Published on 12, July, 2020
Well that was a thumping majority, but I think a wide but shallow one. Reform did less well that exit polls predicted, for which I'm glad, but they have quite a high vote share. THe LibDems had a brilliant night.
A nice collection of Tory scalps for new MP's, Rees Mogg and Truss amoung them.
I stayed up until 3am and then had to go to bed, so I didn't see the big scalps taken, I'm tired today though.
It dosen't feel all unicorns and rainbow, frollicking fauns, and splashing mermaids, but I'm glad we've got some change, but it's a poisoned chalice for Starmer and gang, this country has so many problems in need of fixing. But I hope we have a stable government and not all this continual chopping and changing of PM and other ministers, I think part of the problems have been caused by so many reshuffles, ministers don't have time to get on top of their brief before they're moved on. That means any policy objectives they had are discarded by the successor, so nothing gets done and the rot sets deeper.
If you mean more than the Tories, it's 10% per the chart.
The article says:
Labour's vote share is up by less than two points from 32% to 34%,
Iain said:just 2% more of the vote share for labour
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nglegege1o
I think this screenshot of a chart on the BBC website is a good indicator of how skewed results are without proportional representation:
I saw there were just 2% more of the vote share for labour this election but this translated to double the number of seats (to 64% of all the available seats).
That is pretty absurd.
I'm starting to think that in spite of all the failings of PR it may be the least bad option for the future.
Not that any of the major parties would allow it to be voted in as it would destroy their chance to have a supermajority in power for just 34% of voters (not even 34% of the population).
This chart shows why the Tories have been called 'the natural party of government'.
I think it's worth remembering that Labour didn't do as well as it appears on the surface and that in fact they were greatly helped by Reform eroding the Tory vote and the collapse of the SNP in Scotland.
This analysis is also good:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2x0g8nkzmzo
There is a lot of good work to be done to keep Labour in power.
My hope is that if Starmer can improve things for people’s day to day experience in the U.K. (eg using the health service etc) then Reform’s support might dwindle away. Starmer has likely got 5 years to win over peoples confidence in Labour - most people just want society to function efficiently, and to have good basics like healthcare, affordable housing, decent schools, public transport etc. If Starmer can improve those fundamental aspects of people’s lives then they might feel less angry and stop blaming immigrants for all their problems. Right wing parties thrive on people’s anger, disillusionment and disenfranchised mindsets - what we need is to make those people feel invested in the idea that the government is working for them too, and improving their lives. It’s possible to do that. We’ll see!
I can relate to what you write here about the result. I stayed up until 8.30 am - then had a couple of hours sleep and now I seem to feel almost normal. Almost!
It was great to see Mogg lose his seat, and Truss too, but I was very disappointed that Iian Duncan Smith kept his seat. I was also really happy that Corbyn kept his seat - because he’s a decent man who’s been treated so badly by Starmer/Labour. Anyway - overall it’s just a tremendous relief to get the Tories OUT.
I feel a glimmer of hope for the future with this change - and that’s no small thing these days.
I feel pretty much the same. The amount of votes Reform got was scary, and I worry about the future. Farage has been given more of a platform and he'll know how to use it to best effect.