General Election 2024 Thread

[ChopleyIOM]

How exciting, it's time for another one of these threads,

Now, I'm no scientist and I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm not predicting this one will go very well for Rishi, who delivered a dreadful speech, whilst getting very soggy, to the sounds of 'Things Can Only Get Better' being played from the end of Downing Street.

There are rumours that letters were going in to the 1922 Committee and rumblings of a leadership challenge (as nonsensical as it would have been to foist another unelected PM on the country). but either way we have the date, 4th of July.

I'm not a big fan of Starmer and his Labour Party, being far more of a Corbynite, (dear old Saint Jeremy!), but this will most certainly be a very interesting general election.

 

[maxd]

As a filthy immigrant to Britainia I have to say that this election looks rather like the last few elections before I left the Great White North: it's not a matter of choosing a great leader or an inspiring party, it's a matter of gritting your teeth and choosing the least dreadful option available. Reminds me of one of the (few) great lines from Star Trek: Discovery: "che'wI' Datu'be'" ("Choose Your Pain").

 

[DreamRJ]

I hope that the tories get completely destroyed.

I am no Labour fan or supporter but they are the only other viable candidate to get rid of the scummy tories.

I am a Liberal but I do not like Ed Davey so I am only going to vote for the leader who I feel is right. That being said I might even abstain.

 

[Jono777]

How exciting, it's time for another one of these threads,

Now, I'm no scientist and I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm not predicting this one will go very well for Rishi, who delivered a dreadful speech, whilst getting very soggy, to the sounds of 'Things Can Only Get Better' being played from the end of Downing Street.

There are rumours that letters were going in to the 1922 Committee and rumblings of a leadership challenge (as nonsensical as it would have been to foist another unelected PM on the country). but either way we have the date, 4th of July.

I'm not a big fan of Starmer and his Labour Party, being far more of a Corbynite, (dear old Saint Jeremy!), but this will most certainly be a very interesting general election.

View attachment 197204

I'm a head in the sand, sheep kind of guy so for me, not even remotely and after this post, another thread I shall be avoiding

 

[slot_zombie]

As a filthy immigrant to Britainia I have to say that this election looks rather like the last few elections before I left the Great White North: it's not a matter of choosing a great leader or an inspiring party, it's a matter of gritting your teeth and choosing the least dreadful option available. Reminds me of one of the (few) great lines from Star Trek: Discovery: "che'wI' Datu'be'" ("Choose Your Pain").

Yep, sadly there are no great or even OK options - just the useless incumbent with a track record of disaster, and the challenger with an equally hopeless track record and an even more uninspiring leader.

Labour are just as dangerous as the Tories. Ed Miliband is touting an unhinged energy policy which includes a ban on fresh oil and gas drilling so it's going to a cold and expensive few years. As shit as the Tories are, I f***ing hate Labour so will be voting Reform.

 

[dunover]

Herpes or chlamydia, which one do you want peeps?

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Looks like Tory MPs are taking it well at least.

I'm sure the people of the UK would totally be onboard with such coup-like behaviour....

Five years really is a long time in politics, back in 2019 there were predictions of 10-15 years (or more) of uninterrupted Tory rule. And yet here we are in 2024 with the only variable being how emphatic the Tory defeat will be.

 

[itsme123]

I have to say as someone who has worked hard for 40 years and have now chiseled out a decent lifestyle for myself and my family, I am gutted at the thought of Labour having power for even one minute.
I can look forward to my taxes going up, I can look forward to my pension going down and I can look forward to spending my later life paying for people who cannot be arsed getting themselves a job.
I can look forward to a return to the 70's, nationalising everything and productivity going through the floor.
I can look forward to unions bringing the country to its knees.
I can remember the winter of discontent and we will probably have another 5 of those to look forward to.
But one good thing to look forward to..... when Keir Starmer rejoins the single market at least the Brexit red tape in NI will disappear.

