Right wing traditional media - Express, Mail, Telegraph - surely taking a huge risk of being left behind and seen as irrelevant as they throw everything and the last two kitchen sinks at trying to persuade their readers to stop a Labour government?
Parties and the media itself seem deeply conflicted on the value of and influence of media.
Parties dismiss it is inconsequential if it says they will lose, they insist they can overcome it. When they don't, the lay at least some blame on a hostile media environment.
Media would claim to just be reporting and providing comment, and dismiss criticism of their political bias influencing things, but still want to act with the importance that endorsements implies they hold.
I'm more in the camp that there is little influence, and media follows rather than sets agendas. But they still have loose ideological thrusts, and abandoning all pretence at that by not making some kind of defence for purported ideological bedfellows, might undermine the seriousness people can ascribe to them, even if their own readerships are not all behind that view.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
They would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
🚨New Voting Intention🚨 Labour lead by 21 points in our latest poll for The Mail on Sunday. Con 21% (+1) Lab 42% (-) Lib Dem 11% (-) Reform 16% (-1) SNP 3% (-) Green 4% (-) Other 3%(+1) Fieldwork: 27th to 29th June 2024
Tories still coming third in seats on that poll according to EC.
Con 55 Lab 476 LD 70 Ref 6 Green 3 SNP 18 PC 3 Others 19
On UNS some seats the Tories would hold on that poll EC have going Labour or LD.
They better hope the tactical voting they have in their model pans out to the level they predict on Thursday
I think a gentle swingback, not from Labour to Tory but from small parties to large parties, will see them home in the official opposition stakes. There’s some evidence in today’s polls of Conservative vote share recovering a little. Not massively, but a little.
I’m still expecting 26%+ on the day. Several polls are not far off that already, and Ref remains inflated. At 26% tactical voting can still do damage but it’s not ELE time.
It was not until a few minutes ago that I even realised where the Euro tournament was being held. I'm not sure at what point in the recent past I became completely disconnected from the sport, or perhaps the excitement of the GE has just overtaken me.
🚨New Voting Intention🚨 Labour lead by 21 points in our latest poll for The Mail on Sunday. Con 21% (+1) Lab 42% (-) Lib Dem 11% (-) Reform 16% (-1) SNP 3% (-) Green 4% (-) Other 3%(+1) Fieldwork: 27th to 29th June 2024
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
They would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
6% of a big number is more than 11% of a small number.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
In 2019 the conservatives scored 4x the LD score. 11% of Lib Dem votes is equivalent to 2.8% of Conservative votes. So there is a Tory-Lib Dem swing.
It was not until a few minutes ago that I even realised where the Euro tournament was being held. I'm not sure at what point in the recent past I became completely disconnected from the sport, or perhaps the excitement of the GE has just overtaken me.
Christ, the Euros have been as dull as ditchwater but they haven't been that bad. Where on earth did you find any excitement in this election?
Right wing traditional media - Express, Mail, Telegraph - surely taking a huge risk of being left behind and seen as irrelevant as they throw everything and the last two kitchen sinks at trying to persuade their readers to stop a Labour government?
Parties and the media itself seem deeply conflicted on the value of and influence of media.
Parties dismiss it is inconsequential if it says they will lose, they insist they can overcome it. When they don't, the lay at least some blame on a hostile media environment.
Media would claim to just be reporting and providing comment, and dismiss criticism of their political bias influencing things, but still want to act with the importance that endorsements implies they hold.
I'm more in the camp that there is little influence, and media follows rather than sets agendas. But they still have loose ideological thrusts, and abandoning all pretence at that by not making some kind of defence for purported ideological bedfellows, might undermine the seriousness people can ascribe to them, even if their own readerships are not all behind that view.
Most papers are all already preaching to their own choirs, to be honest. They seem locked into it to hold onto whatever readership they have remaining. The remainder are only keen to endorse the winners. I don't think there's many that actually take a nuanced, principled position in their endorsements.
Loss of traditional newspaper journalism would be a bad thing, but loss of papers screaming "vote for these guys not the other guys because we're the voice of the truth" wouldn't.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
In 2019 the conservatives scored 4x the LD score. 11% of Lib Dem votes is equivalent to 2.8% of Conservative votes. So there is a Tory-Lib Dem swing.
Interesting right-hand column story, announcing the imminent departure of Cabinet Secretary Simon Case – which will be seen almost universally as him jumping before he is pushed. At least this way is more dignified than the alternatives.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
In 2019 the conservatives scored 4x the LD score. 11% of Lib Dem votes is equivalent to 2.8% of Conservative votes. So there is a Tory-Lib Dem swing.
Yet more 2019 Liberal Democrats are voting Tory as a percentage of the 2019 LD vote than 2019 Tories are voting LD as a percentage of the 2019 Tory vote was the point
On the subject of the media - and particularly the print media.
