BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION - 4TH JULY

Baseball72

Will this be "Independence Day" from the Tories?

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058352764/british-general-election-4th-july

Let's hope so, as few of those crooks reelected the better.

Labour will win by a landslide. The Tories only have themselves to blame by failing to address voter concerns (hence the concomitant increase in support for Reform UK). Voters aren't enthusiastic about Labour, but it's the only available alternative.

More than anything, this is punishing the Tories — understandably, and justifiably in my view.

The UK's answer to Pat Kenny will be Prime Minister in a few weeks time.

Sandor Clegane

It should be a labour win but when it comes to Britain these days you just never know, I wouldn't rule anything out tbh and nothing would surprise me at this stage.

Working class heroes

things can only get better😂

Atlantic Dawn

D:Ream just put a deposit down on a private jet 😂

Thargor

Pure Thick of It moment there on a par with Mays Strong and Stable while the letters peeled off the sign behind her, excellent trolling by Steve Bray, credit to the rain for stopping long enough to lure him out then soaking him aswell.

Larbre34

I just can't wait for the Tories to be filleted.

I shall be tumescent, in every sense of the word, throughout the Count.

Randycove

this will be the first general election since the brexit vote, where people will be voting on issues other than brexit.
Labour were always going to improve over the last election, because they no longer have Corbyn (thank god) but the Tories have been awful, so it should be a comfortable win.

It will be interesting how well the SNP do as well, their only saving grace at the moment is that the Tories are a bigger joke than they are.

supereurope

I moved back to Ireland from the UK in 2021, so this will be my first British GE in a while as an observer, not a voter. I don't see how anyone can vote for the Tories after the last 14 years, the last five in particular.

Brussels Sprout

Looking forward to seeing which high profile Tories lose their seats. Who's going to have the 2024 Portillo moment?

Brussels Sprout

So does the campaign begin immediately or what?

AllForIt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170816#Comment_122170816

Whatever turns you on Labre34

tumescent
/tjuːˈmɛsnt,tjʊˈmɛsnt/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
adjective: tumescent

1.swollen or becoming swollen, especially as a response to sexual arousal.

francois

I remember watching through the night in 1997, looking forward to several Portillo moments with relish

gmisk

Who will I be looking forward to getting kicked out most? Hard to not think Gullis! A very nasty individual.

Randycove

I’m not so sure there will be. People don’t seem to be overly enthusiastic about Labour, but they should recover the red wall and a lot of their previously “safe” seats now that they have a competent leader. There should also be a lot of big swings, but mainly where long standing MPs are stepping down.

Maidenhead will be interesting. Conservative since the year dot, but with May retiring this year, the libs seem to fancy their chances.

Manach

Bit of history trivia. The reason why there is a tradition for Thursday elections is so as to diminish drunk voters. The reasoning being that as people were usually paid on the Friday, then by Thursday they would likely to be sober due to lack of funds.

padd b1975

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170816#Comment_122170816

British election counts are incredibly boring with the result usually not straying too far from the exit poll just after 10pm.

ArthurDayne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171074#Comment_122171074

Funny enough, Thursday would be one of the bigger drinking nights in London these days especially since the pandemic. The twenty/thirty-somethings chained to their desks in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf until 9pm then on the pints after — best hope they don't forget to vote.

Penn

Hope the Tories are decimated. And hope the Tory Reserve Team (aka Labour under Keir Starmer) don't win by as much as they should.

blackwave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170972#Comment_122170972

Hopefully Rees Mogg, truly an odious human. Would love to see the smugness knocked off him!

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170708#Comment_122170708

As a big supporter of both Sunak and Truss you must be gutted at how badly it's going.

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171386#Comment_122171386

I suspect some previously stedfast Tory supporters are jumping the popularity bandwagon in favour of GB News: The Political Party…aka “Reform UK”

Possibly also hoping that enough gammons move their vote over to them to make Reform UK the new opposition. Won’t happen that way, but it could be the hope.