 

[DreamRJ]

I have to say as someone who has worked hard for 40 years and have now chiseled out a decent lifestyle for myself and my family, I am gutted at the thought of Labour having power for even one minute.
I can look forward to my taxes going up, I can look forward to my pension going down and I can look forward to spending my later life paying for people who cannot be arsed getting themselves a job.
I can look forward to a return to the 70's, nationalising everything and productivity going through the floor.
I can look forward to unions bringing the country to its knees.
I can remember the winter of discontent and we will probably have another 5 of those to look forward to.
But one good thing to look forward to..... when Keir Starmer rejoins the single market at least the Brexit red tape in NI will disappear.

Excuse me,

So you forget all the shit the tories have done to this country? And base your views on what Labour did in the late 90's early 00's

I could list all the car crash things that the tories have done, but there is that many I would get in trouble for spamming.

 

[itsme123]

Excuse me,

So you forget all the shit the tories have done to this country? And base your views on what Labour did in the late 90's early 00's

I could list all the car crash things that the tories have done, but there is that many I would get in trouble for spamming.

No I base it on all the crap that every labour government- with the exception of Tory Tony’s early years - has brought to the country .
Higher taxes , more waste , less incentive to do well that’s what Liebour will bring.

 

[DreamRJ]

No I base it on all the crap that every labour government- with the exception of Tory Tony’s early years - has brought to the country .
Higher taxes , more waste , less incentive to do well that’s what Liebour will bring.

I do not agree.

 

[mack341]

All I can say abt the tories GE chances is summed up here:

Not keen on labour as it will have the strong flavour of blair mark 2.0, but hopefully, out of all this, we may get some better representation in the future, at some point falling turnouts and engagement must cause a reaction in the body politic.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

No I base it on all the crap that every labour government- with the exception of Tory Tony’s early years - has brought to the country .
Higher taxes , more waste , less incentive to do well that’s what Liebour will bring.

You know the tax burden in the UK right now, after 14 years of Tory rule, is the highest it's been for seventy years?

Also, you seen the UK national debt recently?

 

[Webzcas]

It was like watching a parody news broadcast last night. I am guessing that was Steve Bray's sound system blasting out "Things can only get better!" when Rishi was speaking.

Then to top it all off, he got absolutely soaked LOLOLOL

I don't think somehow the country is 'Ready 4 Rishi" LOL

I predict annihilation on Downing Street come 4th July

 

[ChopleyIOM]

As the days roll by and the election draws closer, maybe it's worth seeing where we are in terms of choices. (I don't think they're quite as stark as dunover paints above, although I'd be the first to admit I'm not inspired by Starmer's Labour, but I also don't think it's fair, or accurate, to say they're all the same or as bad as each other.)

Anyway, on immigration, here's where we are. It's massively up from where we were a decade ago, and indeed since the Brexit referendum. What's happened since we fully left the EU and came out of transition in 2020, is we've replaced EU immigration with non-EU immigration, and far more on top of that.

Indeed, the huge spike in immigration, as you can see, is since 2020.

Now, you might have an opinion on what Labour will or won't do on immigration, but as always with these things, it's important to have a clear picture of what we're comparing with.

 

[itsme123]

You know the tax burden in the UK right now, after 14 years of Tory rule, is the highest it's been for seventy years?

Also, you seen the UK national debt recently?

I think there was a a wee thing called Covid that led to huge borrowing and every countries debt burden went up.
I’d say we will be moving the 70 year figure to 75 years after a term of Liebour constantly going to the markets to borrow money to increase the Dole for the people who don’t want to work.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

I think there was a a wee thing called Covid that led to huge borrowing and every countries debt burden went up.
I’d say we will be moving the 70 year figure to 75 years after a term of Liebour constantly going to the markets to borrow money to increase the Dole for the people who don’t want to work.

There’s also the fact that if everybody who could work did work, top pay would fall and there would be less incentive for progression.

