FT General Election Poll 2019

[David Guiza]

Well I am dejected, but have been expecting this for months so it's hardly a surprise. Though I did think the margin of victory would be a little less.

 

As for those who are celebrating like it's a football match, please bare in mind that this, without meaning to paraphrase Shankley, is more important than that. I completely understand the laughter aimed at the hardline and idiotic 'Corbynistas', but plenty of people voted for opposition parties because they have genuine reasons for doing so and the past decade of Tory rule has done nothing for them/their loved ones. On a personal point of view, I will be absolutely find I should imagine, but I didn't vote for myself. I have friends with Cystic Fibrosis and Diabetes who are genuinely concerned about insulin and other medications they need to stay alive and healthy, as they have been informed by professionals that these could be at risk post Brexit. Now I doubt it will come to that, naturally, but it's a worrying state of affairs that this is what it's come to for some people. 

 

Also, and as I've mentioned on here a few times also, my wife is a teacher and the past few years in education have gotten worse with time and no sign of it getting better. There can't be many other professions whereby 40% of people are quitting within the first 5 years, and there's a myriad of reasons for why that is the case, none of which have been spoken about by the current Government. I sincerely doubt she'll stay in teaching beyond next year, and she won't be the only one. She's got a first class degree in her subject and helped students jump up 3 or 4 grades in their GCSEs and she'll be replaced by more under-qualified people to fill a hole. It's just a pretty sad state of affairs.

 

It may seem easy for me to say this now, but I wouldn't wish for a Labour majority in these numbers either because I don't think either party has the skills, expertise or personnel to get a job done without heavy scrutiny and that's simply not going to be there. Whilst they are of course completely different beasts, I much prefer countries like Denmark and Finland where coalition Governments are regular and not despised, and they work too. Yes we need a majority to 'get Brexit done', but it's not that simple.

 

As for anybody who thinks Brexit is going to be done and dusted in a few months, good luck.   

[surrifox]

The EU will in probability have ceased to exist in its present structure before the timeline to get Scotland to vote for independence, then to join the EU then Europe to consider the application etc etc 

[DennisNedry]

If there was ever a 'lesser of two evils' election, this was it.

 

As somebody with (generally speaking) left leaning economic views, and right leaning social views, none of the main parties represent me at all.

 

Ended up spoiling my ballet paper as I couldn't bring myself to vote for Corbyn or Boris.

[Foxhateram]

1 minute ago, DennisNedry said:

If there was ever a 'lesser of two evils' election, this was it.

 

As somebody with (generally speaking) left leaning economic views, and right leaning social views, none of the main parties represent me at all.

 

Ended up spoiling my ballet paper as I couldn't bring myself to vote for Corbyn or Boris.

You voted for Boris then. Well done.

 

Why didn't you vote tactically to bring them both down in your constituency? 

Edited 13 December 2019 by Foxhateram

[Strokes]

1 minute ago, David Guiza said:

 

 

As for anybody who thinks Brexit is going to be done and dusted in a few months, good luck.   

The withdrawal will be done within a couple of months and then it cannot be undone. Parliaments involvement will be as good as over. Uncertainty is all but finished. That is what is meant by getting brexit done.

The future relationship with the EU will take a while but we can also begin trade talks with other nations. 

[Mike Oxlong]

I’m not a devotee of any single party and vote according to the circumstances at the time rather than by the colour of the rosette 

 

As with many I’ve been really disappointed at the choices given to the electorate this time round 

 

Whilst I congratulate the Tories for their overwhelming win I do wish that there was a decent central socialist party. The momentum bunch are not going to appeal to the wide electorate and even this morning they cannot see that.  I think many voters just felt that Corbyn is such a bad option that they had no other choice than to vote Boris 

 

Having a one nation party is fine. Becoming a one party nation is not

[Jon the Hat]

Rejection of left wing policies that belong in the 70s.

Rejection of Brexit blocking.

Rejection of antisemitism.

Rejection of the hateful Corbyn cult which told centrist Labour to sod off and vote Lib Dem or Tory.

 

Lets hope Labour can find itself again.

 

[Stoopid]

1 minute ago, Strokes said:

The city is red but the county is blue. 
I think we should all have a fight. Country bumpkins vs Towny tramps. Let’s have it.

