UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://twitter.com/patrickkmaguire/status/1533838873909940224
Not sure about this line, chaps.

Good choice for a new thread title, if he survives.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://twitter.com/patrickkmaguire/status/1533838873909940224
Not sure about this line, chaps.

“Vote for me, fellas - it’s going to be more of the same from here on out!”
Is this a failure of impulse control, or just a startling level of self-confidence?

I think that he knows he's toast and has decided to go out with his head held high as opposed to grovelling for absolution from the parliamentary party.

Honestly, assuming things go badly for his successor, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he resurfaces after the next GE for a comeback special.

Vote for me, don't you just miss  two of the most most chaotic and miserable times in British Political History.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Honestly, assuming things go badly for his successor, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he resurfaces after the next GE for a comeback special.

Some variation on 'doing a Kevin Rudd' is not impossible, no...

Kevin Rudd was never this unpopular.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

When will we know the results ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-being-looked-at-host-24192949

Tories want to have their conference in Liverpool, isn't this an incredibly bad idea ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-being-looked-at-host-24192949

Tories want to have their conference in Liverpool, isn't this an incredibly bad idea ?

I think there’s a small chance they’re trying to pull the stunt the GOP appear to have held with their 2004 Convention in NYC - hold your event in left-wing territory, and pretend to be shocked when you get a bunch of angry students and protestors on your doorstep. Paint your protestors as the “loony left”/“remoaners”/etc, and try and get public to sympathise with you. Then demand the shadow cabinet denounce the protests to try and drive a further wedge between activist and party.

If that was the case, I doubt it would be effective. Johnson being heckled by so-called “red wall” locals is hardly going to reassure the party faithful that they’re going to win in the North next time around. And this government is unpopular enough that watching them heckled may be taken as cathartic rather than raise sympathy.

There may be (and probably is) a more rational, simpler explanation (trying to show the party cares about “levelling up” etc), but if so, it’s still a baffling choice. The Conservatives only have one seat in all of Merseyside, and that’s a marginal that looks headed Labour’s way next time around.

Yeah I saw a similar comment on reddit, though my thinking is that the Liverpool protest crowd isn't exactly going to entirely "woke students" but instead more of your sterotypical red wall crowd.

Though previous Tory Conferences have been held in Manchester without major incident, so maybe the prospect of a local economic boost might be enough to quiet the anti-tory sentiment.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Honestly there are only so many venues that are able to hold a major party conference these days. In recent years the only places Labour or the Tories have gone have been Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool or Manchester. Birmingham is the only one of those the Tories don't get embarrassing results in and even so it's still clearly a Labour city.

The conference itself is locked down, so protestors will only be able to demonstrate outside the entrance to the security area. And there are protestors every year, wherever it is. The fact that Merseyside hates the Tories isn't really relevant when most of Merseyside can't get near the conference centre.

I feel like holding it London is logical, but the optics are horrible.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

If the SNP does go ahead with it's "advisory referendum", then would the unionist response be to boycott it ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Parody worthy opinion piece for Ed Davey on the strikes in yesterday’s Grauniad. Recommended reading for a good laugh.

What's wrong with it ?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/21/johnson-shapps-rail-strike-transport-

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://twitter.com/OliverDowden/status/1540191893258207232
Conservative Party Chariman has resigned

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

We just seem to be stuck in a soup of rumours this week.

Building on what CumbrianLefty said, the Times is reporting that 30 MPs have resubmitted their 1922 letters since the confidence vote, all before the by-election results were known, with a second raft of letters expected after Tiverton was lost. Obviously that’s pretty toothless while the 1-year rule remains in place, but could become significant if a significant portion of the party puts them in, piling pressure on the committee for a rules change.

More dramatically (albeit implausibly), sources from both parties have said that a number of Red Wall MPs are actively considering defection, possibly as many as six. Labour sources are bragging about having an open line of communication between leadership and the wavering backbenchers, just like they established with Christian Wakeford.

Will be interested to see if any of this turns out to be substantiated.