A lot of people fail to realise that for capitalism to work there naturally has to be an ‘underclass’. People also don’t realise that if you completely cut millions adrift from having any sort of purchasing power, crime goes through the roof as these people have nothing to lose.

 

[Ant1975]

There’s also the fact that if everybody who could work did work, top pay would fall and there would be less incentive for progression.

A lot of people fail to realise that for capitalism to work there naturally has to be an ‘underclass’. People also don’t realise that if you completely cut millions adrift from having any sort of purchasing power, crime goes through the roof as these people have nothing to lose.

I think a lot of people do realise this but what it translates to, is that we're relying on layabouts not working, and being paid for it, to keep the economy pumping and crime down. That doesn't sit very well with most people.

 

[Webzcas]

I have to say as someone who has worked hard for 40 years and have now chiseled out a decent lifestyle for myself and my family, I am gutted at the thought of Labour having power for even one minute.
I can look forward to my taxes going up, I can look forward to my pension going down and I can look forward to spending my later life paying for people who cannot be arsed getting themselves a job.
I can look forward to a return to the 70's, nationalising everything and productivity going through the floor.
I can look forward to unions bringing the country to its knees.
I can remember the winter of discontent and we will probably have another 5 of those to look forward to.
But one good thing to look forward to..... when Keir Starmer rejoins the single market at least the Brexit red tape in NI will disappear.

This is probably one of the most UnConservative Conservative government's in living memory. They are meant to be the party of low taxation, yet here we are being taxed to death. They hate small businesses to boot too. Plus anyone who is struggling, they have continually kicked them between the legs during the past 14 years.

Most definitely time for a change and I believe the voters will give the Tories more than a bloody nose at the Ballot Box.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

I think a lot of people do realise this but what it translates to, is that we're relying on layabouts not working, and being paid for it, to keep the economy pumping and crime down. That doesn't sit very well with most people.

What’s the alternative though.

It’s just not possible for everybody to be successful. Capitalism and especially neo liberal capitalism is very geared towards socio economic stratification.

Ultimately it’s the system and not the individuals, and it’s a pill you have to swallow when living in a democratic capitalist society.

 

[thr0b]

Looks like Tory MPs are taking it well at least.

I'm sure the people of the UK would totally be onboard with such coup-like behaviour....

Five years really is a long time in politics, back in 2019 there were predictions of 10-15 years (or more) of uninterrupted Tory rule. And yet here we are in 2024 with the only variable being how emphatic the Tory defeat will be.

View attachment 197205

Tories aren’t the smartest cookies. Get rid of their leader in the midst of an election campaign?

I mean, they don’t need to appeal to their idiotic, selfish, bigoted base. But they should at least try not to appear incompetent to the wider population.

 

[DreamRJ]

Tories aren’t the smartest cookies. Get rid of their leader in the midst of an election campaign?

I mean, they don’t need to appeal to their idiotic, selfish, bigoted base. But they should at least try not to appear incompetent to the wider population.

They can not get rid of their leader during an election campaign, that would be the final nail in the conservative coffin if they did that. For starters the leadership campaign would not even finish in time for 4th July, second is who would even stand? We have had 5 disgraceful tory leaders in the last 14 years and each one was worse than the previous one.

The tories are ruined and come 5th July when results are all in you will see who ever is left as a tory MP will mean the tory party will then split up into 2 or 3 factions and the tory party that we know today will be a thing of the past. It will take over a generation for them to rebuild again. Just like it did for Labour.

 

[dunover]

Can we not suspend elections and have say 3-4 years rule by the military?

 

[andysbetting1187]

The big problem that the UK is facing is that there really is no viable "respectable" option to vote for.

Whether you loved them or hated them, one of the parties really needs a strong leader similar to Churchill/Thatcher etc. who just gets shit done. There is to much of lining their own pockets or looking after rich investors instead of just cracking on with important topics - and the current leaders of all parties are to focused on trying to make sure they stay on the right side of not upsetting anybody (which is practically impossible these days as no matter what you do, someone gets upset and starts crying).

