Westminstenders: Christmas Cold, Campaigning, Canvassing and Cancelled Carols

[RedToothBrush]

It looks like a December General Election is on.

The EU have officially extended A50 until 31st January. We have to name an EU Commissioner though.

All that seems left to do is decide between the 9th and 12th December.

The difference between the two is about whether there is any possibility that the WAB can be passed before Parliament dissolves.

A pre-brexit GE is thought to favour the LDs at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives. What the Brexit Party decide to do and where they decide to stand will also be crucial.

As a side note, does a Dec GE mean we get rid of at least one of Johnson and Corbyn?

(looks for silver lining)

A bit late but bollocks. If we were going to have an election the 9th was imminently preferable to anyone stupid enough like me to be anyone's agent. Wah

Yes, If there is a coalition - or a C&S agreement - we need it to be stable,
so it can last for all / most of the full term and do the necessary work in the first stages of Brexit

We might get a succession of short-lived hung Parliaments
That would be chaotic, but much better than a majority hard right govt .... so long as it doesn't lead to the latter

Unfortunately, a hard-right majority is the most likely outcome on 12 Dec

Robert Peston@peston
Sort of extraordinary that having pushed so hard for a December election, and having goaded @jeremycorbyn and Labour into backing it at the last, the SNP and LibDems ended up abstaining on the final Commons vote (and one SNP MP @AngusMacNeilSNP voted against).

Just as an aside, I always think Tom Newton-Dunn is far too posh to be political editor of The Sun... I quite like him though, but Kevin Maguire of the Daily Mirror really does it for me.

I also really like Beth Rigby on Sky News. Who is the older (by TV standards) lady who's been reporting tonight?

Hoorah for a GE! I can spend hours watching my favourite pundits.

I know it was posted a few pages ago, but this is exactly what I thought whenI heard the news:

Just what we need for Christmas, another totally pointless election that'll resolve nothing. Then they'll break for Christmas and before you know it we've frittered away another extension.

What a waste of time! Just do your fucking jobs already! 🙄

The faint silver lining that Corbyn would resign shortly afterwards is no consolation if BJ wins a majority

If the Tories lose, there are a whole gang of nasties queuing up to replace him

The Sun has form for posh (old Etonian?) political editors and writers iirc.

@RedToothBrush see that's what happened here. The coalition collapsed after 2 years and back to the polls went we. And of course because the country saw the coalition collapse they gravitated towards the opposition party.

Robert Peston@peston
"Sort of extraordinary that having pushed so hard for a December election, and having goaded @jeremycorbyn and Labour into backing it at the last, the SNP and LibDems ended up abstaining on the final Commons vote (and one SNP MP @AngusMacNeilSNP voted against)."

I was wondering exactly that. Why did they end up abstaining?

I was wondering exactly that. Why did they end up abstaining?
I assume it was to do with the date issue. Or an amendment not going through issue.

Tory MPs begging BXP not to stand against them

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/29/tory-mps-asking-brexit-party-not-to-stand-against-them

Tory MPs are asking the Brexit party not to run candidates in their seats at an early general election,

according to the party’s chair, Richard Tice, as speculation mounts over the anti-EU party’s potential pacts in leave areas.

Tice said he received a frantic message from one Tory urging him not to stand a candidate in their constituency because they were facing a challenge from the Liberal Democrats.
“It wasn’t the first; it won’t be the last,” he said.

The texter, who sent the message on Monday as MPs returned to Westminster amid early election speculation, said that as a committed Brexiter they should be spared a challenge from Nigel Farage’s Brexit party.

PMK.

I've heard a lot of different views on what having a poll on this date will do to different groups of voters - hope they all cancel each other out!

That sounds like a load of bollox from Richard Tice.

Oh, I can believe there are quite a few Tory MPs running scared
while also believing the party as a whole will probably win the GE

..

pmk..

PMK with the FT poll tracker.

Obviously Conservatives will have their own internal polling but the ones I have seen he has not been doing that well in the North. He looks to be where needs to be in Wales and Mids.

I am less bothered about Labour leave voters in the North voting Conservative I am more concerned about Labour voters not voting at all and the very many 2016 leave voters that didn’t vote In 2017 turning out this time. These voters (pretzels angry train man) are an unknown quantity.

His support had dropped off a cliff in London Compared to TM where he was mayor for two terms Scotland also looks abysmal for him so he needs to make up a deficit there.

It is impossible to say. What the BXP decide to do will be key. Remember Farages original offer was I will take the North and you the South.

Yes, BXP and Conservatives working together would just about kill it off, I reckon.

Although there are perhaps some moderate tories who it would put off. Plus those who aren't necessarily tories but would vote for Johnson to 'get brexit done' and finish what was started.

Having said that, Farage has been pretty scathing about Johnson. And Johnson will need to campaign on the basis of a deal that Farage has crucified. So maybe it wouldn't work.

I don’t think he understands how much large swathes if the north feel about the conservatives. The shadow of the Thatcher years is still there. The hatred of the Tories is visceral and potent even now.

I don't understand what the parties are up to. However 3 members of my family will be holding their noses to vote libdem to keep the Tory and boris Johnson out. I hope that the Tory support nationally has been overestimated. It certainly had been with the May local elections; while the press were busy crowing about how badly Labour had done they weren't reporting the full scale of the Tory slaughter.

I agree with oubliette about how parts of the north will not vote Tory.

Suspect the Lib Dems sense we've reached peak remain and seek to capitalise by winning a few more seats. That'll backfire massively if Tories get a majority and can push through their brexit deal. Party before country for the LDs as well.