An observation from my wife working at the local Co-Op. Normally they have a good handle on how many newspapers they will sell and returns are very low
Since the election campaign started and particularly over the last week, newspaper sales have collapsed. Apparently this is the case across a lot of the branches. Huge numbers of returns because of very few sales. Not sure if it is because people are sick of the political headlines but it looks like what used to be a sales boost for a few weeks is now becoming a liability.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
They would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
File under "Everyone thinks like me".
I know, I canvass them
People lie to canvassers.
They don't, LD local election voters in Epping Forest normally voted Leave and are very Nimby
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
6% of a big number is more than 11% of a small number.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
So that's 607k LD 2019 voters have switched to Con and 838k Con 2019 voters have switched to LD.
It was not until a few minutes ago that I even realised where the Euro tournament was being held. I'm not sure at what point in the recent past I became completely disconnected from the sport, or perhaps the excitement of the GE has just overtaken me.
Christ, the Euros have been as dull as ditchwater but they haven't been that bad. Where on earth did you find any excitement in this election?
The expected outcome is not the least bit exciting and after a start which was lightly entertaining just for how inept the Tory start was it has become pretty dull, but we are still looking at a potentially epoch making result. Seats which have not changed hands in literally 100 years, such as my own, are potentially in play. The Tories may disappear as a party or fundamentally alter as they seek to stem the damage from Farage.
Being in Scotland you've had that excitement already in recent decades of course.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
Most would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
Aren't the 2010 LDs that became 2015 Tories the 2019 Tories that you're losing to Lib Dems?, the 2010 LDs that stayed LD would be more likely to be squeezed to Labour rather then the Tories now unless you can come up with a reason why they couldn't be squeezed to Tories by Cameron but will be by Sunak.
No, Sunak has actually made a net gain with 2019 LDs in a few polls despite losses to Labour and big losses to Reform.
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
6% of a big number is more than 11% of a small number.
Interesting right-hand column story, announcing the imminent departure of Cabinet Secretary Simon Case – which will be seen almost universally as him jumping before he is pushed. At least this way is more dignified than the alternatives.
Right wing traditional media - Express, Mail, Telegraph - surely taking a huge risk of being left behind and seen as irrelevant as they throw everything and the last two kitchen sinks at trying to persuade their readers to stop a Labour government?
Parties and the media itself seem deeply conflicted on the value of and influence of media.
Parties dismiss it is inconsequential if it says they will lose, they insist they can overcome it. When they don't, the lay at least some blame on a hostile media environment.
Media would claim to just be reporting and providing comment, and dismiss criticism of their political bias influencing things, but still want to act with the importance that endorsements implies they hold.
I'm more in the camp that there is little influence, and media follows rather than sets agendas. But they still have loose ideological thrusts, and abandoning all pretence at that by not making some kind of defence for purported ideological bedfellows, might undermine the seriousness people can ascribe to them, even if their own readerships are not all behind that view.
Most papers are all already preaching to their own choirs, to be honest. They seem locked into it to hold onto whatever readership they have remaining. The remainder are only keen to endorse the winners. I don't think there's many that actually take a nuanced, principled position in their endorsements.
Loss of traditional newspaper journalism would be a bad thing, but loss of papers screaming "vote for these guys not the other guys because we're the voice of the truth" wouldn't.
Though readers seem quite immune to the editorial political line.
"Labour holds wide leads over the Conservatives with readers of The Observer (50% to 8%), The Guardian (50% to 13%), and The Daily Mirror (51% to 15%).
Labour also leads among those who read more conservative newspapers, including The Daily Express (41% to 27%), The Daily Mail (37% to 24%), and The Telegraph (34% to 21%)."
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
They would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
File under "Everyone thinks like me".
I know, I canvass them
People lie to canvassers.
They don't, LD local election voters in Epping Forest normally voted Leave and are very Nimby
I'm not disputing that many of them have told the truth to you, but we've had people on here provide anecdotes of lying to or misleading political canvassers, I assure you it happens. The idea it is all useful intelligence gathering is another way activists maintain morale, the sort of thing that gets them to leaflet one more street, donate a little more, and so on.
And so with the final weekend of the election haf gone. I still find it surprising how little electioneering I've actually seen.
Here in Romford, yesterday the Royal Maild elivered election addresses from Conservative, Labour and Reform.
The Tory one was in fact the same leaflet as they hand delivered at the beginning of the campaign (embarrassingly I know two of the people giving vox pops why Andrew Rosindell is the best MP ever). More evidence of an unusually malfunctioning campaign.
The Labour one was professional enough and was about the candidate and his priorities, and didn't repeat any of Labour's policy pledges.
The Reform one had a photo of Tice and Farage, no content at all and no information about the candidate at all. There has been no evidence of any campaigning here as far as I can tell, which I find very surprising as round here was Brexit central.
Then just to make sure, Royal Mail have delivered the same 3 leaflets again today! Nothing from LD, Green or Workers Party.