For the first time in years, I honestly don't know who to vote for as there is no one who I feel is strong enough to make the tough decisions and actually get shit done

 

[DreamRJ]

Thatcher was abysmal and Churchill was popular because of WW2. He was a good war time leader. I was not around then, so I can not judge and reading peoples views on him is always not accurate either when reading back in history.

Most historically written articles are not that accurate and could also be biased as well.

 

[09237653]

Starmer may not be perfect or even anywhere near but the number one priority at the moment should be to get rid of the crooks.

 

[dunover]

Starmer may not be perfect or even anywhere near but the number one priority at the moment should be to get rid of the crooks.

If we did that, the House of Commons would be empty so who would govern us?

 

[09237653]

it would be half empty at least, I just hope he follows through on properly investigating covid PPE fraud.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Sunak confirms no Rwanda flights before the general election.

Five hundred million pounds the Tories have spunked on this completely ineffective act of performative cruelty.

But yeah, something something winter of discontent.

No-fault evictions getting binned too, which are currently being used by mercenary landlords up and down the UK to fuck their tenants with, the Tories have been promising for years to sort that out. Probably in no hurry since so many Tory MPs are, y'know, landlords.

 

[Jeyson25]

How exciting, it's time for another one of these threads,

Now, I'm no scientist and I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm not predicting this one will go very well for Rishi, who delivered a dreadful speech, whilst getting very soggy, to the sounds of 'Things Can Only Get Better' being played from the end of Downing Street.

There are rumours that letters were going in to the 1922 Committee and rumblings of a leadership challenge (as nonsensical as it would have been to foist another unelected PM on the country). but either way we have the date, 4th of July.

I'm not a big fan of Starmer and his Labour Party, being far more of a Corbynite, (dear old Saint Jeremy!), but this will most certainly be a very interesting general election.

View attachment 197204

 

[Webzcas]

So Rishi 'Down with the People' Sunak visited Wales yesterday and in a pub, asked those around the table with him if they were looking forward to the forthcoming Euro 2024 football.

UM!!!

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Fuck me.

So off the back of the highest levels of generational inequality ever, with the children of today growing up poorer than their parents, enduring ruinously high rents, home ownership being a pipe dream, getting saddled with massive amounts of student debt if they do study for a degree, and enduring workplaces with low wages, insecure employment, and often no pensions or sick pay either - Sunak's big idea is to make them do a load of extra shit for free.

I guess he can do whatever he wants to the young with impunity, since none of them are voting for him anyway, plus the young will likely never forgive the Tories for Brexit, which was very much 'done to them' as it were, against their will.

And just a sidenote, if you're one of the people who'd actually cheerlead for this policy, I hope you're at least 82 years old, because that's how old you'd have to be to have performed national service the last time it was a thing.

 

[slot_zombie]

Probably do them some good a bit of national service.

 

[mack341]

Fuck me.

So off the back of the highest levels of generational inequality ever, with the children of today growing up poorer than their parents, enduring ruinously high rents, home ownership being a pipe dream, getting saddled with massive amounts of student debt if they do study for a degree, and enduring workplaces with low wages, insecure employment, and often no pensions or sick pay either - Sunak's big idea is to make them do a load of extra shit for free.

I guess he can do whatever he wants to the young with impunity, since none of them are voting for him anyway, plus the young will likely never forgive the Tories for Brexit, which was very much 'done to them' as it were, against their will.

And just a sidenote, if you're one of the people who'd actually cheerlead for this policy, I hope you're at least 82 years old, because that's how old you'd have to be to have performed national service the last time it was a thing.

View attachment 197274

Italy and a few others still do it afaik, though I thought the British army wasn't too keen on the proposition when it came up a few yrs ago.

I can't see all the Oxbridge students delaying their A levels etc..maybe it would replace the gap yr?

Haven't heard Starmer or labour's response to it, that'll be interesting.

