UK General Election 2024

[zorkan]

Farage is a complete and utter arsehole.

That's insulting to arseholes. Try life without one.

Q: What's the difference between a toad and Nigel Farage?
A: One is a bottom feeding scum sucker, the other is an amphibian.

https://www.pawsr.com/blog/British-Beastie-of-the-Month-The-Slimy-Toad

[Tank]

I apologise to arseholes. I would in fact miss mine very much.

[Tank]

Polling expert Sir John Curtice on Reform and Lib Dem gains

Both the Conservatives (right wing) and Labour (nominally left wing) are down about the same in the polls so the gap remains nominally the same with the Conservatives 20 points behind Labour. Reform (so right wing it fell off the plane) are now in one major poll one point ahead of the Conservatives.

To put this into a bit of context Reform has no sitting Members of Parliament and may only get a handful in the election due to the 'first past the post' electoral system in the UK. But this would be analogous to Trump starting a party called the American Fascists and getting a handful of seats in the House of Representatives.

I first became politically aware in the mid 70's and this is the most diverse election campaign I have seen. There is very little doubt Labour will win with a majority that will see them through the next parliamentary session till 2029. The only question whether there will be a credible opposition or just a bunch of punch drunk minor groupings.

[zorkan]

No mainstream party has a big idea this time.
Reform is a one policy party. Send all immigrants home.
Tory policy to send some to Rwanda is a total failure.

Now I have a great idea.
Put all the Tories on the plane.
There will be under 200 left and fares are quite reasonable.

https://www.jetcost.co.uk/flights/rwanda/RW?aw_campaign_id=765122114&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2pHS7LndhgMVZ4hQBh3cAgDqEAAYAyAAEgJzRvD_BwE

[Tank]

[Tank]

The Conservatives have pretty much given up and have moved to damage limitation. They are now reduced to FUD factors (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) to try and reduce the impending whitewash. If this election goes anywhere close to what the polls are saying it's going to be a rout.

[zorkan]

Holding a summer election when the weather is fine in the UK (sometimes it is) the Tories hoped to benefit from the feel-good factor.
But they forgot that Farage would have been away supporting Trump later in the year.

There has been a succession of poor Tory PM's.
The electorate voted for Brexit. Cameron and May tried to overturn it.
Johnson got it done but was deposed due to his actions in the pandemic.
Truss. Unelected by the voters. You know the rest.
Sunak. Also unelected by the voters.

[Tank]

Yep. They have quite literally made themselves unelectable. All Starmer has to do is kick the ball into an open goal.

[Tank]

By all accounts the Conservatives have gone into retreat. They lost so many local councilors in the recent local elections that they have lost loads of resource. Apparently they are going to focus all their resources on those constituencies where they might win if very lucky. They aren't putting any effort where they are going to be sure of winning or losing. This might not sound unreasonable until you realise that this has never been done so cynically and systematically by one of the major parties since 1945. The Conservative are in a battle for their future as a political force for the next 20 'ish years.

We are living in interesting times.

[zorkan]

Looking grim for the Tories. One poll predicts only 50 seats and Labour 500.
Lib-Dems could even be 2nd biggest party in only 2 weeks now.
Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd119p9een9t

Tory press now reduced to blaming Labour for Just Stop Oil spraying powder on Stonehenge.
They really are getting desperate.
Happily now removed just in time for the summer solstice.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgg0683e7po

[Tank]

It really is astonishing and horrific to witness.

[Icarus]

Does the British common man tend to veer toward right wing conservatism as in  several of the European countries?

[Tank]

Does the British common man tend to veer toward right wing conservatism as in  several of the European countries?

Some do. That's why Brexit happened.

[zorkan]

Does the British common man tend to veer toward right wing conservatism as in  several of the European countries?

Difficult to say.
Look at the horizontal diagram half way down.

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49763-general-election-2024-which-voters-are-the-conservatives-and-labour-seen-as-being-close-to

Tory blue on left, Labour red on right.

An amusing story from post war Britain is that the London dockers who were hard working-class men were voting Tory. They were also pro monarchy and Church of England.
A fictional character was based on this. Alf Garnett in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part was one such docker.
Tory down to his boots.

Latest: Farage reveals himself pro Putin.

[Tank]

'Silly Moo'

(UK in joke)