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AIBU?

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Original poster

Tories lose over 1000 seats in local elections

427 replies

noblegiraffe · 05/05/2023 19:24

Which was their damage limitation number so when they lost 800 they could say 'we've not done as badly as we feared'.

AIBU to be cracking open the champagne while they try to figure out how the hell they can put a positive spin on this?

OP posts:
Piggywaspushed · 06/05/2023 15:07

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 15:00

Not everyone had local elections. The vote turn out was pretty low anyway.

I wouldn’t pay too much notice about local election results.

Let's see what many of the places that didn't have local elections have in common? Ah yes, Labour heartlands.

Travis1 · 06/05/2023 15:07

Nightlystroll · 05/05/2023 19:44

But didn't you expect them to lose in these huge numbers? I can't believe people thought they wouldn't.

Show quote history

After the shit show that is uk politics since the eu referendum I no longer expect anything from
the public

Freshfoods · 06/05/2023 15:15

Florenz · 06/05/2023 07:38

I think the main problem Labour have is that Starmer doesn't seem like a PM. He doesn't have the charisma. He comes across as someone that should be the man behind the man, like Brown was to Blair. But there isn't really anyone better than him to have as leader. So there's no solution. I expect they will still win anyway but it'll be narrower than people expect. Now that Sturgeon is gone (and discredited) they'll win back some seats in Scotland, and now that Boris is gone they'll win back some seats in the Red Wall, but not all of them.

I don't think that charisma should be a criteria for PM. Boris had charisma in spades, and look what happened. I would like to see Starter have a go at being PM.

99victoria · 06/05/2023 15:28

Charisma is not a characteristic I have ever looked for in a Prime Minister - someone who works hard, is honest and not driven by self-interest would be a good start 🙄

itsgettingweird · 06/05/2023 15:34

TrickorTreacle · 06/05/2023 14:13

Today @jgw1 is the coronation, so I'm not banging on about that. I'm still banging on about yesterday as I feel that is more important.

It's no "joke" about Labour and their GC issues.

It's no joke that all the men being allowed into woman's spaces because TWAW have happened on Tory watch since 2017.

They are the ones that have owed men running domestic abuse refuges as woman. They are the the ones that allowed men into female hospital wards to commit rape and they are the ones letting men into female changing rooms.

TooBigForMyBoots · 06/05/2023 15:51

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 15:03

The Tories have a big vote share amongst pensioners. Not all obviously, but a lot particularly in the south of England.
I can’t see them voting differently in a GE.

Businesses and rich people will continue to vote Conservative too. They want to hold onto their money.

Business has fallen out of love with the Tory party due to their shambolic Brexit, high running costs and closures. Apart from their mega rich donors, the party has lost support in all their demographics. Including Conservative party members who didn't want Sunak and see him as a snake who brought Boris down and destroyed their election chances. Many feel betrayed by the parliamentary party.

The Coronation is doing a great job holding this catastrophic loss off the front pages, but there is panic in the party. We will see how this plays out for Sunak over the next few weeks.

RampantIvy · 06/05/2023 16:27

Business has fallen out of love with the Tory party due to their shambolic Brexit, high running costs

Brexit has caused big headaches for the company I work for. We have a branch in Dublin and the red tape we have to go through to export goods is a costly PITA.

QueenMegan · 06/05/2023 16:40

Is anyone surprised.
Kier Starmer is a good man boring perhaps but intelligent and he genuinely cares.
My only worry is they will have to spend a fortune clearing up the utter disintegration of services throughout the country

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 17:25

John Major was seen as uncharismatic. The grey man.
But probably better than some of the other Tory PMs we’ve had.

jgw1 · 06/05/2023 17:37

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 17:25

John Major was seen as uncharismatic. The grey man.
But probably better than some of the other Tory PMs we’ve had.

The current Tories make me pine for the Milk Snatcher.

MotherofPearl · 06/05/2023 18:56

The current Tories make me pine for the Milk Snatcher.

I agree. I may not have agreed with her policies, but at least she had principles and ideals, and believed that what she was doing was in the best interests of the country. The current lot are only in it for self-interest and have no principles whatsoever.

wheresmymojo · 06/05/2023 19:12

I feel like someone needs to bring out a remix of 'Things Can Only Get Better'!!!

Florenz · 06/05/2023 20:58

Freshfoods · 06/05/2023 15:15

I don't think that charisma should be a criteria for PM. Boris had charisma in spades, and look what happened. I would like to see Starter have a go at being PM.

Show quote history

It shouldn't be a criteria, but it is. Labour need to campaign based on the world as it is, not the world as they want it to be. Losing and blaming the electorate for voting wrongly is not something that should happen in politics.