The litany of problems you described I probably wouldn't disagree with, but not sure labour have any real solutions up their sleeve, ready to roll 'em out.

 

[slot_zombie]

Much of Labour's beloved Europe is now heading in the opposite direction to the UK and are electing "far right" politicians.and governments. I wonder why...

Will be interesting to see Starmer. hobnobbing with them ?. Or not.

Source:

BBC News - Far right eyes Europe vote surge and ditches German AfD

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[dealer wins]

Im voting for a party who didnt want me locked down for 2 years, didnt try to force me to be injected with a genetic poison bioweapon or 4, and didnt want to treat me as a 2nd class unclean citizen in my own country.

My no1 choice is The Heritage Party.

 

[slot_zombie]

Im voting for a party who didnt want me locked down for 2 years, didnt try to force me to be injected with a genetic poison bioweapon or 4, and didnt want to treat me as a 2nd class unclean citizen in my own country.

My no1 choice is The Heritage Party.

Never heard of them but you had me at the locked down bit.

 

[dealer wins]

Most sheep will vote for one of these 2 WEF monsters

 

[mcgameboy]

Most sheep will vote for one of these 2 WEF monsters

View attachment 197311

Thankfully some of us aren't sheep and will do the right thing. Stay at home and vote for nobody at all.

Politicians in the UK (and the Republic of IreUkrainistanland) are now no more than mere puppets who have been bought and paid for by the elites.
They don't even have the good grace to serve the people who DID help vote them into power/Parliament, let alone those who did not.

At the end of the day, your vote means nothing. The idea that you have a choice, that you are living in a democracy is no more than this....



Now then....time to get back to eating my way to a premature death that will hopefully happen before the state of this planet attains fully irreversible nutjob status.

Foie gras, anyone?

 

[DreamRJ]

I am really looking forward to watching results night on 4th/5th July.

I am trying to think of something I should do when the nasty tories lose an MP.

First thing that came to my mind was eat 1 pop corn. I also thought of shots but I do not drink. But that would not be good idea would probably end up having to drink over 200 shots lmao. I would be dead.

So if anyone can think of anything else please share

Also 120 business leaders have now backed Labour. They used to back the nasty scummy tories. Crazy how they can change when they see a sinking ship without any hopes of a comeback.

The exit poll is going to be the thing I am looking forward to the most. To see it say "Labour win with big majority"

 

[ChopleyIOM]

As luck would have it the 5th July is a bank holiday on the IOM (Tynwald Day), so I am fully intending to stay up into the small hours to watch the Tories get obliterated. I did the same in 1997 when Blair won his first term.

I was hoping we'd get some more 'Portillo Moments' but as Tory MPs are deserting the sinking ship at an amazing rate of knots, we might be denied that guilty pleasure.

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[pinnit2014]

A lot of Labour voters i know aren't particularly excited by the prospect of a Labour led government; probably more to do so with the fact it's been led by a guy who know one really knows who they are - son of a cobbler or whatever but, and to be fair in line with a lot of politicians these days, a man of zero conviction or ideals - For years, been trying to see what Starmer actually stands for, and still can't figure out.

There's been politicians of yesteryear, you might not have liked them, but you at least (on both sides), knew what they stood for.

Can't believe though that Sunak even has the energy to campaign - his PR folk have their work cut out even making him look human, he's such a bad interviewee and there's no real hiding from it in a GE: petty, snappy, dismissive to the point you actually see him roll his eyes when people question him - when the Loose Women make you look awful, you should probably jack it in.

 

[dunover]

Can you imaging a MacDonalds-fed flabby, drill music-consuming, indolent, woke entitled generation of 18 year olds, about 25% of whom will be muslims or other 'new Britons', successfully or willingly completing anything that demands discipline and patriotism? Rishi Sunk is living in cloud cuckoo land. You may as well get the Sergeant Majors to try and train or herd cats.

