Let’s talk about Robert Jenrick’s balls as there are betting implications – politicalbetting.com
NEW: ‘They have him by the balls’: senior Tories warn Robert Jenrick will be at mercy of ‘Braverman right’ as leader.Just 19 letters needed for a no confidence vote…https://t.co/X0DdZiatMi
“ As a lifelong Conservative the thought of Robert Jenrick leading my party fills me with the same level of dread I experience when my other half asks to use my phone or laptop”
Two polls today from BMG and Opinium with essentially the same results: Lab 30/31 Con 23-25 Reform 18/20, which would give a nominal Labour majority of 60 or so.
So Labour down a bit but not polling collapse yet.
Reform doing well but polls always tend to overstate that party.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
Two polls today from BMG and Opinium with essentially the same results: Lab 30/31 Con 23-25 Reform 18/20, which would give a nominal Labour majority of 60 or so.
So Labour down a bit but not polling collapse yet.
Reform doing well but polls always tend to overstate that party.
Edit also Techne, added numbers above
The mega question is how much these polls are intended to be comparable with those from before July 4.
If they are, then Labour are in deep trouble. If these polls are using a reprogrammed sausage machine to try to correct for the polling miss, much less so.
Thirty percent isn't good, but a high single figures lead is. There's potential for anyone to break free from the pack, but not much sign of it happening.
“ As a lifelong Conservative the thought of Robert Jenrick leading my party fills me with the same level of dread I experience when my other half asks to use my phone or laptop”
Just clear the browser history, visit some harmless sites and you'll be fine.
On the other hand Jenrick is now the most favoured candidate by Reform voters with Opinium for example. So he may at least be able to squeeze their vote even if he has less appeal to Labour and LD voters than Tugendhat and Cleverly.
He will also have a huge advantage IDS and Hague did not in that Starmer is already far more unpopular than Blair was so as Leader of the Opposition he can exploit that. Replacing IDS with Howard of course made no difference to Tory poll ratings anyway, though Howard gained 30 odd seats in 2005 so most likely would IDS have.
From 2026 the Tories will also be fighting local elections in years they made losses before so he has a chance for gains
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
It's been a while since I've heard a bigger load of bullshit than this story. There is a worry abroad that Jenrick *won't* prove to be enough of a backsliding two-faced bullshitter who forgets the fact that he planned to do something about migration as soon as he gets a whiff of power? And this it's what's concerning this member of the shadow cabinet? Do they not realise that that attitude is why the Tories got precisely nowhere with tackling any issues whatsoever over 14 years, and why public, in utter despair and disgust, turfed them out in favour of SKS, a man they clearly had no enthusiasm for. Unspoofable.
Let's hope that this malevolent Guardian-briefing sack of shit doesn't keep their role in the shadow cabinet for very long after the new leader is elected.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
Equally a lot of councils have zilch money and the blame for that and poor quality roads ... is going to rest with the Tories.
I expect it's going to hard to gauge until far closer which argument is going to win.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
Equally a lot of councils have zilch money and the blame for that and poor quality roads ... is going to rest with the Tories.
I expect it's going to hard to gauge until far closer which argument is going to win.
I get it. You want the Tories to suffer another heavy defeat, and are working back from there to find the evidence.
When it doesn't happen, no doubt that will be for.. reasons.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
The 2025 Locals are nearly all Shire councils run by the Tories, with the odd exception like Doncaster.
“ As a lifelong Conservative the thought of Robert Jenrick leading my party fills me with the same level of dread I experience when my other half asks to use my phone or laptop”
Just clear the browser history, visit some harmless sites and you'll be fine.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
The 2021 factor matters because, even if the Conservatives objectively do quite well, they will still go backwards. They were leading 43-33ish then, and that's unlikely to be repeated.
The county factor matters because it's where Labour are least relevant. And the Con-Lib battleground still looks very vulnerable.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
Equally a lot of councils have zilch money and the blame for that and poor quality roads ... is going to rest with the Tories.
I expect it's going to hard to gauge until far closer which argument is going to win.
I get it. You want the Tories to suffer another heavy defeat, and are working back from there to find the evidence.
When it doesn't happen, no doubt that will be for.. reasons.
Nope I think the 2021 election results don't reflect the current reality so it's highly likely the number of Tory councillors will fall - it's then a matter of whether that drop will be significant or not.
My sole point is that many of the seats are not in real Labour areas so the argument that Labour being unpopular and in power will swing things the Tory way probably isn't true. As I said I expect the Lib Dems and Reform to do well at the expense of the Tories...
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
The 2025 Locals are nearly all Shire councils run by the Tories, with the odd exception like Doncaster.
The headline is more likely to be Tory losses than Lab losses as there are very few Lab seats up for grabs.
It could be a good night for the LDs, Greens and Independents though.
I’d expect that given how high the Tories were riding the last time they were fought.
I think it will be better for the Tories than if it had been this year, they seem to have stabilised and inch back up gradually. But it won’t be a good night for them.
The dark heart of Scottish nationalism rears its head again.
The activist who triggered the fraud investigation into SNP finances claims that he has been “persecuted” by fellow nationalists and received death threats.
Independence campaigner Sean Clerkin reported concerns to police about the whereabouts of more than £600,000 of funding that had been raised for a second referendum three years ago....
...In the interview, Clerkin said he had been ostracised by some nationalists and had faced intimidation.
“All these years down the line I have been persecuted by nationalists who have persecuted me on social media and at rallies,” he said. “Threatening to do me in, threatened to take me out and I have had death threats.”
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
While it is encouraging that Conservatives are embarrassed, the reversals that you crave are hardly core Conservative ideology: removing VAT from school fees and restoring the WFA. It's hard also to see how the Chagos deal is reversed, short of a war and naval task force sent to the Indian Ocean, to secure an Anglo-American base that is protected by the transfer.
Time moves on and all governments start with what they inherit, good or bad, simply reversing the policies of the last government isn't sufficient reason to govern, hence Labour not reversing the 2 child benefit limit, despite falling fertility rates.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
Equally a lot of councils have zilch money and the blame for that and poor quality roads ... is going to rest with the Tories.
I expect it's going to hard to gauge until far closer which argument is going to win.
I get it. You want the Tories to suffer another heavy defeat, and are working back from there to find the evidence.
When it doesn't happen, no doubt that will be for.. reasons.
You really got that from eek's comment ?
Seems a reasonable 'what if' question to me. The Tories were in power for well over a decade; where we are us there legacy.
Labour aren't impressing at all, obviously, but few folk are just going to forget who got us here, for a while at least.
Like eek. I have don't have a clear idea if what's likely to happen at the locals. Reform making significant advances is another possibility, for example. And hardly something either of us is wishing for.
I understand your impulse to fight the Tory corner, but sometimes you're just needlessly confrontational.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
Equally a lot of councils have zilch money and the blame for that and poor quality roads ... is going to rest with the Tories.
I expect it's going to hard to gauge until far closer which argument is going to win.
I get it. You want the Tories to suffer another heavy defeat, and are working back from there to find the evidence.
When it doesn't happen, no doubt that will be for.. reasons.
You really got that from eek's comment ?
Seems a reasonable 'what if' question to me. The Tories were in power for well over a decade; where we are us there legacy.
Labour aren't impressing at all, obviously, but few folk are just going to forget who got us here, for a while at least.
Like eek. I have don't have a clear idea if what's likely to happen at the locals. Reform making significant advances is another possibility, for example. And hardly something either of us is wishing for.
I understand your impulse to fight the Tory corner, but sometimes you're just needlessly confrontational.
The thing is if it was 2026 I can see the Tories doing well as their opposition is mainly Labour so if Labour is unliked the Tories will do well.
The comment was based on the 2025 elections which is not the natural playground of Labour it really is classic Lib Dem terriority.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
"Other parties are available"
Indeed. It's likely that the 2025 locals will have the lowest Lab+ Con percentage vote for UK elections in the modern era.
Two polls today from BMG and Opinium with essentially the same results: Lab 30/31 Con 23-25 Reform 18/20, which would give a nominal Labour majority of 60 or so.
So Labour down a bit but not polling collapse yet.
Reform doing well but polls always tend to overstate that party.
Edit also Techne, added numbers above
The mega question is how much these polls are intended to be comparable with those from before July 4.
If they are, then Labour are in deep trouble. If these polls are using a reprogrammed sausage machine to try to correct for the polling miss, much less so.
Thirty percent isn't good, but a high single figures lead is. There's potential for anyone to break free from the pack, but not much sign of it happening.
One of the pollsters addressed this question by saying we're measuring the trend. The trend has been static since August. If you think the government is doing badly with WFP, freebies, Sue Gray, Chagos, etc etc, the polling story is none of this having much of an effect. On the other hand if there was a collapse in the potential Labour vote share it happened almost entirely in the days following the election.
The other polling story which is more real and concerning is that Kamala Harris isn't measurably ahead of Donald Trump for next month's election.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
Only joking, it’s Saturday Night Live mocking the lot of them. They’ve got an excellent group of actors together this year, and gone to town on the makeup. Maya Rudolph as Harris is really very good.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
Two polls today from BMG and Opinium with essentially the same results: Lab 30/31 Con 23-25 Reform 18/20, which would give a nominal Labour majority of 60 or so.
So Labour down a bit but not polling collapse yet.
Reform doing well but polls always tend to overstate that party.
Edit also Techne, added numbers above
The mega question is how much these polls are intended to be comparable with those from before July 4.
If they are, then Labour are in deep trouble. If these polls are using a reprogrammed sausage machine to try to correct for the polling miss, much less so.
Thirty percent isn't good, but a high single figures lead is. There's potential for anyone to break free from the pack, but not much sign of it happening.
One of the pollsters addressed this question by saying we're measuring the trend. The trend has been static since August. If you think the government is doing badly with WFP, freebies, Sue Gray, Chagos, etc etc, the polling story is none of this having much of an effect. On the other hand if there was a collapse in the potential Labour vote share it happened almost entirely in the days following the election.
The other polling story which is more real and concerning is that Kamala Harris isn't measurably ahead of Donald Trump for next month's election.
The polling has been remarkably stable.
The modellers are noting the likelihood (if their models actually reflect reality) of some surprises. Note the two alternatives are somewhat inversely correlated.
Our forecasts are stable. So it might surprise you to hear that it's arguably more likely than not that something "weird" happens.
Harris' odds of winning one of Texas or Florida? 31%.
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
While it is encouraging that Conservatives are embarrassed, the reversals that you crave are hardly core Conservative ideology: removing VAT from school fees and restoring the WFA. It's hard also to see how the Chagos deal is reversed, short of a war and naval task force sent to the Indian Ocean, to secure an Anglo-American base that is protected by the transfer.
Time moves on and all governments start with what they inherit, good or bad, simply reversing the policies of the last government isn't sufficient reason to govern, hence Labour not reversing the 2 child benefit limit, despite falling fertility rates.
I would forgive Keir Starmer any number of costly spectacles if he removed the 2 child benefit limit. I suspect he may do so eventually. Sometimes the right thing and the politically advantageous thing does happen.
“ As a lifelong Conservative the thought of Robert Jenrick leading my party fills me with the same level of dread I experience when my other half asks to use my phone or laptop”
Just clear the browser history, visit some harmless sites and you'll be fine.
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
While it is encouraging that Conservatives are embarrassed, the reversals that you crave are hardly core Conservative ideology: removing VAT from school fees and restoring the WFA. It's hard also to see how the Chagos deal is reversed, short of a war and naval task force sent to the Indian Ocean, to secure an Anglo-American base that is protected by the transfer.
Time moves on and all governments start with what they inherit, good or bad, simply reversing the policies of the last government isn't sufficient reason to govern, hence Labour not reversing the 2 child benefit limit, despite falling fertility rates.
I would forgive Keir Starmer any number of costly spectacles if he removed the 2 child benefit limit. I suspect he may do so eventually. Sometimes the right thing and the politically advantageous thing does happen.
The advantage of the 2 child benefit limit is that it's discouraging the welfare claimants who used children as their source of money from having more children.
And believe me I can point to a lot of families around here who previously had children to avoid working...
Every Tory leader to win a VONC under the current rules was gone within weeks/months.
NB - very small sample size. N = 2.
Jenrick and Badenoch combined have over half of Tory MPs backing them, the right will takeover the party regardless until the next general election
If that is so then shouldn't KB be the favourite?
If she gets to members, more likely MPs put forward Jenrick who then beats Tugendhat or Cleverly
You assume RJ supporters will be "lent" to TT or JC to shut KB out
Not really.
Although it looks like a single process, it's really two happening at once. The right are choosing a candidate to send to the membership and the centre-right are choosing another. There's a bit of slosh between the lanes, but not much. Neither side has enough votes to lock the other one out completely.
In round two, Badenoch and Jenrick were both a bit flattered, because there were two "right" candidates and three "centre-right" candidates. The next round has two of each, which should give us a more honest reflection. The final MP round will have two of one and one of the other, which could play merry hell with the interpretation.
It really is a very odd system when you unpick it.
The dark heart of Scottish nationalism rears its head again.
The activist who triggered the fraud investigation into SNP finances claims that he has been “persecuted” by fellow nationalists and received death threats.
Independence campaigner Sean Clerkin reported concerns to police about the whereabouts of more than £600,000 of funding that had been raised for a second referendum three years ago....
...In the interview, Clerkin said he had been ostracised by some nationalists and had faced intimidation.
“All these years down the line I have been persecuted by nationalists who have persecuted me on social media and at rallies,” he said. “Threatening to do me in, threatened to take me out and I have had death threats.”
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
I still think far too much is being made of the Tories making an error by shifting to the right. It comes up all the time on here.
The Tories are in a tactical quandary and face being outflanked on their right. It makes complete sense to me, tactically, to try and deal with that.
We also don’t quite know where the centre ground is going to be in 5 years time.
I get that a lot of people on here yearn for a sensible, early-Cameroon managerial competent centrist Tory Party. That kind of party most closely matches my views too. But the political landscape has changed dramatically since the late 00s, and it’s not a given that that brand of conservatism is the way to win anymore.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
The 2021 factor matters because, even if the Conservatives objectively do quite well, they will still go backwards. They were leading 43-33ish then, and that's unlikely to be repeated.
The county factor matters because it's where Labour are least relevant. And the Con-Lib battleground still looks very vulnerable.
Surrey. Sorry.
Yep. It is difficult to believe that the Tories will not lose control of Surrey when you look at the County seats they hold that are now rock solid LD seats in the boroughs. There is not a Tory left in Woking Borough, they won no seats in Mole Valley at the last Boroughs, they got slaughtered in what was rock solid Surrey Heath in the Boroughs. The Tories hold many of the County seats in these places. The only thing helping them is there are far too many to target for the LDs. Everyone in the Guildford constituency is effectively a target now which is too many to go for.
The Tories did well last time and these seats aren't vulnerable to Lab but the LDs who are on a high in half of Surrey and have won the Boroughs in these County seats
The Tories losing control of Surrey is in my mind a certainty. There is an outside chance the LDs might take control, although that would be a challenge and never done before.
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
While it is encouraging that Conservatives are embarrassed, the reversals that you crave are hardly core Conservative ideology: removing VAT from school fees and restoring the WFA. It's hard also to see how the Chagos deal is reversed, short of a war and naval task force sent to the Indian Ocean, to secure an Anglo-American base that is protected by the transfer.
Time moves on and all governments start with what they inherit, good or bad, simply reversing the policies of the last government isn't sufficient reason to govern, hence Labour not reversing the 2 child benefit limit, despite falling fertility rates.
I would forgive Keir Starmer any number of costly spectacles if he removed the 2 child benefit limit. I suspect he may do so eventually. Sometimes the right thing and the politically advantageous thing does happen.
The advantage of the 2 child benefit limit is that it's discouraging the welfare claimants who used children as their source of money from having more children.
And believe me I can point to a lot of families around here who previously had children to avoid working...
So you're saying all actual children in poverty should suffer just to discourage a number of feckless parents?
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
So, Tory MPs are basically cowards? They only seek power for power's sake and not interested in what their voters actually want? Yet you'll vote for them every single time. Why?
The problem for the Cons is that the main factions are the mad Reformites, the Cons right or wrong lack of thinkers, and the sensible, intelligent, dashing Cameroon remain types.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist so the Cons are fucked.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
The problem for the Cons is that the main factions are the mad Reformites, the Cons right or wrong lack of thinkers, and the sensible, intelligent, dashing Cameroon remain types.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
The problem for the Cons is that the main factions are the mad Reformites, the Cons right or wrong lack of thinkers, and the sensible, intelligent, dashing Cameroon remain types.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist so the Cons are fucked.
Underpinning the Conservative century was that they were broadly united and their opponents were divided, usually very inefficiently. That's no longer true, and I don't see an easy way to put Humpty Dumpty together again.
I think the locals will be fine for the Tories, but it's spot-on to say the party absolutely loves pissing contests, factionalism and votes of no confidence - rather than thinking and pulling together - so, sadly, I think this is very likely.
I hold out little hope.
The 2025 elections are the county elections from 2021 where Covid ensured the Tories did very well. It's going to be bad for the Tories as they tend Lib Dem or Reform..
Yes, I know. But I don't think that follows.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
The 2025 Locals are nearly all Shire councils run by the Tories, with the odd exception like Doncaster.
2026 will be London local elections and given we're more than 18 months away it's very hard to predict what's going to happen.
Conservative recovery? Possibly but I'd be looking at the Greens to make gains at the expense of Labour and I've no clue as to what the salience of the Gaza situation will be by then. It's possible we could see some form of tacit electoral agreement between some of the anti-Labour groups but hard to see how that would manifest.
The LDs only have capacity for limited advances in perhaps Merton and Bromley.
Reform are perhaps the hardest to quantify - considerable divergence of strength and weakness across the capital. Havering and perhaps Bexley could be good areas for them but they are very weak in inner and south west suburban London. A lot will depend on their development at local level.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
It's a subsample of 69 unweighted people in Wales.
Why do low IQ posters fall for such obvious bollocks?
It may well be but Labour in Wales are increasingly unpopular
Indeed the conservatives won a seat off labour in Rhyl of all places recently
However, unlike Westminster Labour, Wales Labour face Senedd elections in little over 18 months (May 26) and that will be a very interesting result
The question for Labour in Wales is who is the ready made opposition in a position to take over as there is no SNP equivalent there.
It depends on just how badly or otherwise labour perform, but certainly plaid could prop them up, but in this volatile electorate reform conservative coalition may just be possible unless of course the lib dems improve considerably and add weight to the labour, plaid axis
Frankly everything is up in the air and maybe Jenrick if elected will move the dial towards reform and whilst he is not my cup of tea we simply cannot tell at this moment what will happen
I would expect by the year end we may have a better idea, but we must not forget the Middle East has the potential for a catastrophic war with unknown and unforeseen political and economic consequences
That was from yesterday, the downed aircraft was an S-70 experimental “stealth drone”, which presumably malfunctioned and was shot down at close range. It landed in Ukranian territory, and likely contains a lot of technology which they might find useful.
The problem for the Cons is that the main factions are the mad Reformites, the Cons right or wrong lack of thinkers, and the sensible, intelligent, dashing Cameroon remain types.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist so the Cons are fucked.
Underpinning the Conservative century was that they were broadly united and their opponents were divided, usually very inefficiently. That's no longer true, and I don't see an easy way to put Humpty Dumpty together again.
It depends on how many and for how long those on the right wish to protest rather than govern.
This is the fallacy of Leon's 'I want Reform to replace the Conservatives'.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
2026 will be London local elections and given we're more than 18 months away it's very hard to predict what's going to happen.
Conservative recovery? Possibly but I'd be looking at the Greens to make gains at the expense of Labour and I've no clue as to what the salience of the Gaza situation will be by then. It's possible we could see some form of tacit electoral agreement between some of the anti-Labour groups but hard to see how that would manifest.
The LDs only have capacity for limited advances in perhaps Merton and Bromley.
Reform are perhaps the hardest to quantify - considerable divergence of strength and weakness across the capital. Havering and perhaps Bexley could be good areas for them but they are very weak in inner and south west suburban London. A lot will depend on their development at local level.
I’d expect the Conservatives to regain Barnet, Enfield, Croydon and Westminster, and regain their old strongholds in Brent North.
I still think far too much is being made of the Tories making an error by shifting to the right. It comes up all the time on here.
The Tories are in a tactical quandary and face being outflanked on their right. It makes complete sense to me, tactically, to try and deal with that.
We also don’t quite know where the centre ground is going to be in 5 years time.
I get that a lot of people on here yearn for a sensible, early-Cameroon managerial competent centrist Tory Party. That kind of party most closely matches my views too. But the political landscape has changed dramatically since the late 00s, and it’s not a given that that brand of conservatism is the way to win anymore.
It's very admirable that you can see past your own politics in your predictions - few here seem to be able to.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
Also, there's something cultural about the Conservative Party, institutionally, where they are secretly embarrassed to be Conservatives and feel the need to constantly show they're ok and totally middle of the road. For example, their willingness to 'accept' whatever progressivism a Labour/LD government puts in place without reversing it, despite opposing it whilst it was being proposed. For example, if they did win the next election I don't think they'd reverse VAT on private schools, or take a difference stance on the Chagos Islands, or reform any changes to the Equality Act. Nor would they reverse the WFA cut, despite opposing it vociferously now.
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
While it is encouraging that Conservatives are embarrassed, the reversals that you crave are hardly core Conservative ideology: removing VAT from school fees and restoring the WFA. It's hard also to see how the Chagos deal is reversed, short of a war and naval task force sent to the Indian Ocean, to secure an Anglo-American base that is protected by the transfer.
Time moves on and all governments start with what they inherit, good or bad, simply reversing the policies of the last government isn't sufficient reason to govern, hence Labour not reversing the 2 child benefit limit, despite falling fertility rates.
I would forgive Keir Starmer any number of costly spectacles if he removed the 2 child benefit limit. I suspect he may do so eventually. Sometimes the right thing and the politically advantageous thing does happen.
The advantage of the 2 child benefit limit is that it's discouraging the welfare claimants who used children as their source of money from having more children.
And believe me I can point to a lot of families around here who previously had children to avoid working...
So you're saying all actual children in poverty should suffer just to discourage a number of feckless parents?
The extra £290 UC per month for an additional child is not a massive amount of money, particular when compared with a benefit like the State Pension which is £960 per month and, unlike UC, has no means testing, earnings taper, savings conditions or the possibility of sanctions.
Removing the limit significantly benefits younger, single parents who tend to be those with kids who have the most difficulties with education, crime etc etc.
I understand why people argue against it on a fairness principle (and I don't disagree), but I think the pros massively outweigh the cons, particularly in the long term. I don't think it would materially affect fertility rates; if you're in this kind of poverty, having another child is never going to be rational. But people do.
That was from yesterday, the downed aircraft was an S-70 experimental “stealth drone”, which presumably malfunctioned and was shot down at close range. It landed in Ukranian territory, and likely contains a lot of technology which they might find useful.
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
The problem for the Cons is that the main factions are the mad Reformites, the Cons right or wrong lack of thinkers, and the sensible, intelligent, dashing Cameroon remain types.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist so the Cons are fucked.
That is a more succinct version of what I was thinking. Moreover, their fate is not entirely in their hands. Labour have good timing behind them, and, most probably, the government will settle down after the budget. Meanwhile the Lib Dems have massively increased their resources and look set to make further big gains in local government.
As the Observer notes, the next Tory leader, especially if it is Jenrick, is probably only 50/50 to make the next GE anyway.
Despite the increasingly desperate subsampling and frothing, Labour have a notable lead with all pollsters, a parliamentary majority of 172, and five years to a general election. All this after a bunch of over-excitable hypocrites from the media have been chasing Lady Vic around Selfridges for weeks on end and whining about the removal of iniquitous freebies.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares about those hilarious losers?
That was from yesterday, the downed aircraft was an S-70 experimental “stealth drone”, which presumably malfunctioned and was shot down at close range. It landed in Ukranian territory, and likely contains a lot of technology which they might find useful.
Despite the increasingly desperate subsampling and frothing, Labour have a notable lead with all pollsters, a parliamentary majority of 172, and five years to a general election. All this after a bunch of over-excitable hypocrites from the media have been chasing Lady Vic around Selfridges for weeks on end and whining about the removal of iniquitous freebies.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares about those hilarious losers?
If the Tories don’t shape up and shift right, Reform will destroy them. See the latest Welsh VI poll. Labour have plunged EIGHT points and Reform are now 2nd
The problem for the Cons is that the main factions are the mad Reformites, the Cons right or wrong lack of thinkers, and the sensible, intelligent, dashing Cameroon remain types.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist so the Cons are fucked.
Underpinning the Conservative century was that they were broadly united and their opponents were divided, usually very inefficiently. That's no longer true, and I don't see an easy way to put Humpty Dumpty together again.
It depends on how many and for how long those on the right wish to protest rather than govern.
This is the fallacy of Leon's 'I want Reform to replace the Conservatives'.
Reform are not interested in being in government.
That was true but I don’t think it is true any more
Farage senses a real opportunity - that is clear. He is now in his 60s. This is his last big gig, and he’s going to give it his all - is my sense
Yes yes he doesn’t go to Clacton. That is irrelevant. He’s a major party leader and one of the biggest figures in British politics
Despite the increasingly desperate subsampling and frothing, Labour have a notable lead with all pollsters, a parliamentary majority of 172, and five years to a general election. All this after a bunch of over-excitable hypocrites from the media have been chasing Lady Vic around Selfridges for weeks on end and whining about the removal of iniquitous freebies.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares about those hilarious losers?
Despite the increasingly desperate subsampling and frothing, Labour have a notable lead with all pollsters, a parliamentary majority of 172, and five years to a general election. All this after a bunch of over-excitable hypocrites have been chasing Lady Vic around Selfridges for weeks on end and whining about the removal of iniquitous freebies.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares?
People care for honesty, integrity, and end to sleaze and cronyism all of which were promised by Starmer and after just a few weeks he has proven the same as the rest and just a hypocrite
It is not this meme you use of PB Tories, but ordinary people across this land who are dismayed as Starmer's approval ratings disappears below Sunak
That was from yesterday, the downed aircraft was an S-70 experimental “stealth drone”, which presumably malfunctioned and was shot down at close range. It landed in Ukranian territory, and likely contains a lot of technology which they might find useful.
Oh, and the pictures of the wreckage show it to be anything but stealthy, unless riveted sheet metal now meets that description!
Its the best they can do, which is a mercy at the moment.
You should see the Blu-tack holding their nukes together.
Sanction that and we can cross any red line we choose.
The Russian ICBM test from the other week was quite spectacular in its failure.
Not only did it completely destroy the silo from which it was supposed to be launched, it also took out pretty much every structure in the entire facility.
I know it’s not a risk worth taking, but there’s a pretty good chance that any Russian attempt to launch a big bucket of sunshine doesn’t quite go according to plan. Most of the equipment is very old.
Despite the increasingly desperate subsampling and frothing, Labour have a notable lead with all pollsters, a parliamentary majority of 172, and five years to a general election. All this after a bunch of over-excitable hypocrites from the media have been chasing Lady Vic around Selfridges for weeks on end and whining about the removal of iniquitous freebies.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares about those hilarious losers?
Despite the increasingly desperate subsampling and frothing, Labour have a notable lead with all pollsters, a parliamentary majority of 172, and five years to a general election. All this after a bunch of over-excitable hypocrites from the media have been chasing Lady Vic around Selfridges for weeks on end and whining about the removal of iniquitous freebies.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares about those hilarious losers?
The majority is 165, NOT 172!
The Labour Party has won a landslide victory in the 2024 general election.
The party has taken 412 seats giving it a majority of 174.
Comments
😂😂😂😂
So Labour down a bit but not polling collapse yet.
Reform doing well but polls always tend to overstate that party.
Edit also Techne, added numbers above
I suspect they are going to create merry hell whichever poor bugger comes out on top, and fifteen percent is just too low a trigger.
"You lost, get over it" is one of those phrases that only applies on some situations, it seems.
I hold out little hope.
If they are, then Labour are in deep trouble. If these polls are using a reprogrammed sausage machine to try to correct for the polling miss, much less so.
Thirty percent isn't good, but a high single figures lead is. There's potential for anyone to break free from the pack, but not much sign of it happening.
He will also have a huge advantage IDS and Hague did not in that Starmer is already far more unpopular than Blair was so as Leader of the Opposition he can exploit that. Replacing IDS with Howard of course made no difference to Tory poll ratings anyway, though Howard gained 30 odd seats in 2005 so most likely would IDS have.
From 2026 the Tories will also be fighting local elections in years they made losses before so he has a chance for gains
This is very different to the US Republicans, who never give up; the British Conservatives verbally oppose, then shrug and accept it when it happens, and say 'what can you do'. This really annoys their voters.
It's worse amongst the public school contingent. And it goes all the way back from Cameron to Heath to Macmillan to Halifax and before. What they really want is to be in public office with their brethren.
Only Thatcher and Churchill really broke the mould, and they had a lot of internal party management challenges as a result.
The Tories are no longer in office so the double-pincer movement will no longer apply, and Labour are very unpopular, so I expect the locals to reflect that.
Let's hope that this malevolent Guardian-briefing sack of shit doesn't keep their role in the shadow cabinet for very long after the new leader is elected.
I expect it's going to hard to gauge until far closer which argument is going to win.
NB - very small sample size. N = 2.
When it doesn't happen, no doubt that will be for.. reasons.
He's solid on foreign policy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_Kingdom_local_elections
The headline is more likely to be Tory losses than Lab losses as there are very few Lab seats up for grabs.
It could be a good night for the LDs, Greens and Independents though.
The county factor matters because it's where Labour are least relevant. And the Con-Lib battleground still looks very vulnerable.
Surrey. Sorry.
My sole point is that many of the seats are not in real Labour areas so the argument that Labour being unpopular and in power will swing things the Tory way probably isn't true. As I said I expect the Lib Dems and Reform to do well at the expense of the Tories...
I think it will be better for the Tories than if it had been this year, they seem to have stabilised and inch back up gradually. But it won’t be a good night for them.
The activist who triggered the fraud investigation into SNP finances claims that he has been “persecuted” by fellow nationalists and received death threats.
Independence campaigner Sean Clerkin reported concerns to police about the whereabouts of more than £600,000 of funding that had been raised for a second referendum three years ago....
...In the interview, Clerkin said he had been ostracised by some nationalists and had faced intimidation.
“All these years down the line I have been persecuted by nationalists who have persecuted me on social media and at rallies,” he said. “Threatening to do me in, threatened to take me out and I have had death threats.”
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/ive-been-persecuted-for-raising-alarm-on-snp-finances-gdqxcph3n
https://x.com/bmay/status/1842811279217442854
Time moves on and all governments start with what they inherit, good or bad, simply reversing the policies of the last government isn't sufficient reason to govern, hence Labour not reversing the 2 child benefit limit, despite falling fertility rates.
Seems a reasonable 'what if' question to me.
The Tories were in power for well over a decade; where we are us there legacy.
Labour aren't impressing at all, obviously, but few folk are just going to forget who got us here, for a while at least.
Like eek. I have don't have a clear idea if what's likely to happen at the locals.
Reform making significant advances is another possibility, for example.
And hardly something either of us is wishing for.
I understand your impulse to fight the Tory corner, but sometimes you're just needlessly confrontational.
The comment was based on the 2025 elections which is not the natural playground of Labour it really is classic Lib Dem terriority.
The other polling story which is more real and concerning is that Kamala Harris isn't measurably ahead of Donald Trump for next month's election.
🚨NEW POLLING:
📊Wales: Westminster Voting Intention
💥 Highest Reform % Recorded!
🌹 LAB: 29.0% (-8.0)
➡️ RFM: 21.0% (+4.1)
🌳 CON: 20.0% (+1.8)
🌻 PLD: 17.0% (+2.2)
🔶 LIB: 11.0% (+4.5)
Opinium
Why do low IQ posters fall for such obvious bollocks?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_WeuKkJ2s
Only joking, it’s Saturday Night Live mocking the lot of them. They’ve got an excellent group of actors together this year, and gone to town on the makeup. Maya Rudolph as Harris is really very good.
In the last round, Bob + Kemi = 61
James + Tom + Mel = 58
Which implies that the centre-right/right lane balance is pretty close.
And also that whichever side loses a candidate in the next round will have the leading candidate in the final MP stage.
Badenoch dropping out will boost Jenrick overall, eliminating Tugendhat/Cleverly should push the other into the lead.
And then the membership are likely to vote for the more right wing candidate unless they do something dumb.
I reckon it's the leather and the truncheons.
The modellers are noting the likelihood (if their models actually reflect reality) of some surprises.
Note the two alternatives are somewhat inversely correlated.
Our forecasts are stable. So it might surprise you to hear that it's arguably more likely than not that something "weird" happens.
Harris' odds of winning one of Texas or Florida? 31%.
Trump's odds of winning one of New Hampshire or Minnesota? 24%.
https://x.com/lxeagle17/status/1842604877366853983
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/06/ron-desantis-backs-kemi-badenoch-for-tory-leader/
She should be spending her time and effort courting (and counting!) the MPs and members who actually have a vote.
And believe me I can point to a lot of families around here who previously had children to avoid working...
Although it looks like a single process, it's really two happening at once. The right are choosing a candidate to send to the membership and the centre-right are choosing another. There's a bit of slosh between the lanes, but not much. Neither side has enough votes to lock the other one out completely.
In round two, Badenoch and Jenrick were both a bit flattered, because there were two "right" candidates and three "centre-right" candidates. The next round has two of each, which should give us a more honest reflection. The final MP round will have two of one and one of the other, which could play merry hell with the interpretation.
It really is a very odd system when you unpick it.
I suspect he's more shameless than she was, and the membership more careless than in 2016, so it would have to be something really awful.
Indeed the conservatives won a seat off labour in Rhyl of all places recently
However, unlike Westminster Labour, Wales Labour face Senedd elections in little over 18 months (May 26) and that will be a very interesting result
The Tories are in a tactical quandary and face being outflanked on their right. It makes complete sense to me, tactically, to try and deal with that.
We also don’t quite know where the centre ground is going to be in 5 years time.
I get that a lot of people on here yearn for a sensible, early-Cameroon managerial competent centrist Tory Party. That kind of party most closely matches my views too. But the political landscape has changed dramatically since the late 00s, and it’s not a given that that brand of conservatism is the way to win anymore.
Totally brainless
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/10/06/reeves-urged-to-raid-wealthy-who-flee-britain-as-they-leave/
They'll just leave quicker and nobody with money will come here.
And (I think particularly, though not exclusively on the right) they're happy to spread it around.
Do a quick google search if you think this sort of story is unusual.
‘Toxic’ Trump-linked donors pour millions into Tory think tanks
https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/toxic-trump-linked-donors-millions-tufton-street
I was multitasking. I’m about to hire a car and drive around Kosovo - I’m not sure anyone has ever done that
The Tories did well last time and these seats aren't vulnerable to Lab but the LDs who are on a high in half of Surrey and have won the Boroughs in these County seats
The Tories losing control of Surrey is in my mind a certainty. There is an outside chance the LDs might take control, although that would be a challenge and never done before.
Yet you'll vote for them every single time.
Why?
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist so the Cons are fucked.
The first group are with Reform, the second with the Cons, and the third split between the Cons, homeless, and perhaps the LDs.
There is no way that these groups can coexist.
So the Cons are fucked.
Doesn't it consist of Braverman and her own ego ?
Impressively clear video:
https://x.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1842498480335368603
In 2022 it was 30: 35, so I’d expect significant Labour losses.
As one veteran Tory MP told the Spectator: 'we'll have to do it all again in two years time'.
I can say that car hire is insanely cheap. £22 for a nice car for a day
So they are definitely competing for what little custom there is
2026 will be London local elections and given we're more than 18 months away it's very hard to predict what's going to happen.
Conservative recovery? Possibly but I'd be looking at the Greens to make gains at the expense of Labour and I've no clue as to what the salience of the Gaza situation will be by then. It's possible we could see some form of tacit electoral agreement between some of the anti-Labour groups but hard to see how that would manifest.
The LDs only have capacity for limited advances in perhaps Merton and Bromley.
Reform are perhaps the hardest to quantify - considerable divergence of strength and weakness across the capital. Havering and perhaps Bexley could be good areas for them but they are very weak in inner and south west suburban London. A lot will depend on their development at local level.
James Cleverly likely to become favourite/joint favourite at least
Leads Jenrick by 54-36 after a 16 point swing from 37-51 with ConHome member survey from conference
Badenoch top with members. She leads Cleverly 48-42 and Jenrick 53-33. Likely to go out third place with MPs
https://x.com/sundersays/status/1842850298718568494
Frankly everything is up in the air and maybe Jenrick if elected will move the dial towards reform and whilst he is not my cup of tea we simply cannot tell at this moment what will happen
I would expect by the year end we may have a better idea, but we must not forget the Middle East has the potential for a catastrophic war with unknown and unforeseen political and economic consequences
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1842521933599883414
Oh, and the pictures of the wreckage show it to be anything but stealthy, unless riveted sheet metal now meets that description!
This is the fallacy of Leon's 'I want Reform to replace the Conservatives'.
Reform are not interested in being in government.
Was simultaneously redditing, hiring a car in Kosovo, reading a fascinating spectator piece about podcasts, and posting on here. As explained
Removing the limit significantly benefits younger, single parents who tend to be those with kids who have the most difficulties with education, crime etc etc.
I understand why people argue against it on a fairness principle (and I don't disagree), but I think the pros massively outweigh the cons, particularly in the long term. I don't think it would materially affect fertility rates; if you're in this kind of poverty, having another child is never going to be rational. But people do.
As the Observer notes, the next Tory leader, especially if it is Jenrick, is probably only 50/50 to make the next GE anyway.
Sir Keir will be pretty happy. The PB Tories might be spitting, but who really cares about those hilarious losers?
Sanction that and we can cross any red line we choose.
Farage senses a real opportunity - that is clear. He is now in his 60s. This is his last big gig, and he’s going to give it his all - is my sense
Yes yes he doesn’t go to Clacton. That is irrelevant. He’s a major party leader and one of the biggest figures in British politics
It is not this meme you use of PB Tories, but ordinary people across this land who are dismayed as Starmer's approval ratings disappears below Sunak
Not only did it completely destroy the silo from which it was supposed to be launched, it also took out pretty much every structure in the entire facility.
https://x.com/euromaidanpress/status/1837832473016664352
I know it’s not a risk worth taking, but there’s a pretty good chance that any Russian attempt to launch a big bucket of sunshine doesn’t quite go according to plan. Most of the equipment is very old.
The party has taken 412 seats giving it a majority of 174.
It was 174 but Rosie’s defection makes it 172.