Also yesterday I heard a loud speaker from a car advocating a vote for Rosindell. Eventually on one of its trips it came a bit nearer and I recognized the voice as the man himself.
And finally today I drive to Southend. I saw one poster for Rosindell in the last road in Romford constituency. Nothing in Upminster at all. Then nothing along the A127 past Basildon until finally as I came into Southend I saw a few boards in a field for Mark Francois in Rayleigh, and a pair of LD boards in Southend West. And that was it.
Right wing traditional media - Express, Mail, Telegraph - surely taking a huge risk of being left behind and seen as irrelevant as they throw everything and the last two kitchen sinks at trying to persuade their readers to stop a Labour government?
Parties and the media itself seem deeply conflicted on the value of and influence of media.
Parties dismiss it is inconsequential if it says they will lose, they insist they can overcome it. When they don't, the lay at least some blame on a hostile media environment.
Media would claim to just be reporting and providing comment, and dismiss criticism of their political bias influencing things, but still want to act with the importance that endorsements implies they hold.
I'm more in the camp that there is little influence, and media follows rather than sets agendas. But they still have loose ideological thrusts, and abandoning all pretence at that by not making some kind of defence for purported ideological bedfellows, might undermine the seriousness people can ascribe to them, even if their own readerships are not all behind that view.
Most papers are all already preaching to their own choirs, to be honest. They seem locked into it to hold onto whatever readership they have remaining. The remainder are only keen to endorse the winners. I don't think there's many that actually take a nuanced, principled position in their endorsements.
Loss of traditional newspaper journalism would be a bad thing, but loss of papers screaming "vote for these guys not the other guys because we're the voice of the truth" wouldn't.
Though readers seem quite immune to the editorial political line.
"Labour holds wide leads over the Conservatives with readers of The Observer (50% to 8%), The Guardian (50% to 13%), and The Daily Mirror (51% to 15%).
Labour also leads among those who read more conservative newspapers, including The Daily Express (41% to 27%), The Daily Mail (37% to 24%), and The Telegraph (34% to 21%)."
It was not until a few minutes ago that I even realised where the Euro tournament was being held. I'm not sure at what point in the recent past I became completely disconnected from the sport, or perhaps the excitement of the GE has just overtaken me.
Christ, the Euros have been as dull as ditchwater but they haven't been that bad. Where on earth did you find any excitement in this election?
The expected outcome is not the least bit exciting and after a start which was lightly entertaining just for how inept the Tory start was it has become pretty dull, but we are still looking at a potentially epoch making result. Seats which have not changed hands in literally 100 years, such as my own, are potentially in play. The Tories may disappear as a party or fundamentally alter as they seek to stem the damage from Farage.
Being in Scotland you've had that excitement already in recent decades of course.
And we hopefully will again as the SNP exit stage huff. Maybe its because my "side" are taking such a hammering but my goodness it has been dull. A completely ridiculous National Service idea, a moan about tax increases smaller than those already built into the budget and ...I am sure there was something else. Meanwhile Labour make the Sicilian Mafia look loose lipped and try to avoid promising anything that might upset anybody and Davey behaving like a clown. I can't wait until Thursday, whatever the result.
Every single registered voter on my mail route has received their postal vote or ballot card on the day that they've been given to me to deliver
Royal Mail might be part of the late delivery problem, but I'm not
Our household will be disenfranchised unless we can persuade our council to reissue our postal votes before the election and get them to us before the election - something they've managed to fail to do in the 10 days since they sent them out - or allow us to vote in person.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
Every single registered voter on my mail route has received their postal vote or ballot card on the day that they've been given to me to deliver
Royal Mail might be part of the late delivery problem, but I'm not
Our household will be disenfranchised unless we can persuade our council to reissue our postal votes before the election and get them to us before the election - something they've managed to fail to do in the 10 days since they sent them out - or allow us to vote in person.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
That doesn't sound good. I'd replace postal voting (on demand, anyway) with early voting in person as we do with the recall petitions.
Right wing traditional media - Express, Mail, Telegraph - surely taking a huge risk of being left behind and seen as irrelevant as they throw everything and the last two kitchen sinks at trying to persuade their readers to stop a Labour government?
Parties and the media itself seem deeply conflicted on the value of and influence of media.
Parties dismiss it is inconsequential if it says they will lose, they insist they can overcome it. When they don't, the lay at least some blame on a hostile media environment.
Media would claim to just be reporting and providing comment, and dismiss criticism of their political bias influencing things, but still want to act with the importance that endorsements implies they hold.
I'm more in the camp that there is little influence, and media follows rather than sets agendas. But they still have loose ideological thrusts, and abandoning all pretence at that by not making some kind of defence for purported ideological bedfellows, might undermine the seriousness people can ascribe to them, even if their own readerships are not all behind that view.
Most papers are all already preaching to their own choirs, to be honest. They seem locked into it to hold onto whatever readership they have remaining. The remainder are only keen to endorse the winners. I don't think there's many that actually take a nuanced, principled position in their endorsements.