 

[andysbetting1187]

I am not sure it will be that clear cut - the general public can act in very strange ways at times and although they are annoyed with the tories, I am not convinced labour has anywhere near the support they think they do.

I think a much more intersting metric will be voter turnout. The more people I have spoken to through work/social circles etc. who have said they are just refusing to vote this year appears to be in the majority. Everyone just appears fed up now.

A "none of the above" option would probably see a higher turnout of voters

 

[ChopleyIOM]

A lot of Labour voters i know aren't particularly excited by the prospect of a Labour led government; probably more to do so with the fact it's been led by a guy who know one really knows who they are - son of a cobbler or whatever but, and to be fair in line with a lot of politicians these days, a man of zero conviction or ideals - For years, been trying to see what Starmer actually stands for, and still can't figure out.

There's been politicians of yesteryear, you might not have liked them, but you at least (on both sides), knew what they stood for.

Can't believe though that Sunak even has the energy to campaign - his PR folk have their work cut out even making him look human, he's such a bad interviewee and there's no real hiding from it in a GE: petty, snappy, dismissive to the point you actually see him roll his eyes when people question him - when the Loose Women make you look awful, you should probably jack it in.

Part of the problem is that politics has been so debased that asking anyone to be enthusiastic about anything in the political realm is a hard sell.

Fourteen years of catastrophic Tory rule is the main culprit, but New Labour weren't exactly squeaky clean and Blair's Iraq folly stands as a permanent and terrible stain on Labour's record. (I have far more time for Gordon Brown, his big mistake was not going to the country early once he'd taken over as leader.)

The real winner of the 2024 GE is going to be 'Not The Fucking Tories', that should be enough to get Starmer's Labour into government, then they have five years to show the British people that they can actually start to make things better. I'm not entirely convinced they have a compelling plan to do that, but I'm clinging onto the idea that they're just being really, really careful whilst still in opposition, and once in power they'll get into gear.

 

[andysbetting1187]

Can you imaging a MacDonalds-fed flabby, drill music-consuming, indolent, woke entitled generation of 18 year olds, about 25% of whom will be muslims or other 'new Britons', successfully or willingly completing anything that demands discipline and patriotism? Rishi Sunk is living in cloud cuckoo land. You may as well get the Sergeant Majors to try and train or herd cats.

100% agree with this. I joined the army partly because I wanted to, partly due to family generations doing the same (dad volunteered, grandad did national service but loved it) - but it was different times back them

The complete lack of disrespect, the general "the world owes me a favour", don't want to work, only want to work from home, must please everyone, if you shout at me then you are breaching my human rights attitude that the country allows and promotes will make it almost impossible to enforce. They can't put people in jail for not doing service (no room, people are getting early release now due to overcrowding).

In the army its not much better - RSM's are not allowed to shout as loud as they used to, are not allowed to berate or give people a kick in the right direction (which some will say borders on bullying, personally I found it useful as when you are in a tight spot, you want the best prepared and trained people next to you).

Even if national service did come back, I have a feeling the amount of people going to the doctors for depression/anxiety will increase 10 fold so they don't have to go.

 

[pinnit2014]

Part of the problem is that politics has been so debased that asking anyone to be enthusiastic about anything in the political realm is a hard sell.

Fourteen years of catastrophic Tory rule is the main culprit, but New Labour weren't exactly squeaky clean and Blair's Iraq folly stands as a permanent and terrible stain on Labour's record. (I have far more time for Gordon Brown, his big mistake was not going to the country early once he'd taken over as leader.)

The real winner of the 2024 GE is going to be 'Not The Fucking Tories', that should be enough to get Starmer's Labour into government, then they have five years to show the British people that they can actually start to make things better. I'm not entirely convinced they have a compelling plan to do that, but I'm clinging onto the idea that they're just being really, really careful whilst still in opposition, and once in power they'll get into gear.

I can't see it to be honest - i think what you'll see is a very uneventful 4 years, with little or no progress on quite a few fronts.