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171074#Comment_122171074

We used to have our elections on Thursdays up to about 15 years ago. Probably for the same reason.

hotmail.com

Like 1997, Labour are committed to the same spending plans as the Tories.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171386#Comment_122171386

I'm realistic.

The Tories can never be in power in perpetuity.

And sometimes a reset is a good thing. The Conservatives need to go away and re-identify how they need to position themselves to the country.

No party should govern any country forever. Change is a good thing, even for the incumbent party.

So not gutted, but this is an inevitable change.

Patser

Ian Dunt on twitter (can't link on this pc) commenting that there seems to be a possible inner Tory revolt, where they hope to kick Sunak out by Thursday, and cancel the election before parliament is officially dissolved, there is so much confusion, lack of communication and ill planning that went on ahead of Sunak's announcement today.

Serous risk the Tories will go into an election with ether a new leader or even no leader

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171871#Comment_122171871

Tory voters have nothing to worry about when it comes to Starmer. Like Blair, he's not going to rock the boat.

Tiger20

Is Starmer the UK’s Enda Kenny? A politician with very little charisma or personality who comes to power due to the ineptitude of the ruling party, but who actually turns out to be an effective, if unremarkable leader? I think the similarities are striking

Capt'n Midnight

It looks like Parliament will be prorogued on Friday, 24 May, while dissolution will take place on Thursday, 30 May.

Then Purdah kicks in. "Government departments and councils will normally observe discretion
about making new announcements or decisions that could influence voters."

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171888#Comment_122171888

FFS 🙄

https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1793382405203456276?t=lMEuoWjJ39TqPrBFXvypCw&s=19

https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1793385211624816820?t=WtPpI4TcA5pp4ud1nBsJWQ&s=19

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171980#Comment_122171980

Some Tory MPs need to stop thinking about themselves — it's entirely selfish.

Tory support will only decline the further this election is delayed.

It makes sense, for both the country and the Tory party, to hold the election as soon as possible. It's inevitable that the Labour Party will win the election.

Those Tory MPs hoping to replace Sunak with "an election winner" are delusional. It simply will not happen. They are being very, very selfish.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171980#Comment_122171980

"Sunak didn't care about them"

Well they are British citizens so what did they expect.

Seth Brundle

OMG - was that Steve Bray playing the music in the background?

https://twitter.com/NicholasTyrone/status/1793327440204288155?t=STu8CKNw1yxSNYqOdSwVOQ&s=19

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171999#Comment_122171999

Yep. Only stopped because the rain blew his speakers.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170972#Comment_122170972

There's so many unlikable high-profile Tories, it's hard to pick on. The good news is, there's going to be lots of them losing their seats. Rees-Mogg, Jonathan Guilis and Andrea Jenykns are some of the worst and they're all predicted to lose their seats.

I'd love to see Gove go, the LibDems have been after his seat (oo-er) for a while and they won council control there last year. Polling looks healthy enough atm for Gove, but if voters stay away from Labour and go to the LibDems, then the seat will turn yellow.

That said, Gove is such a little worm I wouldn't be surprised if he stands down beforehand.

While he's no longer Tory, I'd love to see Lee Anderson lose his seat too.

supereurope

This from The Guardian…

Conservative MPs are feeling baffled and furious about the election, and some are submitting letters of no confidence in Sunak, the New Statesman reports.

“To say Westminster did not see this coming was an understatement,” writes editor Rachel Cunliffe. “Up until this morning, No 10 had sent very strong signals that an election would not be called until the autumn.”

There is “widespread fury” in the party from MPs, candidates, grassroots activists, advisers and parliamentary aides, who will lose their jobs if the people they work for lose their seats.

One texted Cunliffe to tell her the decision was cruel. Another described it as heartbreaking.

