What's Happening in UK? Elections!

[Milchshake]

Elections in the UK. Looks like Conservatives and Scottish Independence made the most gains.

Many eyes were on Hartlepool, Labor MP Jim MacMahon concedes defeat in the Hartlepool by-election. Tells SkyNews
"It's pretty clear from the way the ballots are landing that we are not close to winning this despite our best endeavors."

LONDON — For an ordinary politician, heading into midterm elections on an unsavory plume of scandal over cellphone contacts with billionaires and a suspiciously funded apartment makeover might seem like the recipe for a thumping. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain is not an ordinary politician.

As voters in the country go to the polls on Thursday for regional and local elections that have been swollen by races postponed from last year because of the pandemic, Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party stands to make gains against a Labour Party that has struggled to make the ethical accusations against him stick.

Far from humbling a wayward prime minister, the elections could extend a realignment in British politics that began in 2019 when the Conservative Party won a landslide general election victory. That would put the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, on the back foot and ratify Mr. Johnson’s status as a kind of political unicorn.

“No politician in the democratic West can escape the consequences of political gravity forever, but Boris Johnson has shown a greater capacity to do it than most,” said Tony Travers, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics. “People see his behavior as evidence of his authenticity.”

• Any global lessons for other coming elections?
• Is conventional wisdom about midterms dead?
• Was it a jinx from all the "Im moving to the UK for the politics" takes?

[Mihalik]

England (not the UK) has been swept up by the same political movement as the one that produced Trump in the US.

Still Boris and his ilk have more staying power than Trump because despite being equally full of shit and equally incompetent and corrupt they are actually less divisive on social issues, so they are somewhat better at the whole politics bit.

On a different but similar note, there were elections last week in Madrid and the left got totally annihilated.

A center right conservative party won by effective majority, allowing it to run the city without having to form a coalition with a far right party.

The pasting the center left socialists got was tied to the national dissatisfaction with the management of the pandemic. If trends hold the center right is likely to regain super majority in 2023.

[PC2]

Tories and BoJo seem pretty reasonable. I feel like leftist parties in Western Europe have run out of major proposals to fight for, such as universal healthcare. The left's proposals seem either minor at this point, and therefore not very motivating, or they are too economically illiberal to gain the support of the establishment and the majority.

[Mihalik]

Tories and BoJo seem pretty reasonable. I feel like leftist parties in Western Europe have run out of major proposals to fight for, such as universal healthcare. The left's proposals seem either minor at this point, and therefore not very motivating, or they are too economically illiberal to gain the support of the establishment and the majority.

Well, you clearly know fuck all on a stick about European politics.

[PC2]

Well, you clearly know fuck all on a stick about European politics.

That's because European politics seems kind of mild and boring compared to US politics. It doesn't get a lot of coverage here. It doesn't matter though because every liberal democracy works similar. If the left or right get too crazy then liberal centrists bop them down so that society can stay on its course.

[Muzjhath]

That's because European politics seems kind of mild and boring compared to US politics. It doesn't get a lot of coverage here. It doesn't matter though because every liberal democracy works similar. If the left or right get too crazy then liberal centrists bop them down so that society can stay on its course.

We don't have any "liberal centrists" here. The liberals are solidly rightwing.

[Calfredd]

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That's nice Billy.

[Calfredd]

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Good for you, Brexit chum!

[Huehuecoyotl]

Let's work our way through this before you get banned again for trying to circumvent your previous ban.

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One of the worst death rates in the world, because of the mismanagement of the process in the crucial first months. That he eventually bumbled onto something that worked can't be used to ignore the incompetence of the start. Huge amounts of money spaffed up the wall giving contracts to mates and Tory party donors, that mostly didn't provide any assistance to the process whatsoever. And don't forget the whole "let the bodies pile up, I'm not going to lockdown again!"

So we'll ignore the fact that the Tories are still trying to push us towards a US style approach step by step? That they just offered a derisory 1% pay rise to the people they've been calling heroes for the last year? That Brexit is going to cause a staff crisis in the NHS?

We've done well with the vaccination efforts, I'll give you that.

Wrong. But we have done better than some.

Utterly irrelevant. But I'm not surprised you had to try and shoe-horn an incorrect "Brexit helped!" part of the post.

So, mostly bollocks but not entirely. For you that's an improvement.

[Easo]

Boris Johnson has done an amazing job of running the country through the pandemic, that's why.

- NHS still a socialised healthcare system and every single person in the UK has access to it. Including Covid treatments.

- The UK Covid vaccination efforts are the best in the World. Now leading the World into helping other countries such as India who have been hit incredibly hard.

- Best Covid financial support in the World for furloughed workers.

- Led the UK out of the EU and has managed to secure excellent zero tariff trading with not only the EU again, but much of the rest of world.

I'm glad we in the UK still don't get fooled for the "everything is racist" propaganda that the USA fell too.

Biden is a numpty and the USA is weak.

1. So UK did not manage to loose existing system. Wow, such achievement -.-
2. No, Israel was the best.
3. N/A
4. Yet still have issues between UK and EU.