God, I've been waiting for that for years! Mind you, all those farmer-boy County Tory types would probably kick the living shite out of me...

I've always felt Leicestershire was a foreign country to me. Just don't get it.

[FerrisBueller]

52 minutes ago, lgfualol said:

When are these Russian interference reports being released then

I'd imagine we will never see or hear about them ever again.

[DennisNedry]

2 minutes ago, Foxhateram said:

You voted for Boris then. Well done.

 

Why didn't you vote tactically to bring them both down in your constituency? 

 

Of the two evils, Labour in it's current form is worse, in my opinion.

 

I'm in Leicestershire South anyway, a big Tory win was inevitable.

[AKCJ]

Has @MattP come off the ceiling yet?

[DennisNedry]

2 minutes ago, Stoopid said:

God, I've been waiting for that for years! Mind you, all those farmer-boy County Tory types would probably kick the living shite out of me...

I've always felt Leicestershire was a foreign country to me. Just don't get it.

Funny, I feel that way about the City 

[Mike Oxlong]

55 minutes ago, lgfualol said:

When are these Russian interference reports being released then

Same time as the reports into the Arcuri affair ? 

[Mike Oxlong]

Boris and Donald - what a time to be alive 🤔

[David Guiza]

7 minutes ago, Strokes said:

The withdrawal will be done within a couple of months and then it cannot be undone. Parliaments involvement will be as good as over. Uncertainty is all but finished. That is what is meant by getting brexit done.

The future relationship with the EU will take a while but we can also begin trade talks with other nations. 

Brexit is more than just the withdrawal agreement. That's like saying having a baby is done the moment you withdraw, and forgetting the following 9 months and subsequent 18 years. In fairness, that is how some see having a baby I guess .

 

There is a lot of naivety, on both sides, regarding Brexit. Those who think every single thing about it will be a disaster are wrong, and those who think it will be an easy transition with no hiccups and years of negotiation are wrong too. 

 

9 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Rejection of left wing policies that belong in the 70s.

Rejection of Brexit blocking.

Rejection of antisemitism.

Rejection of the hateful Corbyn cult which told centrist Labour to sod off and vote Lib Dem or Tory.

 

Lets hope Labour can find itself again.

 

The problem is that Labour voters are so diverse now. There is no majority for a Blairite style party and, clearly, no majority for a Corbyn one either. 

 

I'm not sure how you solve the problem, in all honesty. To get the working class voters back, they will sacrifice others and visa versa. I can but assume that they will go for a moderate, but whether or not that is a success will remain to be seen. 

[Charl91]

13 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

 

 

Also, and as I've mentioned on here a few times also, my wife is a teacher and the past few years in education have gotten worse with time and no sign of it getting better. There can't be many other professions whereby 40% of people are quitting within the first 5 years, and there's a myriad of reasons for why that is the case, none of which have been spoken about by the current Government. I sincerely doubt she'll stay in teaching beyond next year, and she won't be the only one. She's got a first class degree in her subject and helped students jump up 3 or 4 grades in their GCSEs and she'll be replaced by more under-qualified people to fill a hole. It's just a pretty sad state of affairs.

 

 

Can't agree more. As a Teacher myself (Primary), the Tories have gutted education. In its current state, the profession is soul-destroying, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone - I actively try and put people off from becoming teachers whenever anyone asks what it's like. I dread to think what it will be like with 5 more years of this.

 

I haven't left the profession, but I dropped down to part time and took a huge pay-cut because I couldn't face doing 60 - 70 hour weeks any longer.

[ARTY_FOX]

2 hours ago, turkish14 said:

I think so....

 

break up of the union.

 

To all those ex forces and current serving armed forces personal that voted Tory...

 

You have stood and served by our Scot, welsh and n. Irish brothers, served with them, and possibly seen some die on the battlefields, all whilst wearing the Union Jack.

 

The British army will soon be consigned to history, when we loose our brothers north of the border.

All those that served along side me were about as anti corbyn as you'll ever find. 

[Stoopid]

13 minutes ago, DennisNedry said:

Funny, I feel that way about the City 

Leicester City? 

At least we've got our own football team!

[Guest Fktf]

16 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Rejection of the hateful Corbyn cult which told centrist Labour to sod off and vote Lib Dem or Tory.

