I am not normally one to subscribe to conspiracy theories, but, given the idiocy of half the UK population in the General Election I just wonder……..
- If the polls at the time that Maggie Maybe called the election were rigged to show a much more commanding lead for the Tories than actually existed to persuade her to call the election, given that a lot of poll companies seem to be Labour inspired and I never really believed them anyway?
- How much electoral fraud was involved in some of the Labour victories. They have rather a record for such things?
- Whether Maggie Maybe wanted to lose to screw up Brexit negotiations?
- Whether her chief advisers were either Labour plants, received large backhanders or were just total wazzocks? I suspect the latter, but you never know.
Probably we shall never know, but we can only hope that she is dumped very soon for a proper Conservative leader and that they can do a deal with the DUP to ensure Brexit continues on course. We also have to hope that when the next inevitable early election comes, the Constituency Boundary Changes have been made, so that Labour do not get a 10% head-start in the polls.
The only good things to come out of this election were Nick Clegg, Alex Salmond and SNP Westminster leader Angus Roberson all getting the chop and the reining in of the SNP. Everything else was a disaster, although not as bad as if Jeremy Corbyn had won. That would have been apocalyptic.
What, me worry? (Alfred E Neuman c1964)
Boadicea's Chariot 
Theresa May is discredited and has lost all authority. Whether she stays or not isn’t necessarily up to her any more. The new boundaries will, of course, be in effect at the next election. That helps, and I think Corbyn has probably reached his high water mark. May pushed just as many seats to Labour as Labour attracted. Brexit will proceed, but it won’t be finished by 2019. It will probably be a hideous, Switzerland-style dog’s breakfast that will need constant tweaking and updates, gradually in the UK’s favour with time, but what could have been done within a single Parliament might now take two.
PS: This means, however, that any potential uncertainty for me is gone and I am all but guaranteed to commence residence in the United Kingdom come November.
Christopher: I agree with what you say but do not forget that the Boundary Review does not occur until Sept 2018. I am not sure Maggie Maybe or her successor will last that long, although she is about to pop over to see Her Maj having done a deal with the DUP. I am sure you will be most welcome in the UK.
FEEG: It will be a challenge, but it might just be possible. There are a handful of Labour MPs who support the government on Brexit. A leadership challenge by a Thatcherite and the DUP might just save the Tories from The Bottling Ms Mayhem, even if it is only for a couple years. Most seem to want to avoid another vote. The Scots most of all — they’re suffering extreme election fatigue.
I do sometimes wonder whether we, of a seemingly more honest era, are a bit naive.
I really shouldn’t have been, having thoroughly investigated the machinations and plots of the court of Henry VIII. There was biased media, rigging of votes, plants, spies and disseminating of false information. OK, not to the whole population – but to those who had political power. Politics has always been a ‘dirty’ business.
It took me a long time to realise that nothing has changed…
I watched the downward spiral of the polls, and, as I said here, I hoped the British public would not be conned by the glitter and glitz of promises of ever more free goodies… at the expense of those who work to provide the money to pay for those goodies and the burden of future debt.
All your questions have occurred to me, too. And, as you say, we will probably never know the answers. I, too, hope, that Brexit can be kept on course.
As to the boundary changes; as I understand it, Parliament has to agree those changes (unlike here where Parliament may make objections but the Electoral Commission has the final decision) and I can see a big, big, fight by Labour to retain its advantage. Time to establish a truly independent Electoral Commission.
Delighted to see Clegg, Salmond, and Robertson gone – but I’m horrified to see that foul-mouth Mhairi Black has been re-elected.
Boadicea: It seems as if two things happened. Corbyn energised younger voters to actually show up at polling booths the same way that Bernie Sanders did in Obamastan. The younger generation seem to be keen on geriatric Marxists promising them the moon, the earth and George Osborne’s lunch. A good number were first-time voters who, missing the chance to actually have their say last year, are trying to prevent a hard Brexit for the sake of working holidays in Barcelona and Ibiza. This at the same time that the Bottling Ms Mayhem’s “manifesto” turned off older voters and her u-turns made working class voters doubt her. Corbyn, even if they disliked him, at least comes off as genuine and you know where he stands as he doesn’t change his positions for short-term benefit. There is one point that I would like to emphasise. Despite running the worst campaign in living memory with arguably the worst manifesto ever, the Tories still lost only 12 seats and Corbyn gained only 30 — despite what can only be referred to as an excellent campaign. With Corbyn firmly entrenched and Ms Mayhem’s days as PM numbered, Labour might struggle to improve on their standing.
