Anarchy in the UK – politicalbetting.com
Anarchy in the UK – politicalbetting.com
If the multi-party politics we currently have in Great Britain continues until the next general election then we’re going to see all sorts freakish/unexpected results.
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Now here's a Labour MP publicly doing the same.
https://x.com/DavidTaylor85/status/2052845717442449753
9 Barking
8 Hounslow
7 Bexley
6 Bromley
4 Hillingdon
2 Sutton
1 Greenwich
1 Redbridge
Along with an "I like the pun" and/or an " I don't understand the pun".
(Yes, I know this isn't so much a pun as a quote)
In St. Helens alone, two Green party strongholds were won by Reform UK and the Conservatives
https://x.com/politlcsuk/status/2053082766774776010
WATCH: Keir Starmer says he will set out his "values and convictions" that drive him as PM on Monday
"The hope wasn't there enough in the first two years of this Government. That's why it's important for me now to set out where hope resides"
However, after yesterday it would be foolish not to think the impossible and certainly a right wing government of some form is becoming more likely, not least as Starmer puts at risk the labour party itself by his own indefenceable actions to cling on to his office
Labour just have to bring the curtain down on this unedifying spectacle and tell Starmer his time is up
It's a dynamic that's been building up for a while. Different wings of the same party/tradition have always hated each other, and not often hidden it well. But whereas in the past, they were prepared to cohabit for fear of losing, now they simply don't care. I suspect it's part of the wider changes in society- we can and do seek out those very much like Us, and label everyone else as Them. And counsumer economics has taught us to demand and expect things customised exactly to what we want. Social media has just been the cat turd on the blackberry trifle.
One of Starmer's many problems is that he's old, and what political instincts he has come from the earlier era, where people concluded that they had to to stay in the tent, even if it was suboptimal. But these days, people aren't as willing to do that. Hence Reform, and all the other Re-grouplings. Hence the Greens reinvention as lefty purists.
I don't know who does have the skills to navigate these new choppy waters.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/16/the-tories-arent-finished/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRsG6VleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEySUQ5RXJISDlQeVVzRGxtc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjK7wdLyZFgFdhNcLkw7c5tZbOAPeo5qHh_wIFfhqkMcailUg-QEbQQRnbgV_aem_AHzEaCW7kSh8IMxD5gtjuA
I asked a minister what MPs would need to hear to be clear that he does understand their concerns, that he “gets it”.
This was the reply. “I mean god knows because I dont think he does. It’s not anything anyone else can tell him it has to come from him.”
And that, in a nutshell, is why Starmer is in so much trouble.
Not the worst idea we will hear from the bunker in next few days.
If we've really got 5 (6... 7...) parties, it becomes pretty much a lottery, and nobody can want that... can they? But it's also about culture, and not just political culture. Countries with PR have seen the same fracturing of parties. And I don't think that's good for society. Somehow, we have to get along alongside each other.
Let's try and say something nice. Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman certainly have a solid record on standing up to antisemitism.
https://x.com/RupertLowe10/status/2053000964580266361
I want to be really clear about what our aim is following yesterday’s historic victory.
Win the next general election, and I have never been more confident we are going to do exactly that.
The best lack all conviction.
And so does Starmer.
Labour, 1,100, between relief and disappointment
Con, 800, between joy and relief
Lib Dem, 850, relief
Reform, 1,500, near disaster
Green, 550, disappointment
https://x.com/johnrentoul/status/2053106162808025445?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
I honestly think that will strongly appeal, as a start, to many centre left leaning voters.
It’s important that we reflect and respond to these results - we haven’t done enough to offer people hope for the future.
In the coming days I’ll be setting out the path ahead.
Starmer prefers to make announcements.
In the event everywhere else got substantially more devolution, everywhere has the same level of local decision making as other societies, then I think longer term the massive problems faced in many of the dissolutioned parts of the country could start to be addressed.
It won't happen overnight, but it wouldn't cost anything and would see strong support from many in the centre left.
Even the good things Labour have achieved gain them no credit because he is completely unable to articulate those successes is a way the public pays attention to.
https://x.com/j4ppleby/status/2053057597511532641?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
As for the next general election we are heading for a hung parliament with Reform winning most seats based on the NEV for the local elections. Kemi would hold the balance of power but would probably just get the Tories to abstain on a confidence vote and vote bill by bill. Starmer meanwhile brought back Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman as advisers as he tries to shore up his core vote of Brownites within Labour, Corbynites now leaning towards Rayner or Burnham and Blairites for Streeting
Reform + Tory now on 47; 46 for a majority.
