13 June 2024

General Election 2024: Post 1

I must admit that I haven't been following this that closely. Being in full-time employment and with a bunch of other stuff to do has rather limited my time.

It's clear from this that the Tories are going to lose and lose heavily. Going out of power after 14 years would be expected anyway, although their government and this last Parliament in particular have been a shambles of massive proportions. Sunak has been the best PM of the last three and that's damning with faint praise; his early departure from Normandy will be mentioned in his obituary, I'd say.

I don't detect a massive deal of enthusiasm for Labour. Certainly I don't have it myself. I would have liked to see more of a move back towards the EU and a softer tone on immigration. Fiscal circumstances are cited as the reason for a lot of restraint - the Tories have saddled us with some massive debt levels - but I get a feeling the party could be bolder. I also wonder just how many actual votes they'll get.

The Lib Dems will probably do quite well - maybe even recover to their 2000s level of support and seats. But they are not going to get near to power for a good while.

Reform will have a strong turnout, but their votes will be thinly spread. In time, they may replace the Tories as the main right-wing party, which is arguably a case of be careful what you wish for.

In any event, we're going to have some real challenges in the next few years. Starmer may be a bit dull, but dull is better than Boris Johnson by a long chalk.

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