Loss of traditional newspaper journalism would be a bad thing, but loss of papers screaming "vote for these guys not the other guys because we're the voice of the truth" wouldn't.
Though readers seem quite immune to the editorial political line.
"Labour holds wide leads over the Conservatives with readers of The Observer (50% to 8%), The Guardian (50% to 13%), and The Daily Mirror (51% to 15%).
Labour also leads among those who read more conservative newspapers, including The Daily Express (41% to 27%), The Daily Mail (37% to 24%), and The Telegraph (34% to 21%)."
On the subject of the media - and particularly the print media.
An observation from my wife working at the local Co-Op. Normally they have a good handle on how many newspapers they will sell and returns are very low
Since the election campaign started and particularly over the last week, newspaper sales have collapsed. Apparently this is the case across a lot of the branches. Huge numbers of returns because of very few sales. Not sure if it is because people are sick of the political headlines but it looks like what used to be a sales boost for a few weeks is now becoming a liability.
It's titbits like this which make this site so valuable. Thanks for sharing.
The election began with Sunak well behind, but firmly in second place, with little doubt from the May results that the Reform UK goose had been cooked and it was as good a time to go as any. The goose now appears to have been very much raw. That's been interesting.
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
Yes. I'm surprised at the ferocity.
Starmer might be seen as dull but equally he’s not seen as frightening and the headlines so mismatch most people’s perceptions that they just look laughable .
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
They would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
File under "Everyone thinks like me".
I know, I canvass them
People lie to canvassers.
They don't, LD local election voters in Epping Forest normally voted Leave and are very Nimby
I'm not disputing that many of them have told the truth to you, but we've had people on here provide anecdotes of lying to or misleading political canvassers, I assure you it happens. The idea it is all useful intelligence gathering is another way activists maintain morale, the sort of thing that gets them to leaflet one more street, donate a little more, and so on.
It is sod all to do with 'boosting morale', they live in an area which voted overwhelmingly Leave but has LD councillors locally to try and stop any new houses on the greenbelt but a Tory MP. It is simply what election results show
The election began with Sunak well behind, but firmly in second place, with little doubt from the May results that the Reform UK goose had been cooked and it was as good a time to go as any. The goose now appears to have been very much raw. That's been interesting.
Farage wasn't Reform leader when he called the election and as of tonight virtually every pollster still has the Tories second on voteshare despite that
On the subject of the media - and particularly the print media.
An observation from my wife working at the local Co-Op. Normally they have a good handle on how many newspapers they will sell and returns are very low
Since the election campaign started and particularly over the last week, newspaper sales have collapsed. Apparently this is the case across a lot of the branches. Huge numbers of returns because of very few sales. Not sure if it is because people are sick of the political headlines but it looks like what used to be a sales boost for a few weeks is now becoming a liability.
That's fascinating.
Obviously hard to know what it signifies. Could be more people turning to getting their news from Farage on tiktok, I guess, but certainly it doesn't look like the print media will be able to credibly claim the credit for the election result as the Sun did in 1992.
The latest polls have Labour polling below 1997 levels and not much higher than Corbyn 2017 levels so it is working partly. If Sunak can squeeze RefUK and LD voters in Labour v Tory marginals it might work even more
Labour would squeeze LD voters better than the Tories would.
Depends where, in Epping Forest a lot of LDs would vote Tory over Labour on a forced choice
Usually that could be true. We saw in 2015 where a lot of former LD voters went in places like the SW.
Now? With Sir Keir Starmer at the helm of Labour and not Revolution Jezza?
They would still vote Tory as Starmer could come after the equity in their big homes and they also dislike his plans to build on the greenbelt
File under "Everyone thinks like me".
I know, I canvass them
People lie to canvassers.
They don't, LD local election voters in Epping Forest normally voted Leave and are very Nimby
I'm not disputing that many of them have told the truth to you, but we've had people on here provide anecdotes of lying to or misleading political canvassers, I assure you it happens. The idea it is all useful intelligence gathering is another way activists maintain morale, the sort of thing that gets them to leaflet one more street, donate a little more, and so on.
It is sod all to do with 'boosting morale', they live in an area which voted overwhelmingly Leave but has LD councillors locally to try and stop any new houses on the greenbelt but a Tory MP. It is simply what election results show
You're doing that HYUFD thing where you pretend to be unable to understand the difference between something being broadly true and 100% true (given your canvass claim was in response to a jovial post about 'everyone' thinking like you).
And I'm sorry if you don't like to hear that party activists are not as important as they would like to believe or parties tell them they are to encourage them to undertake boring tasks which do indeed help to some degree, but it is the truth. Membership of a club, including a political party, does not make every action for that club consequential. If you don't think a party elevates mundanity of things like canvassing I have many bridges to sell you.
