That Tom Hunt thing is amazing! From his post we are expected to believe that he has no passport or driving license. Really Tom, really?
most people aren’t stupid
My mum's partner is an otherwise very sensible bloke and I love him dearly, but he has a fear of Labour that is frankly incomprehensible. He's a working man, been a union member all his life, a machinist at a car parts manufacturer, and has had all the benefits of a man of his generation, and yet he still thinks that voting Labour essentially means that the very next day, his house will be worth nothing, black lesbian single mums will be handed untold millions in benefits while the roads are left until they are a series of pot-holes vaguely held together with road-paint.
There are millions just like him
How can you potentially be in some national security related role and be so stupid?
They've spent a decade choosing only candidates from a shrinking pool of people who believe in the promise of Brexit.
This is what they will be fighting for the next five years: not Labour but their own legacy of terrible choices for MPs. If they are lucky they will be completely wiped out and can start afresh.
The worst possible outcome would be only a small defeat by Labour.
So the bojo thing....I'm assuming that it was just a classic Johnson 'ooh look at me my trousers have fallen down' type publicity stunt.
But that guy Tom Hunt....wtaf?!
I’m assuming that it was just a classic Johnson ‘ooh look at me my trousers have fallen down’ type publicity stunt.
My money instead would be on him being an lazy buffoon who didnt have an aide to sort out the details for him for once.
Lee Anderthal
The proverbial child in a mans body. The buffoon turd of the times.
I hope rish! stays on til the bitter end, the infighting reaching a screeching crescendo as they claw each other's eyes out come the general election and slip slowly beneath the waves leaving nothing but an oily slick of shame
They’ve spent a decade choosing only candidates from a shrinking pool of people who believe in the promise of Brexit.
And after an electoral drubbing, the only ones left will be the real swivel-eyed loons, who will then make Braverman or Badanoch their leader and march off so far to the right that they’ll make Tice, Farage and Co look like Caroline Lucas
So where Reform did stand they have indeed hurt the Tories, not as high polling as UKIP (which is good for labour -they don't seem to be taking their votes)
2 people will care about this: Sunak- the reform threat is real I can see a lurch even further to the right (especially as lib Dems not maxing out in blue wall where harder right policies lose the Tories votes)
and Farage,......... if he sees an opportunity for grift (& a safe reform seat- he wont risk the humiliation of an 8th defeat as an MP candidate) he will be back as the leader in a fash, that would spell even bigger trouble for Sunak & probably force the Tories even farther right- ECHR referendum?
Farage won't stand, he knows he will lose. Plus if he did get in his register of members interests would be visible and he won't ever want that
This is what they will be fighting for the next five years: not Labour but their own legacy of terrible choices for MPs. If they are lucky they will be completely wiped out and can start afresh.
They'll also be fighting a Reform insurgency. The only way Farage Ltd will get actual seats is by climbing inside the hollowed-out corpse of the Conservative Party like Edgar the Bug in Men in Black, and strutting around pretending to be the Tories while ditching 'moderates' and installing cockroach far-right candidates.
'Tom Hunt': how cockney rhyming slang evolves
"Farage,……… if he sees an opportunity for grift (& a safe reform seat- he wont risk the humiliation of an 8th defeat as an MP candidate) he will be back as the leader in a fash"
I see what you did there. If that was deliberate, very well played. If it was a mistake, very well played.
do also think people should just temper their GE expectations a little too, these are local elections only, where loyal Tory voters might register their displeasure with a protest vote for a Reform councillor but a fair proportion of those headbangers will stay blue for a GE recognising the impact to their gang if they fully abandon them.
I disagree. Reform will have more candidates in a GE than are standing in.local elections, which will eat into the Tory vote. Also, Lib dems and Greens will probably do better locally than in a GE, which splits the centre left vote and hurts labour.
Dominic Greive being sensible on the BBC just now - a leadership battle would be stupid and drive the party further to the populist right, and lose the centrist voters you need to win a UK election.
Luckily being sensible in the Tory party is very much a minority viewpoint
I see what you did there. If that was deliberate, very well played. If it was a mistake, very well played
im glad someone spotted it and it was very deliberate
Graham I agree he wont want his finances exposed, its pretty insane that the party polling 3rd in the polls is not a party at all, just a secretive limited company with no internal democracy whatsoever, in those terms looks more like a pressure group designed to beat the Tories into doing their bidding
Lee Anderson not able to contain his inner 8 year old in that R4 interview.
