That's why Labour should go for Sir Keir Starmer QC, he will forensically destroy Boris Johnson on a regular basis.
And then lose to him in 2024
It all depend on so many things. Boris has every chance of promoting himself as a competent avuncular father of the nation. He then runs in 2024 as the "why spoil it candidate". In that case no-one no matter how good has much of a chance at doing better than holding the situation. Anyone less than good will be in danger of greater losses - ironically the election leaves the Tories with more "low hanging fruit". "Look at Redcar, look at Bishop, look at Darlington - we can have a decent MP as well in Hartlepool etc" - likewise Leigh and dozens of others.
The Tories at the moment remind me of the Tories of 92 and 15 and Labour of 05, supremely cocky.
In fairness, nine years into government mostly without a majority, riven with splits, facing significant economic pressures and with an untested leadership, they have just won a majority of 80, the second highest number of votes ever recorded at a general election and have reduced Labour to a smoking ruin and stripped it of its longstanding hegemony in the North.
That is some achievement.
Where they are going wrong is in thinking that this was due to their brilliance, not to the weaknesses of their opponents and a very particular set of circumstances around policy.
If they can work this out, they might well be in power until the 2030s. If they can’t, then they might only have five years.
Brilliance can be manifested as the successful exploitation of your opponent’s weaknesses
That's why Labour should go for Sir Keir Starmer QC, he will forensically destroy Boris Johnson on a regular basis.
And then lose to him in 2024
It all depend on so many things. Boris has every chance of promoting himself as a competent avuncular father of the nation. He then runs in 2024 as the "why spoil it candidate". In that case no-one no matter how good has much of a chance at doing better than holding the situation. Anyone less than good will be in danger of greater losses - ironically the election leaves the Tories with more "low hanging fruit". "Look at Redcar, look at Bishop, look at Darlington - we can have a decent MP as well in Hartlepool etc" - likewise Leigh and dozens of others.
The Tories at the moment remind me of the Tories of 92 and 15 and Labour of 05, supremely cocky.
In fairness, nine years into government mostly without a majority, riven with splits, facing significant economic pressures and with an untested leadership, they have just won a majority of 80, the second highest number of votes ever recorded at a general election and have reduced Labour to a smoking ruin and stripped it of its longstanding hegemony in the North.
That is some achievement.
Where they are going wrong is in thinking that this was due to their brilliance, not to the weaknesses of their opponents and a very particular set of circumstances around policy.
If they can work this out, they might well be in power until the 2030s. If they can’t, then they might only have five years.
Brilliance can be manifested as the successful exploitation of your opponent’s weaknesses
But even if that is true, it can’t be sustained that way. If the Tories offer nothing next time around Labour can still make a comeback, unless they’re actually led by a Holocaust denier or something.
Remember, in 2017 nobody thought Corbyn would come so close to 40% of the vote and win over 200 seats, never mind 262.
Just had a quick peek at the new, larger constituencies in Scotland. I had thought that it would be the Tories that would suffer most, but am surprised to note that it is actually the Scottish Liberal Democrats who get thoroughly hammered, losing all three of their mainland seats. Scottish Labour also lose their only seat. Tories and SNP largely unaffected, losing one seat each.
There will be far fewer marginals if and when these new, larger constituencies are introduced. The main battleground will likely switch to Fife and Lothian (including Edinburgh).
Boundaries not set in stone yet of course, but if the SLDs haven’t already profoundly regretted their coalition years with the Tories, this could well be the final wake-up call. If they get a better candidate they might just be able to hold the new, much larger Edinburgh West, but the new Fife NE takes in so many SNP/Lab areas that it looks hopeless for the Lib Dems. The new East Dunbartonshire is even worse due to the seat taking in areas with pretty much zero SLD support.
All this assumes that the Union still exists in five years time.
It will Stuart and a happy christmas and guid new year to you
That's why Labour should go for Sir Keir Starmer QC, he will forensically destroy Boris Johnson on a regular basis.