The Tories and the DUP have enough seats to get the boundaries through, just. Labour cannot count on the Limp Dims or SNP to support them.
Hello, FEEG! I go for the wazzock explanation. Ms May also believed she could earn a personal mandate – which she did (most seats, most votes), except that many of the the UKIP voters jumped left and enough of the Caledonians chose to lose interest in Wee Krankie and Co., in favour of Jezza. Coincidences which caused the hung House.
PS in those two respects, Jezza got lucky! He could hardly have engineered either.
Janus: Ahem, technically they jumped ship in favour of Kezia. The Jocks having their own parties and such making only slightly closer to the centre of the universe than Ulster.
Pedantically, you mean, Skippy? 🙂 Your Kezza is Labour, innit?
Kezza is the “leader”, I guess that’s the closest word, of Scottish Labour. It is affiliated with and answerable to His Majesty, King Jezza of Islington but in many practical matters operates separately. Kezza also happened to favour ousting Jezza.
….and they are ‘his’ seats in the House.
Backside: Six of one, half a dozen of another.
Its the Tories innit !! They are totally f’ing useless.
I agree with Bo, politics has always been a dirty business, notwithstanding plots, counterplots and any other machinations in this election, I believe Mrs May managed to lose this all by herself. I keep my ear extremely close to the ground in Wales and speak to an egalitarian mixed bunch of friends from all walks of life and income levels for several hours a week. What people comment verbally would never be committed to paper or email. British people have been intimidated into not speaking of so many subjects in public. Subjects that have come up regularly were as follows.
The Manifesto-
1. People were disgusted that the 12 billion wog giveaway was not severely cut back. “How many more dictator’s palaces are we supposed to pay for? Was a frequent line. “Why is this money not going into the NHS?’
2. Associated closely with the above was the dementia tax. people were incensed that even more of their hard saved assets would no longer be able to go to their children whilst the feckless would have everything on a plate.
3.The fox hunting debacle. Most rural Welsh are totally supportive of hunting (and still do!) But they all thought it was a mad thing to put in the manifesto when so many of the British are now urban milksops. Ditto winter fuel allowances, bus passes etc etc. Ridiculous inclusions and bound to offend most of the English!.
Personal
Mrs May was seen as a repellent cold personality with about as much charm as a three day old dead fish.
She was seen as elitist, wealthy, insulated from the hoi polloi, uncaring of the majority of struggling people in the UK. And above all, totally arrogant, especially in her poor public performances and her refusal to go on TV to debate. I suspect that she is shy and not a fast speaker etc. But it was not perceived as that by most people. How things are and how things are seen by others are all too frequently lost in translation. To top it all squandering 900.00. pounds on a pair of trousers went down like a lead balloon as ratification of all of the above. Most provincials in rural Britain are very tight with their money, they have to be.
Wogs
Everybody I know thought her reaction to the wog atrocities was indecisive, weak and washy. What they wanted to hear was blood, fire and brimstone for dealing with jihadists, deportation, the bringing back of control orders and the rescinding of passports. What they got was weak flapping of the hands! Everyone was aware that she had cut the police, cut the border patrols etc when she was home secretary without fighting for their budget with any ferocity.
Combine that with her refusal to commit to closing the doors on more bloody immigrants and she was perceived as weak all round on the subject.
These are the subjects that came up again and again. Most gritted their teeth and voted Conservative, but noticeably Plaid Cymru did better and gained Ceridigion, (Cardiganshire to y’all!) Perceived , no doubt, as being more likely to protect the interests of the indigenous population although rather left wing to swallow. I would have voted Plaid had I been there. Extrapolate this elsewhere and one can quite see how it all happened. I suspect most voted against her and her manifesto, not for Corbyn. Except the young who voted for blandishments of jam tomorrow by the potful and free. Had the labour leader been someone else considered not material for the loony bin I reckon they would have won hands down.