Christ, I could tell you 90% LD voters in rural areas are NIMBYs without a single instance of canvassing, so how useful could it really be - as you yourself have pointed out, the election results show it. So what did your awesome canvassing actually tell you? Your own defence of it undermines the initial claim you know what they think due to it.
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
STARMER TAX RISE TO BUILD NEW DEATH STAR, CLAIMS SUNAK.
Or something.
Finally, a policy I can get behind.
Before they finalise the design, I have some thoughts about the vents…
The Empire constructed the Death Star in 20 years, in near complete secret, and it worked. Even with that fatal design flaw there's no way British manufacturing could boast that level of success. I bet it was on budget too. Thanks to Lord Vader rapid progress was made to keep the second one on time too, without needing to plough in more resources.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
It was not until a few minutes ago that I even realised where the Euro tournament was being held. I'm not sure at what point in the recent past I became completely disconnected from the sport, or perhaps the excitement of the GE has just overtaken me.
Christ, the Euros have been as dull as ditchwater but they haven't been that bad. Where on earth did you find any excitement in this election?
The expected outcome is not the least bit exciting and after a start which was lightly entertaining just for how inept the Tory start was it has become pretty dull, but we are still looking at a potentially epoch making result. Seats which have not changed hands in literally 100 years, such as my own, are potentially in play. The Tories may disappear as a party or fundamentally alter as they seek to stem the damage from Farage.
Being in Scotland you've had that excitement already in recent decades of course.
And we hopefully will again as the SNP exit stage huff. Maybe its because my "side" are taking such a hammering but my goodness it has been dull. A completely ridiculous National Service idea, a moan about tax increases smaller than those already built into the budget and ...I am sure there was something else. Meanwhile Labour make the Sicilian Mafia look loose lipped and try to avoid promising anything that might upset anybody and Davey behaving like a clown. I can't wait until Thursday, whatever the result.
Look on the bright side . . . you can NOT blame Mebyon Kernow . . . this time . . .
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
STARMER TAX RISE TO BUILD NEW DEATH STAR, CLAIMS SUNAK.
Or something.
Finally, a policy I can get behind.
Before they finalise the design, I have some thoughts about the vents…
The Empire constructed the Death Star in 20 years, in near complete secret, and it worked. Even with that fatal design flaw there's no way British manufacturing could boast that level of success. I bet it was on budget too. Thanks to Lord Vader rapid progress was made to keep the second one on time too, without needing to plough in more resources.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
But did they meet their DEI commitments, equal and collective bargaining pay, and was it done in accordance with net zero.
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
STARMER TAX RISE TO BUILD NEW DEATH STAR, CLAIMS SUNAK.
Or something.
Finally, a policy I can get behind.
Before they finalise the design, I have some thoughts about the vents…
The Empire constructed the Death Star in 20 years, in near complete secret, and it worked. Even with that fatal design flaw there's no way British manufacturing could boast that level of success. I bet it was on budget too. Thanks to Lord Vader rapid progress was made to keep the second one on time too, without needing to plough in more resources.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
Their Industrial design was also cool as fuck. Johnny Ives, eat your heart out...
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
STARMER TAX RISE TO BUILD NEW DEATH STAR, CLAIMS SUNAK.
Or something.
Finally, a policy I can get behind.
Before they finalise the design, I have some thoughts about the vents…
The Empire constructed the Death Star in 20 years, in near complete secret, and it worked. Even with that fatal design flaw there's no way British manufacturing could boast that level of success. I bet it was on budget too. Thanks to Lord Vader rapid progress was made to keep the second one on time too, without needing to plough in more resources.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
Grant Shapps set to run for Tory leadership again if he keeps seat
Anybody that announces they're running for party leader five days from polling day should automatically be disqualified on the basis of being a ******* moron!
Grant Shapps set to run for Tory leadership again if he keeps seat
Good to see the lack of self awareness is kicking in even before the result is in...
I don't really understand the early leadership talk of this nature. They all know they will be out of government, sure, and those who were already out of the Cabinet and on manuevers have some logic in setting out their stall, but those within Cabinet I see no advantage to revealing the ambition ahead of time.
There's no first mover advantage here, Shapps is not going to outflank Penny just by announcing earlier.
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
Yes. I'm surprised at the ferocity.
They’re angry as ****. They thought Johnson had sewed it up into the 30s.
It's the VAT on private schooling.
My experience of this strata of society (e.g. privately educated journos and editors being prime examples) is that nothing keeps them as alert and stressed as how much the fees for their own kids will be and how they will manage to meet them if they go up and so on.
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
STARMER TAX RISE TO BUILD NEW DEATH STAR, CLAIMS SUNAK.
Or something.
Finally, a policy I can get behind.
Before they finalise the design, I have some thoughts about the vents…
The Empire constructed the Death Star in 20 years, in near complete secret, and it worked. Even with that fatal design flaw there's no way British manufacturing could boast that level of success. I bet it was on budget too. Thanks to Lord Vader rapid progress was made to keep the second one on time too, without needing to plough in more resources.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
Their Industrial design was also cool as fuck. Johnny Ives, eat your heart out...