I know, taking issue with the statement that he defected to Reform, claiming he was an "Independent MP" that switched party...
Lee, mate call it what you like, but the rest of the country knows you defected (again) because you're just that sort of self interested, disloyal twunt...
Farage won’t stand, he knows he will lose. Plus if he did get in his register of members interests would be visible and he won’t ever want that
He's tried (and failed) before to become an MP, and of course as pointed out by 30p He did (technically) serve as an MEP.
Nige likes the political limelight and notoriety, whether or not He's twigged that actually taking office is a royal pain in the arse and comes with more expectations/responsibility than spouting from the side-lines has yet to be determined.
I'd say Nigel running is 50/50 and mainly comes down to whether or not he thinks the gouge they've taken out of the Tories in these locals will actually translate to a reasonably safe Reform seat somewhere?
He won't want the humiliation of losing, especially if he's declared in 3rd place having split the Tory vote in favour of a Labour candidate (the general prediction for reform), those 'Optics' would be very damaging for Reform (and great fun to watch).
So the real question has to be, is there actually a nailed on Reform seat to be had for Uncle Nige?
(Other than 30p Lee's, cause they won't want to sacrifice him at the Altar of Farage)...
Luckily being sensible in the Tory party is very much a minority viewpoint
Dominic Grieve and his like haven’t been welcome in the Tory party for a decade now
They quoted an anonymous Tory MP on Radio 4 the other day saying ‘to try and put another leader in place now would make us look absolutely insane. Are we mad enough to do it? Yes!’
https://twitter.com/harry_horton/status/1786334019065376942
https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1786334673930453101
So the real question has to be, is there actually a nailed on Reform seat to be had for Uncle Nige?
Well there was a seat which by all accounts he should have comfortably won, the last one that he contested - South Thanet.
It was a UKIP stronghold and Thanet is the only local council which UKIP have ever controlled.
I have no idea why he didn't win the seat, apart from the fact that he's a ****, it certainly wasn't due to him not getting enough publicity.
Iirc he was crying afterwards that the Tories had played dirty by having a former UKIP member standing as their candidate.
Richard Holden, the Conservative party chair, described these election results as “typical for a government in midterm”.
On Sky news. I mean I know that's what they always say, but man, honestly; we're just months away from a G.E. Mid Term results...🙄
Lee, mate call it what you like, but the rest of the country knows you defected (again) because you’re just that sort of self interested, disloyal twunt…
Its less defecting and more jumping before he is shoved.
Again.
Left labour whilst under investigation for being an arse.
Left tories whilst under investigation for being an arse.
Should be third time lucky though given being an arse seems to be a positive for reform.
Shame Houchen remains.
Could have done with a new mayor and then a proper investigation into the freeport.
Which to be fair does seem to have lived up to its name for his businessmen associates who have been given plenty.
He’s tried (and failed) before to become an MP, and of course as pointed out by 30p He did (technically) serve as an MEP.
Yeah - wasn't he one of those with their snouts in the trough - took home a lovely paycheck but had one of the worst attendance records & did nothing (when he could've actually helped people of this country with fishing quotas etc..)
Shame Houchen remains.
Could have done with a new mayor and then a proper investigation into the freeport.
Which to be fair does seem to have lived up to its name for his businessmen associates who have been given plenty.
Im not sure he will be comfortable with Labour in government looking over his shoulder and looking like a bug swing to Labour, compared with his last election
crazy-legs
Full MemberCynical me reckons it was probably a stage managed “get his name in the news again” stunt.
Cynical me thinks it's search engine poisoning. "Boris Johnston doesn't follow rules he made for everyone else" is now a "whoops aren't I silly" story rather than an "I partied while you were restricting the numbers at your mum's funeral" story.
Could Rishi rush through PR to stave off an electoral catastrophe ?
Can't imagine his headbangers would let him, as it would allow the tories to filter out nutters if they chose
Catching up with the various car crash radio interview in the car at the moment.
A nasty former Tory advisor was delightfully honest with Adrian Chiles when he said the only age group the Tories had a lead in was the over 70s, and if they wait 6 months for an election 0.5% of their support will have died.
Could Rishi rush through PR to stave off an electoral catastrophe ?
