United Kingdom General Elections: December 12th, 2019

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Jo Swinson apologises for backing coalition's austerity policies

Jo Swinson has repeatedly apologised for her role in austerity measures under the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition after she was pressed in a BBC interview over why her party is seeking to roll back several measures she voted for in the 2010-15 administration. Swinson, who is facing criticism of her tactical decisions and voter appeal in a campaign which has seen the Lib Dems’ poll rating gradually slip, also said she would remain as leader even the party ended up with fewer than the 21 MPs they began the election with. “I’m continuing as Liberal Democrat leader,” she said. “I’ve got a job to do and I’ve just been elected to do it.” Asked if she would remain regardless of the result, she replied: “I’m here to stay and we’re going to get a great result.”

The quizzing on benefit cuts began with Neil noting that the Lib Dems wanted to scrap the bedroom tax, which cuts benefits for people living in social homes with more rooms than they are deemed to need. “Who voted nine times to introduce the bedroom tax?” he asked. “The Liberal Democrats in government, including myself,” said Swinson, who held various junior ministerial roles from 2012 to 2015. She added: “Which I have previously said – and I’m happy to say again – was wrong. And I’m sorry about that, and it was one of the things that we did get wrong.” Swinson also acknowledged that while in the coalition she backed the benefits cap, which limits the maximum benefits income a family can receive regardless of circumstances, and private tendering in the NHS – all of which she now wants to reverse.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/04/jo-swinson-lib-dem-apologises-for-backing-coalition-austerity-policies

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Labour needs its leave voters too – or a Johnson era beckons

Since the campaign began, Labour’s gradual recovery in the polls has been driven by those previously antagonised opponents of Brexit. While its support among remainers has risen by on average 10 points to 44%, among the Lib Dems that figure has slumped seven points to just 26%. A month ago, Jeremy Corbyn’s net favourability among remainers was a dire -33, now recovering to -4; for Jo Swinson, it has plummeted from +13 to -8. In certain remain seats, particularly in the south, Labour candidates have been surprised at how much their vote has held up.

Yet there is no question that the chief obstacle to Labour’s electoral ambitions is now on its leave flank. The party’s support has also grown among leavers during this election campaign, but from a derisory level: from 11% to 16%. There is a reason that the Tories believe their chances of securing a decisive majority lie in achieving what May failed to do: sweeping through Labour’s so-called “red wall” of leave-voting constituencies in the north, the Midlands and Wales. Constituency-level polling should be treated with caution, but according to a poll by Survation, Labour’s polling in Grimsby – a seat it has held since 1945 – has collapsed from 49% since 2017 to 31%, almost all to the Brexit party, which would allow the Tories to win through the middle.

Private research suggests that around 80 Labour leave seats are at some risk of being lost to the Tories (although it was conducted before Labour’s more recent polling recovery). In some Midlands seats, up to half of Labour leave voters have left the party’s fold. In the final two weeks of the campaign, Corbyn’s team still has much work to do to persuade remainers who have defected to the Lib Dems that their only hope is a Labour-led government. But the party’s prospects are doomed without the support of more leave-inclined voters. Domestic policies that are popular among them, from investment in creaking public services to public ownership, are key to winning them round. The threat posed to the NHS by a deal with the Donald Trump administration is critical, too.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/27/labour-election-leave-voters-boris-johnson-hard-brexit