While we’re all living through this “Labour bounce” period, it is worth reflecting on items such as this one in the Guardian yesterday under the title of “Guardian/ICM poll: Tories’ 12-point lead offers Labour crumbs of hope“. Because when you actually look at the psephology involved, it makes for dire predictions for everyone but the […]
Archives for May 2017
It was Corbyn’s night last night – but this is why I think it won’t matter
Last night’s Sky/Channel 4’s leaders debate did not go down as I had expected beforehand. I thought May would be solid but slightly dull, focusing more on the “coalition of chaos” stuff and less on the “strong and stable” tranche of her campaign thus far for fear of sniggering. She was dull; I’ll give her […]
Society has demonised politicans – and here’s why that’s so dangerous
Within a democracy, a healthy distrust of politicians is absolutely necessary. Those who wield power need to be held to account and the system doesn’t work if the government is simply thought by the public to be doing the best job possible, regardless. However, I think we’ve gone too far on the spectrum the other way; […]
Why I now dread what Morrissey will have to say after every horrific event we encounter
I suppose I should have been more prepared. A monumentally horrific terrorist attack occurs in the centre of Manchester, dozens of children murdered – it was very unlikely Morrissey wasn’t going to have something stupid/offensive to say about it. He’s become as reliable as Katie Hopkins in this regard. “In modern Britain everyone seems petrified to […]
How did doing as well as Ed Miliband become a yardstick for success?
We live in strange times. Scandals that would have been once in a presidency type stuff rock the Oval Office every single day. Closer to home, Ed Miliband’s performance in the 2015 general election, which let us remind ourselves involved the Labour Party losing 26 seats and handing the Tories a majority no one thought […]
Why the “leaders debate” last night was so depressing
I have a confession to make: I’ve only watched bits of last night’s debate between Tim Farron, Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood (aka Natalie), Caroline Lucas (apparently, also aka Natalie), and Paul Nuttall. It was simply too depressing to watch the whole thing all the way through. Remember a few years ago when everyone was talking about […]
Why the 2017 general election campaign is a bit like the EU referendum – and not in the way that you think
One of the reasons that I remain convinced that the general election will result in a landslide victory for the Tories – one greater than most pundits are currently predicting – is that on top of everything else going the Tories way, they are also the ones running what appears to be a very effective social media […]
Why the current Labour poll bounce is so good for Theresa May
The Tories face but one hurdle on June 8th: complacency. That thousands upon thousands of people who would vote for the Conservatives could they be arsed to drag themselves to a polling station will figure why bother, May has it in the bag, there’s no way that Corbyn can win. If you were Lynton Crosby, […]
This is the most anti-climactic general election ever, isn’t it?
Usually general elections carry with them some element of frisson. There’s normally an X-factor at play that makes the campaign exciting – at least, if you’re into that sort of thing. 2005 saw questions about how many seats the Lib Dems could take off the back of Iraq (answer: not nearly as many as most […]
Why the “Monsieur Zen” routine is causing long-term damage to the Labour brand (plus, why I’m so mean to Jeremy Corbyn)
I live in Camberwell, in what could be described as Camberwell-Peckham borders (in other words, when I’m applying for a bank account in live in Camberwell; when I want to seem edgy, I live in Peckham). It is, as most of you will know already, an incredibly diverse area, both ethnically and socio-economically. It is […]