UK General Discussion: Rishecession

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It is a shame that he wasn't selected for Selby in preparation for the GE, as that would have meant he was their candidate for the Selby & Ainsty by-election and just think at what we missed out on.

[Blair]

It is telling that the high profile tories are going to the seats with Soviet Majorities... previously you would be happy to run in a seat with a 10 or even 5K majority. Now days even 20,000 is looking weak...

It is a shame that he wasn't selected for Selby in preparation for the GE, as that would have meant he was their candidate for the Selby & Ainsty by-election and just think at what we missed out on.

Something quite fitting too about him getting beaten by a Labour staffer who is nearly 10 years younger than him

[Lief 🗽]

This guy reduced to pandering to the rubiest rubes in the country so his party clears 150 seats at the next election is so funny.
https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1708067400820687265?s=46&t=o2RmfeV6yYJ...

[Yeahsayyeah]

It's only a small step to the election campaign slogan of the FDP in Saxony in 2009, that was "Your car would vote FDP!. They missed the 5 per cent threshold and went right from the government out of the Landtag. Cars weren't eligible to vote.

[CumbrianLefty]

Sunak claiming to be the "candidate of change" this morning - this is almost beyond parody stuff.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Sunak claiming to be the "candidate of change" this morning - this is almost beyond parody stuff.

[Blair]

Great that the £££ to the Australians has revealed that voters want change.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Very amused that Sunak managed to be confused by the ultimate softball question from Laura K - the classic "what do you admire about Starmer" question. His answer both made him seem like a shrill partisan and also a hollow non-entity.

[omar04]

This guy reduced to pandering to the rubiest rubes in the country so his party clears 150 seats at the next election is so funny.
https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1708067400820687265?s=46&t=o2RmfeV6yYJ...

I think this is more aimed at the party officials gathered for the Conservative Party Conference right now.

[CumbrianLefty]

Very amused that Sunak managed to be confused by the ultimate softball question from Laura K - the classic "what do you admire about Starmer" question. His answer both made him seem like a shrill partisan and also a hollow non-entity.

Some people are saying the next GE isn't a sure thing "because 2017".

But what are the chances of Sunak doing the sort of campaign Corbyn pulled off then?

Not high, I would say.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

More to the point, the incumbent government ran one of the very worst campaigns that an incumbent government ever has in Britain: it was, perhaps, the closest thing we've ever seen to the infamous Liberal campaign at the 1957 Canadian federal election. David Butler, who o/c came briefly out of retirement to analyze the campaign on twitter, noted that not in his seven decades (!) of analyzing elections had he ever seen an incumbent government drop a major plank in its manifesto halfway through the campaign, or even anything comparable to that.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

More to the point, the incumbent government ran one of the very worst campaigns that an incumbent government ever has in Britain: it was, perhaps, the closest thing we've ever seen to the infamous Liberal campaign at the 1957 Canadian federal election.

For those not in the know, this was the election in which the "Minister for everything" CD Howe was accosted by an angry voter who said "farmers are starving" to which the minister's response was to poke the man in the stomach, saying "looks like you eat pretty well under a Liberal government".

[Filuwaúrdjan]

More to the point, the incumbent government ran one of the very worst campaigns that an incumbent government ever has in Britain: it was, perhaps, the closest thing we've ever seen to the infamous Liberal campaign at the 1957 Canadian federal election.

For those not in the know, this was the election in which the "Minister for everything" CD Howe was accosted by an angry voter who said "farmers are starving" to which the minister's response was to poke the man in the stomach, saying "looks like you eat pretty well under a Liberal government".

And the election in which the Prime Minister's handlers accidently seriously assaulted a child who was heckling him at a rally.

[Blair]

More to the point, the incumbent government ran one of the very worst campaigns that an incumbent government ever has in Britain: it was, perhaps, the closest thing we've ever seen to the infamous Liberal campaign at the 1957 Canadian federal election. David Butler, who o/c came briefly out of retirement to analyze the campaign on twitter, noted that not in his seven decades (!) of analyzing elections had he ever seen an incumbent government drop a major plank in its manifesto halfway through the campaign, or even anything comparable to that.

