“A sense of complete hopelessness’: Inside the UK’s first Reform UK pub
Lewis Goodall visits The Talbot in Blackpool, where patrons flock for cheap beer, pool and bingo. Many don’t care about the political affiliation of the venue, but their outlook on the government reveals the extent of British disappointment with the Labour party.
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In brief…
- Customers in The Talbot tell Lewis Goodall they have “lost all hope” in Keir Starmer’s government.
- Cuts to the winter fuel payments have become the biggest reason for widespread negativity towards the Labour government.
- Lewis says the attitudes of Blackpool locals is “fascinating and disturbing”, but one which can be found all across the UK.
What’s the story?
Just a short walk from the Blackpool illuminations you’ll find The Talbot, the UK’s first Reform UK pub, its exterior walls painted the party’s distinct shade of blue.
Serving cheap beer and affordable food, it caters to an older crowd in the seaside town, many of whom are disillusioned with UK politics, as its patrons told The News Agents’ Lewis Goodall when he paid the pub a visit.
Patrons approve of The Talbot’s re-brand from a Conservative club, including former Labour voters, with one describing Starmer’s time in Downing Street as "shocking", and another saying British people have “lost all hope" in British politicians.
Many said Labour’s cuts to the winter fuel benefits in 2024 was the final straw – including those who had voted for Keir Starmer in last year’s general election.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, is described as a “breath of fresh air” by some, while others are unable to name the party policies they support, beyond “keeping Britain British.”
See what happened when Lewis visited The Talbot in Blackpool, and became a bingo caller for the night, below.
After spending the evening in the pub, meeting its customers and owner, Lewis says the fact that it’s a Reform UK pub is “completely incidental”.
But that’s not to say there isn’t a huge amount to learn about British attitudes towards politics in 2025.
“The thing that is both fascinating and disturbing about everything people are saying , is that it mirrors almost everything you hear anywhere you go in the country at the moment, which is just a profound malaise. It's a sense of complete hopelessness,” Lewis says.
“The winter fuel thing, it's astonishing the extent to which that attached itself to the reputation of this government.
“It's somehow the embodiment of how little they care, and how off their attitudes are.”
But even with a u-turn from Keir Starmer on its winter fuel cut increasingly likely, Lewis says that this sense of complete disillusionment runs too deep for there to be a simple solution.
“You ask people what it is they're so unhappy about, and they can't tell you,” he adds.
“It's a feeling, it's an attitude about the relationship between Westsminster and the rest of the country, and how Westminster treats the rest of the country.
“That is what Reform and Farage are tapping into, and that is what is different.”