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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Number 10’s power-grab is sowing the seeds of its own failure

Political power is notoriously nebulous. Like fairies, or the value of fiat money, if enough people belief in it, that in itself is enough to call it into being – just as the lack of belief is enough to destroy it.
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Johnson is rock solid. He did what no Conservative leader has done since Margaret Thatcher 40 years ago: won a thumping majority.
Of course it will ebb. But that's no more clever than saying we're all going to die. Eventually.
I'm sorry my fellow liberals are showing themselves to be so curmudgeonly about it.
The people who will have noticed are those tucked away in government who have their own agenda, their own way of doing things across governments of different shades. The quiet clique who wield quiet power. The message sent to them was if the occupant of Number 11 can be disposed of, perhaps so can you. Maybe they will have to be more subtle in the way they yield that quiet power. The time of doing what they could to assist Remain has been seen by those actually empowered by the voters. And it ain't going to happen for the next five years. Capiche?
Just in case they weren't listening, expect some very well regarded figures in the civil service to get moved around. The equivalent of a cop being put on traffic duty. It will provoke some noise - and some real horror behind the scenes - but again, most voters won't give a stuff.
Boris will stay popular because he will shamelessly nick popular policies put forward by his opponents. He's like a football manager, buying the best players of his opponents. Imagine five seasons of doing that?
In many ways the current top team reminds me of Brian Clough. Cloughie - as with Boris, the single-name moniker. The Cloughie who was revered - and loathed. But he got results. Much of that was based on the man beside him, Peter Taylor. Taylor knew who Cloughie needed to play the football Cloughie wanted to play. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of players. In all leagues. He could go into a Scottish league for the right player to fit the gap. Or he could buy the first million-pound player. Whatever it took. And if you didn't deliver, you were gone. Remind you of anyone?
This current government brings to mind this famous quote of Cloughie. On discussing an issue with a player:
”We talk about it for twenty minutes and then we decide I was right.”
The right man can work miracles. Cloughie won the League twice, the League Cup 4 times and took Nottingham Forest to be Champions of Europe.
Twice.
That's Nottingham Forest.
Imagine if this style of Government does actually deliver that level of result?
A lot of focus there on the Rise. But there was also an unpleasant Fall.
Not sure the Tories want to be likened to Nottingham Forest.
"According to the latest figures, more than 1,300 people are now known to have died from the virus, the majority in China."
"Latest figures"? - it's 1,526 deaths
"The majority in China"? - all but three have been in mainland China, Beeb. (As well as the death several days ago in Philippines, there has now been a fatality in Hong Kong and another in Japan.)
Boris, though, might be tolerated for longer if he remains popular with the public and if, like Trump, he pushes through legislation in which he has no personal interest at the behest of the men in grey suits.
On topic, I wonder if the crucial sacking wasn't The Saj, but Julian Smith. After all he'd just banged heads together successfully in N Ireland and survived a very tough time as Chief Whip. I don't think he ever owed Boris anything, but Boris owed him. Imagine if Boris now had to deal with a chaotic N Ireland, descending again into violence.
I hope Mr. Herdson is correct.
Boris has 12 months in which to conclude tricky negotiations, His last deal seems to be fraying at the edges, if not actually unravelling thanks to the NI / UK sea border. The one that, like Schrodinger's Cat, both exists and does not exist depending on the observer.
If you're so keen on Johnson I don't see how you can claim to be on 'the Left', accept it you're now a Tory or at least a Johnsonite ;-)
Whether he was the most unpopular election victor I am not sure, having not seen the stat so presented anywhere.
As long as Brexit is merely crap (and Brexit is as much a metaphor as an actual process) and not obviously catastrophic. he will likely do all right.
ETA accretion has been in the news in the past few days with astronomers changing their minds about how planets are formed. If Shadsy offers prices on the Nobel Prize for physics, lump on Johansen and Stern.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51295365
But only due to astronomy studies in physics a long time ago.
There are some pretty esoteric words I know from my current work in epidemiology/medical research too, they come on handy when playing scrabble (and sometimes in understanding posts on here!)
But how long do you have to have lived in Crete for it to happen?
Any would be Brutus will have to bear in mind that the membership are unlikely to reward the wielder of the knife, unless Johnson has lost the membership by then, most likely to happen if he cuts a sensible deal on with the EU?
Headline, he was better than I expected. I expected boring and he wasn’t boring. He was funny and dynamic and acknowledged the up-hill battle facing Labour.
He was a bit light on detail when it came to strategy but other than that, nothing to criticise. He will definitely be a handful for Boris at the dispatch box.
Plus Johnson beat May and "next Prime Minister Jo Swinson" [remember her?]
I would guess a max of 15% in the general population.
A key question will be if Boris himself would be happy with the opposition, if in power, to have the lack of checks he wants for himself. Sometimes you have to check yourself as a guard against the future.
All they really want is better healthcare, schools, roads, trains, less taxes and more money in their pockets. Boris delivers, he wins.
This was a power grab. Appropriate might have been more appropriate.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51512831
The only other quibble I have is with your conclusion, as I don’t see the process playing out quite so quickly.
Amy's favourite statistic is how often Trump loses. Maybe that is why Boris wants to rein in Judicial Review. Be you ever so high, Number 10 is above you.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-is-amy-klobuchars-favorite-statistic/
But by God, it's cheap and fast. Should put a rocket up HS2's new management. I wonder if it is just Dominic Cummings getting on the blower to Beijing whilst he meets the new delivery team.....
And I would treat that headline figure with a large pinch of salt.
This is not the way to get good governance. Or, indeed, long-term loyalty.
Still, Julian is best out of it. Imagine having to be in charge when Boris’s lies about the border hit reality.
Of course what the public are interested in changes all the time - and they have a tendency to bank successes and then forget about them.
As for David's article my only comment would be timeframe - people can hang around for a long time when there is nothing pressing to force you out. May lasted 7 months including 2 immovable deadlines, I can easily see Boris lasting to 2024 or beyond without any critical mass appearing.
Boris is not as lacking in ideology as is suggested. He is mostly a centrist one nation Tory with populist touches, much in common with Heseltine (bar Brexit of course). But at a deep level both Brexit and Remain are/were different routes to the common desired outcome: a free trade and partnership route to continuing success as a trading and wealthy nation.
What Boris lacks in ideology is made up for by Dominic. What happens when his wheels come off?
The cloud on the horizon is that suddenly no-one at all cares about balanced budgets, bringing debt levels down, fiscal rectitude and all that. Every time that happens in the end there is an 'unforeseeable' crisis which forces our hand. Does anyone know what happens if interest rates rise to 5% for example? Those are the issues most likely to topple this set up.
Reshuffles are for the bubble. The budget will set the tone for Boris’s fortunes.
https://twitter.com/pippacrerar/status/1228608902910160897?s=21
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/25/chinese-rail-crash-cover-up-claims
A pretty short lived Trumpian strategy I would say, but what enforcement procedures are there in the WDA?
Nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain
But, as St Augustine said, not yet. I think that Boris will survive longer than David does. I see him serving a full term and standing down in the next. The Conservative Party will be a very different beast by then.
Only way it is happening while Boris is PM....
If they replaced him in 2022 or 2023 it would be an act of desperation with a Labour led Government almost certain based on the polling at the forthcoming general election anyway
https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1228090287395876864?s=21