Ironically the man behind this is now set to sit on the Green benches…

[Continential]

What kind of 18-24 person would vote Conservative, anyway? As things currently stand?

Also, out of curiosity how do evangelical Christians (and young evangelicals) vote? I presume Black and Asian evangelicals would vote for Labour but White ones would vote for the Tories but I'm curious since the evangelical population in the UK is tiny compared to the US and religion isn't prominent in public life in the UK.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That depends on your definition of Evangelical, which has many more meanings in Britain than the USA. And, in some cases, on the election.

[MABA 2020]

Very amused that Sunak managed to be confused by the ultimate softball question from Laura K - the classic "what do you admire about Starmer" question. His answer both made him seem like a shrill partisan and also a hollow non-entity.

Some people are saying the next GE isn't a sure thing "because 2017".

But what are the chances of Sunak doing the sort of campaign Corbyn pulled off then?

Not high, I would say.

He has more chance of pulling a Theresa May and having a mid campaign meltdown.

[Pericles]

Amazing that dozens of Tory MPs would voluntarily associate themselves with Liz Truss and her mini-budget, let alone genuinely think it was a good idea. MPs who are paid to serve the public should not be so out of touch and stupid.

[Conservatopia]

What kind of 18-24 person would vote Conservative, anyway? As things currently stand?

Also, out of curiosity how do evangelical Christians (and young evangelicals) vote? I presume Black and Asian evangelicals would vote for Labour but White ones would vote for the Tories but I'm curious since the evangelical population in the UK is tiny compared to the US and religion isn't prominent in public life in the UK.

Voting on the basis of religion would generally be fairly pointless in this country because it just isn't an issue. Labour's (former?) policy on private schools was relevant to me from a religious-adjacent point of view (many private religious schools would have had to close because of Labour's policy) but there's no really any major standout issues where one's religion in itself compels you towards one party or the other.

[Oryxslayer]

What kind of 18-24 person would vote Conservative, anyway? As things currently stand?

Also, out of curiosity how do evangelical Christians (and young evangelicals) vote? I presume Black and Asian evangelicals would vote for Labour but White ones would vote for the Tories but I'm curious since the evangelical population in the UK is tiny compared to the US and religion isn't prominent in public life in the UK.

Voting on the basis of religion would generally be fairly pointless in this country because it just isn't an issue. Labour's (former?) policy on private schools was relevant to me from a religious-adjacent point of view (many private religious schools would have had to close because of Labour's policy) but there's no really any major standout issues where one's religion in itself compels you towards one party or the other.

Very stereotypical for British not from Northern Ireland to ignore Northern Ireland

Though a serious answer used to be, and maybe will be again, Catholics in Scotland.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Northern Ireland isn't part of Britain, you see.

Anyway, historically speaking there were major sectarian and confessional influences on British voting patterns, though they steadily faded throughout the twentieth century as the reasons for them faded.*  There are still traces, though more in the form of 'our family has always supported Party X unless there was a good reason not to' etc.

_{*By means of a much more complex story than mere secularization on its own.}

[Sestak]

Dumb Australian talking points not stopping your electoral pains? Try new dumb American talking points!

https://twitter.com/bloomberguk/status/1709218266978131990?s=46&t=fodleObZvt...

[afleitch]

It was the most nakedly fascist speech I've heard given at a party conference in my lifetime. Deeply sinister. Sickening.

[CumbrianLefty]

Increasingly convinced that the best thing to do with Braverman is ignore her.

She is sustained by the hate.

[Torrain]

Whole thing was grim. The fact she’s been humoured this long, and hugged this close by Sunak is a bad omen for where the party is headed. Just corrosive to politics at large.

Did anyone else see the “heckler” incident? The Chair of the London Assembly (a Conservative Assembly Member, mind) was chucked out of the hall, mid-speech:
https://twitter.com/BethRigby/status/1709228089002140078