And then lose to him in 2024
It all depend on so many things. Boris has every chance of promoting himself as a competent avuncular father of the nation. He then runs in 2024 as the "why spoil it candidate". In that case no-one no matter how good has much of a chance at doing better than holding the situation. Anyone less than good will be in danger of greater losses - ironically the election leaves the Tories with more "low hanging fruit". "Look at Redcar, look at Bishop, look at Darlington - we can have a decent MP as well in Hartlepool etc" - likewise Leigh and dozens of others.
The Tories at the moment remind me of the Tories of 92 and 15 and Labour of 05, supremely cocky.
In fairness, nine years into government mostly without a majority, riven with splits, facing significant economic pressures and with an untested leadership, they have just won a majority of 80, the second highest number of votes ever recorded at a general election and have reduced Labour to a smoking ruin and stripped it of its longstanding hegemony in the North.
That is some achievement.
Where they are going wrong is in thinking that this was due to their brilliance, not to the weaknesses of their opponents and a very particular set of circumstances around policy.
If they can work this out, they might well be in power until the 2030s. If they can’t, then they might only have five years.
Brilliance can be manifested as the successful exploitation of your opponent’s weaknesses
But even if that is true, it can’t be sustained that way. If the Tories offer nothing next time around Labour can still make a comeback, unless they’re actually led by a Holocaust denier or something.
Remember, in 2017 nobody thought Corbyn would come so close to 40% of the vote and win over 200 seats, never mind 262.
2017 was clearly the voters "avin' a larf" election.
2019 was just the resumption of what you'd normally expect, with a Marxist for Labour and a pompous inadequate for the LibDems.
Four words that will never be heard in 2020: Prime Minister Jo Swinson
I was going to comment further on the previous thread on why Johnson's record on homelessness was so dire as Mayor of London. It fits the theme of this header. I don't think Johnson is actually callous. People like Rees-Mogg fill that role. Johnson is snake oil rather than snake. He wants people to be happy. Johnson thinks, I make a pledge, repeat a snappy soundbite, get a photo op - job done!
If you are the mayor of a city and want to do something about homelessness, you need to understand why people are homeless, get the various agencies working to a plan, knock heads together and follow up. Johnson did none of these things and so he wasted large amounts of money .and opportunity not dealing with homelessness.
It will be the same with Brexit and the other things he deals with as prime minister.
He can't resist a chance to don a pinny can he? Shoot me, but it's endearing.
A politician who has shown very little interest in homelessness over a long career gets a photo-op with his oligarch friend at a homeless shelter.
You do not like Boris but to be fair he has hit the right notes with his address to our British Jews and the homeless. It is Christmas, and maybe time to be joyful rather than cynical
I think I am pretty factual. It clearly is a photo-op and actually he has shown little interest in homelessness compared with other politicians. He did run a couple of half-hearted schemes when he was Mayor of London, for an area that was a key part of his remit. Homelessness in London rose very substantially on his watch and he didn't show much concern to do anything meaningful about it.
So Khan , by your reasoning is responsible for all the murders?
I mean Johnson claimed at both his mayoral elections that he would get rid of homelessness in London, wasted a sizeable budget given to him for this purpose by central government, due to poor execution. Johnson's lack of interest in the project beyond the slogan and the photo op might have something to do with this.
Meanwhile, homelessness got a lot worse.
Long winded way of saying yeah but no but yeah but no...
A way of making an actual argument in response to the whataboutery that Felix and you apparently love so well. Khan may or may not be responsible for an increase in the murder rate in London but it's a different problem. Homelessness to some degree can be solved by throwing money at the problem. Johnson had some money but wasted it.
That's why Labour should go for Sir Keir Starmer QC, he will forensically destroy Boris Johnson on a regular basis.
