UK Election!

Yeah agreed @binners first thing she blamed was the legacy of the human rights act. She’ll be back in 2029 though somewhere I’d imagine

Even the sun’s had come out at number 10.

A good omen.

I’m actually a little misty, daft sod!

I actually feel genuinely emotional watching Starmer walk up Downing Street. It seemed unthinkable 5 years ago and represents the first cause for political optimism I’ve felt in what seems like an eternity

tobago – you’re thinking of Geoffrey Cox who, disappointingly, retained his seat.

I thought hunts speech was reasonable, referencing democracy and the Ukraine fight for their freedom

Bit he blew it trumping the Tory record of shitness

there’s a fairly lucrative potential future for him as a conservative talking head on Fox News and the like.

No, there’s not! He’s ugly, unreliable, boring, has a weird accent, and knows nothing about US politics. US viewers aren’t interested in him. There’s a million people in the queue ahead of him who are prettier and cheaper and have spent more years earning more favours.

I thought hunts speech was reasonable, referencing democracy and the Ukraine fight for their freedom

I agree, I know he won but he spoke really well. MCJnr met him last year and while disagreeing with him politically said he was a good speaker, could relate to people and command a room.

I dare him to mention his Dad was a toolmaker. He went close with his working class family

That Liz Truss video? Dear god! She really is a bungalow, isn’t she? Absolutely nothing going on upstairs!

There’s probably plenty going on, she’s just stuck in a K hole.

Phew. It wasn’t so much his speech, TBH.

More just sheer relief that we’ve got rid of a rabble that just got worse and worse over time.

I am genuinely hopeful for the country for the first time in a long time.

Who do you reckon is going to stand as next Tory leader? Braverman is obviously going to go for it, but who else? Will Hunt try to stand as the “not as much of a lunatic as the other options” candidate?

I didn’t find the speech inspiring at all. Nothing about what he will change, just politics is moving back to serving the public. Does that mean he’s getting rid of some of his team too?

Also give it a rest with he’s a man of the people

I thought that was a pretty decent speech actually. Clearly setting out their goals and acknowledging the public opinion on politics in general.

Daffy – Voters who voted reform are just protesting it was never going to come to anything, there is not enough racists in this country for them to ever matter.

“Also give it a rest with he’s a man of the people”

I actually find him quite relatable.

I’ve never liked showy people or liars.

Nothing about what he will change, just politics is moving back to serving the public.

I agree with you about the lack of fireworks. But you have to remember we’ve had a decade of total jokers who thought that politics was a platform for self-enrichment or trolling or sticking it to the ********s. It was a bit pedantic and weary headmaster in tone, but it’s totally consistent with the challenge: stop the ship sinking and then sailing it back in the right direction again.

Yep, I actually changed my post during his speech.
It was good enough for me, he actually sounded a little bit like a lefty.

I’m surprised that Tobias Elwood lost his seat; pleased that bob seely and paisley jnr lost theirs.

I think its just reassuring to know that after the absolute circus of recent years, there might actually be some grown-ups back in charge

He sounded like a civil servant not a campaign winning politician. I’ll take that service before triumphalism approach… thanks.

I think its just reassuring to know that after the absolute circus of recent years, there might actually be some grown-ups back in charge

Agreed.

Time for the centre and the the left to unite in standing up to the far right too.

I feel strangely deflated, whilst I’m delighted that Labour won and that the Lib Dems gained seats I’m uneasy about Mr Toad finally getting through the doors.

Good luck to Keir Starmer, he has some little shoes to fill.

(Shamelessly stolen from Twitter ?)

Has the Russian Embassy moved to Clacton yet?

I got a bit emotional voting yesterday, and a huge wave of relief watching him walk up downing Street.
I have a feeling the historical view of the last 14 years will not be a Rosey one. The damage done to this country will take a long time to repair

Anyone else think Starmer has had a bit of Botox recently? Forehead looking remarkably smooth for a 61 year old

I’m uneasy about Mr Toad finally getting through the doors.

I just listened to Farages speech again about him ‘coming for labour’ and creating a mass movement. I’ll put my house on Reform (in its present form) no longer being an ongoing concern by the next election and the man-frog will have moved on to whichever vehicle for his ego he sets up next.

