I'm not sure how much will register just yet. Lots of things that ought to be important turn out not to be.
I also wonder if Tory gaffes hogging the headlines are better than letting Corbyn pick up any momentum and give his speeches a wide audience. No one will now hear what he had to say today because Cairns and Boris have the headlines.
The tories are having such a bad election campaign they are 17 points head of rivals who are pretty divided, with leadership that the pollster says is dropping in popularity.
Apparently Tory MP Mims Davies is attempting to move from Eastleigh, which voted Leave, to Mid Sussex, which voted Remain.
She should be rebuffed without a second’s thought. Doing a chicken run and deserting your constituents is unpardonable (with the sole exception if the seat is fundamentally altered/abolished through boundary changes....and even then).
I'm not sure how much will register just yet. Lots of things that ought to be important turn out not to be.
I also wonder if Tory gaffes hogging the headlines are better than letting Corbyn pick up any momentum and give his speeches a wide audience. No one will now hear what he had to say today because Cairns and Boris have the headlines.
I think it’s optimistic to suggest that a tactic of dominating the news cycle by being completely crap in a variety of creative ways is better than allowing your opponents’ message airtime - but we are in unusual times so maybe it will come to be seen as a genius move by political students in the future.
I am expecting a LibDem poster saying "Jo Swinson 13% more popular than Boris Johnson" and on the microdot attached "when Don't Knows see how wonderful she is"........
Sally Gimson, the Lab candidate for Bassetlaw, has been forced to stand down.
Is this a competition as to which party can have the most awful start to the campaign?
Genuine question - aside from partisans who will always be convinced that their opponents are having an awful campaign, is anyone other than the Tories really having a bad time of it? A few candidates standing down after a rushed selection process is embarrassing but nothing out of the ordinary; yesterday’s issues for the Conservative campaign were on an unusual level. What else is going on in the Labour and Lib Dem campaigns that qualifies as ‘awful’?
This isn’t to minimise the polling for Labour which is, well, minimal, but thinking of the campaign specifically it looks kind of ok as far as I can see.
Depends if Boris appoints a successor. David Jones is ready made having been SOS before
Also the overall direction of travel in Wales is positive
Just have Boris announce he is going to look again at the tidal lagoons if elected - and is minded to make Wales the first country in the world powered by waves....
I'm not sure how much will register just yet. Lots of things that ought to be important turn out not to be.
I also wonder if Tory gaffes hogging the headlines are better than letting Corbyn pick up any momentum and give his speeches a wide audience. No one will now hear what he had to say today because Cairns and Boris have the headlines.
I think it’s optimistic to suggest that a tactic of dominating the news cycle by being completely crap in a variety of creative ways is better than allowing your opponents’ message airtime - but we are in unusual times so maybe it will come to be seen as a genius move by political students in the future.
TBF, it worked like a charm for Trump, for a while.
Our campaign start has been sub-optimal no question.
The best I can say is that i'd rather it happen at the start and give people the wake up call to sort themselves out for the rest of the campaign than it happen with a week to go.
I am expecting a LibDem poster saying "Jo Swinson 13% more popular than Boris Johnson" and on the microdot attached "when Don't Knows see how wonderful she is"........
Maybe "59% of voters are not dissatisfied with Swinson, compared to 54% for Johnson and 25% for Corbyn. Only Swinson can defeat Johnson..."
According to Wkipedia, Sally Gimson (Lab Bassetlaw candidate) 's husband briefly worked as a Conservative Party researcher and wrote for the Spectator and The Telegraph. He has also written a book on Bojo. I know people can have spouses with different political views, but this doesn' t sound like an identikit Corbynist candidate.
Apparently Tory MP Mims Davies is attempting to move from Eastleigh, which voted Leave, to Mid Sussex, which voted Remain.
She should be rebuffed without a second’s thought. Doing a chicken run and deserting your constituents is unpardonable (with the sole exception if the seat is fundamentally altered/abolished through boundary changes....and even then).
She should read what happened in Aberdeen South where some decades ago the sitting Tory decamped to a safer seat which he promptly lost only to see his successor hold the seat he abandoned!
This feels very like 1987: a decent Labour campaign, Tory jitters, a Tory landslide.
I do remember us Tories feeling in 1987 that it was all going horribly wrong....
That said, all Tory campaigns seem to get blasted as shite. It is partly a media looking to make a Tory campaign shite..... If Channel 4 say we're having a so-so camapaign, it will mean Boris has a majority of 250!
I said this was much more serious than the Moggster & was probably a resigning matter on pb.com yesterday. So it has come to pass.
Ross England sounds like a typically arrogant & unpleasant & entitled Tory Boy. I hope this is the end of his political career.
Alun Cairns is probably a bit unlucky that this has blown up now (I think because the appeal against the original rape case was dismissed last week, and so details are only now becoming public of things that happened many months ago). But, it does look as though Cairns did breach the ministerial code to me. Cairns said he knew nothing, the Judge said he send a letter. Either Cairns is lying or the Judge is lying.
But, if the Tories want a rapid rebuttal against Labour calls for full disclosure of what happened -- they could point to the extraordinary secrecy regarding the death of Carl Sergeant. This is a huge scandal, no-one knows what happened, it led to a death of an AM and resignation of a First Minister, no report has ever been made public by Welsh Labour.
It was only a few weeks ago that Welsh Labour voted not to release it.
This feels very like 1987: a decent Labour campaign, Tory jitters, a Tory landslide.
I do remember us Tories feeling in 1987 that it was all going horribly wrong....
That said, all Tory campaigns seem to get blasted as shite. It is partly a media looking to make a Tory campaign shite..... If Channel 4 say we're having a so-so camapaign, it will mean Boris has a majority of 250!
I was travelling quite a bit during the 2017 campaign so may not have an accurate recollection, but my memory was that the narrative started off with Labour having a terrible terrorist-loving nuclear-disarming Diane-Abbott-in-general campaign, and it was only when the Tories tried to combine a presidential-style campaign with simultaneously hiding their candidate away, and then generously threw in the dementia tax, that the narrative shifted. Fair, or am I remembering those happier times with an unjustified rose tint?
I said this was much more serious than the Moggster & was probably a resigning matter on pb.com yesterday. So it has come to pass.
Ross England sounds like a typically arrogant & unpleasant & entitled Tory Boy. I hope this is the end of his political career.
Alun Cairns is probably a bit unlucky that this has blown up now (I think because the appeal against the original rape case was dismissed last week, and so details are only now becoming public of things that happened many months ago). But, it does look as though Cairns did breach the ministerial code to me. Cairns said he knew nothing, the Judge said he send a letter. Either Cairns is lying or the Judge is lying.
But, if the Tories want a rapid rebuttal against Labour calls for full disclosure of what happened -- they could point to the extraordinary secrecy regarding the death of Carl Sergeant. This is a huge scandal, no-one knows what happened, it led to a death of an AM and resignation of a First Minister, no report has ever been made public by Welsh Labour.
It was only a few weeks ago that Welsh Labour voted not to release it.
The Tories are ironically being too nice about these kinds of things. Imagine if the US Republicans had that kind of material to work with!
Could also be interpreted as he does not think he is not competent enough to lead a coalition/minority government....
With the febrile atmosphere and open contempt between parties I find it difficult to see how any coalition can be brought together...or indeed how a minority government could possibly function given the decision required on Brexit.
I can only see us going back to the ballot box in the event of a hung parliament.
I doubt whether any of these campaign 'disasters' will cut through to voting intention TBH. Probably only the Rees-Mogg gaffe will be noticed by ordinary people, and they are either ardent Leavers who will forgive him anything because he's an ardent Leaver, or they are not in which case they already think he's a dork and won't be surprised to see their opinion confirmed.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
I said this was much more serious than the Moggster & was probably a resigning matter on pb.com yesterday. So it has come to pass.
Ross England sounds like a typically arrogant & unpleasant & entitled Tory Boy. I hope this is the end of his political career.
Alun Cairns is probably a bit unlucky that this has blown up now (I think because the appeal against the original rape case was dismissed last week, and so details are only now becoming public of things that happened many months ago). But, it does look as though Cairns did breach the ministerial code to me. Cairns said he knew nothing, the Judge said he send a letter. Either Cairns is lying or the Judge is lying.
But, if the Tories want a rapid rebuttal against Labour calls for full disclosure of what happened -- they could point to the extraordinary secrecy regarding the death of Carl Sergeant. This is a huge scandal, no-one knows what happened, it led to a death of an AM and resignation of a First Minister, no report has ever been made public by Welsh Labour.
It was only a few weeks ago that Welsh Labour voted not to release it.
The Tories are ironically being too nice about these kinds of things. Imagine if the US Republicans had that kind of material to work with!
There is a lot that goes on in Wales that should be exposed, and it is a pity that both opposition politicians (of all stripes) and the Welsh press are so fecking incompetent.
Wales is basically run like Goodfellas. We have the made men of Welsh Labour, untouchable.
Carl Sergeant gets whacked, just like Tommy and Morrie.
The mobsters attend the funeral, tears in their eyes.
According to Wkipedia, Sally Gimson (Lab Bassetlaw candidate) 's husband briefly worked as a Conservative Party researcher and wrote for the Spectator and The Telegraph. He has also written a book on Bojo. I know people can have spouses with different political views, but this doesn' t sound like an identikit Corbynist candidate.
Ah, I have his Boris book, and his survey of past PMs. I'd not made the connection.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Labour should be within 3 or 4 points in the next polls.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Labour should be within 3 or 4 points in the next polls.
Like @RichardNabavi I don't see this making any real difference. It's eating up airtime as well, which is no bad thing for the party in the lead.
Terrible start from the tories, but will it matter? If Boris is the good campaigner people say and people are less keen on corbyn then the next week or so should show the tories retain their strong leading position.
If either of those things are not true then the very high leads from many pollsters are easily cut into and suddenly the narrative is 2017 all over again.
Williamson (Derby North), Hepburn (Jarrow) and Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green) reported as not being endorsed by the NEC
Williamson and Hepburn are currently suspended from Labour.
Godsiff lost the trigger ballot for reselection.
There are 3 other MPs (Osamor, Sharma and Lewell-Buck) who lost the trigger ballot but didn't have time to undergo the open selection. They should learn their fate today too.
I'm not sure how much will register just yet. Lots of things that ought to be important turn out not to be.
I also wonder if Tory gaffes hogging the headlines are better than letting Corbyn pick up any momentum and give his speeches a wide audience. No one will now hear what he had to say today because Cairns and Boris have the headlines.
Yes, whether by accident or design, the blue team is making full use of Lynton Crosby's dead cat tactic. Boris is a fan.
Williamson (Derby North), Hepburn (Jarrow) and Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green) reported as not being endorsed by the NEC
Williamson and Hepburn are currently suspended from Labour.
Godsiff lost the trigger ballot for reselection.
There are 3 other MPs (Osamor, Sharma and Lewell-Buck) who lost the trigger ballot but didn't have time to undergo the open selection. They should learn their fate today too.
Could also be interpreted as he does not think he is not competent enough to lead a coalition/minority government....
With the febrile atmosphere and open contempt between parties I find it difficult to see how any coalition can be brought together...or indeed how a minority government could possibly function given the decision required on Brexit.
I can only see us going back to the ballot box in the event of a hung parliament.
By talking, compromising, negotiating - same way minority administrations have worked the world over. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad, just like majority administrations. The PM is effectively saying he can only lead if he gets a big majority, he is probably right on that, other candidates were available who would have been far better at leading a minority govt.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
.
Labour should be within 3 or 4 points in the next polls.
If they are going to catch up, then yes. However bear in mind there are two specific groups of pollsters, and they differ on the lead. If the next pollster is one such then such a movement would be misinterpreted, when it's just a house effect.
Williamson (Derby North), Hepburn (Jarrow) and Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green) reported as not being endorsed by the NEC
Williamson and Hepburn are currently suspended from Labour.
Godsiff lost the trigger ballot for reselection.
There are 3 other MPs (Osamor, Sharma and Lewell-Buck) who lost the trigger ballot but didn't have time to undergo the open selection. They should learn their fate today too.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
I said this was much more serious than the Moggster & was probably a resigning matter on pb.com yesterday. So it has come to pass.
Ross England sounds like a typically arrogant & unpleasant & entitled Tory Boy. I hope this is the end of his political career.
Alun Cairns is probably a bit unlucky that this has blown up now (I think because the appeal against the original rape case was dismissed last week, and so details are only now becoming public of things that happened many months ago). But, it does look as though Cairns did breach the ministerial code to me. Cairns said he knew nothing, the Judge said he send a letter. Either Cairns is lying or the Judge is lying.
But, if the Tories want a rapid rebuttal against Labour calls for full disclosure of what happened -- they could point to the extraordinary secrecy regarding the death of Carl Sergeant. This is a huge scandal, no-one knows what happened, it led to a death of an AM and resignation of a First Minister, no report has ever been made public by Welsh Labour.
It was only a few weeks ago that Welsh Labour voted not to release it.
The Tories are ironically being too nice about these kinds of things. Imagine if the US Republicans had that kind of material to work with!
There is a lot that goes on in Wales that should be exposed, and it is a pity that both opposition politicians (of all stripes) and the Welsh press are so fecking incompetent.
Wales is basically run like Goodfellas. We have the made men of Welsh Labour, untouchable.
Carl Sergeant gets whacked, just like Tommy and Morrie.
The mobsters attend the funeral, tears in their eyes.
It would rather help if, y'know, the Welsh voted them out occasionally...
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
I said this was much more serious than the Moggster & was probably a resigning matter on pb.com yesterday. So it has come to pass.
Ross England sounds like a typically arrogant & unpleasant & entitled Tory Boy. I hope this is the end of his political career.
Alun Cairns is probably a bit unlucky that this has blown up now (I think because the appeal against the original rape case was dismissed last week, and so details are only now becoming public of things that happened many months ago). But, it does look as though Cairns did breach the ministerial code to me. Cairns said he knew nothing, the Judge said he send a letter. Either Cairns is lying or the Judge is lying.
But, if the Tories want a rapid rebuttal against Labour calls for full disclosure of what happened -- they could point to the extraordinary secrecy regarding the death of Carl Sergeant. This is a huge scandal, no-one knows what happened, it led to a death of an AM and resignation of a First Minister, no report has ever been made public by Welsh Labour.
It was only a few weeks ago that Welsh Labour voted not to release it.
The Tories are ironically being too nice about these kinds of things. Imagine if the US Republicans had that kind of material to work with!
There is a lot that goes on in Wales that should be exposed, and it is a pity that both opposition politicians (of all stripes) and the Welsh press are so fecking incompetent.
Wales is basically run like Goodfellas. We have the made men of Welsh Labour, untouchable.
Carl Sergeant gets whacked, just like Tommy and Morrie.
The mobsters attend the funeral, tears in their eyes.
It would rather help if, y'know, the Welsh voted them out occasionally...
That is a fair point.
And do you know, there was one occasion in the recent past when Labour could have failed to form a Government !!
On 3 May 2007, Labour won 26 of 60 seats. There was an agreement between teh leaders of the three opposition parties, Plaid Cymru, Tories and LibDems to form a Rainbow Alliance Government.
It didn't happen because the LibDems chickened out at a special conference.
The LibDems, they never miss an opportunity to let Wales down ...
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
IIRC, Mr Meeks is not a Conservative.
In 30 years I’ve never heard a Tory suggest anything remotely as unpleasant as that.
It suggests that @AlastairMeeks views fellow citizens with contempt
I doubt whether any of these campaign 'disasters' will cut through to voting intention TBH. Probably only the Rees-Mogg gaffe will be noticed by ordinary people, and they are either ardent Leavers who will forgive him anything because he's an ardent Leaver, or they are not in which case they already think he's a dork and won't be surprised to see their opinion confirmed.
Completely agree. I said last night on here that most people would expect the odious Rees to say things of this nature.
The biggest danger for the Tories is arguably complacency, so from that point of view the more things that go wrong the better, (as long as they're not too serious).
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
IIRC, Mr Meeks is not a Conservative.
In 30 years I’ve never heard a Tory suggest anything remotely as unpleasant as that.
It suggests that @AlastairMeeks views fellow citizens with contempt
What a nasty man he has turned into
Mr M has described himself as a narcissist, I dont think he'll be too worried what anyone else thinks.
I doubt whether any of these campaign 'disasters' will cut through to voting intention TBH. Probably only the Rees-Mogg gaffe will be noticed by ordinary people, and they are either ardent Leavers who will forgive him anything because he's an ardent Leaver, or they are not in which case they already think he's a dork and won't be surprised to see their opinion confirmed.
Completely agree. I said last night on here that most people would expect the odious Rees to say things of this nature.
We can just speculate pleasantly on the extreme bollocking that Rees-Mogg got from Dom.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
IIRC, Mr Meeks is not a Conservative.
In 30 years I’ve never heard a Tory suggest anything remotely as unpleasant as that.
It suggests that @AlastairMeeks views fellow citizens with contempt
What a nasty man he has turned into
Having them “put down” is less unpleasant, or did you miss that comment?
The biggest danger for the Tories is arguably complacency, so from that point of view the more things that go wrong the better, (as long as they're not too serious).
This is my view.
There will be a few boots going up ars*s in the Tory campaign team which will hopefully sharpen them up.
I doubt whether any of these campaign 'disasters' will cut through to voting intention TBH. Probably only the Rees-Mogg gaffe will be noticed by ordinary people, and they are either ardent Leavers who will forgive him anything because he's an ardent Leaver, or they are not in which case they already think he's a dork and won't be surprised to see their opinion confirmed.
Stuff like Cairns ain't great when (like last night) it leads the TV news. However, I agree most of the stuff we obsess about here and on Twitter isn't going to make a difference to 80pc of voters.
Couple of things on Cairns:
1. Will Boris appoint a new SoS? The ministerial/civil service codes are clear that existing ministers continue in post. But other MPs have ceased to be, so appointing one may look a bit weird. I guess asking a junior to step up and leave a consequent vacancy is a possible outcome?
2. I see Corbyn's calling for him to stand down as a candidate. If I was him, I'd keep shtum till nominations close, then exploit his not-very-firm looking 2k majority!
Can't really see the events of this morning making much of a dent on the polls. We need much bigger 'events' than this. The main reason I think that there won't be too much movement in polling comes down to differentials or lack of.
Brexit - There is a clear choice between the parties that wasn't there in 2017.
Spending/Economy - There is much less differential than 2017 with all parties promising a spending spree to a degree. In my experience, faced with the prospect of all parties promising to spunk our the financial prosperity of our children and grandchildren, the electorate would probably decide that the tories will go about that in the least irresponsible manner.
Possible that Labour might benefit from a few LD and GREEN votes peeling off to them with this already indicated in the polls. Can't see TBP hurting anyone disproportionately, given the Brexit fundamentals.
The media always want to run with the previous story. In 2017 the story was the worst political campaign in history so let's run with that again. The evidence that anyone is listening is, well, mixed at best.
What we are seeing both in the Tories and indeed Labour is the clearing of at least the doormat of the Augean Stables (which, in fairness, had been cleaned only 30 years earlier) that is the Parliament of 2017. Hopefully there is a lot more of that to come.
...other candidates were available who would have been far better at leading a minority govt.
Who would have stopped Brexit you mean?
They were never going to be elected by the party membership.
Personally I would rather Boris doesn't try and run a minority government and instead vote down any alternative suggested.
We can go back to the polls again where I would expect voters to coalesce around a single alternative.
Rory Stewart, for example, specifically ruled out stopping Brexit. You are misinterpreting his willingness to build consensus as stopping Brexit despite his explicit assurances to the contrary. Then making the leap that it is only possible to build consensus by stopping Brexit. His plan was Brexit with consensus through different style and language, it would have had me and plenty of former tories on board.
...other candidates were available who would have been far better at leading a minority govt.
Who would have stopped Brexit you mean?
They were never going to be elected by the party membership.
Personally I would rather Boris doesn't try and run a minority government and instead vote down any alternative suggested.
We can go back to the polls again where I would expect voters to coalesce around a single alternative.
Rory Stewart, for example, specifically ruled out stopping Brexit. You are misinterpreting his willingness to build consensus as stopping Brexit despite his explicit assurances to the contrary. Then making the leap that it is only possible to build consensus by stopping Brexit. His plan was Brexit with consensus through different style and language, it would have had me and plenty of former tories on board.
If Ken Clarke was a living reminder of past glories Rory Stewart was the future. He is a terrible loss to the party and indeed to politics (I know he's standing for London Mayor but I mean serious politics). If people like him cannot find a home we head down the path to ever greater division, the dialogue of the deaf and total disillusionment. Its very unfortunate.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
IIRC, Mr Meeks is not a Conservative.
In 30 years I’ve never heard a Tory suggest anything remotely as unpleasant as that.
It suggests that @AlastairMeeks views fellow citizens with contempt
What a nasty man he has turned into
Mr M has described himself as a narcissist, I dont think he'll be too worried what anyone else thinks.
I'm certainly not worried about the opinions of affluent reactionaries who are chortlingly inflicting the most severe act of self-damage that this country has experienced in living memory, while seeking to exploit the opportunities that the disaster will throw up.
...other candidates were available who would have been far better at leading a minority govt.
Who would have stopped Brexit you mean?
They were never going to be elected by the party membership.
Personally I would rather Boris doesn't try and run a minority government and instead vote down any alternative suggested.
We can go back to the polls again where I would expect voters to coalesce around a single alternative.
Rory Stewart, for example, specifically ruled out stopping Brexit. You are misinterpreting his willingness to build consensus as stopping Brexit despite his explicit assurances to the contrary. Then making the leap that it is only possible to build consensus by stopping Brexit. His plan was Brexit with consensus through different style and language, it would have had me and plenty of former tories on board.
A consensual approach cannot start by predetermining the particular outcome you are aiming for.
I wonder what treats we have in store for the rest of the day. Film of Sajid Javid urinating on a homeless man? Liz Truss launching a verbal tirade against David Attenborough? Priti Patel musing on the good side of Fred West?
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Is urinating on homeless people something you think about a lot?
IIRC, Mr Meeks is not a Conservative.
In 30 years I’ve never heard a Tory suggest anything remotely as unpleasant as that.
The Young Conservatives from the 1980s are on the phone. They'd like a word.
I doubt whether any of these campaign 'disasters' will cut through to voting intention TBH. Probably only the Rees-Mogg gaffe will be noticed by ordinary people, and they are either ardent Leavers who will forgive him anything because he's an ardent Leaver, or they are not in which case they already think he's a dork and won't be surprised to see their opinion confirmed.
Completely agree. I said last night on here that most people would expect the odious Rees to say things of this nature.
A case of "What can you expect from a pig but a grunt"? Hardly a ringing endorsement of the man.
Personally, I like Rory Stewart and could see myself voting for a Tory party with him as leader. However had he been elected leader, around 80-100 MPS would have defected to TBP and we would be facing a more hung parliament that ever.
Boris won't be long term, but he might get us over a couple of important hurdles that previously looked insurmountable
Does anyone know for definite whether Theresa May is standing again? It's not particularly obvious why she would but I have not seen anything to the contrary.
Comments
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1192059250673147905
Big_G, would you agree with that?
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1192064883602395136
From the end of October
https://twitter.com/LordJohnMann/status/1188494774141108224
Top work.
Also the overall direction of travel in Wales is positive
Lol
Tories dealing with their messes quickly it seems.
No?
So just like a manifesto then......
This isn’t to minimise the polling for Labour which is, well, minimal, but thinking of the campaign specifically it looks kind of ok as far as I can see.
The best I can say is that i'd rather it happen at the start and give people the wake up call to sort themselves out for the rest of the campaign than it happen with a week to go.
Hopefully voters aren't fully focused yet.
Useful line to take
If "Tory gaffes" drowns out Labour's enormo-bribes in the media it could even prove to be a net positive for the blue team!
That said, all Tory campaigns seem to get blasted as shite. It is partly a media looking to make a Tory campaign shite..... If Channel 4 say we're having a so-so camapaign, it will mean Boris has a majority of 250!
Ross England sounds like a typically arrogant & unpleasant & entitled Tory Boy. I hope this is the end of his political career.
Alun Cairns is probably a bit unlucky that this has blown up now (I think because the appeal against the original rape case was dismissed last week, and so details are only now becoming public of things that happened many months ago). But, it does look as though Cairns did breach the ministerial code to me. Cairns said he knew nothing, the Judge said he send a letter. Either Cairns is lying or the Judge is lying.
But, if the Tories want a rapid rebuttal against Labour calls for full disclosure of what happened -- they could point to the extraordinary secrecy regarding the death of Carl Sergeant. This is a huge scandal, no-one knows what happened, it led to a death of an AM and resignation of a First Minister, no report has ever been made public by Welsh Labour.
It was only a few weeks ago that Welsh Labour voted not to release it.
I can only see us going back to the ballot box in the event of a hung parliament.
The imagination of the Conservative master strategists to date has been flawless.
Wales is basically run like Goodfellas. We have the made men of Welsh Labour, untouchable.
Carl Sergeant gets whacked, just like Tommy and Morrie.
The mobsters attend the funeral, tears in their eyes.
If either of those things are not true then the very high leads from many pollsters are easily cut into and suddenly the narrative is 2017 all over again.
Its possible.
Williamson and Hepburn are currently suspended from Labour.
Godsiff lost the trigger ballot for reselection.
There are 3 other MPs (Osamor, Sharma and Lewell-Buck) who lost the trigger ballot but didn't have time to undergo the open selection. They should learn their fate today too.
https://twitter.com/iainjwatson/status/1192071588163850246
An indiscreet comment here, a poor comparison there, a few words that can be twisted around ... and he could end up splashed all over the news.
They were never going to be elected by the party membership.
Personally I would rather Boris doesn't try and run a minority government and instead vote down any alternative suggested.
We can go back to the polls again where I would expect voters to coalesce around a single alternative.
And do you know, there was one occasion in the recent past when Labour could have failed to form a Government !!
On 3 May 2007, Labour won 26 of 60 seats. There was an agreement between teh leaders of the three opposition parties, Plaid Cymru, Tories and LibDems to form a Rainbow Alliance Government.
It didn't happen because the LibDems chickened out at a special conference.
The LibDems, they never miss an opportunity to let Wales down ...
It suggests that @AlastairMeeks views fellow citizens with contempt
What a nasty man he has turned into
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50184281
There will be a few boots going up ars*s in the Tory campaign team which will hopefully sharpen them up.
Couple of things on Cairns:
1. Will Boris appoint a new SoS? The ministerial/civil service codes are clear that existing ministers continue in post. But other MPs have ceased to be, so appointing one may look a bit weird. I guess asking a junior to step up and leave a consequent vacancy is a possible outcome?
2. I see Corbyn's calling for him to stand down as a candidate. If I was him, I'd keep shtum till nominations close, then exploit his not-very-firm looking 2k majority!
Brexit - There is a clear choice between the parties that wasn't there in 2017.
Spending/Economy - There is much less differential than 2017 with all parties promising a spending spree to a degree. In my experience, faced with the prospect of all parties promising to spunk our the financial prosperity of our children and grandchildren, the electorate would probably decide that the tories will go about that in the least irresponsible manner.
Possible that Labour might benefit from a few LD and GREEN votes peeling off to them with this already indicated in the polls. Can't see TBP hurting anyone disproportionately, given the Brexit fundamentals.
What we are seeing both in the Tories and indeed Labour is the clearing of at least the doormat of the Augean Stables (which, in fairness, had been cleaned only 30 years earlier) that is the Parliament of 2017. Hopefully there is a lot more of that to come.
Philippa Perry, psychotherapist"
https://unherd.com/2019/11/how-to-humanise-westminster/
Boris won't be long term, but he might get us over a couple of important hurdles that previously looked insurmountable