PompeyVillan

I'm totally on board with one Liverpool chant "Duh duh duh duh, **** the Tories". I'd like that one to catch on at VP.

I think they cap it so that you can only vote if you are a member from a certain date, usually after the leadership election is announced though. I shouldn't have thought that there would be that many people who will be bothered enough to pay £4 I think it is a month in order to try to sabotage a leadership vote. It is worth saying that Labour have a large membership, I might be wrong but I think just over half a million. If you add in the union member votes then you'd have to have quite a few people bothered enough to try to sabotage the vote to make much of a difference. I can't understand why the other side would do that anyway tbh. The candidates being touted at the moment are frighteningly uninspiring.

Both he and Jeremy Corbyn will be incredibly important to keeping seats in 2025 in seats where their sort of Labour is really popular. They're still constituency MPs, and they'll continue to be important voices (but probably not on a national or leadership level).

Edit, I think I've misread the stats.

I fkin loath this. It's pathetic, and it fails to understand that politics isn't a moral crusade for everyone. It also fails to understand why Labour got trounced in this election. My reflection is that the tone of Labour's message on poverty and inequality has been patronising. Its why it appeals to metropolitan, liberal middle classes. But it doesn't always hit the spot with those 'working classes' on lower wages. What the Conservatives offer is a message of aspiration. People don't want things to be gifted to them, they want to feel like they've earnt them. Which is why the guy who was posting about his brother being pissed off about the McDonalds campaign for higher wages. It misses the point completely, but the message is about being aspirational. It's all bollucks by the way, the Conservatives don't really care about social mobility, they believe that if you don't make it, it's your fault. Anyway... Labour have said some brain-dead things. "We don't think there should be billionaires". I tend to agree with that somewhat, as in, I would rather wealth was more evenly distributed. But for most people, that message is far too socialist and anti aspiration. "Why not, I want to be a billionaire". Or more likely, it's a message that doesn't resonate with people who just want to work hard to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families, they don't there to a ceiling on that, regardless of how high that ceiling is. The country isn't populated by a majority of raging socialists. To telling them they need full blown nationalisation plans is ridiculous. Labour were far too idealistic. They promised everything at once and more. Their manifesto reads like a utopian socialist vision of the future, not a realistic plan for getting election and government. Again, I liked the manifesto policies. But even I was uneasy about the level of ambition. Poverty and inequality rankle with me, and I'm on board with a Labour that is more left than Blair. But I'm also on board with a Labour government that can actually get elected. I posted a quote the other day which eluded to the fact that in first past the post politics, you won't find a party that perfectly matches your own politcs. But you have to pick one that is the best fit. Labour have always liked to say that they are a broad church, but this election proves that they are not. I'm a member of Unison, so I will be voting in the next Labour leadership election. And I was a Labour member. I left way before the election because I was exasperated at the hounding out of the 'Red Tories'. I would definitely consider myself as part of the left of the movement, but I also consider myself a pragmatist, there needs to an electoral appetite and a credible arguement to implement socialist policies. The more moderate voices in Labour have been bullied and hounded out by Corbynistas, who have diseased the party into an intolerant echo chamber. Guess what Corbynistas, some of the 'Red Tories' voted for the Tories. And guess what, we have a Tory government. "Oh Jeremy Corbyn" I was also disgusted that they allowed the anti Semitism issue to boil over. It's actually really easy to not be considered racist, isn't it? You deal with racism. Kick them all out, whether they're your mates or high profile figures. Get rid, talk to the community and heal the wounds. Corbyn messed up. I don't believe that Labour have lost the 'hearts' of their traditional supporters, but they have definitely started to lose the minds of them. Some of them have 'lent' their votes to the Conservatives to 'get Brexit done'. They might be able to win them back again in 5 years but not with anything that resembles Corbynism. Some of the good stuff needs to rebadged, because of Corbyn unpopularity. I'm not suggesting that Labour go full realpolitik, but they do need to get real. This election has been a disaster for them. I did think for quite a long time that Corbyn had moved to he party in the right direction and I think that is true to an extent, because they have been dangerously close to the Conservatives at times. Meh, it's hard. This election was also going to be difficult for any Labour leader, whichever way they swung on Brexit they were going to lose voters to other parties. It has however been a monumental failure of leadership to allow an election to happen in such circumstances and a difficult pill to swallow. As daft as this sounds, this election is a little bit like a big club getting relegated from the Premier League. It's awful, and it'll be hard. But it gives you a chance to rebuild. It forces you to rethink. Anyway, that was a lengthy rant, coming back to the original point I highlighted, to win an election you have to win the argument. What won't help though is blaming the electorate for losing the arguement.

They need someone that will win those centre left core voters back, keep lefty middle class voters and tempt some of the more liberal Conservative voters over the Labour. Easy job then. I think the candidate list is bleak, Starmer is the only credible option. They need someone that oozes aspiration and doesn't talk about the poor as if they are victims and can hold their own in a tense debate. I'm not sure Starmer fits the bill. Pick a continuity candidate and I'm out. Not sure where, but we can't go through that again.

Aye, but in the past they've not actually voted for the Conservatives. As in, they've not had to actually do anything for them, because they don't rely on them in an election anyway. My point is, Brexit will be crap for these places, so he's going to have to come up with something else.

