Results like these at a general election would mean Tory annihilation

[noblegiraffe]

Says a BBC headline this morning.

Anyone else stockpiling popcorn?

Absolutely agree

We can’t really compare this to the Blair/Brown years. Yes many were fed up with the Tories then but Blair and his shadow cabinet were capturing voters he was like a breath of fresh air. The Labour Party are doing so well now because the Tories are in such a bad place but don’t expect all this disappointed Tories to vote Labour or not turn up to vote in the next GE

Excellent news!

Heads to Daily Mail comments section

I agree Labour can’t be complacent though but with someone as cautious and ‘sensible’ as Starmer as leader, I don’t think that will happen.

@Fieldofbrokenpromises thank you 🙏🏻😊

I find it a bit sad that only about a third of the electorate bothered to vote, which suggests general apathy for all parties.

By-elections are not a good indicator for general elections. They tend to have much lower turnout and many people treat them as a “protest vote”.

That said, what they can do is a) cause complacency for the winning side and b) drive turnout next time for the losing side.

As a centrist I’m still undecided on how I will vote at the next GE - the Tories are an utter shower right now but equally I’ve not heard enough policy from Labour and from the little they have said I have reservations over parts of it. As for the Lib Dems, well, 🤡

I was just wondering about the 2 child limit and would they abolish that

@tpxqi Im rather with you there. Far too many problems for Labour to deal with. I respect some Labour MPs but some are not bright enough. Ditto Conservatives. We need less politics and more people with longer term vision. Few have it. There’s also too much reliance on sound bites and short term wins. We also only have 17% of MPs with stem degrees. The issues we face need far more MPs understanding stem. MPs are not selected for ability or experience. They are selected for short term goals.

I don't for one second believe that this result will be replicsted at a GE. There are still enough dyed-in-the-wool Tories, who'd vote for a cabbage with a blue rosette on, to ensure that the venal bastards are still an opposition, at least.

But election night will be delicious, all the same. Looking forward for a few good Portillo moments (that's assuming the worst of the current govt don't bail out of their seats before that to avoid further humiliation).

Popcorn and, I hope, champagne! And no, I don't think Labour are the answer to all my prayers but they may just about stop the country sliding completely into the mire. Just about...

They need to bloody well crack on and let us have our say.

I’d love for a party to make it pay to work by ensuring employers were paying enough and rents were under control so working people didn’t need to rely on UC / housing benefit etc.

But considering working tax credits were introduced under labour (I think?) I can’t see that happening.

Each party seems to like cultivating a dependency on government, which they can then spin around when politically expedient to say they’re “cracking down” on benefit claimants, as if its not their fault many people’s income can’t stretch to cover stupidly high rent despite the fact they’re working full time.

Honestly, nobody knows. The cap is anathema to general Labour ideology but SKS has refused to commit ahead of an election.

Let’s bloody hope so!

I was just wondering about the 2 child limit and would they abolish that

I think that would be very unlikely as it's not a 'big issue' in that most people aren't thinking about it or worry about it but it does reduce the benefits bill.

But if they did draw attention to abolishing it then voters would be thinking about it and a lot of people would be against it.

The problem we have is that the poor want money provided by everyone else. Taxation is at record levels and it’s still not enough. Non dom tax is a drop in the ocean. It’s rhetoric. Taxing working people more probably isn’t an option. Liz Truss was right about needing greater productivity. She just didn’t understand how to get it. All parties need to look at improving productivity. They probably don’t have the brains to do it but unless we do, we sink further back and no one gets more from government spending because they simply don’t have the money.

The Tories have known for some time that they will lose.

Their aim now is to do whatever they can to make the future Labour government single term only.

Why do you think RAAC came out when it did? Getting all the expensive stuff out, especially stuff which will cost money and cause disruption for approx 5 years.

(Edited: dreaded loose/lose autocorrect)

It's not surprising given how awful, corrupt and shite the current gov is. That said I don't think labour as it is now is much to celebrate either. There's no party in this country that has solid plans of how to support workers and also (rightly) support those who are vulnerable and cannot work etc- of how to improve public services without ridiculous unworkable ideas. Again, labour will do better than the tories I'm sure because the bar is truly in hell, but wish labour would get back to their roots and core ethos.

Mid beds would probably have had an element bigger win if some of their campaigners weren't so bloody rude. If I hadnt done any research or was on the fence (I wasn't, I voted Labour just to be clear) I wouldn't have voted for them.

Agree. I'm spoiling my ballot in the GE.

I live in a Tory stronghold & would absolutely love to see them lose their seat here. Current useless Tory incumbent not standing again at next election but I’m sure they will rustle up someone equally odious.

Labour won’t get in where I live though, it’d be Lib Dem.

I don't think Alistair Strathern (mid Beds) will lose the seat at the next election. I predict eh will be warm, capable and well liked. He isn't just keeping a Tory seat warm. The press are not examining the huge demographic change in mid Beds which has the fastest growing population in the UK.

But mid beds wasn't Labour vs tories. It was everyone vs nadine dorries. She hasn't done a bit of work for months.

Low turnout favours Tories, bear in mind.

Do you live there?

That's not the whole picture.

Clearly Sunak's tactic of pandering to the right is putting off his own voters. Time to put Braverman back on the back benches.

This is the Tory candidate for Tamworth who drew a flow chart in lockdown telling people who couldn't feed their kids to Fuck Off.

https://x.com/LewisJWarner/status/1715207893828452455?s=20

NEW: This is the moment Tamworth's Conservative candidate Andrew Cooper makes a swift exit as Sarah Edwards begins her winning speech.

He was in the building for less than five minutes.

Sarah Edwards tells me: "We have seen his true colours, it is a shame."