General Election 2024

[kentishu]

Jul 5, 2024 8:05:26 GMT foolhandy said:

4 Green MPs and 4 Reform MPs - looking forward to the Greens getting equal airtime!

(And yes, Reform got a higher % of the vote but a) That's not how FPTP works and b) Greens got a higher % in the locals and still all the focus was on Reform...)

I am looking forward to the five independents getting even more air time...

Kentish

[artvandelay]

Jul 5, 2024 9:02:41 GMT kentishu said:

Jul 5, 2024 8:05:26 GMT foolhandy said:

4 Green MPs and 4 Reform MPs - looking forward to the Greens getting equal airtime!

(And yes, Reform got a higher % of the vote but a) That's not how FPTP works and b) Greens got a higher % in the locals and still all the focus was on Reform...)

I am looking forward to the five independents getting even more air time...

Kentish

Presumably the BBC will have to give that old frog-faced puano-toothed sponge even more airtime now he has actually got elected so I expect him to host the breakfast news, The One Show and Match of the Day.

[barry]

All about Reform taking Tory votes. Expect a lurch to the right in 5 years time, so enjoy it whilst it lasts.

[Andrewlang]

For now I'm just delighted to obliterate the Tories. It's a landslide defeat for them as opposed to a landslide victory for Labour in my view as it feels as though for many people the vote was more about rejecting Tories so hopefully Labour don't take the huge majority as too much of an indication of support...their vote share was only marginally better than that which saw Corbyn beaten in the previous election after all.

It's important that they provide actual change and make a difference now because failure would give an even greater voice to a hard right who got a large vote share and will claim to be hard done by with only 4 seats.

Andrew

[kentishu]

Agree with that Andrew, and a small part of me still hopes that Starmer's approach of making it impossible to hit Labour whilst allowing the Tories to implode represents an actual strategy and not just all he is capable of. If so, now that he has a big majority and IF he is capable of shifting gears, we might still see him pursue a radical transformative agenda, so that this country starts to feel good about itself again and in 4/5 years time the likes of fblock say yeah that was pretty good and btb says it wasn't too bad after all. I wouldn't bet on it though.

Another feature of this election is how badly the opinion polls (all of them) preceding the election got it wrong. It caused many in the Tory party to essentially give up, but I reckon if they had pushed hard with two messages ('don't give Labour a super-majority' and 'Vote Reform, Get Labour') they may well have won (which is quite frankly both astonishing and scary). They did the first one but tried to tackle Reform on the basis of the odiousness of some of the candidates, which would have had zero effect since all potential Reform voters are pretty odious themselves.

Kentish

[MartinL]

Jul 5, 2024 9:13:10 GMT barry said:

All about Reform taking Tory votes. Expect a lurch to the right in 5 years time, so enjoy it whilst it lasts.

The lurch began a few years ago.
Why is a far right government seemingly attractive to you?

[barry]

Jul 5, 2024 11:48:16 GMT MartinL said:

Jul 5, 2024 9:13:10 GMT barry said:

All about Reform taking Tory votes. Expect a lurch to the right in 5 years time, so enjoy it whilst it lasts.

The lurch began a few years ago.
Why is a far right government seemingly attractive to you?

Not for me, it’s something to be scared of, I hate Farage and his like with a passion. Let’s see how it pans out in France and hopefully puts people off.

[MartinL]

Jul 5, 2024 11:52:15 GMT barry said:

Jul 5, 2024 11:48:16 GMT MartinL said:

The lurch began a few years ago.
Why is a far right government seemingly attractive to you?

Not for me, it’s something to be scared of, I hate Farage and his like with a passion. Let’s see how it pans out in France and hopefully puts people off.

That’s really not the impression you give with your views. I’d plump you right in the reform camp

[irishfan]

A party that has one third of the vote can achieve two thirds of the seats.

First past the post is a wild system! 🙃

The British gave to Ireland in 1919 the gift of Proportional Representation - Single Transferable
Vote.
Malta has it too.


The political geeks love it especially as it can take 3 days or more to count all the votes with tactics and strategies galore. No counting during the night when polls close, take your time and give it a few days

For a candidate your worst enemy is not the other party, it’s probably your running mate ha!