My hope is that Boris Johnson is the shameless careerist that I think he is. I hope that he has used Raab and Rees Mogg as tools, in order to get him into power within the party and now he has complete power in parliament, he sidelines them in a cabinet reshuffle. I don't think Johnson is as right wing as Rees Mogg and Raab, both rabid free market loonies. They would both happily privitise the NHS and run a lord of the flies style government. Johnson isn't stupid, he's a canny political operator. That doesn't equate with being a good public servant though mind. This morning he is talking about investing in the NHS, schools and whatnot. And he's saying that he wants to look after the ex industrial towns that have for the first time voted for the Conservatives. The thing that bothers me, is that nobody really knows that Boris stands for. And the country has given him free reign to do what he wants. The alternative didn't in the least appeal to these ex industrial towns, so there we and they have it. The way I see it, the Tories are running out of excuses. Labour haven't been in power for 9 years and won't be for the next 5 either. Once Brexit is 'done', then they can't blame the EU or immigrants. There isn't much left for them to privitise. They're running a strong a parliamentary majority, not a coalition. It's on them now. It's going to be a long 5 years, but it's time for the Tories to step up and deliver. With a significant majority like they have won comes an expectation that they'll do something with it. They won't.

I would argue centre on social/culture, more centre than right.

Sad that the climate emergency clearly isn't a problem for the electorate. It also bothers me that the electorate don't mind being lied to. I was taught that lying was wrong.

Oh ****. That's a damning exit poll.

Early twitter rumblings that Boris Johnson is in serious danger of losing his seat. How hilarious would that be?

I try to not let politics 'get to me'. I'm generally quite good at it. Although I have to admit, it got me last week. The food bank were in Morrisons with flyers asking for donations. I only popped in to get cat food. As soon as the gentleman handed me the flyer and I understood what was going on, it stuck in my throat. I walked around Morrisons holding back tears buying them the requested items. This sounds ridiculous for a grown man, but I kept thinking of hungry children. How can we live in a country where people are so desperate that they need to go to a food bank? That is unforgivable. It's **** disgusting. Shame on us all for allowing that to happen. If I lived my childhood now, I'd have been down the food bank with my mum, no doubt in my mind. I was a 'free school meals' kid in the Blair years. It was a horrible stigma then. Blair might have a tainted legacy, but his Labour government ensured I got a good education (education, education!). No, inequality isn't inevitable and it certainly isn't necessary. We've been fed class envy nonsense for years and unfortunately it appears some people go for it. What are we if we can't help each other out? That's just one injustice the Tories have inflicted on the country. There are plenty more. “Voting isn't marriage, it's public transport. You're not waiting for ‘the one’ who's absolutely perfect: you're getting the bus, and if there isn't one to your destination, you don't not travel- you take the one going closest.” Voted Labour.

Spoil ballot! Really important that you vote, don't be ignored! Lots of people like you that need to be listened to.

The Conservatives are expected to win 5 seats in Wales.

I'm resigned to another 5 years of shit. I will watch for a while until the remaining hope drains out of me, and the inevitable becomes reality. Then on Friday night I will get thoroughly arseholed and watch Withnail and I to cheer myself up.

Kuensseberg is an absolute disgrace of a journalist. Her insidious Tory bias, has become blatant, outright propaganda. I cannot express my contempt for her. She should at least have the decency to be honest and put a blue rosette on and a 'Get Brexit done' badge. She is just as dangerous as her Tory overlords, because she wields significant influence and does so under the banner of being 'impartial'. "Don't shoot the messenger". **** off.

I've had literature from Conservatives (2 leaflets), Labour (2 leaflets), Lib Dems and Greens. Odd considering that the Tories have always had Mid Worcestershire. Although neighboring Worcester is a sorta Con-Lab marginal.

Leicester look like the sort of team that we want to be. They move the ball quickly, they look dynamic and fast. They've got some classy players and they're feckin quick. Brendan Rogers is doing a magnificent job. I would be delighted to see that sort of football from Villa. They are however, years ahead of us in terms of development. I'm confident that we can get to that level in a few years. This was probably the first result that I think could damage confidence. We were dismantled at home. The away fans were giving the olès. We didn't play well, we lost a few players to injury. It doesn't take a genius to spot that we concede far too many chances. We are too open. We don't defend well as a team. I also was massively frustrated by our inability to keep the ball today. We were sloppy, but also impatient. That needs to improve. I'm starting to believe that we made a mistake signing Wesley with the idea of him being our 1st choice striker. He works ever so hard but he doesn't seem able to make an impact on the game, maybe we need to be more direct to get the best out of him. The contrast between Vardy and Wesley today was not flattering for Wesley. It's also worth remembering that these players are still quite new to each other and they have not yet developed that understanding that gives continuity to performances. That's not giving them an excuse, but I certainly feel that if we can get into next season and remain in the Premier League, we'll be all the better for it.

Anecdotally, I've spoken to 5 strongly idealogical Greens who are voting Labour. I think this election feels like armageddon for them. It's important to have Greens in parliament, but it's even more important that we have a government that will take climate change seriously. Brexit is important, because everyone is telling us it is. But the reality is that it pales in comparison to importance of the climate emergency.

We're shite at defending.

What I would find funnier is a Labour landslide because the old folks homes couldn't get their residents to the poll booths.

I think in part because our voting habits are not reflective of society as a whole. Unfortunately, elections are decided by the older voters because in general they are much more likely to vote and they tend to vote Conservative. If everyone were to vote or if we had proportional representation we might well rid ourselves of the Conservatives.

Worth sharing only to highlight to any potential Conservative voters that you'll be on the same side of the argument as this waste of skin. Rhetoric encouraged by Boris Johnson.