And then lose to him in 2024
It all depend on so many things. Boris has every chance of promoting himself as a competent avuncular father of the nation. He then runs in 2024 as the "why spoil it candidate". In that case no-one no matter how good has much of a chance at doing better than holding the situation. Anyone less than good will be in danger of greater losses - ironically the election leaves the Tories with more "low hanging fruit". "Look at Redcar, look at Bishop, look at Darlington - we can have a decent MP as well in Hartlepool etc" - likewise Leigh and dozens of others.
The Tories at the moment remind me of the Tories of 92 and 15 and Labour of 05, supremely cocky.
In fairness, nine years into government mostly without a majority, riven with splits, facing significant economic pressures and with an untested leadership, they have just won a majority of 80, the second highest number of votes ever recorded at a general election and have reduced Labour to a smoking ruin and stripped it of its longstanding hegemony in the North.
That is some achievement.
Where they are going wrong is in thinking that this was due to their brilliance, not to the weaknesses of their opponents and a very particular set of circumstances around policy.
If they can work this out, they might well be in power until the 2030s. If they can’t, then they might only have five years.
Brilliance can be manifested as the successful exploitation of your opponent’s weaknesses
But even if that is true, it can’t be sustained that way. If the Tories offer nothing next time around Labour can still make a comeback, unless they’re actually led by a Holocaust denier or something.
Remember, in 2017 nobody thought Corbyn would come so close to 40% of the vote and win over 200 seats, never mind 262.
2017 was clearly the voters "avin' a larf" election.
2019 was just the resumption of what you'd normally expect, with a Marxist for Labour and a pompous inadequate for the LibDems.
Four words that will never be heard in 2020: Prime Minister Jo Swinson
I’m not sure
I can see her being introduced on 8 out of 10 cats as “Prime Minister” Jo Swinson
That's why Labour should go for Sir Keir Starmer QC, he will forensically destroy Boris Johnson on a regular basis.
And then lose to him in 2024
It all depend on so many things. Boris has every chance of promoting himself as a competent avuncular father of the nation. He then runs in 2024 as the "why spoil it candidate". In that case no-one no matter how good has much of a chance at doing better than holding the situation. Anyone less than good will be in danger of greater losses - ironically the election leaves the Tories with more "low hanging fruit". "Look at Redcar, look at Bishop, look at Darlington - we can have a decent MP as well in Hartlepool etc" - likewise Leigh and dozens of others.
The Tories at the moment remind me of the Tories of 92 and 15 and Labour of 05, supremely cocky.
Its not surprising having just thrashed Corbyn and his cronies, decisively . Things will settle down as we get into the nitty gritty of politics. Boris must use his majority wisely. We shall see if he can.
I think Corbyn and his cronies will need to be thrashed, decisively, several more times before they get the message.
At the moment they are off, sulking. Working out who else to blame. Doubling down on disaster.
I suspect next time quite a few more will want to join in the decisive thrashing, to drive the point home.
That reminds me a bit of the Battle of Tigranocerta.
Was the Roman triumph, despite being massively outnumbered, more down to Tigranes being a moron who executed anyone who told him bad news, or the competence of Lucullus?
That's why Labour should go for Sir Keir Starmer QC, he will forensically destroy Boris Johnson on a regular basis.
And then lose to him in 2024
It all depend on so many things. Boris has every chance of promoting himself as a competent avuncular father of the nation. He then runs in 2024 as the "why spoil it candidate". In that case no-one no matter how good has much of a chance at doing better than holding the situation. Anyone less than good will be in danger of greater losses - ironically the election leaves the Tories with more "low hanging fruit". "Look at Redcar, look at Bishop, look at Darlington - we can have a decent MP as well in Hartlepool etc" - likewise Leigh and dozens of others.
The Tories at the moment remind me of the Tories of 92 and 15 and Labour of 05, supremely cocky.
Its not surprising having just thrashed Corbyn and his cronies, decisively . Things will settle down as we get into the nitty gritty of politics. Boris must use his majority wisely. We shall see if he can.
I think Corbyn and his cronies will need to be thrashed, decisively, several more times before they get the message.
At the moment they are off, sulking. Working out who else to blame. Doubling down on disaster.