The truth of the matter is that most of the UK are now hurting financially outside the gilded encampments of the Thames Valley, Cheshire and the like. The social services are a disgrace, the policing is non existent, medicine is impossible, zero hour contracts run amok and people are fed up to the back teeth with the whole thing. Years of Conservative rule have done nothing to improve any situation. Croneyism has run rife, fortunes made off the backs of the poor, as always, but more obvious this time round and not one banker was ever jailed! People remember, they are not as stupid as the elite think they are!
May managed to pop the cherry right on the top of an already seething discontented cake. Interestingly Brexit hardly came into it which is surely very telling in its own right.
CO: Hear, hear! The Bottling Ms Mayhem’s initial popularity largely came about as a result of her not being the Witney Slug, aka David Cameron. In her tone-deaf, ham-fisted way she at least appeared to attempt to take the focus off North London Luvvies and their whims and focus on other parts of the United Kingdom. When she published her manifesto it became clear that the only different between W. Slug and T. Mayhem was style. Substantially they were the same, if not in an even more unappetising package.
People can only get screwed down so much, people can only sacrifice so much before their patience snaps. People can understand that, in bad times, a regular pay rise might not be possible — but they can’t accept ever more nothing. This has been one of the most calibrated electoral snap-backs that I can recall. The Bottler is chastened and weakened. Her political career’s days are numbered, especially if she doesn’t do something to turn the tide. One hopes that the DUP with their experiences with terror and crime will hold Bottler’s feet to the fire — they certain can and Ulstermen are not known for backing down, easily or otherwise. Will things actually change? Marginally, perhaps. More police might be hired, less political correctness all around — hopefully, At the same time, this also means that the UK will most likely not be as independent of Europe as many had hoped — a Swiss-style settlement, most likely.
PS. Bus passes, free or not, are not a subject to arise much interest in rural Wales. Like a bus would be nice though! Most of the villages I know either have no bus at all or the munificent generosity of ONE a WEEK. How spoilt can you get? Talk about not knowing how the other half live!!
I quite like the DUP leader Arlene Foster, she”s a tough cookie, articulate with a total lack of bullshit, typical of NI protestants. Who knows the DUP might inject some steel into the jelly like Tory spine.
I’m guessing that May is a dead woman walking, almost literally, she always looks Ill and exhausted. At some stage in the near future she”ll either step down as PM or be toppled.
The Tory party conference seems likely to stage the appointment of the next PM. Meanwhile as usual the meeja have over-cooked their outrage at Ms May’s demise – especially George’s ES; and overstated the triumph/capabilities of Corbyn. We shall now be entertained with tales of Tory party conspiracies calculated to topple Theresa from her shaky pedestal; all of which will ignore the risk that if such games precipitate another election, the status quo could get considerably worse. When the dust settles in a week or so, some Tories will realise that having a Unionist majority and more votes than Labour is probably the best deal they’ll get for some time. Of course the holiday season looms too; the Brexit talks will start soon and the meeja will start to second-guess their success/failure with little hard evidence to go on. What a relief that will be!
Meantime generation entitlement will be anticipating ‘jam tomorrow’ egged on by Corbyn and his mates. They’re going to be very disappointed and then they’ll blame the older generation for stealing their future.
The former SNP/UKIP voters helped Labour to overachieve. The further collapse of the SNP will mean Labour’s Scotland branch (CT, note) will be able to consolidate yesterday’s gains. In the meantime many Labour MPs will support the gubmint’s Brexit moves, which paradoxically will help the Tories to regain some composure.
Unfortunately Labour loons are still claiming they have a ‘costed’ manifesto. Do their supporters not see that it is they who will be stumping up?
The reason that Labour overachieved was because the f*****g Tories are f*****g useless.
Jazz: There is a precipitous decline in sympathy for leftism after yoof spend 3-5 years working. After 5-10 years, the plurality become conservatives. After 10-15, leftism loses its appeal. Going through the drudgery of working and seeing one’s measly pay eaten up by an inept kleptocracy does little to make leftist policies endearing.
Janus: However clumsily, I simply meant to say that Scotland has a very different political dynamic and leaders Scots have a large influence over voting patterns north of the border.
