[Bones McCoy]

Now here's a thing:

I despise the current conservative party.
A band of thugs, liars, con artists and chancers.

I feel a deep affinity for British democracy, while admitting its weaknesses.
Predominantly three weaknesses, whihc I consider a potential threat to the nation.
* First past the post electoral system.
* Unwritten (make shit p as we go along) constitution.
* Appointed house of lords (don't even start me on the remaining 'heritors and the Bishops).

I also recognise that the next election, and many after will be two horse races between Labour and Conservatives.
No matter how much noise the SNP and LibDems make from their isolated corners, they can do no more than sway a hung parliament.


I painfully conclude that a healthy Conservative party is necessary for our system to operate as intended.


I cannot join the dots between the diseased cadaver of today's Conservatives, and what a healthy Conservative party might look like.
There seem to be a handful sound chaps among the MPs: Most having gone through Sandhurst, where a blagger like Johnson would have been run around the assault course multiple times before expulsion.

I'm not sure a Conservative party of retired junior officers is what I have in mind.
That model has largely failed in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.

I wonder whether a purge of the gobshites is possible, and whether a few moderate elder statesmen could be readmitted.

I'm off to ConHome, for analysis, shits and giggles.

[Bones McCoy]

Some guy holding court on ConHome.

Asserts that the LibDems with so legalise Necrophilia (along with a lengthy list of other philias).
He seems to have been online for 16 hours and responding to almost every post in their By election thread.

Let's hope he's an ardent canvasser, eh readers!

[mattomac]

I think that’s why they end up with candidates like the vacuous non entity in Tiverton (remember this is a safe seat) and someone who brings up Shipman in Wakefield.

No one can have a personality that is even slightly at odds with “big dog” that means the next sex scandal that provokes a by election and we know at least three that could happen will be the same re-run and the same resulting loss with Ed Davey doing another stunt.

As for the pact the issue is that Davey nor Starmer are particularly unlikeable, Salmond was. I think the SNP link is a far more damaging one than a LD link when most perceive them as a national party anyhow, in government no less a lot more recent than Labour.

Tories would be better making the link between SNP and Labour again, but then I don’t think that works when you have such a canny media performer as the Labour leader up in Scotland. There is hope the cost of living somehow reverses otherwise it could be the most humorous of nights.

[Arrowhead]

Tories would be better making the link between SNP and Labour again, but then I don’t think that works when you have such a canny media performer as the Labour leader up in Scotland. There is hope the cost of living somehow reverses otherwise it could be the most humorous of nights.

The Tories are bound to try the SNP thing again, especially with Lynton Crosby back on board and GE2015 still relatively fresh in the memory. A big risk that it could backfire this time though, if enough left-leaning Scottish voters conclude they're inadvertently playing a part in serving up a succession of Tory governments. In 2017 Scottish Labour were not too far away at all from taking up to twenty seats back from the SNP - Anas Sarwar could make that a reality next time, if the Tories overplay their card.

[mattomac]

Sarwar is certainly the best leader Labour have had up there in some years and dare I say independence is at its lowest for some years which if you consider is a surprise.

Though I’ve heard criticisms on education and I don’t think that budgeting on a new vote went down well, I think most know there won’t be one while Boris is in power.

[Abernathy]

I have a sort of gut feeling that Scots voters might finally see through the SNP at the next election and come back to Labour in significant numbers.

[mattomac]

I don’t think it will be massive but I think Labour might have more than one, I think the two Alba seats will fall to Labour.

The majorities elsewhere are relatively ok around 5-8k but who knows.

[Youngian]

Benn and Healey were debating this issue forty years ago. The intellectual growth of this Tory party cannot even be charted.
Anti Corn Law Dan has nothing worry about. What Brexiters is Bozo going to find to back his economic nationalist brain farts? Half a dozen Red Wall dafties, Nick Griffin and both Corbyns.

[Arrowhead]

I don’t think it will be massive but I think Labour might have more than one, I think the two Alba seats will fall to Labour.

The majorities elsewhere are relatively ok around 5-8k but who knows.

It still staggers me that Scotland somehow has a couple of Alba MPs amongst its Westminster representation. A party that probably couldn’t win so much as an egg & spoon race.

There really ought to be some sort of stipulation that requires a by-election within six months of an incumbent MP defecting to a different party.

[Youngian]

There really ought to be some sort of stipulation that requires a by-election within six months of an incumbent MP defecting to a different party.

The constitutional conceit is that you vote for an individual to represent the constituency. Nonsense in practice. With rumours of more Tory defections, who knows what riff-raff Labour has to accept into its ranks? Problem with the by-election idea is that they only defect through fear of losing their seats. So they wouldn’t do it if faced with a by-election.

[mattomac]

Defection used to interest me in the past but I was going through them yesterday and I think I came across one who seemed ok.

Credit to Wakefield mind he has remained on message since switching the problem is the local parties. I know there was some talk of Andrew George defecting to Labour in St Ives and we had a good natured chat and laugh about it.

And I believe most constituents would but then there is a few who don’t want any interaction with the opposition. Then again some of them see Starmer as their main opposition so who knows.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I'm not a lawyer, but I reckon Steve Bray might know somebody who is.

[davidjay]

Will pro bono lawyers please form an orderly queue.

[Abernathy]

Most people understand tactical voting so how does this headline help the Tories? A LD vote will put dangerous Marxist Keir Starmer into No 10, is very thin gruel.

Well, exactly. How could Labour and the Lib Dems "come clean" about tactical voting to the electors of Tiverton & Honiton, who are obviously already extremely well aware of the efficacy of the tactic, and evidently more than happy to engage in it?

Javid, and the Mail, are sounding quite desperate there.

Tactical voting is an entirely legitimate approach, and trying to paint it as anything other than that is far more dishonest than any charge that Javid levels at Labour and the Lib Dems for attempting informally to encourage it.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Here, Labour voters have been voting tactically for years, and when the local party was in sensible hands there were many exhortations for activists to go and support Siobhan McDonagh in Morden (before she was identified as a centrist melt) or work in winnable seats in Croydon, rather than waste their time in Carshalton Beeches or Wallington South. Not so much now...

That contributed to the seat going Tory in 2019 of course.

[Andy McDandy]

Seems to be the standard right wing "to my satisfaction" gambit. What Javid means is:

" Say you're shit, really shit. Tell everyone not to vote for you or anyone apart from us. Tell everyone that everything we say about you is true. Then go die quietly in a corner."

[Oboogie]

Most people understand tactical voting so how does this headline help the Tories? A LD vote will put dangerous Marxist Keir Starmer into No 10, is very thin gruel.

Tactical voting is an entirely legitimate approach, and trying to paint it as anything other than that is far more dishonest than any charge that Javid levels at Labour and the Lib Dems for attempting informally to encourage it.

I live in John Penrose's safe Tory seat, Labour are in a distant 2nd place so tactical voting isn't an issue for me here. However, should the polls ever indicate that the LibDems (the only other party to win the seat in living memory) might be in with a shout, I'll vote for them with a clear conscience and no amount of "What about Nick Clegg?" and "tuition fees?" will dissuade me.
Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Here, Labour voters have been voting tactically for years, and when the local party was in sensible hands there were many exhortations for activists to go and support Siobhan McDonagh in Morden (before she was identified as a centrist melt) or work in winnable seats in Croydon, rather than waste their time in Carshalton Beeches or Wallington South. Not so much now...

That contributed to the seat going Tory in 2019 of course.

Amazed to see 12.4% for Labour and 1.5% for Green. Lost by 1.3%

Well done, chaps.

[Arrowhead]

Here, Labour voters have been voting tactically for years, and when the local party was in sensible hands there were many exhortations for activists to go and support Siobhan McDonagh in Morden (before she was identified as a centrist melt) or work in winnable seats in Croydon, rather than waste their time in Carshalton Beeches or Wallington South. Not so much now...

That contributed to the seat going Tory in 2019 of course.

Drifting slightly off-topic here, but has your local party now reverted back to sensible hands post-Corbyn?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Not completely...