I suspect next time quite a few more will want to join in the decisive thrashing, to drive the point home.
Britain ends the year with its civic institutions and democracy weaker than ever, and with no effective opposition even to raise concerns. In its anxiety to avoid the Scylla of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour, it has fallen into the Charybdis of Boris Johnson's reactionary hard Brexit.
The next few years will be miserable for the country. Still, it will be a different sort of miserableness from the last couple of years, so perhaps the variety might suit some.
Britain ends the year with its civic institutions and democracy weaker than ever, and with no effective opposition even to raise concerns. In its anxiety to avoid the Scylla of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour, it has fallen into the Charybdis of Boris Johnson's reactionary hard Brexit.
The next few years will be miserable for the country. Still, it will be a different sort of miserableness from the last couple of years, so perhaps the variety might suit some.
Just had a quick peek at the new, larger constituencies in Scotland. I had thought that it would be the Tories that would suffer most, but am surprised to note that it is actually the Scottish Liberal Democrats who get thoroughly hammered, losing all three of their mainland seats. Scottish Labour also lose their only seat. Tories and SNP largely unaffected, losing one seat each.
There will be far fewer marginals if and when these new, larger constituencies are introduced. The main battleground will likely switch to Fife and Lothian (including Edinburgh).
Boundaries not set in stone yet of course, but if the SLDs haven’t already profoundly regretted their coalition years with the Tories, this could well be the final wake-up call. If they get a better candidate they might just be able to hold the new, much larger Edinburgh West, but the new Fife NE takes in so many SNP/Lab areas that it looks hopeless for the Lib Dems. The new East Dunbartonshire is even worse due to the seat taking in areas with pretty much zero SLD support.
All this assumes that the Union still exists in five years time.
It will Stuart and a happy christmas and guid new year to you
Britain ends the year with its civic institutions and democracy weaker than ever, and with no effective opposition even to raise concerns. In its anxiety to avoid the Scylla of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour, it has fallen into the Charybdis of Boris Johnson's reactionary hard Brexit.
The next few years will be miserable for the country. Still, it will be a different sort of miserableness from the last couple of years, so perhaps the variety might suit some.
And a happy Christmas and joyous New Year to you. And truly many thanks for your massive number of wise, informed and fascinating articles and comments.
Could we hope/expect that the coming events in 2020 and beyond, while not being as epoch makingly glorious as its keenest promoters think, will also not be as terrifying as its sternest critics believe. There is always the possibility of the middle way, the mean between two extremes, being found.
Mr. Meeks, you think the election result would've been better if Labour had won a landslide?
No, that would have been disastrous too. There were no good outcomes for the country and there have not been possible good outcomes for the country for a long time. The country is now firmly set in a spiral of decline that will continue for the foreseeable future.
Britain ends the year with its civic institutions and democracy weaker than ever, and with no effective opposition even to raise concerns. In its anxiety to avoid the Scylla of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour, it has fallen into the Charybdis of Boris Johnson's reactionary hard Brexit.
The next few years will be miserable for the country. Still, it will be a different sort of miserableness from the last couple of years, so perhaps the variety might suit some.
And a happy Christmas and joyous New Year to you. And truly many thanks for your massive number of wise, informed and fascinating articles and comments.
Could we hope/expect that the coming events in 2020 and beyond, while not being as epoch makingly glorious as its keenest promoters think, will also not be as terrifying as its sternest critics believe. There is always the possibility of the middle way, the mean between two extremes, being found.
It will be a permanent grey November. Everything will just be a bit shit, persistently failing to meet expectations and eager Leavers will be constantly reassuring us that things will get a bit better soon enough. Every now and then things will get a bit better, but not for long and the chronic underperformance will continue.
The GE results had 9 Conservative gains in the West Midlands and 6 Conservative gains in the East Midlands.
But if you split the Midlands by latitude rather than longitude then there were 13 Conservative gains in the North Midlands and 2 Conservative gains in the South Midlands.