Christopher: I absolutely agree that the Scottish political dynamic is very different to that south of the border. Of course it differs markedly throughout the UK but more so in Scottland. The election result in Scotland restored some of my faith in them Ruth Davidson did a great job although I’d feel more comfortable if she’d dial down a bit on the LGBT stuff.
Jazz: Scotland has always been a world onto itself. To be fair, much of the SNP’s success has been the result of a voter rebellion against Scottish Labour. They acted as if they had divine right to rule Scotland. The Labour machine, especially in Glasgow, was as corrupt as it was incompetent. One must give the SNP credit for their efficiency. It took them only ten years to become as arrogant, entitled, corrupt and incompetent as it took Labour fifty! Agreed on the LGBT issue. That is something that is best left to devolved administrations and this autonomy should be respected. The Union, its security and prosperity are surely more important than scoring a few PC points in a more conservative province.
Jazz, re your 8.51 am:
So the economic recovery since 2008 was accidental or the result of what?
Relax, your mate rhyming with garbage is coming back.
Farage rhyme with Garbage ?? And you a graduate and all !
I agree with most of the comments here.
… but I have to say that Jazz’s
Sums it up for me. If there was a Tory manual on how to alienate core voters, May read it, added to it and acted on it.
Should have been ‘It’s……….
Indeed so, but it wasn’t her manifesto, or that of her ministers. It transpires to be the work of two unelected ‘advisers’ of hers in downing Street!
Which really does make one wonder from where did they have their agenda and from whom?
Certainly makes one suspicious.
And definitively points to outside influence.
CO: My guess is that the movers-and-shakers behind the scenes have had a strong word or two with Brussels and London. They want trade to continue with no interruption, but they also want long-term clarity from the UK and don’t want to risk any new modus vivendi to last more than 5-10 years and not be too easily changed due to public uproar. Thus, a UK outside the EEA and Customs Union, but one that still makes contributions to the EU budget — albeit reduced in order for London to save face — and without strict freedom of movement, but an easily obtained work permit that allows businesses to advertise outside the UK after offering the jobs to Britons first. Immigration would fall, but there wouldn’t be labour shortages, either.
I appears that the so-called advisers that Maggie Maybe relied on and who screwed up so epically in the campaign have “resigned”. Good news and I suspect Madam will be kept on a very short leash for the rest of her foreshortened tenure by senior Tory Party members.
CT, you read as if you believe there are akshully people behind the scenes who know what they are doing and have a plan! You’ve either been taking too much sun or need to share whatever it is you are on!
PS I (too) read that Ms Merkel wants to get on with the Brexit deal – not surprising, considering that ‘her’ biggest exporters must be desperate for a clear run.
Not my country, not my fight, I know. Even so, I feel compelled to offer my condolences to Charioteers in or from the UK.
For what it’s worth (probably nothing at the latest exchange rate), I take it as given that Leopard Shoes’ political career will not survive this election. The next great question is, of course, who is likely to succeed her. I know which one I’d like to see leading his party and country but darkly suspect that there are too many out there who have an instinctively negative reaction to anyone more intelligent than they.
Janus: Perhaps, my good man, you should have asked me to clarify what I meant before attacking me. I was, of course, referring to captains of industry, large investors and multinational firms that have no interest in economic disruption. A quiet chat where hints such as “If business is disrupted and we lose money, we might have to severely curtail contributions to your party/investments in your country”, etc are highly effective. This can also be extended to industry representatives. Spain, Italy, France and Portugal count on British holidaymakers to come and spend money. Their economies are bad enough as it is, the last thing they want is for a major source of revenue to be impacted. Likewise, agricultural interests, hospitality, restaurants, etc. are not especially keen on labour shortages. I don’t wish to reopen an old argument, but it is true that higher rates of unemployment in parts of the UK doesn’t mean that there aren’t places with labour shortages and they have to be filled somehow.
Just joshing, CT. the British gubmint is of course under similar pressure.
Janus: Absolutely. Despite the rhetoric the EU and UK are closer than many would have thought as many of the UK’s demands have already been agreed to in other contexts. The UK needs to get on with it, the EU wants to let a new modus vivendi settle as it has other issues to deal with. It will probably be tolerable.