General British politics discussion thread

Dorries was only in 1 of the 20% swing constituencies.

Labour have taken 3 and Lib Dems 1 seat by 20+pp this year so polls would not indicate Dorries can be used an excuse by the Tories.

I caught part of Sky's coverage of these results earlier, including an interview with someone from the Lib Dems really hammering home the position that there will be no deal of any kind with Labour on strategic/tactical voting come the general election. What??? Surely the very best way to batter the Tories into complete irrelevance for a generation would be to ensure that the Lib Dems (+/- the SNP) become the Official Opposition, and see the Tories relegated to fourth place or lower.

I do understand that FPTP sometimes requires parties and their leaders/spokesmen to make statements and adopt positions that seem contrary to common sense, but I cannot see what benefit it brings to either Lab or the LDs to so vehemently reject any alignment of their electoral objectives. To me (admittedly an outsider) it comes across as another example of "we're British, we don't do consensus".

I think its important to say publicly that there will be no deal - it keeps your own party members morale up and also gives the Conservatives and their press one less stick to beat you with.

The reality though is that the Liberals will have a certain number of target seats (maybe 30/40) and will concentrate their limited resources there. They will generally be seats that Labour don't do well in and thus will campaign softly. After last night Mid-Beds is now unlikely to be on the Liberal party target list so Labour might have a relatively clear run at defending there.

Labour will also have their set of targets (by and large Tory seats in England/Wales, Tory/SNP seats in Scotland) and whilst the Liberals will probably stand a candidate they won't spend much resources. Such unofficial nudge/wink 'Soft campaigning' is probably the best kind of deal that can be done without pushback.

The Lib Dems hate Labour as much as the Tories do. You will find just as much upper class snobbery and rural conservativism in their ranks but just with a milder face.

Also despite the hammerings the Tories coming anything other than 2nd is just not on the cards.

"Railed against public school types" you wouldn't think it the way she sucked the aras off of king of the Brideshead cosplayers Boris Johnson.

Truly terrible results for the Tories last night. This was after Sunak's big announcements on Net Zero, his claim to be the champion of the car driver and his conference speech. He set out to make himself the only real leader. And if anything it made things worse.

So where do they go from here?

PM would probably still be tempting for a few who are age 55+ for whom it's likely the last chance, the likes of Michael Gove, David Davis, Jeremy Hunt, John Redwood. Those who know they won't be considered after the election when the party will probably try re-invent itself with a sprightly young look.

It comes down to is it better to have been PM for 10 months than never to have been PM at all? Ultimately it's still a directly lucrative move (increased salary leading to increased pension, + the lifetime stipend of 100K for offices/staff) and also indirectly lucrative (potential book deals, media appearances, always being able to get your voice heard as 'former PM') and the extreme long-shot that you might win as a bonus.

So I think 'moronic' doesn't apply to all potential candidates. It would be a bit silly for some potential future candidates (e.g, Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch) to take it now but for others it would have a certain attraction.

What makes you think Sunak isn't one of the loonies?

He was all for Brexit, was in charge over the PPE and loans ripoff, is all in on stop the boats and the Rwanda plan.

There is nothing to suggest that Sunak is anything other than totally on board with the direction of the party.

Remember, he took the Chancellor gig knowing that No 10 had completed control over not only the decisions but even his advisors. Clearly a man willing to toe the line on anything once it benefits him

Selling the HS2 land is criminal.

But parties go to an election with a leader and people vote for the programme proposed by that leader (theoretically, at least). People voted in 2019 for Johnson to Get Brexit Done. They didn't vote for Truss' disaster-budget and they didn't vote for Sunak's wishy-washiness. Sunak couldn't even convince the Tory's to vote for him the first time.

It is technically a point and, as obnoxious as Johnson was, he did have an ability to charm people despite their better judgement, something that Truss and Sunak lack. I don't think either would have done as well as Johnson in a GE, even at the height of Brexitmania in 2019.

It should actually be criminal. Destroying any hope of it being returned to at a later date and after all the hassle and fighting to get it in the first place.

If anyone had their land CPOed will they get first option to buy it back or will it be bought by Rishi's wife just like everything else he has his hand in.