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

[Pulaski]

Delighted that one of the great stains of British politics is finally being scrubbed out, but can't help but feel pessimistic today. I'm not normally a doomer, but Sunak, Javid or Truss are much better chances of turning things around for the Tories before the next election, and Starmer still has no goodwill with the general public.

[Pulaski]

Delighted that one of the great stains of British politics is finally being scrubbed out, but can't help but feel pessimistic today. I'm not normally a doomer, but Sunak, Javid or Truss are much better chances of turning things around for the Tories before the next election, and Starmer still has no goodwill with the general public.

I dunno, could always be proved wrong (I have been before) but I just don't see how the Tories can pull off the "we are a totally NEW GOVERNMENT, we are THE CHANGE" schtick as effortlessly or cynically as they undoubtedly did in both 2019 and 2016. And one notes, approvingly, that Labour people have regularly been inserting "12 years in power" into their recent pronouncements.

Sunak in particular is both past it and overrated, and his judgement over the economic crisis has not been good. Javid is a monotone Ayn Rand fan, and Truss has a certain "elan" but is also lightweight. If we are playing that game, Mordaunt and Wallace may be the ones to worry non-Tories most.

(oh and to say Starmer has "no public goodwill" is a ridiculous exaggeration, his ratings are middling in historic terms - they compare decently to Miliband and Kinnock, never mind Corbyn)

I mean, neither Kinnock, Miliband nor Corbyn had public goodwill, and comparing Starmer to three leaders who all lost elections (particularly the first two, who led Labour to losses when most people expected them to win) is perhaps not that encouraging a comparison.

I hope my posting history shows that I am not concern trolling here; I will always root for the more left-wing option, however disappointed in them I may be personally, over horrid right-wing governments. I genuinely hope Labour win the next election. 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.

[Pulaski]

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.

We shall see, I suppose.

[Pulaski]

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.

We shall see, I suppose.

Well if you mean by that "her not getting anywhere near the final 2", then probably yes.

I mean, my original post mentions that I doubt she'll be chosen, but go off I guess.

She's horrid, but her hard-right social conservatism and pro-imperialist stances, combined with the "success story" of her immigrant family would, IMO, prove a threat. Plus, she's relatively attractive, which is an underestimated factor.

[Pulaski]

Johnson benefited from the UKIP/Brexit parties being without an agenda, a Labour party in chaos and probably the most unpopular Opposition Leader since records began.

[Pulaski]

A truss is an old-fashioned medical advice designed to support a hernia.

Will the association with a discredited piece of equipment used for an unpleasant medical condition hurt Liz Truss in the polls?

Discuss with reference to ecraseurs and tobacco enemas.

[Pulaski]

Surprised no-one's left a sign outside no. 10 saying "Sorry you were out when I visited, I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon" yet.

[Pulaski]

Johnson emerged yesterday to tell us this country has a "golden future".

There was a time when such empty boosterism worked with a depressingly large number of voters.

Maybe not just now, though.

Unfortunately that golden tint is from every other country taking a big piss on us.

[Pulaski]

Of course these moments of crisis have been common enough in modern British history, though this is the first since Black Wednesday to be to a large extent self-inflicted. It's right to be pessimistic about the short-term, but there's no reason to be for the future beyond that. We've been here before: younger posters might not be aware quite what an absolute state this country's public realm was in for most of the 1990s for instance.

Honestly for me this is just a cause for further pessimism; if voters don't remember the 90s, there's no reason to think they'll remember these times long-term, and won't learn the lesson that Tory governments bring the country to its knees every time they're in office.