Scepticism is warranted here I think.  There have only ever been five direct defections of MPs from Con to Lab (Alan Howarth, Shaun Woodward, Robert Jackson, Quentin Davies and Christian Wakeford) and defection rumours have a pretty low success rate.

Speaking of changes of party membership of MPs, Patrick Grady, MP for Glasgow North who has been caught up in a sexual harassment case, has suspended his SNP membership and is now sitting as an Independent.

I notice a bunch of other SNP MP's are being Tim Farroned in the light of the Roe v. Wade descion, namely the scottish finance minister Kate Forbes and John Mason. Not exactly great news for the party given the existing scandal.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Take this with a pinch of salt but I know of an MP from the north (though not "red wall" whatever that means) who is suspect number one for leaving the party and possibly joining Labour, although that latter might be a stretch.

Tbh,I wonder if defectors would suffer an electoral penalty. Defecting from the Tories to Labour 2 years after being elected seems extremely craven and unprinciplied.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Churchill, who changed parties twice, sat for no less than five constituencies.

I wonder why the UK is seemingly unique in having very little stigma against their politican carpetbagging.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

What a weird group of men.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Bren4Bassetlaw/status/1541489442552270849?ref_src=tws...

Tory austerity has forced the MPs to use printed pictures instead of buying actualy curry and beer , another tragic result of the policy

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-mortgages-parents-children-b2113882.html?


Boris Johnson is trying to speed-run getting 0% of the youth vote, seriously a 50 year mortage what the actual hell is that.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/03/diane-abbott-claims-boris-johnson-rumoured-like-assaulting-women/

I'm not sure about my understanding of British Libel law, but wouldn't this be defamatory ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Brandon Lewis has actually resigned this time, the fourth Cabinet minister to do so.  As have junior ministers Damien Hinds and Helen Whately.

I have never heard of him before he resigned.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

LOL, Theresa May

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10989277/Could-Theresa-drafted-caretaker-Prime-Minister-Former-leader-step-sources-say.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailUK

A real sign of their lack of talent if they have to bring her back, seriously the 2019 Tory intake is one of the worst. Remember when Imran Khan of all people was being hyped as an exemplary candidate.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://twitter.com/DesmondSwayne/status/1544956961787109377
Suella is such a weird leadership contedner but she's got one endorsment.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://www.twitter.com/PedderSophie/status/1544962473815580673

Ah yes the same Economist who backed him in 2019 and - arguably even more unforgivably - told people to vote Tory in 2015 (along with the FT and, incredibly, the Independent)

We are still paying a big price for that latter folly, and will do so for a while yet.

They endorsed the lib Dems in 2019 and the FT didn't endorse anyone

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

But 2019 in Australia taught me that voters forgive plenty of conservative governments that they crucify Labour governments for, and I worry Truss in particular (and Braverman, though I doubt Tories will choose her) could turn things around for them.

Mate, if you think Suella Braverman - SUELLA BRAVERMAN - would be a success as Tory leader then the kindest thing I can say is that you don't know very much about her.

What's so bad about her ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

I see a certain QC has embarrassed himself again on Twitter.com.

Political activism really does something to people.

David Allen Green ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/07/26/the-conservative-party-is-ridiculing-part-of-its-electorate
Fairly boring article about the Blue wall with not much new about it but one particulary curious bit is it's coined a new name for the blue wall voters, naming them after the radio presented Timn Harford. I'm a listiner to his podcasts but it's an incredibly weird name to coin for a group of voters.

A rising sense of alienation is driving an electoral realignment. The Liberal Democrats made big gains in Woking, and a swathe of neighbouring towns, in local elections in May. Modelling by YouGov, a pollster, in July projected that the party would seize 26 Tory constituencies in what it calls the “blue wall” of southern England, and turn 11 more into marginal seats. “A lot of Conservative voters are pretty alarmed,” says Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader. “They think this government is incoherent, inconsistent and chaotic.” A colleague of Sir Ed’s dubs their target the “Tim Harford voter,” after fans of the presenter of “More or Less”, a cerebral Radio 4 programme about statistics.