the basics right and Tony Blair squandered the times of plenty when he should have invested in housing, energy and infrastructure and defence. Its telling he was so focused on education.

Andrew: “That Tony Blair, stick two posters up in a bus stop and call it a University.”

BS: What?

Andrew: It’s a quote from Victoria Wood’s Dinner Ladies.

BS: Well that was not far wrong as it developed a culture of education for education’s sake ignoring the value of real life experience and, worse still, vocational training.

Andrew: But what of Richard Tice?

BS: He is a good politician. From what I’ve seen of him he listens and adapts. I fear he is in the wrong party. But then so was Churchill. But, you see the core of the Tories, and Labour for that matter, is so Europhile they will never forgive him and blame him and Farage for Brexit.

Andrew: Really?

BS: In the center of politics you have an intellectual class that regardless of being right wing or left wing you can hardly place a cigarette between. A common cause for them was the European project where they believe the whole of Europe can rely upon each other to support each other for everything including food, defence, energy and finances. In return they were happy to sacrifice sovereignty of certain issues. Its telling that this has never been fully explained to the public and few realise we have never had a referendum to join what was the European Economic Community and never had subsequent referendums as its nature changed unlike other countries.[iii]

Government liked a politically ignorant public. Look at the damage it has done in my area and where you come from in Spalding. Intellectual idealists do not get it.

Andrew: You sound angry.

BS: No not really. Just sad that we’re sold down the line. Indeed Brexit could have been avoided with more honesty years ago. You see Richard Tice can easily hang onto his seat in Boston but the party is a mess. At the moment it is not a real party. Farage owns the shares.[iv] It cannot be a party until it belongs to its members. At the moment it’s a club, that may be popular, but is not electable.

Andrew: Why is it not electable?

BS: The club attracts Fascists. And there is one thing the British voter will not tolerate and that is Fascism. However, Reform in itself is not Fascist.

Andrew: Its right wing.

BS: No, it isn’t. You see the old political measure of right wing and left wing has been usurped by a new political opposites.

Andrew: What do you mean?

BS: The environmental and Green movement has changed the matrix. You now have on one side Cosmopolitans. Cosmopolitans are an intellectual class who are deemed as positive, worldly, knowledgeable and good. They benefit from a wide view of the world and its people and are typically well-travelled. Now here lies the problem, cosmopolitan views are automatically lauded as inclusive and open-minded. Yes they have many good attributes, but cosmopolitan views do not herald all that is good and are capable of great evil. They imperiously view themselves as right without question – always dangerous. They repeatedly seek to apply local solutions to world problems – a fundamental weakness of the extreme cretins in the Green movement. They ignore local knowledge and expertise. They mistake equality for fairness. They have a desire to be fair and just to everyone in the whole world and in trying to achieve this please no-one and cause great damage. They favour largeness over smallness – a bugbear of your old MP Richard Body. They favour largeness and dominance of large multinational organisations. They have a false assumption that something larger and wider will manage better than something more local regardless of any reality. They ignore empirical evidence unless it suites their agenda. They also have an intellectual and classist snobbery that I detest.

Andrew: Wow. Well that’s one side. What about the other.

BS: Harder to name because the word Nationalism has been taken. But the opposite is a view that starts with the individual  and stretches to what is visible to them. This is equally bad in the extreme, but when applied in concentric circles like the ripples caused by a stone in a pond, or many stones, where those circles overlap is the wider view for general good. Richard Body understood this, especially in European politics. The post War peace was built on such approach where each nation sought to establish its own interests, but where this could not be met happily either negotiated or fought  for their interests with peace being an ultimate over-arching one. Bizarrely, whilst if this approach results in isolation it is not healthy, for it to work it requires more empathy than the cosmopolitan approach to enable achievable mutual ambitions. China seems to understand this best at the moment whilst the European nations wallow in self-righteousness.

Andrew: And Reform is in this non-cosmopolitan National sphere?

BS: I believe so. Yes. But time will tell. If it veers  to Fascism its doomed.

So there we have it – sixteen constituent views of Richard Tice and a different view of Reform that I have not considered  before. It perhaps has to be noted that the most common theme is the failing of government and the main political parties. How this will turn will perhaps be the greatest political change since the formation of the Labour Party.

[i] I write about this in more detail in the post Migration Two Great Lies – see connected posts.

[ii] 90% of MP’s went to University.

[iii] Nearly everyone I speak to is unaware of this. The UK only ever had two referendums to leave. It never had subsequent referendums when significant changes and rights were changed unlike some other member states.

[iv] This conversation was before Farage released ownership to the members.