One of the things that should be in their minds is that Labour are giving the impression of a fully cohesive party, with one eye on the GE but, with a lot of resentment against Starmer in their ranks (despite his purge), once in, be interest to see any fissures develop.

They've had plans and ripped them up before the GE so i get thinking they're just being cautious, but i don't see it. I'd be very surprised if you see them come into power and go: right we're ripping up the restrictive TU laws, electoral reform etc - he's basically a Tory with a red tie so i don't think conservative voters have a lot to worry about, even with Labour at the helm

 

[ChopleyIOM]

I can't see it to be honest - i think what you'll see is a very uneventful 4 years, with little or no progress on quite a few fronts.

One of the things that should be in their minds is that Labour are giving the impression of a fully cohesive party, with one eye on the GE but, with a lot of resentment against Starmer in their ranks (despite his purge), once in, be interest to see any fissures develop.

They've had plans and ripped them up before the GE so i get thinking they're just being cautious, but i don't see it. I'd be very surprised if you see them come into power and go: right we're ripping up the restrictive TU laws, electoral reform etc - he's basically a Tory with a red tie so i don't think conservative voters have a lot to worry about, even with Labour at the helm

I can't see them doing anything massively transformative, in its current incarnation the Labour Party is centre-left at best really.

That said they have got some reasonable policy plans that you wouldn't see from the Tories, and Reeves has announced this morning a few initiatives that give a clear indication of the direction of travel with the EU.

I think Labour would be better for the UK than the Tories, although I realise that isn't saying much given the absolute shitshow a procession of Tory clowns have foisted upon the country over the last fourteen years.

Anyway, all things being equal it looks like Starmer will be given a chance, and he isn't an idiot, he knows he'll have five years to show results before he has to go back to the country again.

 

[DreamRJ]

As luck would have it the 5th July is a bank holiday on the IOM (Tynwald Day), so I am fully intending to stay up into the small hours to watch the Tories get obliterated. I did the same in 1997 when Blair won his first term.

I was hoping we'd get some more 'Portillo Moments' but as Tory MPs are deserting the sinking ship at an amazing rate of knots, we might be denied that guilty pleasure.

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There is still a lot of big named Tories who could potentially lose their seat. Media has speculated that no tory seat is safe lol. So even Rishi Sunaks seat could change hands as well.

Now that alone would be something to watch out for lol

 

[pinnit2014]

I can't see them doing anything massively transformative, in its current incarnation the Labour Party is centre-left at best really.

That said they have got some reasonable policy plans that you wouldn't see from the Tories, and Reeves has announced this morning a few initiatives that give a clear indication of the direction of travel with the EU.

I think Labour would be better for the UK than the Tories, although I realise that isn't saying much given the absolute shitshow a procession of Tory clowns have foisted upon the country over the last fourteen years.

Anyway, all things being equal it looks like Starmer will be given a chance, and he isn't an idiot, he knows he'll have five years to show results before he has to go back to the country again.

View attachment 197367

I think Labour will be going back to the country, but not Starmer - think it'll be a two term labour party and one term Starmer.

I'm just struggling to remember going to a GE where i have no idea where the opposition party (main) stand - not really helped by the fact their leader has shown to be, say, a little economical with the truth.

Jury's still out on Reeves for me - she gave a speech relatively recently that was near the same as the Sunak one - improving Britains technical skills, making Britain a powerhouse (again?) etc - very high level so will take it or leave it. We'll see how it pans out but having looked at their plans for Neighbourhood health centres it looks like continued skirting around the edges of health rather than the root and branch changes it clearly needs.

I to and fro over PR/STV as a revised electoral model - just find it bizarre that you can have a party (eg. UKIP 10 plus years ago) with something like 12% of the vote and not one MP. FPTP allows massive majorities with less than 50% of the vote.

My lasting memory of the Tory party is that, in the past they used to at least keep the bampots on the backbenches but now give them cabinet posts.

It'll probably be a quieter 5 years or so than previous, granted.