General Election 2024

Helicopters would definitely have a better chance of doing him in tho.

Usually tactical voting is discussed as a way of defeating a Tory candidate, Clacton is a case of using it to keep a Tory in. Given the effect his becoming leader had, his defeat in Clacton would be more than a setback for Reform. I'd feel ill putting my x next to a Conservative candidate but if that's what it takes...

Things are bad when Galloway's vanity vehicle gets a party election broadcast slot.

And yet what an incredible impact he has had on politics since his election. World beating.

Imagine you are one of the 4 or 5 Labour MPs that lose their seat on July 4th. That's going to feel pretty crap isn't it.

Usually tactical voting is discussed as a way of defeating a Tory candidate, Clacton is a case of using it to keep a Tory in.

Mate of mine had to vote tactically for a Tory in Thanet when Farage ran. He said it was sickening.

He's the third most significant post-war politician after Thatcher and Blair

Who, yesterday's man Farage? I'd put him in the same bracket as one hit wonder Galloway but even George managed to get elected to Westminster.

I'd genuinely forgotten he existed until 4 weeks ago.

Quite tempted by one of these...
https://x.com/christhebarker/status/1801698588902494305?t=P4N7gMxpLba2u80UeIayfw&s=19

Not so. Helicopters auto-rotate and can be landed quite gracefully in small spaces. Fixed wing aircraft are much more risky in an engine failure situation in densely populated areas.

I honestly don’t think they’ll take more than Clacton, if that.

I read something on Twixtter today, can’t remember who it was, that said (paraphrasing): ‘Reform’ is how men say ‘Don’t Know’ when replying to pollsters.

Makes sense to me. Their polling is inflated.

The FT having a really interesting politics update segment.

It certainly beats the traditional talking heads

https://youtu.be/ck_mEd73_aQ?si=lXayyW9BdNZ5OCSr

andyp

Farage won't ever be PM.

well with that kind of attitude he won't, bit more positivity please andy

Oh please.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/9b3d9c6d-fc8a-4946-add5-2ea72ec886ee?shareToken=bdd35898d67914b6ef063060e017a5ea

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I had the misfortune of driving through Alvaston, a residential suburb on the outskirts of Derby, yesterday evening.
the reform placards were everywhere, we must have counted at least 20, and none for other candidates.
it was thoroughly depressing.

AfD, PVV, RN, Vox are somehow all attracting a younger voter base in the last elections. Complacency is a dangerous mindset. The lack of commitment in the labour manifesto on certain points is disappointing.

OBE for Lulu Lytle, Boris & Carrie's interior designer who spunked £200K making their Downing Street flat look like a Moroccan bordello, I imagine.

Some insight from my policy wonk mate. On one level looking hard for the positives but elements i hadnt considered:

"The labour manifesto is a document that is deeply uninspiring on one level, but underneath, does have a strong analytical edge on the structures that underpin the political economy of the country as it really functions. Killing off competitive budding for councils, allowing for multi year settlements, and bringing in more integrated settlements for combined mayoral regions sounds really fucking boring, but it is how you are going to transform public services and decision making at the local level.

So if the industrial strategy they're quietly posing is about a radical transfer of power to the regions through the mayoralties (newly empowered through reshaped planning regulations), then I guess that's where the bet on growth is coming from. The Tories can't touch the planning stuff because their political base is basically the green belt. So I suppose Starmer has made the calculation that he'd rather expend his political capital on ramming through planning reforms than the EU. Put another way, there's going to be an absolute forest of nationally owned onshore wind farms by 2029."

We are away on polling day so I applied for a postal vote. All good. Then I get notification that the postal vote will be sent to me around the day we leave (2 weeks before polling day) WTF.

I caught the last few minutes of this, yesterday;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00204b9?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
Seemed to be discussing 'how on earth do I vote' at the end.

Some interesting tip bits on news night and times radio about spending by labour and the Tory’s, Labour are out spending them on all platforms. Local Tory candidates are being told they need to raise money locally and there are no funds centrally. Senior Tory’s are moaning that they increased the spending limits and are now being out spent. Also in previous elections they have been relying on free help from a number of marketing firms and that has all disappeared.

Also I bumped into an old Labour member, they’ve been told not to spend any time or money on our local constituency, Hamble valley, there all working in Portsmouth and Southampton areas. He didn’t say it but they’re leaving the way clear for the Lib Dem’s

Can you vote by proxy?
Or can you get the form sent to you wherever

Who, yesterday's man Farage? I'd put him in the same bracket as one hit wonder Galloway

Sure.

Galloway
✅ MP
✅ Once had a good sesh in the US senate
✅ Pretended to be a cat

Farage
✅ MEP
✅ Vote on EU membership
✅ Hard Brexit
✅ Fractured Conservative Party
✅ Pulled Conservative Party to the right
✅ Consistently able to identify issues which gain public traction
✅ Broadcaster

Sadly he is most definitely one of the most important politicans of the last 50yrs.

Consistently able to identify issues which gain public traction

Beyond stoking fear of immigration impacts, what else?

Yeah this is the exciting stuff that Labour seem to be on the right track with alongside devolution. Although I’m not as optimistic as your mate about it leading to a forest of nationally-owned wind farms, or, say, a Leeds metro, because they would need significant public funding. There’s the national wealth fund, but it’s pretty small at £7.3bn.

If they’re heavily leaning into planning reform to create growth without public funding, and it seems like they are, it really isn’t the magic bullet they think it is. It won’t solve the housing crisis for instance, because it’s largely a crisis of distribution and overly-financialised asset ownership. Labour have tried their best to avoid issues like this because they require pre- and re-distributive fixes alongside structural macroeconomic changes.

The best case for me is that the empowered councils and regions start following something like the Preston model, and bolster local economies with insourcing, prioritising co-operatives, regional banks, stuff like that. Quite small fry, but good nonetheless.

Off the top of my head, the banking one is a great e.g.