 

At least this part of their campaign worked. 3 years of telling the centrists to sod off, and they did! 

[Finnaldo]

2 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

Brexit is more than just the withdrawal agreement. That's like saying having a baby is done the moment you withdraw, and forgetting the following 9 months and subsequent 18 years. In fairness, that is how some see having a baby I guess .

 

There is a lot of naivety, on both sides, regarding Brexit. Those who think every single thing about it will be a disaster are wrong, and those who think it will be an easy transition with no hiccups and years of negotiation are wrong too. 

 

The problem is that Labour voters are so diverse now. There is no majority for a Blairite style party and, clearly, no majority for a Corbyn one either. 

 

I'm not sure how you solve the problem, in all honesty. To get the working class voters back, they will sacrifice others and visa versa. I can but assume that they will go for a moderate, but whether or not that is a success will remain to be seen. 

 

There's a halfway compromise to be met. People suggesting Centrism will save the Labour Party are fooling themselves as much as Corbyn-hardliners. Take the current manifesto, scale back all the nationalisation promises to rail only, take out the over the top 'free x,x and x' and revisit the taxation plan. There's potential leaders who can carry that forward well, rather its the more experienced establishment figure like Starmer or the young exciting, but considerably baggageless up-and-comer like Long-Bailey.

 

Any retreat straight back to the centre or further Left betrays Labour values. Clear out the shit cabinet, put some accountable figures in, moderate the current position (and put the Anti-Semitism row to bed) and get cracking in 2020.

[Strokes]

6 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

Brexit is more than just the withdrawal agreement. That's like saying having a baby is done the moment you withdraw, and forgetting the following 9 months and subsequent 18 years. In fairness, that is how some see having a baby I guess .

 

There is a lot of naivety, on both sides, regarding Brexit. Those who think every single thing about it will be a disaster are wrong, and those who think it will be an easy transition with no hiccups and years of negotiation are wrong too. 

 

 

We will be negotiating a trade deal from a position of complete regulatory alignment. It’s not a trade deal that requires any fall in line tactics. It’s pretty much a negotiation now about trade offs. There is no reason it can’t be done by the end of the forecasted transition.

 

 

[Stoopid]

5 minutes ago, ARTY_FOX said:

All those that served along side me were about as anti corbyn as you'll ever find. 

Blimey - right wing soldiers! Who'd have thought it?

Next thing you'll be telling me that some coppers voted Tory too!

[ealingfox]

I have not seen much evidence that the policy platform was unpopular, nor that the Conservatives' was popular. Repeated testimony reflects that the principal issues on the doorstep were Brexit and Corbyn himself.

 

The manifesto is largely an extension of 2017s which was popular. The big difference is the Brexit position - 2017 pledged to enact the referendum result and 2019 did not. This drove a few thousand more people to vote Conservative in enough Leave-supporting areas. This is why I am not sure about people saying the centre-left driving Labour's election would have done any better. It was that wing of the party that cornered the leadership into a more Remainy position.

Edited 13 December 2019 by ealingfox

[Strokes]

2 minutes ago, Finnaldo said:

 

There's a halfway compromise to be met. People suggesting Centrism will save the Labour Party are fooling themselves as much as Corbyn-hardliners. Take the current manifesto, scale back all the nationalisation promises to rail only, take out the over the top 'free x,x and x' and revisit the taxation plan. There's potential leaders who can carry that forward well, rather its the more experienced establishment figure like Starmer or the young exciting, but considerably baggageless up-and-comer like Long-Bailey.

 

Any retreat straight back to the centre or further Left betrays Labour values. Clear out the shit cabinet, put some accountable figures in, moderate the current position (and put the Anti-Semitism row to bed) and get cracking in 2020.

Is it that easy to put the Anti-Semitism to bed? It’s arguably now institutional within and in my honest opinion, will be very difficult to remove. It requires firstly, an admission of how bad the problem is.

[Strokes]

2 minutes ago, Stoopid said:

Blimey - right wing soldiers! Who'd have thought it?

Next thing you'll be telling me that some coppers voted Tory too!

I can guarantee you that at least 3 nurses did. They might not admit it in their staff rooms but are quite happy to chat about it with close friends.