I've used the 'traditional' counties so Dudley is placed in Worcestershire and Birmingham Northfield in Warwickshire.
In the historic county of Staffordshire there have been 9 Conservative gains in 2017 and 2019 - Stoke x3, NuL, Wolves x2, West Brom x2 and Walsall North.
Further back in 2010 there was also a strong swing to the Conservatives in Staffordshire with more seats gained.
Do Staffordshire PBers have explanations for this strong rightward swing ?
In a stunning switch of focus: a Dickson post that has nothing to do with Scotland.
I left my Swedish political party almost a year ago, after over a decade of membership and several years serving as a (very junior) local councillor. I didn’t resign or switch allegiance, I just didn’t renew my membership. Quite deliberately. For the first time in my adult life, I am a bona fide floating voter. It is thoroughly liberating, and I recommend all to try it at some point in their life.
If any Nordics out there feel inclined to try to persuade me to vote for any of the parties, feel free. I’m all ears. At the moment I’m opening up my mind again to one of the great joys and passions of my childhood: birdwatching and nature conservation. But whether that affects my next vote remains to be seen.
I listened to a very long and detailed interview with Anders Borg a couple of days ago. The finest Finance Minister in Europe during his day, perhaps even the world. A great loss to politics.
I’m taking a break from all social media for a while. I uninstalled FB in the autumn and it is amazing how much better you feel about the world just by switching off the noise. I have also given up online gaming, which admittedly was not a big interest anyway. For 2020 I will be avoiding news and removing blogging from my daily routine. You have to create space to find new paths in life. I even started going to the gym.
Hoping that all of you find new energy and new pleasures in 2020. God jul önskar Stuart.
That reminds me a bit of the Battle of Tigranocerta.
Was the Roman triumph, despite being massively outnumbered, more down to Tigranes being a moron who executed anyone who told him bad news, or the competence of Lucullus?
Surely your analogy fails because in this case it was Boris who executed deselected the bearers of bad news.
Britain ends the year with its civic institutions and democracy weaker than ever, and with no effective opposition even to raise concerns. In its anxiety to avoid the Scylla of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour, it has fallen into the Charybdis of Boris Johnson's reactionary hard Brexit.
The next few years will be miserable for the country. Still, it will be a different sort of miserableness from the last couple of years, so perhaps the variety might suit some.
And a happy Christmas and joyous New Year to you. And truly many thanks for your massive number of wise, informed and fascinating articles and comments.
Could we hope/expect that the coming events in 2020 and beyond, while not being as epoch makingly glorious as its keenest promoters think, will also not be as terrifying as its sternest critics believe. There is always the possibility of the middle way, the mean between two extremes, being found.
It will be a permanent grey November. Everything will just be a bit shit, persistently failing to meet expectations and eager Leavers will be constantly reassuring us that things will get a bit better soon enough. Every now and then things will get a bit better, but not for long and the chronic underperformance will continue.
I wonder whether a bit of this is just the normal human condition - the remarkable and consistent trend of people to muck things up which has always been around. For myself I keep reminding myself that I don't live in North Korea, we are not Syria and that many millions of people would join us in our country if they could. There must be a reason for this, and it must be connected to some good things about the UK. Oh yes, and at least Corbyn didn't win the election even though there was no-one worthy of winning it...
Keir Starmer is a big defender of the Human Rights Act. I don't like him already.
Is the human rights act bad?
Yes. We have always been a leader in pushing the human rights agenda (that sounds horrible but I mean it in a good way).
The Hunan Rights Act required our courts to look to Strasbourg. Not only does that create sovereignty issues, but it is also a court on which some of the judges are politically appointed and with different standards of jurisprudence and legal traditions.
We should be proud of our courts and empower them.
The question is, empower them to do what? Since I doubt you intend them to increase rights, one wonders which set of rights you wish to remove.
The GE results had 9 Conservative gains in the West Midlands and 6 Conservative gains in the East Midlands.
But if you split the Midlands by latitude rather than longitude then there were 13 Conservative gains in the North Midlands and 2 Conservative gains in the South Midlands.
I've used the 'traditional' counties so Dudley is placed in Worcestershire and Birmingham Northfield in Warwickshire.
In the historic county of Staffordshire there have been 9 Conservative gains in 2017 and 2019 - Stoke x3, NuL, Wolves x2, West Brom x2 and Walsall North.
Further back in 2010 there was also a strong swing to the Conservatives in Staffordshire with more seats gained.
Do Staffordshire PBers have explanations for this strong rightward swing ?
The coal mines shut 27 years ago, the potteries barely more recently, and most of the younger generation are semi-skilled non graduates working in light industry. Exactly the sort of people who are not interested in Labour’s offering. The average age of Cannock Labour Party must be nearer seventy than sixty.
At the same time, the average age of the county is quite high, and the majority of the older voters are not interested in pure socialism.
The two universities are quite small and not typical.
All in all, a perfect storm for Labour. On your boundaries, they hold one seat, their lowest total since 1918. On modern boundaries, they were wiped out completely.
No he shouldn't go to Abroadland. I am told it's full of foreigners.
Man of the people Boris Johnson, who is placing a ban on ministers visiting elitist Davos, somehow finds himself able to visit that extreme example of proletarian holiday resorts, Mustique.
The GE results had 9 Conservative gains in the West Midlands and 6 Conservative gains in the East Midlands.
But if you split the Midlands by latitude rather than longitude then there were 13 Conservative gains in the North Midlands and 2 Conservative gains in the South Midlands.
I've used the 'traditional' counties so Dudley is placed in Worcestershire and Birmingham Northfield in Warwickshire.
In the historic county of Staffordshire there have been 9 Conservative gains in 2017 and 2019 - Stoke x3, NuL, Wolves x2, West Brom x2 and Walsall North.
Further back in 2010 there was also a strong swing to the Conservatives in Staffordshire with more seats gained.
Do Staffordshire PBers have explanations for this strong rightward swing ?
My guess is that it’s a similar pattern to London and Essex/Herts. A lot of first generation emigrants from Brum and the Black Country are instinctively more socially conservative and so inclined to veer sharply away from a Labour Party led by someone like Corbyn.
Mr. Meeks, fair enough, but the Scylla/Charybdis comparison isn't a great one. The former involves the certainty of a small number of deaths (six, from memory) whilst Charybdis, being a whirlpool, means that either everyone's ok or (almost certainly) everyone dies.
It's not a comparison of equal or roughly equal evils, they're actually quite distinct.
In a stunning switch of focus: a Dickson post that has nothing to do with Scotland.
I left my Swedish political party almost a year ago, after over a decade of membership and several years serving as a (very junior) local councillor. I didn’t resign or switch allegiance, I just didn’t renew my membership. Quite deliberately. For the first time in my adult life, I am a bona fide floating voter. It is thoroughly liberating, and I recommend all to try it at some point in their life.
If any Nordics out there feel inclined to try to persuade me to vote for any of the parties, feel free. I’m all ears. At the moment I’m opening up my mind again to one of the great joys and passions of my childhood: birdwatching and nature conservation. But whether that affects my next vote remains to be seen.
I listened to a very long and detailed interview with Anders Borg a couple of days ago. The finest Finance Minister in Europe during his day, perhaps even the world. A great loss to politics.
I’m taking a break from all social media for a while. I uninstalled FB in the autumn and it is amazing how much better you feel about the world just by switching off the noise. I have also given up online gaming, which admittedly was not a big interest anyway. For 2020 I will be avoiding news and removing blogging from my daily routine. You have to create space to find new paths in life. I even started going to the gym.
Hoping that all of you find new energy and new pleasures in 2020. God jul önskar Stuart.
A wise move. I dropped Facebook last year. Giving up PB and Twitter is more of a challenge, though I will throttle back a bit. The US election is moderately interesting, but not much of interest happening domestically. We just have to brace ourselves for a Cummings inspired attack on British Institutions.