When Tim Apple finally releases his Deathstar it will have a fantastic bezel.
Grant Shapps set to run for Tory leadership again if he keeps seat
Anybody that announces they're running for party leader five days from the general election should automatically be disqualified on the basis of being a ******* moron!
Look, somebody needs to run. If being a ******* moron disqualifies you this could get problematic.
Some utterly hysterical headlines in the right wing media . What next Starmer will come for your first born.
STARMER TAX RISE TO BUILD NEW DEATH STAR, CLAIMS SUNAK.
Or something.
Finally, a policy I can get behind.
Before they finalise the design, I have some thoughts about the vents…
The Empire constructed the Death Star in 20 years, in near complete secret, and it worked. Even with that fatal design flaw there's no way British manufacturing could boast that level of success. I bet it was on budget too. Thanks to Lord Vader rapid progress was made to keep the second one on time too, without needing to plough in more resources.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
Their Industrial design was also cool as fuck. Johnny Ives, eat your heart out...
When Tim Apple finally releases his Deathstar it will have a fantastic bezel.
Grant Shapps set to run for Tory leadership again if he keeps seat
I like how Tory leadership hopefuls can't fully commit to the idea, not because Sunak may stay in post, but because no one is quite certain they'll retain their own seat.
Rishi campaigning at a temple in Harrow East, which is a seat the Tories might just hold against the trend, (although probably not).
He may be praying, rather than campaigning.
Saw a guy downtown today with a T shirt which said, "The devil saw me with my head bowed and thought he had won until I said amen." I found it oddly moving.
What I didn't really see much of today was any political activity the last Saturday before the election. Belatedly, there was a small group of Labour supporters handing out leaflets but none of the other parties were in evidence at all. Quite bizarre and unprecedented in my experience.
Every single registered voter on my mail route has received their postal vote or ballot card on the day that they've been given to me to deliver
Royal Mail might be part of the late delivery problem, but I'm not
Our household will be disenfranchised unless we can persuade our council to reissue our postal votes before the election and get them to us before the election - something they've managed to fail to do in the 10 days since they sent them out - or allow us to vote in person.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
That doesn't sound good. I'd replace postal voting (on demand, anyway) with early voting in person as we do with the recall petitions.
It’s 2024! Why on earth haven’t we introduced online voting?
Every single registered voter on my mail route has received their postal vote or ballot card on the day that they've been given to me to deliver
Royal Mail might be part of the late delivery problem, but I'm not
Our household will be disenfranchised unless we can persuade our council to reissue our postal votes before the election and get them to us before the election - something they've managed to fail to do in the 10 days since they sent them out - or allow us to vote in person.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
That doesn't sound good. I'd replace postal voting (on demand, anyway) with early voting in person as we do with the recall petitions.
It’s 2024! Why on earth haven’t we introduced online voting?
Security and accuracy. Would you trust Fujitsu with our democratic process?
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
I used to say "I don't know if I dislike Chris Martin because he reminds be of Jenson Button, or if I dislike Jenson Button because he reminds me of Chris Martin."
But, actually, I don't mind either these days. Can understand why people are a bit sniffy of Coldplay, but they've been good tonight. Dua Lipa last night...
Right wing traditional media - Express, Mail, Telegraph - surely taking a huge risk of being left behind and seen as irrelevant as they throw everything and the last two kitchen sinks at trying to persuade their readers to stop a Labour government?
Parties and the media itself seem deeply conflicted on the value of and influence of media.
Parties dismiss it is inconsequential if it says they will lose, they insist they can overcome it. When they don't, the lay at least some blame on a hostile media environment.
Media would claim to just be reporting and providing comment, and dismiss criticism of their political bias influencing things, but still want to act with the importance that endorsements implies they hold.
I'm more in the camp that there is little influence, and media follows rather than sets agendas. But they still have loose ideological thrusts, and abandoning all pretence at that by not making some kind of defence for purported ideological bedfellows, might undermine the seriousness people can ascribe to them, even if their own readerships are not all behind that view.
One undeniable success of Starmer's is to make this stuff look batshit even to most of the people who read these papers.
I think their influence is real but mainly indirect and insidious. It works in two ways, avoidance of informing on tricky issues and failing policy outcomes and secondly, misleading the individual reader about what other readers believe through censored comments below the line.
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
Not the worst band ever to play Glastonbury...
A minor band called Radiohead were far worse....
Based on last night - why the hell doesn't the UK enter Dua Lipa for Eurovision?
She'd walk it.
Not the done thing old boy. For some obscure reason the Brits like to enter rubbish up and coming acts in order to mitigate against actually doing well ever again.
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
Chris Martin is inherently irritating. And their songs (with a few exceptions) are lazy, mawkish and sentimental.
Their second album - A Rush of Blood to the Head - was properly good, mind. By far the best thing they've ever done.
It's impressive in a way. They have done nothing of note since their 3rd LP and that was twenty years ago probably. Yet still they tour to arenas packed to the skies.
Every single registered voter on my mail route has received their postal vote or ballot card on the day that they've been given to me to deliver
Royal Mail might be part of the late delivery problem, but I'm not
Our household will be disenfranchised unless we can persuade our council to reissue our postal votes before the election and get them to us before the election - something they've managed to fail to do in the 10 days since they sent them out - or allow us to vote in person.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
That doesn't sound good. I'd replace postal voting (on demand, anyway) with early voting in person as we do with the recall petitions.
At least we won't be responsible for the next load of fuck ups.
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
I used to say "I don't know if I dislike Chris Martin because he reminds be of Jenson Button, or if I dislike Jenson Button because he reminds me of Chris Martin."
Must admit Chris Martin does look irritatingly good for 47. The fact I'm 47 (later this year) but couldn't pass for 35 like him is probably something else that's annoying me 😂
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
I used to say "I don't know if I dislike Chris Martin because he reminds be of Jenson Button, or if I dislike Jenson Button because he reminds me of Chris Martin."
But, actually, I don't mind either these days. Can understand why people are a bit sniffy of Coldplay, but they've been good tonight. Dua Lipa last night...
A bit like Grant Schapps....I used to find him really quite irritating, but actually, not so bad now....he could be Chris Martin's older brother....
On the subject of the media - and particularly the print media.
An observation from my wife working at the local Co-Op. Normally they have a good handle on how many newspapers they will sell and returns are very low
Since the election campaign started and particularly over the last week, newspaper sales have collapsed. Apparently this is the case across a lot of the branches. Huge numbers of returns because of very few sales. Not sure if it is because people are sick of the political headlines but it looks like what used to be a sales boost for a few weeks is now becoming a liability.
I worked in a newsagents as a kid and from what I remember the distribution was partly set by the distributor too. Is a possible alternative explanation that more papers have been being printed in the expectation more will read them, but no one is giving a stuff?
IE not that the papers are turning people off. Politics ain't turning them on.
Either way, very useful anecdata - thanks for that.
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
Chris Martin is inherently irritating. And their songs (with a few exceptions) are lazy, mawkish and sentimental.
Their second album - A Rush of Blood to the Head - was properly good, mind. By far the best thing they've ever done.
Mawkish and sentimental - exactly. In the same category as Banksy for me. And way too young to have been embodying that smug Live 8 British celeb stuff from the pre-GFC, pre-Instagram era.
Wasn't Glasto originally a kind of hippy, deep green thing?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
I've always find something kind of irritating about Coldplay but can't really put my finger on why...
I used to say "I don't know if I dislike Chris Martin because he reminds be of Jenson Button, or if I dislike Jenson Button because he reminds me of Chris Martin."
But, actually, I don't mind either these days. Can understand why people are a bit sniffy of Coldplay, but they've been good tonight. Dua Lipa last night...
A bit like Grant Schapps....I used to find him really quite irritating, but actually, not so bad now....he could be Chris Martin's older brother....
Ooo... have we got the first makings of PB Lefties 4 Shapps here?
Every single registered voter on my mail route has received their postal vote or ballot card on the day that they've been given to me to deliver
Royal Mail might be part of the late delivery problem, but I'm not
Our household will be disenfranchised unless we can persuade our council to reissue our postal votes before the election and get them to us before the election - something they've managed to fail to do in the 10 days since they sent them out - or allow us to vote in person.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
That doesn't sound good. I'd replace postal voting (on demand, anyway) with early voting in person as we do with the recall petitions.
It’s 2024! Why on earth haven’t we introduced online voting?
I have two personal reasons:
1) It would ruin election night, and Ind act we should encourage a competition between authorities so we see more running with ballot boxes; and
2) If we had truly secure online voting, eventually we’d have Swiss style referendums on bloody everything.
Comments
Sam Freedman
@Samfr
·
34m
One undeniable success of Starmer's is to make this stuff look batshit even to most of the people who read these papers.
For instance a recent Yougov had 11% of 2019 LDs now voting Tory but just 6% of 2019 Tories now backing the LDs
https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/Sky_VI_240618_w.pdf
The 2010 LDs that stayed LD would likely be pro Clegg, the ones that were pro Labour almost all voted for Ed Miliband in 2015 and back Starmer now or even the Greens
I’m still expecting 26%+ on the day. Several polls are not far off that already, and Ref remains inflated. At 26% tactical voting can still do damage but it’s not ELE time.
Loss of traditional newspaper journalism would be a bad thing, but loss of papers screaming "vote for these guys not the other guys because we're the voice of the truth" wouldn't.
@jamesrbuk
Interesting right-hand column story, announcing the imminent departure of Cabinet Secretary Simon Case – which will be seen almost universally as him jumping before he is pushed. At least this way is more dignified than the alternatives.