What he has to offer the public in 2026? Who knows.
Kim told me last night he was "shellshocked" and "did not think for one minute" he would be elected.
The supply teacher said he hadn’t told his pupils about his candidacy and wasn’t at the count because it would have meant losing a day’s pay.'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c1l2gp47693t
Having those decisions made in London is what's causing those areas of the region to be so poor and ill equipped for today.
No other self respecting democratic country operates such a centric system leading to such an inability to shape the local population to grow a local economy.
The Greens are the largest party, with 29 seats, and Labour are second with 26.
Labour has controlled Lambeth since 2006. After the 2022 elections, Labour had 54 seats with the Greens and Lib Dems both on four.
Someone needs to sit down with him and spell it out. "You are done!"
If he can't bring himself to organise an orderly timetable for exit by September, he needs to be challenged.
If large numbers of people don't feel represented by the historical three parties, and it requires more parties to represent the diversity of views in society, then I think having more parties is a good thing, rather than a bad thing.
The difficult thing is reconciling the wide variety of views, particularly given the tenuous relationship with reality that many of them possess. But it's at least easier if those views are honestly represented, rather than buried in a two-party system.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-09/farrer-sat-night-results/106656856
With devolution goes responsibility.
The spending and the 'big ideas' are the easy bit.
The higher taxes and the bailouts are when it gets hard.
Or, just possibly, you land in an area where there’s an active, thriving local party, in which case you will quickly find out the factions and divisions within your party colleagues and spend most of your time fighting internal battles with them. Once every few years, an election comes along where, for a few short weeks, you can focus your fire on the opposing political parties, but you won’t meet them except at those sessions spent telling at the polling station (nowadays a dying activity, it seems?).
One of the striking things about being elected, for example as a councillor, is that suddenly you’re surrounded by and in regular contact with your political opponents. That suddenly makes the political contest more real but also, for any thinking councillor, makes you rethink some of the simplistic assumptions about the other parties and their motivations that you may have held prior.
But the most notable thing about first signing up for the political front line is that you rarely tangle with your opponents and spend most of your time grappling with the enemies on your own side.
I've the confidence this country can do as well.
The accompanying photo on him on the bbc website, you might confuse him for a pupil rather than a teacher.
Second Most Seats (Applies Only To Contested Seats On 7th May 2026) @ 5/1
More beer money for when I'm in France next week. Have to say Ladbrokes paid out before all the seats declared, which was nice.
If I was unkind I would suggest that his job is to convince global finance to continue to lend money to Britain, that appearing to be in more doubt now than in the past.
I can't think what else of use the job might entail. Okay, I decided to check gov.uk, and it says this.
As part of the role he will engage with international leaders and finance institutions as well as private finance partners to establish multilateral finance mechanisms.
I guess finding off-balance sheet ways to spend money is a Brown competency, and Britain does need greater defence expenditure and isn't willing to fund it any other way, so I could see some good coming of this, eventually. But it feels very typical of Starmer. He's ignored the problem of how to fund Defence for nearly two years. Now he's appointed Brown to work out how to fix it for him, so Starmer still doesn't know how this can be done, and so there won't be any extra funding for at least another year.
Everything is so very slow. There's so much resistance to doing anything about anything for fear of upsetting anyone. It doesn't remotely match up to the needs of the situation.
You don't really know what improvements and changes you need until you have got to first base of running the status quo you inherit very well.
https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mlezeoucc62h
If you can make a list of people who want devolution so that their local area can live within its means then you've made a start on how devolution can be handled competently.
Odd headwear choices, this one.
Competence is something much underrated.
@robfordmancs.bsky.social
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The “Blue Labour” strategy still being promoted by some on Labour right is premised on being able to win social conservatives while holding on to social liberals.
Failure state for this strategy is failing to win social cons while alienating social liberals. Here is a map of that failure state:
https://bsky.app/profile/robfordmancs.bsky.social/post/3mlgc3zylik2p
Shocked, surprised, regretful I could understand, but distraught?
Maybe our borough is quite superficial, otherwise perhaps parties could get Jimmy Carr in to rate the suitability of candidates.
Opps, corr’n, now Labour has held a single seat while the Greens are on eight