[Mayhem]

That's because European politics seems kind of mild and boring compared to US politics. It doesn't get a lot of coverage here. It doesn't matter though because every liberal democracy works similar. If the left or right get too crazy then liberal centrists bop them down so that society can stay on its course.

So you just continue to show your lack of knowledge.

[jonnysensible]

turning the labour party into Change UK seems like a mistake. Tories gain 1300 votes in hartlepool, labour lost 13000 give or take.

labour trying to move into the center right space that is already occupied by boris isnt a vote winner.

[DingDongKing]

Labour nationally has become Tory lite. On top of that, the constituencies they’re going to lose were generally Vote Leave in 2016, and Labour has no actionable way of appealing to its own hardcore base nevermind a wayward base. Boris is still useless, but he has maintained a strong propaganda machine and kept the wealthy satisfied. That’s all you need to win an election. Spread enough lies and if people don’t speak out, job done. Sucks, but heyho.

[dribbles]

Whenever you put a remain candidate up against a brexiteer you are always going to lose badly. Exactly what Labour, who never learn, did in Hartlepool.

And as for those who make the dreadful insinuation Brexiteers are racist they obviously have never heard of Tiger Patel, otherwise known as "Bojo of Blackburn" standing yesterday for Boris's Brexit party. Here's his election broadcast...

[postman1782]

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So far, you haven't presented any facts with your 1000 accounts you have posted.

[Draco-Onis]

So you just continue to show your lack of knowledge.

To be fair he is pretty consistent about his lack of knowledge, also only Trump seems able to turn him on everyone else is "boring".

[Inuyaki]

Tories and BoJo seem pretty reasonable. I feel like leftist parties in Western Europe have run out of major proposals to fight for, such as universal healthcare. The left's proposals seem either minor at this point, and therefore not very motivating, or they are too economically illiberal to gain the support of the establishment and the majority.

In Germany there was a move to the left over the last few years (according to polls, which are often quite accurate here in Germany)
Or rather to the center tbf. But mostly from the right-wing.

https://www.politicalcompass.org/germany2017 this is approx our field of parties, their position is pretty accurate, at most wrong by 1-2 ticks imo.

Party 2017 election -> newest polls
CDU/CSU 32.9% -> ~24%
AFD 12.6% -> ~11%
FDP 10.7% -> ~11%
Grüne 8.9% -> ~27%
SPD 20.5% -> ~14%
Linke 9.2% -> ~7%

As you can see, right-wing parties lost a lot to the center. Some went from the left to the center, but that is more thanks to the Greens having still a lot of left policies and "Die Linke" candidates being completely shit. (I would consider myself left, but would still not vote for them because they just suck)
Elections are in a few months, so we will see how it goes.

[caractacus]

It looks to me like Labour have a bit of an impossible task on their hands at the moment. A lot of people speculating that Kier Starmer is the problem or different members within but I think it's a lot deeper than that. Social media has created too much division both culturally and economically but it's mostly cultural. A lot of the older Labour voters are culturally conservative, ie Brexit and such things, and the new younger supporters are progressive. There is so much division between these two groups that I really can't see them coming together and alienating either side looks like political suicide.

To a lesser extent, economically a lot of the upper echelons of Labour are living the the capital(Westminster) bubble and out of touch with the struggling working class. This doesn't appear to be as much as a barrier as Boris seems to be able to cross this divide quite effectively, for all his faults.

Overall it's pretty depressing that the government doesn't appear to have any real opposition both now and for the foreseeable future.

[DingDongKing]

It looks to me like Labour have a bit of an impossible task on their hands at the moment. A lot of people speculating that Kier Starmer is the problem or different members within but I think it's a lot deeper than that. Social media has created too much division both culturally and economically but it's mostly cultural. A lot of the older Labour voters are culturally conservative, ie Brexit and such things, and the new younger supporters are progressive. There is so much division between these two groups that I really can't see them coming together and alienating either side looks like political suicide.

To a lesser extent, economically a lot of the upper echelons of Labour are living the the capital(Westminster) bubble and out of touch with the struggling working class. This doesn't appear to be as much as a barrier as Boris seems to be able to cross this divide quite effectively, for all his faults.

Overall it's pretty depressing that the government doesn't appear to have any real opposition both now and for the foreseeable future.

Labour has no real connect with people anymore. And that's the gap that somehow the Tories have filled. They've managed to trick working class people into thinking that Conservative economic policies are good for them by saying 'eww immigrants cost us money all the time'.

And if you live in an underdeveloped area of the UK that's really struggling economically anyway, you're happy to believe that and the whole 'Rule Britannia' shctick. When really, Conservative policies only ever benefit the wealthy or those capable of skipping their dues to society, like taxes etc.

[jonnysensible]

Labour has no real connect with people anymore. And that's the gap that somehow the Tories have filled. They've managed to trick working class people into thinking that Conservative economic policies are good for them by saying 'eww immigrants cost us money all the time'.

And if you live in an underdeveloped area of the UK that's really struggling economically anyway, you're happy to believe that and the whole 'Rule Britannia' shctick. When really, Conservative policies only ever benefit the wealthy or those capable of skipping their dues to society, like taxes etc.

'working class people' please. Its retired people and SME owners who vote tory in their droves