He’s the attention span of a gnat and is always looking for the next grift. He’ll tire of this in no time once the election cameras have packed up and gone home

Who do you reckon is going to stand as next Tory leader? Braverman is obviously going to go for it, but who else? Will Hunt try to stand as the “not as much of a lunatic as the other options” candidate?

He’s got a safe seat.

He can be reasonably sure that they won’t win the next election in 5 years, so whoever is the next Conservative leader, won’t be the next PM.

There’s a dearth of experience and talent in the party at the moment, and what there is just want’s to scrap, who’d want to be LOTO without a cohesive shadow cabinet to support him?

He’s got the luxury of time to sit it out for the next few rounds and let the party tear itself to pieces then do a Starmer / Cameron and come back to make them electable again. Either that or he might have moved on from politics entirely by then.

Surprised how little the swing is to Lib Dems

Best result since 1923. Up from 8 to 71.

Did Gullis give a speech?

My money’s on Priti Patel for next Tory leader. She’s kept her head down, hasn’t frightened the horses and will be able to reinvent herself as the candidate that can bridge the wings of the Tosser party.

The LibDems did the best job of all the parties. Not my choice, but impressive electioneering.

Farage is a symptom not the cause of a much bigger problem and people are right to worry. Not particularly about him, but who comes after him. The UK is an outlier now in a western world drifting further and further right. I really hope the new Labour govt are going to be strong enough to fend off the coming storm. Certainly we are better placed now than had the tories remained in power but I’m genuinely worried that the size of the reform vote will embolden the far right – I think it’s pretty clear we will have something bigger and nastier to deal with by 2029 than the current Reform party.

Can you imagine the sense of FOMO Ashworth is feeling right now? Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. :-)

Anyone else think Starmer has had a bit of Botox recently? Forehead looking remarkably smooth for a 61 year old

That won’t last. Anyone who can remember will testify how fresh faced Tony Blair appeared when he arrived in Downing Street in 1997, approximately five years later he seemed to have aged about  twenty years.

I know that it probably doesn’t fit in comfortably with the preferred STW narrative but the job of prime minister is undoubtedly an extremely challenging, grueling, and draining, one.

If Starmer tries to hold back the inevitable with botox he will end up looking even more like a Thunderbird puppet.

I feel strangely deflated, whilst I’m delighted that Labour won and that the Lib Dems gained seats I’m uneasy about Mr Toad finally getting through the doors.

This.

They have to make this count, Reform need nipped in the bud and no longer be allowed a free pass. Labour need to enact policies that noticeably improve people’s lives, not just maintain the status quo. So far nothing they have said gives me confidence they will do that but would like to be proven wrong.

The UK is an outlier now in a western world drifting further and further right.

We were perhaps an early mover but really not an outlier any more, if anything we have drifted less than most.

If Labour want to truly trash Reform they just need to enact a law that compels MPs to turn up at the House and to do a set number of constituency surgeries per quarter of an automatic by-election is called.
Of course it might trash a few others too.

Who do you reckon is going to stand as next Tory leader?

All of them. They’ll all stand. The first round will be every single recognisable name thats left. In the end though, it’ll be Badanoch, Pritel and Braverman left standing to slug it out, because thae membership want a right wing loon. Rats in a sack

I’ve got my money on Braverman. Literally, at 9/1

Present odds are

Badanoch 2/1
Tom Tugendhat 3/1
Patel 5/1
Braverman 6/1

I think its just reassuring to know that after the absolute circus of recent years, there might actually be some grown-ups back in charge

Agreed. I think Starmer is actually going to be a proper statesmanlike leader. Probably better as PM than leader of the opposition. And I really believe that civic duty runs through his veins. After Johnson and Truss that is so so welcome.

But……I quite simply don’t trust the public. Gove’s quote from back in the Brexit debate days is running through my mind again and again…”Britain has had enough of experts”. I’m just not convinced a sizable minority of the uk population value the sort of job Starmer will attempt to do. Let’s be honest, the sort of people I’m talking about were always ****.wits. Too stupid to know what’s good for them. But they’ve been fed years of populism through the brexit vote, the Johnston years and looking across as the US and they like what they see. It’s kind of the Britain’s got Talent effect – absolute banality sprinkled with glitter and a bow….and ‘drama’. And worst – they (the voters I mean) have somehow been empowered to think their love for this shit is ok. More than ok – that liking this shit makes them enlightened.