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What If Reform Wins: 'Strongly recommend', Alastair Campbell on The Rest Is Politics
'Farage is Britain's new prime minister. Nirvana or nightmare? Whatever our reaction, we all need to take this scenario very seriously, as Peter Chappell's invigorating book does'
Anthony Seldon
'a dazzling imagined account of Nigel Farage's first year in Number hilarious, terrifying and totally believable... Spoiler it doesn't end well.' Ferdinand Mount
A compulsive, chilling nonfiction thriller that imagines what might happen if Reform win a majority at the next general election.
At 10pm on 28th June 2029, exit polls predict that Nigel Farage will be the 60th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This is the story of what could happen next.
What If Reform Wins is a chilling and deeply researched scenario that takes us day-by-day, minute-by-minute through a world in which Reform has the opportunity to put their policies into practice, from deporting 600,000 people to leaving the ECHR, abandoning net zero and ending the BBC's license fee. How will people fight back against mass deportations and fracking? And will this self-described 'ill-disciplined pirate ship' survive the rigors of government?
Drawing on dozens of new interviews, Peter Chappell, a reporter at The Times, explores a nation on a new and dystopian path.
Anthony Seldon
'a dazzling imagined account of Nigel Farage's first year in Number hilarious, terrifying and totally believable... Spoiler it doesn't end well.' Ferdinand Mount
A compulsive, chilling nonfiction thriller that imagines what might happen if Reform win a majority at the next general election.
At 10pm on 28th June 2029, exit polls predict that Nigel Farage will be the 60th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This is the story of what could happen next.
What If Reform Wins is a chilling and deeply researched scenario that takes us day-by-day, minute-by-minute through a world in which Reform has the opportunity to put their policies into practice, from deporting 600,000 people to leaving the ECHR, abandoning net zero and ending the BBC's license fee. How will people fight back against mass deportations and fracking? And will this self-described 'ill-disciplined pirate ship' survive the rigors of government?
Drawing on dozens of new interviews, Peter Chappell, a reporter at The Times, explores a nation on a new and dystopian path.
- GenresPolitics
240 pages, Hardcover
Published April 30, 2026
55 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 10, 2026
This book should be required reading for anyone that thinks Reform’s small minded policies and overly generalised populism is in anyway the answer. They are playing to your insecurities. There is no simple way out of the mess other than small steps forward.
Review of advance copy
A Purgative for the Body Politic
As a lifelong Brit living across the Channel, I’ve watched the political evolution of my homeland with a mixture of pride and profound "Remainer" soul-searching. Now, nearly ten years after the Brexit referendum, I picked up Peter Chappell’s "If Reform Wins" after hearing about it on the "Oh God, What Now?" podcast. It is, quite frankly, a horror story—a visceral, phenomenal mapping of the "simple" solutions that lead straight to national disaster.
The book is an unflinching look at the unintended consequences of populism. Chappell masterfully illustrates how slashing environmental budgets or abruptly closing asylum hotels creates a domino effect of chaos. While the scenarios are harrowing, there is something deeply illuminating about seeing these populist threads pulled to their logical, destructive conclusions. It strips away the rhetoric and exposes the reality underneath.
Ultimately, I found the experience profoundly purgative. It cleared away the lingering dread of the unknown and replaced it with a braced, clear-eyed readiness for the future. Perhaps these "horror scenarios" are simply the necessary growing pains of a first-past-the-post system. By facing these dark possibilities now, we might finally find the momentum to evolve into a more representative, multi-party democracy. It’s a tough read, but an essential one for anyone hoping to see the UK emerge stronger on the other side.
Here's a link to an interview with the author, but beware, it has many spoilers included:
https://open.spotify.com/podcast-chap...
As a lifelong Brit living across the Channel, I’ve watched the political evolution of my homeland with a mixture of pride and profound "Remainer" soul-searching. Now, nearly ten years after the Brexit referendum, I picked up Peter Chappell’s "If Reform Wins" after hearing about it on the "Oh God, What Now?" podcast. It is, quite frankly, a horror story—a visceral, phenomenal mapping of the "simple" solutions that lead straight to national disaster.
The book is an unflinching look at the unintended consequences of populism. Chappell masterfully illustrates how slashing environmental budgets or abruptly closing asylum hotels creates a domino effect of chaos. While the scenarios are harrowing, there is something deeply illuminating about seeing these populist threads pulled to their logical, destructive conclusions. It strips away the rhetoric and exposes the reality underneath.
Ultimately, I found the experience profoundly purgative. It cleared away the lingering dread of the unknown and replaced it with a braced, clear-eyed readiness for the future. Perhaps these "horror scenarios" are simply the necessary growing pains of a first-past-the-post system. By facing these dark possibilities now, we might finally find the momentum to evolve into a more representative, multi-party democracy. It’s a tough read, but an essential one for anyone hoping to see the UK emerge stronger on the other side.
Here's a link to an interview with the author, but beware, it has many spoilers included:
https://open.spotify.com/podcast-chap...
Review of advance copy
As the review on the front page says “Hilarious, terrifying”. Also vaguely encouraging in that it suggests the eclectic mix of Reform MPs would lack discipline to implement their policies effectively.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Fascinating, funny, galvanising. A must read in our turbulent world
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Nothing new to see here.
Review of advance copy
Not sure why Goodreads says this is pre-read: it is available on Kindle.
Review of advance copy
A terrifying imagined account of what will happen if Reform wins the next UK election. Covering the trade relationship with the EU if we leave the ECHR, our inability to react to environmental emergencies, the breaking down of the BBC and more, Chappell has put together a well-researched scenario of what a Reform government could look like, and it doesn’t look good…
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews