United Kingdom General Election: July 4, 2024

[Torrain]

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

To summarise - Ed Davey sliding down a flume, and Rishi Sunak wearing short trousers are signs that we’re slipping into a hellish social-democratic consensus and it was all better during the war.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Telegraph… less so.

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

Approximately: 'NUUURRRRSSEEEEE!'

[MaxQue]

The Telegraph… less so.

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

That USA is using UK as a dump for their worst specimens.

[Germany1994]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1796597811749814687
ah well

The Telegraph must be trolling, right?? Ore are they really THIS delusional??  

[Joe Republic]

The Telegraph… less so.

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

This woman's previous editorial was titled "Noisy minorities are being allowed to bully the rest of us into silence". 😬

[Sol]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1796597811749814687

ah well

God, why do the worst right-wingers have to be so hot?

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Telegraph… less so.

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

That USA is using UK as a dump for their worst specimens.

Impossible.  Trump is still over here.

[Pericles]

We've already gotten to the stage where Tory MPs are outright pretending to be Labour candidates.
https://twitter.com/robertlargan/status/1796819961194627547

[WD]

Well, not like there’s much else he could do. His constituency is so marginal to the point that it would flip even if Tories somehow won a majority government again.

[WD]

We've already gotten to the stage where Tory MPs are outright pretending to be Labour candidates.
https://twitter.com/robertlargan/status/1796819961194627547

https://twitter.com/DerbysPolice/status/1797013089017106619

[TheTide]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1796597811749814687
ah well

God, why do the worst right-wingers have to be so hot?

He's not Aaron Schock, but I can vaguely see the appeal.

[Duke of York]

One matter that might complicate Starmer's government is he will have around 500 MP's, but he's personally quite unpopular for an incoming PM:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/rishi-sunaks-satisfaction-falls-equal-worst-ever-ipsos-rating-conservative-or-labour-leader

"Keir Starmer’s ratings have also fallen since February. 25% are satisfied with his performance as Labour leader (-4) and 56% are dissatisfied (+1). His net score of -31 is his worst as Labour leader since he recorded a -29 in May 2021.  Among Labour supporters, satisfaction with his performance has also dropped from 58% to 51%."

It's a recipe for massive party rebellions and splits, in extreme theory 180 MP's could leave Labour and form a new official opposition without even toppling Starmer.

Couldn’t there simply be a vote of no confidence and a new leader chosen?

Different rules than the Conservatives.

That’s ridiculous to not have a way to oust the leader.

In practice (as found from all the leadership challenges and elections) it's all about control of the NEC, just like the Conservatives is all about the 1922.

What's the NEC?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

One matter that might complicate Starmer's government is he will have around 500 MP's, but he's personally quite unpopular for an incoming PM:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/rishi-sunaks-satisfaction-falls-equal-worst-ever-ipsos-rating-conservative-or-labour-leader

"Keir Starmer’s ratings have also fallen since February. 25% are satisfied with his performance as Labour leader (-4) and 56% are dissatisfied (+1). His net score of -31 is his worst as Labour leader since he recorded a -29 in May 2021.  Among Labour supporters, satisfaction with his performance has also dropped from 58% to 51%."

It's a recipe for massive party rebellions and splits, in extreme theory 180 MP's could leave Labour and form a new official opposition without even toppling Starmer.

Couldn’t there simply be a vote of no confidence and a new leader chosen?

Different rules than the Conservatives.

That’s ridiculous to not have a way to oust the leader.

In practice (as found from all the leadership challenges and elections) it's all about control of the NEC, just like the Conservatives is all about the 1922.

What's the NEC?

National Executive Committee.
It's an organ within the Labour Party.

[Estrella]

https://twitter.com/DerbysPolice/status/1797013089017106619

Still a month left to bring back Suella for another crackdown on woke policing.

[Steve from Lambeth]

https://twitter.com/DerbysPolice/status/1797013089017106619

Wasn't voter ID supposed to prevent this?

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The Telegraph… less so.

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

Approximately: 'NUUURRRRSSEEEEE!'

Entertainingly, this woman was apparently a student Marxist and later a card carrying supporter of Michael Foot!

[ObserverIE]

More Hume-ist than Hume's old party in some respects.

Yes and no - the long to medium-term desired direction of travel (unity by consent) was always clear for the SDLP even if the immediate focus was on bringing the violence to an end and removing inequalities and instituting power-sharing. That is probably the part of the party's offering that has changed the least under the current leadership.

[Coldstream]

Day 9 and not had anyone mention Diane Abbott on the doors. I can believe some people care/have noticed, but the amount of media attention far outweighs it’s salience,

[Torrain]

Will this election pass 2019’s record for independents running purely out of spite for their old party?
https://x.com/julianknight15/status/1796500892633702451

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1797213249764557027

[Wiswylfen]

...what in God's name is that even supposed to mean

To summarise - Ed Davey sliding down a flume, and Rishi Sunak wearing short trousers are signs that we’re slipping into a hellish social-democratic consensus and it was all better during the war.

"It is Labour’s internal conflict – which was once thought to have been settled by Tony Blair – that is irreconcilable. When Sir Keir is willing to describe himself as a “socialist” while his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, insists that she is “social democratic”, it is not just a semantic quibble. Socialism involves a commitment to state ownership of the means of production and an alliance with the industrial proletariat. Whereas “social democracy” can simply imply a degree of wealth redistribution through the tax and benefit systems. Labour has wriggled through this ambiguity for a generation. The Corbynites, Momentum and Militant Tendency have pulled one way and the Blair-Brown Third Way the other."

lol

[Blair]

I do wonder what the state is of the political operations in some of these safe Conservative seats; it was a particularly unique example but we know Scottish Labour did so poorly in 2015 as some local parties had essentially not really canvassed for a decade, and the MPs had neglected the constituency side.

I am making no comment on his local record but someone like say Oliver Dowden has a 21,000 majority and has had to spend the last 6 years in various Government roles; it's a seat that isn't vulnerable enough to have got special attention in recent years although the recent council results in 2023 were in the yikes category- it flipped to a Labour/Liberal coalition after 20+ years of Tory control.

[Torrain]

Nick Clegg is, per the FT, using his Facebook salary to bankroll the Lib Dem campaign in his former Hallam seat, pumping thousands into the race.

There's something endearingly parochial about a man who has the reach and means to buy US Senators instead throwing cash at a tiny race between two social democrats in Sheffield.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What's the NEC?

The National Executive Committee, which is technically sovereign over Party affairs except whenever Conference is in session. It tends to matter more when Labour is in opposition than when Labour is in office, but it is never irrelevant.

[TheTide]

Nick Clegg is, per the FT, using his Facebook salary to bankroll the Lib Dem campaign in his former Hallam seat, pumping thousands into the race.

There's something endearingly parochial about a man who has the reach and means to buy US Senators instead throwing cash at a tiny race between two social democrats in Sheffield.

On the one hand, Clegg is a reminder of how things can change during the course of a general election campaign. On the other hand, he is a reminder that major parties can be almost entirely wiped out.  

Although, on the former point, 'Cleggmania' came to virtually nothing in the actual election. 

[YL]

One of the "displaced" Tory MPs has found a new seat: Stuart Andrew, formerly MP for Pudsey, selected for Daventry.