Westminstenders: Election Special 3

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Some great women in that postwar Labour govt: Summerskill, Ellen Wilkinson and Jennie Lee.

I vaguely remember the short-lived (as PM) Alec Douglas-Home, whom my mum adored:
"a real old-fashioned gentleman, too nice for politics"
I agreed later with her opinion

I remember Harold Wilson well, Heath of course - and Mike Yarwood's shaking shoulders impersonation!

I like & trust John Major, so wan't bothered in 1992
I always thought Blair was an insubstantial smarmy git
and the same for Cameron

hmm, my opinion of Major continues high, but my opinion of the other 2 has sunk further to subteranean levels.

Home was a scumbag, as revealed by his role in the D'Oliveria scandal as President of the MCC doing a dirty deal with the South African Nazis.

Something called "Blue Labour" is trending on Twitter.

The 1945 Labour govt especially was phenomenal in radically changing Britain

The Tories have spent all the years since trying to reverse what they did, but daren't state this as policy objectives
hence the institutions like the NHS subjected to deaths of a thousand cuts

I jut posted this on another thread but it is relevant here

In this election, lifelong Labour voters didn't automatically vote Labour - some of them voted Tory for the first time
Do we have any evidence to prove that people jumped all the way from labour to Tory ?

Labour to BXP I can fully believe eg Sedgefield
Tory got 3500 votes more than last time
Labour got 7100 less
BXP/UKIP got 1700 more
LibDem got 1200 more
Green got 300 more

In 1983, Tony Benn declared the election result a great victory for Socialism, since so many people had voted for a proper socialist manifesto. It was Roy Hattersley that observed, With victories like that, who needs defeats?

Hume was a Tory of his (prehistoric) time, before public acceptance / awareness of the need for racial equality

He was the last person to become PM while a member of the HoL, although he gave up his title for the remaining months of his premiership

• didn't help

He was out of place in postwar Britain, even in a Britain years before Labour brought in the first race relations act

I worry about Farage waiting in the wings to pounce in the North/Midlands if Boris fails.

As long as he controls the narrative, Boris cannot fail. Same way he could not fail during the election campaign.

If Boris tells us all is going well, and the MSM that put him there agree, then any contrary views are just sour grapes.

Same goes for Brexit. Boris says it's all going to plan, and Farage tries to argue it isn't. Who's gonna win ? Farage is already fast becoming yesterdays man - as the grilling AN gave him election night shows.

Interesting LQ - So other parties got 3200 extra votes, making only 300 extra for the Tories. Who knows whether they were jumping from Labour or people who stayed at home before?

We should ask the BBC/Laura Kuennsberg to find them - it's the sort of thing they would really enjoy.

A lot of Labour votes must have stayed at home.

Could I just mention Squid who I don't think we have heard from for a day or two. Please keep up the good work. If you do have to resign or you up sticks to work elsewhere, you will know you have done your utmost and have a clear conscience.

Farage is History.

I expect he'll quite like it there.

Peregrina
The total number of votes cast was almost identical .....
So the swing was away from Labour to other parties
possibly including the Tories
no definite proof of Labour >>>>> Tory

I CBA to do the analysis for all of the seats - I'm sure one of the bloggers will

The serious problem was the failure of cabinet govt. He undermined it at every turn and when he pulled a fast one with the legal advice, only Cook and Short dissented, whilst obsequious reptiles like Straw and Hoon just rolled over.

You could change a couple of names and be describing the past 2 years ....

an English degree, (please take one, as it says above every loo roll in every student union in the land. or ought to)

Now it’s been established Blair’s degree is in law, can I say I’m massively offended by the slur on my English degree! In any case, I thought it was Sociology degrees in the loo roll reference. I love the Summerskill joke, what was she thinking?

I can't remember who called the 1983 manifesto "the longest suicide note in history"
just that it was a line used in many newspapers

The manifesto had many controversial leftwing policies, e.g.

abolishing the HoL (sounds reasonable now),
unilateral nuclear disarmament (cancelling Trident (quite popular in at least Scotland now),
and leaving the then EEC (an even worse idea now, when we jave the SM and are far far more integrated than in 1983)

I wonder if Summerskill was deliberately playing to the gallery

MrsT did that a few times in the HoC
e.g. "I have the latest red hot figure" when giving an answer about numbers of something

English, Sociology or Media, usually,

But never History and Politics because that's a proper sersitffikitt.

ANother turning point in UK history:
If MrsT had lost the Falklands war, then Labour would probably have won, but in a GE shortly afterwards, not in 1983:

The US - which priorotised its South American interests - initially ordered her to accept a peace plan which would have given General Galtieri, the Argentinian President / military dictator 80 % of what Argentina wanted

However, Galtieri wanted 100% and gambled that he could defeat Britain

MrsT said that if Galtieri had agreed to the plan, she would have been forced to as well by President Reagan
(she remembers Suez and knew the US would slap Britain down similarly if she refused)

and she said this would have caused her govt to fall
( so much for the Special Relationship, even between a Conservative PM and POTUS)

I thought it was Sociology too - but I stayed schtumm because that was my first degree! I have atoned for it since by getting a proper degree in Earth Sciences.

Me too also

Solidarity, sister !

( I now teach English and - ummm- sociology... and media..)

PMK

Bog roll degrees were definitely the ology's in my day, particularly Sociology
it was grafittid onto the wall in the "social sciences" building toilets

BigChoc
During the Falklands I had a half Russian, half Argentinian teacher who was pro Thatcher

I have done the analysis for Bolsover - Denis Skinner's old seat

Turnout down by 2% but turnout is pretty consistent over the last decade.

Tory increase 2926
Labour loss 7661
BXP/UKIP increase 2022
LD increase 1372
Others 1745 - Green/and 2 Indeps who didn't stand in 2017

Same pattern - a big slug going to BXP/UKIP and more going to LD/Others, so just how many did jump straight from Labour to Tory? Not quite as many as I suspect they are trying to make out.

I don't know whether I read this link here or elsewhere, but take heart:

Four Pillars of Don't Panic