Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 12:52 pm  

Clive Lewis would be my pick for the next Labour leader. He's almost a PR dream.
I don't think Corbyn will win, but I do think he'll do better than expected, and that will help lay the ground work for Labour to fight the next election

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 12:55 pm  

Almost incredible that a party that has been slashing and burning public services, could be so popular.
It's not often that the ruling party gains seat's at either local or national elections.

Unfortunately, it say more for about the lack of decent opposition.

UKIP's game is well and truly over, although, they achieved what the party set our to achieve.
The Lib - dems looks like a busted flush, having not used their one chance in power to make any meaningful changes of their own (their failure to implement free higher education must be haunting them now.
Labour are just not electable and until they find a way to appeal to the aspirational masses, they will be nothing more than a protest party.
Even the SNP look to have gone backwards.

We can all look forward to further cuts in social services, reductions in spending on education and May doing whatever she pleases, its all just depressing.

Corbyn will still believe he's the best person to lead a Labour revolution #deluded

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 1:28 pm  

Charlie Sheen wrote:

I don't think Corbyn will win, but I do think he'll do better than expected, and that will help lay the ground work for Labour to fight the next election

It could all be distressingly depressing if you hadn't lived through the 80s & the Foot/Kinnock era when things seemed hopeless. You can only polish a turd for so long, then the knives will be out for May & the strong & stable leader will be gone. With a competent leader Labour will come back into that void.

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 1:37 pm  

tigertot wrote:

It could all be distressingly depressing if you hadn't lived through the 80s & the Foot/Kinnock era when things seemed hopeless. You can only polish a turd for so long, then the knives will be out for May & the strong & stable leader will be gone. With a competent leader Labour will come back into that void.

If the Unions hadn't backed the wrong Milliband, Labour would still be a major force in UK politics.
Corbyn has alienated so many ordinary people, they may still have had some chance of winning but, the last 2 years have been dreadful.
As a cynic, it appeared that Labour were hoping for the Tories to implode over the EU but, they have done quite well in keeping their own divisions private.

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 2:22 pm  

Oh come on, the disillusion with Labour goes far beyond Corbyn - although he certainly exacerbates it. The thought of Corbyn at the helm and negotiating with the EU is terrifying.

Labour reaped the benefits of their trade union links and working class loyalty for decades and pulled in more votes than they would have based on policies alone. Unfortunately for them, the unions are dead and that old loyalty is dead. Labour haven't represented the British working class for years (does anyone even know what they do represent??) and for those reasons huge numbers of "traditional" voters are turning their backs on them, many to UKIP the last time round, although it looks like those voters could now be moving to the Tories.

As an anecdotal example, something I used to hear a lot but (thankfully) haven't for several years is "I vote Labour cos me dad did, and 'is dad before 'im" - which incidentally is just about the most moronic reason to vote for anyone.

Immigration is a huge factor - the effect on low-paid jobs, on communities, on local services, etc. Where are the vast majority of immigrants moving to? Yep, working class areas. Blair opened the doors to mass, rapid and uncoltrolled immigration ahead of time and the working class know this. All they've heard from Labour since, is to shut up and deal with it (or be accused of racism), and how b1oody wonderful all this mass immigration is - not what they want to hear. Frankly too many on the left seem more concerned with the rights of Romanians and Poles than they do with issues in their local constituencies, affecting local people. Labour occasionally mumble that they understand this, but in truth they're too weak and scared to do anything about it.

[Bullseye]

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 2:36 pm  

Burnham's won Manchester.

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 2:54 pm  

As an anecdotal example, something I used to hear a lot but (thankfully) haven't for several years is "I vote Labour cos me dad did, and 'is dad before 'im" - which incidentally is just about the most moronic reason to vote for anyone.

Massive numbers of people follow their parents' voting habits and not just Labour supporters.
After losing power, Miliband was the wrong man and voted in with block votes.

In a sense, Labour are getting what they deserve.
The main problem now is, that, The Tories without meaningful opposition and with carte blanche to do what they want will cripple the poor sod's at the bottom of the pile.

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 5:06 pm  

wrencat1873 wrote:

As an anecdotal example, something I used to hear a lot but (thankfully) haven't for several years is "I vote Labour cos me dad did, and 'is dad before 'im" - which incidentally is just about the most moronic reason to vote for anyone.

Massive numbers of people follow their parents' voting habits and not just Labour supporters.
After losing power, Miliband was the wrong man and voted in with block votes.

In a sense, Labour are getting what they deserve.
The main problem now is, that, The Tories without meaningful opposition and with carte blanche to do what they want will cripple the poor sod's at the bottom of the pile.

You do realise not to take it to to heart so much as you get older and that it's all just a game anyway.

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 7:14 pm  

Labour's has lots of problems. One is the calibre of their front liners. That gobby tart on QT last night just comes across as an ignorant yob. Like most Labour MPs, when a question about finance came up she showed a complete lack of understanding. I believe she asked Davis what the minimum (not maximum) divorce bill he'd accept in Brexit talks! That after floundering and being unable to answer the question as put to her. Diane Abbott the other day too. No credibility and people see that.

Re: General Election 8th June : Fri May 05, 2017 7:27 pm  

The other problem Labour has as well as the General one if not representing anybody us that they are always out of step with the public as a whole on the big issues - Brexit and immigration being two.