I think from a Tory perspective they've set the president that PR is a referendum issue. We've all forgotten about it now - but thats how Dave started his strategy of using referendums to make inconvenient things like PR, Scottish Independence and Brexit go away (with varying levels of success). With PR - he didn't want it but it was a Liberal party demand as part of their coalition - so he rushed through a referendum vote on a schedule that didn't really allow for the topic to be discussed
Elsewhere in the UK PR based voting systems seem to have been established quite readily, uncontrovercially, without having to 'go to the country' to make that happen but at Westminster level 'the public have spoken' and rejected PR which makes it awkward to try and establish it without again having a vote.
That wouldn't stop the tories from doing it if they thought it was to their advantage.
And it would probably only be in their advantage in the coming general election, long term it would be a big disadvantage for them, so it would be a case of the current crop of grifters hanging onto some seats (it wouldn't be enough to get them anywhere near a win) against party performance in subsequent elections. Currently they might just go for it, they seem completely oblivious to anything that might happen the next day never mind a few years down the road.
Would a president set a precedent?
With PR – he didn’t want it but it was a Liberal party demand as part of their coalition – so he rushed through a referendum vote on a schedule that didn’t really allow for the topic to be discussed
And then it wasnt even PR but the crap AV.
I think his success at rigging that one and then scraping through the Scottish one gave him delusions about his abilities to persuade the public. Thinking it was all him vs the fact the right wing rags happened to be on the same side during both of those.
I’m not entirely convinced people have a long enough memory to punish the Tories for a generation, though they absolutely should be.
Folk don't remember last year, it's the media that reminds them - how many folk do you hear blame Labour for the"70's" when both Labour & the Tories pretty much shared running the country across the decade?
And notice how the 'media' never reminds folk of the early 90's? Utter 5h1tshow and all under the Tories.
It still amazes me that ordinary low-paid folk are still voting Tory - just how bad do you want your life to be?
Tory Ben Houchen retains Tees Valley Mayorship, after campaigning that supporters should base their choice of mayor on local issues, and ignore Westminster politics.
Andrea Loathsome response - a "testament to the Conservative government"
Wired to the ******* moon, they are.
Folk don’t remember last year, it’s the media that reminds them
Which is why I don't understand why voters still appear to be punishing the LibDems for what they decided to do 14 years ago.
The media doesn't really remind voters about the LibDem's fateful decision to form a coalition with the Tories in 2010, but nevertheless the LibDems are lucky to get half of the support they received in the 2010 general election, pre cosying-up with the Tories.
Tory Ben Houchen retains Tees Valley Mayorship, after campaigning that supporters should base their choice of mayor on local issues, and ignore Westminster politics.
Did those "local issues" include alleged corruption?
Could YOU vote for someone involved in this?
Lord Houchen was the only candidate on stage not to wear a party rosette at the Tees Valley count, saying later he “forgot”.
Yeah right.
It still amazes me that ordinary low-paid folk are still voting Tory – just how bad do you want your life to be?
marginally better than the person you perceive to source of your woes.
ie immigrants coming over here stealing my job/doctors appt/house etc etc.
punching downwards, greatest trick the tories ever pulled.
PR would be a disaster for the tories, they know perfectly well that they only get to form governments because of FPTP, if you assume the same spread of votes then every government in my lifetime would have been a centre-left coalition or minority government with the tories as the biggest opposition. They have a political system that magically turns 43% into a crushing landslide majority and 40% into an electoral disaster and lets them pretend that we're a naturally conservative country. They'd be utterly insane to change it. And for what? So they can lose slightly less massively?
But of course every recent tory leader would still do it instantly if they thought it would stop them being murdered by their own cabinet for a couple of weeks.
The Tories do seem to be getting a drubbing, appear to have lost more seats than they've won so far, and the lib dems seem to just behind in terms of seats one.
Interestingly Labour haven't gained as many seats as the Tories have lost, probably because a disproportionate number of the councils that have declared so far were Labour to begin with so not as much opportunity to pick up votes.
Reform still on zero, Oh dear, what a shame, never mind.
Has Lil Rishi booked his one way ticket to California yet?
Interestingly Labour haven’t gained as many seats as the Tories have lost
Labour have done relatively poorly in seats with higher percentage of Muslim voters. Ex Labour independents have taken those votes.
In one council the Torys held control by one councillor by by unsuspending a councillor that was suspended whilst they investigate a sex offences allegation...
They really have no morals at all. Zero.
They have to go, at all costs.