There is still no understanding of why Sunak chose to make the announcement, she writes, but MPs have told her “it’s a terrible idea”, “I don’t get it”, “really odd”, “he’s given up” and “we deserve to lose”.

Another called the day’s proceedings “a shitshow”.

“It’s hard to imagine a less united party heading into a six-week election campaign,” she concludes.

Funny, I'm finding it very hard to have sympathy for any of them. I guess they thought they had more time to milk expenses and find NED roles.

mikep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171999#Comment_122171999

Looks like he's been banned from the area.

Edit: sorry that the link doesn't work

https://x.com/snb19692/status/1793326656825819623?t=3GQ_XVq1jFincTpmAae7SA&s=19

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122172090#Comment_122172090

In the same vein:

"Interesting that the reaction of Tory MPs tonight is fatalistic about the result but fury at Sunak. They thought they had 5/6 months to get a job, to plan their lives. They think Sunak doesn't care about them with his millions and his US home. "Selfish" a word I've heard a lot."

https://x.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1793385211624816820

mikep

A great start for Sunak and co by banning Steve Bray and then removing a Sky News presenter from a press briefing.

drury..

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170984#Comment_122170984

What afaik

Leroy42

Don't understand the reason for calling the election now. Yes the economic numbers are not as terrible as in the past but surely they should wait for people to actually feel the effects?

Possible interest rate cut in August..election will be over.

Maybe they are hoping for a good Euros? No final isn't until 14th July.

I just don't understand the thinking behind calling it now.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171999#Comment_122171999

It was!

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122172296#Comment_122172296

There isn't going to be a "good time". It's going to be a shitshow entirely of their own making. Calling it in summer gets it over with and the weather ought to be good so there's that.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122172296#Comment_122172296

The poll numbers haven't improved since Sunak took over. Seems he finally accepted they were never going to turn around and he's decided to get it over with. Plus, things could be worse by the autumn, might as well call it while there is some good economic news. Sunak might also have been facing a VONC during the summer, and even though he'd survive it, he couldn't go into a GE campaign having just survived a VONC.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171953#Comment_122171953

Ironically, at one point it looked as though that description might characterise Sunak, but it turned out that he couldn't tick the "effective" box.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170708#Comment_122170708

Mmm. Voters are much more enthusiastic about Labour than they are about Reform. Both the opinion polls and the local election results show the Tories bleeding far more votes to the left than to the right.

francois

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171135#Comment_122171135

Best case scenario would be a coalition with the lib dems to bring in electoral reform. FPTP has been disastrous

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122172486#Comment_122172486

The FPTP system delivers enormous power to the two established parties, at the expense of voters. For obvious reasons, both of the dominant parties will be highly averse to getting rid of it. And they'll be reinforced in that stance by the fact that in 2011 the public voted 2-to-1 to retain FPTP. That's the kind of margin in a referendum that really does settle a question for a generation.

It's true that FPTP is extremely difficult to defend as a matter of principle, and that in recent years it has been delivering truly dreadful outcomes. If the UK reaches a point of decline where they really can't avoid a long hard look at their political and constitutional structure, I think in that context FPTP would be vulnerable. But, honestly, I think it's safe unless and until that point is reached.

Hoop66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122171988#Comment_122171988

"Being selfish" is pretty much the raison d'etre of most Tory MPs, so I don't know why you're surprised.

Boggles

I have absolutely no faith or trust in the voting British public.

How that crowd of gangsters, lunatics and odious cretins lasted 14 years will always remain a mystery. Honestly when Liz Truss became PM I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't an episode of Black Mirror, imagine making Bojo look credible.

Labour have had nearly a decade and a half to put together some sort of credible alternative populated with proper leaders.

They haven't, it's pretty underwhelming TBF and they are running on the less than enthusiastic line of we need change.

Briton on every single metric is now worse off than it was 14 years ago, Briton doesn't need change it needs a complete reset and the British public need to do their part.