An observation from my wife working at the local Co-Op. Normally they have a good handle on how many newspapers they will sell and returns are very low
Since the election campaign started and particularly over the last week, newspaper sales have collapsed. Apparently this is the case across a lot of the branches. Huge numbers of returns because of very few sales. Not sure if it is because people are sick of the political headlines but it looks like what used to be a sales boost for a few weeks is now becoming a liability.
Being in Scotland you've had that excitement already in recent decades of course.
Or - the radical choice - Sharon White?
"Labour holds wide leads over the Conservatives with readers of The Observer (50% to 8%), The Guardian (50% to 13%), and The Daily Mirror (51% to 15%).
Labour also leads among those who read more conservative newspapers, including The Daily Express (41% to 27%), The Daily Mail (37% to 24%), and The Telegraph (34% to 21%)."
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/westminster-voting-intention-by-media-consumption-7-10-june/
Or maybe many readers only look at the sport and TV listing's.
Here in Romford, yesterday the Royal Maild elivered election addresses from Conservative, Labour and Reform.
The Tory one was in fact the same leaflet as they hand delivered at the beginning of the campaign (embarrassingly I know two of the people giving vox pops why Andrew Rosindell is the best MP ever). More evidence of an unusually malfunctioning campaign.
The Labour one was professional enough and was about the candidate and his priorities, and didn't repeat any of Labour's policy pledges.
The Reform one had a photo of Tice and Farage, no content at all and no information about the candidate at all. There has been no evidence of any campaigning here as far as I can tell, which I find very surprising as round here was Brexit central.
Then just to make sure, Royal Mail have delivered the same 3 leaflets again today! Nothing from LD, Green or Workers Party.
Also yesterday I heard a loud speaker from a car advocating a vote for Rosindell. Eventually on one of its trips it came a bit nearer and I recognized the voice as the man himself.
And finally today I drive to Southend. I saw one poster for Rosindell in the last road in Romford constituency. Nothing in Upminster at all. Then nothing along the A127 past Basildon until finally as I came into Southend I saw a few boards in a field for Mark Francois in Rayleigh, and a pair of LD boards in Southend West. And that was it.
To say that we are pissed off is an understatement. A example of the fucking ineptitude of this country.
Or something.
https://x.com/leilanidowding/status/1806707580246409357?s=46&t=JkfxbHe62CiS_-1M2e4fCA
Obviously hard to know what it signifies. Could be more people turning to getting their news from Farage on tiktok, I guess, but certainly it doesn't look like the print media will be able to credibly claim the credit for the election result as the Sun did in 1992.
Grant Shapps set to run for Tory leadership again if he keeps seat
** With apols to Brass Eye
Although he may have stolen that from Reform.
And I'm sorry if you don't like to hear that party activists are not as important as they would like to believe or parties tell them they are to encourage them to undertake boring tasks which do indeed help to some degree, but it is the truth. Membership of a club, including a political party, does not make every action for that club consequential. If you don't think a party elevates mundanity of things like canvassing I have many bridges to sell you.
Christ, I could tell you 90% LD voters in rural areas are NIMBYs without a single instance of canvassing, so how useful could it really be - as you yourself have pointed out, the election results show it. So what did your awesome canvassing actually tell you? Your own defence of it undermines the initial claim you know what they think due to it.
If there was one thing Palpatine was competent at it was logistics, infrastructure, and military production. It's one reason he's an idol of mine.
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=lego+darth+vader+death+star+canteen&mid=0BBB60A0DC02259131610BBB60A0DC0225913161&FORM=VIRE
There's no first mover advantage here, Shapps is not going to outflank Penny just by announcing earlier.
My experience of this strata of society (e.g. privately educated journos and editors being prime examples) is that nothing keeps them as alert and stressed as how much the fees for their own kids will be and how they will manage to meet them if they go up and so on.
And are trans people "in the middle"?
Now we have 100k wearing some kind of LED wristband which will be thrown away in the morning. Earth's resources?
Maybe Mark Fisher was right.
What I didn't really see much of today was any political activity the last Saturday before the election. Belatedly, there was a small group of Labour supporters handing out leaflets but none of the other parties were in evidence at all. Quite bizarre and unprecedented in my experience.
And their songs (with a few exceptions) are lazy, mawkish and sentimental.
Their second album - A Rush of Blood to the Head - was properly good, mind. By far the best thing they've ever done.
But, actually, I don't mind either these days. Can understand why people are a bit sniffy of Coldplay, but they've been good tonight. Dua Lipa last night...
She'd walk it.
Nothing since comes close to their early days.
Creepy stuff.
IE not that the papers are turning people off. Politics ain't turning them on.
Either way, very useful anecdata - thanks for that.
1) It would ruin election night, and Ind act we should encourage a competition between authorities so we see more running with ballot boxes; and
2) If we had truly secure online voting, eventually we’d have Swiss style referendums on bloody everything.
https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1807172851817996691