[MartinL]

Reform voters bemoaning FPTP and calling for PR.

We had a vote on it- respect democracy and accept the result.

The right don’t do irony, do they?

[neilmc4]

As a carer for far too many years than I care to remember ............
I wouldn`t pretend to be particularly thrilled or enthused by last night`s result BUT -
I remember when you could get a GP appointment within a couple of days ; not five weeks.
I remember when my local hospital didn`t have its roof supported by hundreds of pit props to stop it collapsing.
I remember when disability assessments were carried out by qualified medical professionals and NOT unqualified pen pushers employed by a foreign for-profit organisation.
I remember when my client could see an NHS dentist and didn`t have to pull her own teeth out with a pair of pliers because there wasn`t a single NHS dentist in the entire county.
I remember when life changing and potentially life saving medication was freely available on prescription and not , after Boris`s "brilliant" Brexit deal , only available at extortionate cost from the other side of the world.
I remember when you only had to wait weeks or months for an operation , not years.
I remember when former members of our armed forces didn`t starve to death because the Government had stopped all their diasbility benefits.
I remember when disabled people were helped and encouraged back in to work instead of being threatened and labelled as "workshy" and "economically inactive".
I have many reservations about Starmer and the current incarnation of the Labour party but unless they suddenly start wearing jackboots and building gas chambers they can`t possibly be any worse than the previous lot.

[joffjog]

Jul 5, 2024 19:10:28 GMT neilmc4 said:

As a carer for far too many years than I care to remember ............
I wouldn`t pretend to be particularly thrilled or enthused by last night`s result BUT -
I remember when you could get a GP appointment within a couple of days ; not five weeks.
I remember when my local hospital didn`t have its roof supported by hundreds of pit props to stop it collapsing.
I remember when disability assessments were carried out by qualified medical professionals and NOT unqualified pen pushers employed by a foreign for-profit organisation.
I remember when my client could see an NHS dentist and didn`t have to pull her own teeth out with a pair of pliers because there wasn`t a single NHS dentist in the entire county.
I remember when life changing and potentially life saving medication was freely available on prescription and not , after Boris`s "brilliant" Brexit deal , only available at extortionate cost from the other side of the world.
I remember when you only had to wait weeks or months for an operation , not years.
I remember when former members of our armed forces didn`t starve to death because the Government had stopped all their diasbility benefits.
I remember when disabled people were helped and encouraged back in to work instead of being threatened and labelled as "workshy" and "economically inactive".
I have many reservations about Starmer and the current incarnation of the Labour party but unless they suddenly start wearing jackboots and building gas chambers they can`t possibly be any worse than the previous lot.

Change won’t be quick, but it does feel like a small weight has been lifted , doesn’t it? The cruelty this government showed disabled people is absolutely sickening. It’s so hard trying to teach my child to advocate for herself because she is equal to her peers and worthy of access and support, when she then has to watch me fight tooth and nail for the basics. People internalise that sh*t and feeling a burden or lesser than is a terrible thing for anyone to carry with them. Wishing you and yours all the best ♥️

[neilmc4]

Thanks joff. Sending best wishes back to you and yours.
My real worry is not for the next five years but for what comes after. The (relative) success of Farage and the far right is a real concern. Before the election all seven major parties were invited to detail what their policies were with regard to the vulnerable and the disabled ; six replied and the only one to refuse was Deformed UK. I hope and pray than sane and sensible heads prevail in the Tory party and they DON`T try to either incorporate Farage or , even worse , to outdo him in the "we can be far more offensive and bigoted than you" stakes. Only time will tell......

[lesj]

I think that it is very difficult to judge the true success of Reform, as I'm sure some of this was down to tactical voting.

Apart from what I expect will be 1 or 2 bye elections over the next 5 years, I do not expect Farage (Reform) much opportunity to advance any further within that time

[Deleted]

Jul 5, 2024 9:13:10 GMT barry said:

All about Reform taking Tory votes. Expect a lurch to the right in 5 years time, so enjoy it whilst it lasts.

Let's hope so.