The left in the UK needs to accept they alone do not have majority support and need to work with what they term the “soft left” and more centrist factions to win. The current Labour leadership need to ensure that the left still has a stake in Labour winning, and give enough to motivate the left to vote and campaign for Labour. Look at the lessons learnt by the US Democrats.
Despite everything that has happened, it would be a serious mistake to underestimate the British Conservative Party which has proven time and again to be an electoral force to be reckoned with. In England, where over 80% of British voters live, Tory is the default option in many parts of the country. The polarisation within Britain is high with tensions from the Brexit debate and ongoing calls for Scottish Independence still simmering. The Tories can certainly play these divisions to their advantage in the hope of winning support
It is risky to make predictions, but it is safe to assume we have not heard the last of Boris Johnson. And much like Berlusconi in Italy, the results will undoubtedly be bad both for politics and the country.
Boris Johnson, should not on balance still be Prime Minister and in the long term, the Conservatives risk being severely punished for not removing him. But despite everything, he remains in post and still, we cannot write him off.
With regards to Johnson’s own leadership to date, his government’s apparent support of herd immunity as the response to COVID-19 in early 2020 had much more in common with Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy in the 1930s than the Battle of Britain.
Originally post on Nick Kelly’s blog
The broader context of this defeat is that over the last century, UK Labour has won 8 out of the last 28 general elections. Overall the Labour Party is not a successful electoral force in the UK. What makes the 2019 loss harder, is that the party lost sections of its historical base in the North of England and the Midlands.
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Fact is that the world has moved on from the 1980s and 90s. Politics certainly has. The types of 3rd way or centre/centre right positions that Blair and Campbell think will win just won’t anymore.
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Can the Conservatives get brexit done by January 31st as they are promising in the election? The short answer is no. The slogan is catchy, and taps into public sentiment. But it is also pure unadulterated bullshit. If the Conservatives do form the next government these words will haunt them, especially Boris Johnson.
Millions of people and an entire region of the UK left out of polling calculations….
On Friday, UK leader of the opposition revealed a leaked Treasury Paper which undermines the Prime Ministers claims that there will be no checks on goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. My earlier post on each of the party’s Brexit positions pointed out how critical Northern Ireland has been in the Brexit debate.
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog Scotland matters in the 2019 UK general election. Yet much of the electorate have little understanding of the […]
Originally posted Nick Kelly’s blog One feature of the UK election has been various electoral alliances or deals done. This has mostly occurred […]
Nick Kelly on why the 2008 Global Financial Crisis is still having a dramatic effect on United Kingdom Politics.
Nick Kelly on the Liberal Democrats’ prospects in the upcoming UK elections.
Nick Kelly is a former NZ trade union leader and NZ Labour activist. He is a co director of Piko Consulting, and currently lives in London expanding Piko into the UK. The below was originally published on Nick Kelly’s blog
Nick Kelly is a form NZ trade unionist and NZ Labour activist. He is a co director of Piko Consulting, and currently lives in London expanding Piko into the UK. The below was originally published on Nick Kelly’s blog
Thanks to Facebook’s lax attitude to fact checking it appears that the next election campaign is going to be a rough one.
As a direct result of the lack of trust by a majority of parliamentarians about how committed Boris supporters are to the process of parliament. They want to see the details of the legislation, debate and pass it before the actual Brexit. Details are the job of MPs.
In the UK, Boris Johnson has just had a rather nasty setback in trying to get support for his Brexit package. It looks remarkably like the last one – which failed three times in parliament. It looks like the clone with tweaks will fail again.
As Brexit fades our British parent country into a globally forgettable social embarrassment, we should remind ourselves that the only international politics of […]
“The bill will attempt to extend the date of Brexit to January 31, 2020 in the event of no deal being agreed or passed through Parliament. If the bill passes Boris Johnson is expected to call a general election.”
Updated: Bill passed second reading. 21 Conservative MPs effectively expelled from parliamentary party. Boris wants a new election. Corbyn reluctant.. Blond clusterfuck.
Updated: And Boris Johnson just lost vote for a general election.
in England the Conservatives have lost a safe seat in a by election to the SDP. And from Ireland comes a cunning plan that would obliterate Johnson’s majority.
In the United Kingdom politics is becoming very unstable with the surge of the new Brexit Party, a Conservative Party that no longer knows what it stands for and Labour also shedding significant support to other parties with clearer positions on Brexit.
Theresa May has announced that she is to stand down as UK Prime Minister.
Theresa May is entering the Brexit death spiral. Her last real chance to get her own preferred deal over the line will happen in a Tory cabinet meeting overnight. But what are the other options?
UPDATE: May has now invited Jeremy Corbyn for talks on a soft Brexit. But will the Labour leader be in a mood to help?
Watching from the opposite side of the world it is hard to imagine how badly the Conservative Party has handled it. I mean […]
Theresa May’s final Brexit deal is voted down by the UK Parliament. What next?
Events in recent days have forced UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into backing a second Brexit referendum. Labour are now aligned with the majority of British voters, but is it too little too late?
What if Brexit is not a threat to democracy as a system of government or a threat to liberal values? And what if it is an example of British democracy’s best modern exemplars to the world of institutionalised democracy and the rule of all under the law since universal franchise was first granted?
It’s D Day for Theresa May’s Brexit plan. Will Jeremy Corbyn finally put her out of our misery?
Another day, another humiliating defeat for Theresa May. Surprisingly, the news is no better for Jeremy Corbyn.
With a vote on the Brexit deal soon and with defeat a distinct possibility both Labour and the Conservatives need a Plan B and they need it inside 48 hours.
The unsolvable problem that is Brexit is reaching it’s denouement with Theresa May’s leadership on the line, talk of a no confidence motion, a very leaky cabinet, and no possible achievable resolution in sight.