TheHandmaiden · 06/05/2023 21:15

Delivery and performance is what we need, charisma is useless without those. You just get a narcissist.

Johnson's ticket was that he was a liar but this didn't matter as he would deliver. He lied about that.

If we are anything like the States after their disastrous experiment with Trump it's going to be someone technocratic - Sunak is that, so is Starmer.

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 21:57

I will never, ever forgive Liz Truss. Her disastrous and unnecessary budget cost me to lose over £2000 per year , my mortgage deal ran out a few days after her shit show in office.
I can’t believe she can just show her face and still keep smirking!

FFS anyone with a mortgage or who rents is or will be worse off as a direct result of Liz Truss. And thats the majority of the population. Why isn’t she more hated ?

Florenz · 06/05/2023 22:02

TheHandmaiden · 06/05/2023 21:15

Delivery and performance is what we need, charisma is useless without those. You just get a narcissist.

Johnson's ticket was that he was a liar but this didn't matter as he would deliver. He lied about that.

If we are anything like the States after their disastrous experiment with Trump it's going to be someone technocratic - Sunak is that, so is Starmer.

You have to win an election to be able to deliver and perform. You can be the greatest political mind on earth but if people don't want to vote for you, it means nothing. Some people just aren't suitable to stand for PM.

TooBigForMyBoots · 06/05/2023 22:04

You have plenty of company @Paul2023. So many mortgage holders in the UK have been done over by Trussterfuck economics. They will not forget it before the next GE.

TheHandmaiden · 06/05/2023 22:04

I just cannot believe she won over her party. She was an absolute lunatic in economics terms and very very right wing. It tells you just how messed up the Conservatives are that the members didn't think that her clear plan of borrowing to cut tax was a bad one. I mean, they actually thought she could outsmart the financial markets.

Seriously, they are finished. They don't have the talent to sustain themselves as a party.

Florenz · 06/05/2023 22:16

The Tories will always be around. It's stupid to think they're finished and that they'll go away after the next GE. Labour will get in for a while, and then the Tories will get back in again.

TheHandmaiden · 06/05/2023 22:20

Oh I'm sure they will be back, but this Brexit incarnation is over.

Governments lose power. This one is just bleeding slowly. It's not possible to suddenly change the problems the UK has. If we are lucky inflation will drop. But those high prices will be fixed in for the next year.

WhiteFire · 06/05/2023 22:55

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 21:57

I will never, ever forgive Liz Truss. Her disastrous and unnecessary budget cost me to lose over £2000 per year , my mortgage deal ran out a few days after her shit show in office.
I can’t believe she can just show her face and still keep smirking!

FFS anyone with a mortgage or who rents is or will be worse off as a direct result of Liz Truss. And thats the majority of the population. Why isn’t she more hated ?

I am probably not the only one but I don't actually understand what she did, I know it was bad (everyone tells me such) but I don't know much more than that.

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 23:15

WhiteFire · 06/05/2023 22:55

I am probably not the only one but I don't actually understand what she did, I know it was bad (everyone tells me such) but I don't know much more than that.

Show quote history

She went ahead with a budget that was not needed. She promised tax cuts, despite being advised against this. She was warned that interest rates would rise, going ahead with the financial decisions she wanted to make.
Almost immediately, the markets blew up and the Bank of England had to step in. This was almost unprecedented.
The banks all put their interests rates up very quickly. The economy was in turmoil.

Had Sunak have won the leadership battle in the first place, this disaster wouldn’t have occurred and people’s mortgages wouldn’t have gone up so fast.

Sunak said on tv during a leadership debate that Truss’ economic plan would lead to higher interest rates. He was right.

Absolute fuckwits, whoever voted her as leader.

Paul2023 · 06/05/2023 23:19

All governments eventually have a sell by date. Possibly the Tories might scrape another victory.
But I’m sure they’ll lose lots of voters. Even the Tories are at war with eachother, how can anyone understand their politics when they can’t agree on anything?

MidlandCatGirl · 06/05/2023 23:29

I unwittingly stumbled upon the local Tory MP for my area being heartily congratulated in the local supermarket on his win (which was v suspish as the results didn’t get announced for another 6 hours).

I carried on shopping and encountered him in another aisle, this time being asked if he’d be “going out later in to town to celebrate your win”. He replied with a look of abject horror on his face with the line “Oh fuck no”.

Speaks (screams) volumes really.

Florenz · 06/05/2023 23:38

Labour are 5/1 on with bookies so I think it's pretty much certain. The Tories 7/2.