Being outdoors and taking an interest in natural history and gardening is great therapy. It clears away the cacophony of modern life and is good for the spirits. I too shall be doing more of that as well as ploughing through my reading list.
Comments
On the eve of poll, following our extensive canvass of the Totnes costituency, the pledges told us we would have 53.0% of the vote.
Next day, the actual Conservative vote was 53.2%.
Remember, in 2017 nobody thought Corbyn would come so close to 40% of the vote and win over 200 seats, never mind 262.
2019 was just the resumption of what you'd normally expect, with a Marxist for Labour and a pompous inadequate for the LibDems.
Four words that will never be heard in 2020: Prime Minister Jo Swinson
I can see her being introduced on 8 out of 10 cats as “Prime Minister” Jo Swinson
What fun.. Its also funny that the left are not so cocky, but imagine what they would be like had they won.. unbearable
NPEXMP has had a mini flounce.. lets hope the hard left defeat sinks in.
Was the Roman triumph, despite being massively outnumbered, more down to Tigranes being a moron who executed anyone who told him bad news, or the competence of Lucullus?
The next few years will be miserable for the country. Still, it will be a different sort of miserableness from the last couple of years, so perhaps the variety might suit some.
It may not be so bad
Could we hope/expect that the coming events in 2020 and beyond, while not being as epoch makingly glorious as its keenest promoters think, will also not be as terrifying as its sternest critics believe. There is always the possibility of the middle way, the mean between two extremes, being found.
https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1209402098313502720
But if you split the Midlands by latitude rather than longitude then there were 13 Conservative gains in the North Midlands and 2 Conservative gains in the South Midlands.
I've used the 'traditional' counties so Dudley is placed in Worcestershire and Birmingham Northfield in Warwickshire.
In the historic county of Staffordshire there have been 9 Conservative gains in 2017 and 2019 - Stoke x3, NuL, Wolves x2, West Brom x2 and Walsall North.
Further back in 2010 there was also a strong swing to the Conservatives in Staffordshire with more seats gained.
Do Staffordshire PBers have explanations for this strong rightward swing ?
I left my Swedish political party almost a year ago, after over a decade of membership and several years serving as a (very junior) local councillor. I didn’t resign or switch allegiance, I just didn’t renew my membership. Quite deliberately. For the first time in my adult life, I am a bona fide floating voter. It is thoroughly liberating, and I recommend all to try it at some point in their life.
If any Nordics out there feel inclined to try to persuade me to vote for any of the parties, feel free. I’m all ears. At the moment I’m opening up my mind again to one of the great joys and passions of my childhood: birdwatching and nature conservation. But whether that affects my next vote remains to be seen.
I listened to a very long and detailed interview with Anders Borg a couple of days ago. The finest Finance Minister in Europe during his day, perhaps even the world. A great loss to politics.
I’m taking a break from all social media for a while. I uninstalled FB in the autumn and it is amazing how much better you feel about the world just by switching off the noise. I have also given up online gaming, which admittedly was not a big interest anyway. For 2020 I will be avoiding news and removing blogging from my daily routine. You have to create space to find new paths in life. I even started going to the gym.
Hoping that all of you find new energy and new pleasures in 2020. God jul önskar Stuart.
We can expect to see Boris Johnson continue to apply strictures to others that he has no intention of applying to himself.
At the same time, the average age of the county is quite high, and the majority of the older voters are not interested in pure socialism.
The two universities are quite small and not typical.
All in all, a perfect storm for Labour. On your boundaries, they hold one seat, their lowest total since 1918. On modern boundaries, they were wiped out completely.
And apparently he’s going overseas as well.
It's not a comparison of equal or roughly equal evils, they're actually quite distinct.
Being outdoors and taking an interest in natural history and gardening is great therapy. It clears away the cacophony of modern life and is good for the spirits. I too shall be doing more of that as well as ploughing through my reading list.