Anti-Racism campaigners mobilise against Reform UK ahead of Govanhill by-election
Campaigners gathered for Stand Up To Racism’s day of action, in an effort to stop Reform UK from gaining ground in Southside Central Council by-election. Activists stood outside of Queen’s Park and urged residents to vote at the by-election and distributed leaflets across Govanhill, warning of the party’s far-right ties and racist scapegoating.
Campaigners gather outside of Queen’s Park
By Raymie Kiernan | Photos by Sadia Sikandar
Anti-racism campaigners launched their bid to stop Reform UK making gains in the upcoming council by-elections in Govanhill.
Organisers said 20 people joined Stand Up To Racism’s (SUTR) day of action, as they stood outside of Queen’s Park and distributed leaflets around doors and in the street.
The Southside Central ward, which includes Govanhill, is one of two in the city that go to the polls on Thursday, 20 March. Reform candidate Danny Raja is one of eight people standing in the Southside Central ward by-election.
“We've launched this campaign to encourage people to use their vote against racism,” Alex tells Greater Govanhill. The SUTR campaigner added, “Our aim is to stop Reform UK gaining confidence that it can pick up more votes in our city. Turnout for council by-elections is never usually that great. We don’t want Reform to benefit from a low turnout and create momentum for itself.
“There are issues such as housing or health, poverty and more that people are rightly angry about. Farage’s Reform UK does not have the answers to those issues, it doesn’t stand for you. It is using racist scapegoating to gain votes and that only benefits those who wish to divide our society.”
Read more: Explained: Glasgow By-Elections 2025 in the Southside Central Ward
Similarly to last year’s General Election, Greater Govanhill has launched a Citizen’s Agenda – a voter guide, in which candidates answered questions on the issues which mattered most to our readers. Rather than let the candidates and party machines determine the topics that get coverage, this approach is designed to put power back in the hands of the people that politicians are meant to be serving.
Help us shape a Citizens Agenda: What do you want council candidates to be talking about?
Tamas is from Govanhill and came out to join the campaigners: “to get more involved with activities that align with my personal beliefs”. Their simple message was: “F**k racism, right. It's what I've always believed in. Reform is a threat and locally our resistance is extremely important to become the mass that opposes this rightward shift.”
Recent opinion polls in Scotland show Reform’s popularity has grown significantly since the general election last summer. Its vote share has more than doubled, from around 7 percent to 17 percent. This reflects electoral gains achieved by far right parties in other European countries, most recently in Germany. In three council by-elections in November last year, Nigel Farage’s party came third.
“I've become really concerned about the rise of the far right throughout Europe,” John, another SUTR campaigner, told Greater Govanhill. He believes, “We're now seeing that mirrored here with the rise of Reform UK, a party that is very adept at hiding its far right roots.”
John pointed to SUTR’s leaflet that reads, ‘Reform UK is riddled with racists. During the 2024 general election, Clacton campaign officials were exposed as saying migrants should be shot on beaches. The party defended one of its candidates who said Britain should have ‘taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality’, saying the comments were ‘probably true’. One of its councillors shared posts that spread racist conspiracy theories about ‘Zionist controllers’ and ‘Jewish supremacism’.
John adds: “Reform also pretends to be an anti-establishment party in the same way Trump – who they are boot-lickers of – pretends to be anti-establishment, even though he's a billionaire.”
The Love Music Hate Racism campaign also joined in the day of action, setting up a busking performance at the Victoria Road gates of Queen’s Park. Lorna was one of the musicians helping out. She said: “Our contribution to this campaign is to use the power of music to unite people and show that this city that thrives on its diversity, welcomes refugees and has no place whatsoever for racism or bigotry.”