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2019 December General Election (Read 166152 times)

Offwidth

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#950 Re: 2019 December General Election
January 20, 2020, 10:35:15 am
I think Will makes the right point.
The Elephant in the room is the division amongst all those not Tory (the Brexit Party I’m classing as a temporary aberration, a small scale schism for the duration, already defunct). There are marginal, rightwing, extreme, parties, but they are insignificant.

Labour lurched out to a point where it failed.
It left all of the centre left homeless.

It's about choices. I made the point, way up thread, huge numbers of ex Labour voters and swing voters were lost long ago to the tories, due to Corbyn  (and/or Corbyn propaganda). They had already chosen and were always going to vote that way (forgivably so in my view). Yet the data shows the route to a hung Parliament via tactical voting was still possible for progressives (those who actually didn't vote tory, and ditto for the tory wets who switched sides in their vote), those who could see beyond Corbyn, knowing he was always going to be irrelevant in any result in this election in terms of gaining any significant power. I know full well many progressives did vote tactically (and had done before ) but the proportion clearly didn't increase this time (getting close to a hung parliament didn't need anything like all progressives to vote tactically either).  Even within a loss some really good moderate Labour and Lib Dem candidates lost seats to the tories because a small percentage of extra progressives (or wets) chose not to vote tactically and frankly any of those progressives blaming that choice on being politically homeless thanks to Corbyn is pathetic simplistic defeatist nonsense. 600 voters for Ruth in High Peak from those 4000 who voted Lib Dem probably could have been swung by the climbing and hillwalking community alone.

This wasn't a normal election. Boris and his government are potentially an existential threat to the UK, with more than enough power to implement that potential. The scare factor to me isn't just their politics but that they have transformed into a governmemt of blatant unapologetic liars and avoiders of accountability (almost Trump like). A claimed to be 'one nation government' that are pursuing: an ideological hard brexit against the interests of the country and the state of the union; the promises of exagerrated NHS money and staff they know they can't use to provide real change given the consequencies from their other poor choices;  continued austerity for much of our crumbling public sector after a decade with no relief; no interest in tackling climate change and still providing a home for deniers; complete opposition to electoral reform. In this context a split progressive vote (from a 6% majority)  WAS a massive opportunity missed in choices made.  This isn't all about the actual voting either,  as many powerful people who knew the threat of Boris should have chosen to try and stop him earlier or to say more in the campaign .. the media, the business interest groups,  the professional groups. Like Max Hastings did as his old boss. Instead, because of choices by well educated experts, he got the easiest ride to election victory that I can remember for any modern tory leader. Listening to the CBI whingeing yesterday, as it dawns on them what is going to happen to many of their members, is closing that stable door way too late.

Why go on about it??? Well, it's part anger and part learning from  mistakes to try to avoid repeating them next time.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2020, 10:54:23 am by Offwidth »

petejh

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#951 Re: 2019 December General Election
January 20, 2020, 05:20:53 pm
Somebody change the record this is getting boring.

Also, am I the only one to find your consistent use of people's first names when referring (presumably) to MPs annoying and odd? I've never met 'Ruth, Vernon or Tom', I wouldn't know them from Adam (or Eve) if I did. Why post their names in the familiar. They're not to the large majority of people reading this website.

Robin says hi btw. (MP for aberconwy..)

 

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