UK Election June 08

[flabbybody]

On a tranny forum a hung parliament might seem like a desirable state of affairs, but I'm doubting any of you lot are in the mood for humor right now.

[rodinuk]

This is what you get for being greedy, not learning from history and being so stupid in announcing policies like the 'dementia tax' and thereby jeopardising the UK's negotiating position in the Brexit talks.

I'm not usually vindictive but delighted to see Angus Robertson lose his seat.

[Stavros]

This is what you get for being greedy, not learning from history and being so stupid in announcing policies like the 'dementia tax' and thereby jeopardising the UK's negotiating position in the Brexit talks.

I'm not usually vindictive but delighted to see Angus Robertson lose his seat.

To which one must add a stunning restoration of the Conservative vote in Scotland without which the Tories would be in a deeper mess than they are now. Ten years of SNP rule is beginning to pall, even Labour did better than expected. George Osborne on ITV made the point that Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader in the Scottish Parliament, ran exactly the positive and enthusiastic campaign north of the border that Mrs May did not in England and Wales, and that this gives her a lot of authority when they begin choosing a new party leader. One wonders if she could have replaced Theresa May were she to have been an MP.

[Laphroaig]

This is what you get for being greedy, not learning from history and being so stupid in announcing policies like the 'dementia tax' and thereby jeopardising the UK's negotiating position in the Brexit talks.

I'm not usually vindictive but delighted to see Angus Robertson lose his seat.

Alex Salmond gone as well. That will make a lot of people I know, very happy.

To which one must add a stunning restoration of the Conservative vote in Scotland without which the Tories would be in a deeper mess than they are now. Ten years of SNP rule is beginning to pall, even Labour did better than expected. George Osborne on ITV made the point that Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader in the Scottish Parliament, ran exactly the positive and enthusiastic campaign north of the border that Mrs May did not in England and Wales, and that this gives her a lot of authority when they begin choosing a new party leader. One wonders if she could have replaced Theresa May were she to have been an MP.

This is largely what I predicted earlier in the thread (so much for the SNP "whitewash"). A lot of people, including some lifelong labour supporters, have been very impressed with the way Ruth Davidson has conducted her campaign. Labour themselves have probably done slightly better in Scotland than I expected as well.

[peejaye]

Well; I've just got up having stayed up till 3.30 am expecting the Torys to scrape through! I am now having a 5.0% craft IPA for breakfast instead of toast and coffee

[Stavros]

Theresa May will be going to Buckingham Palace at lunchtime to tell the Queen she can stay in power and form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist Party. Proof that this foolish woman is obstinate and determined to carry on, plugging a hole in a sinking ship, but for how long?

There is no obligation to begin the Brexit talks on the 19th June, they could be postponed -but as Article 50 has been invoked with a two year time-table, the talks have to end by the end of 2019. In theory, Theresa May could try to form a 'Brexit consensus' in the Commons which would require her to open talks with Labour, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Democratic Unionist Party in order to secure an agreement with them to vote with the government on Brexit negotiations, but that assumes a) that the other parties will agree to it, and b) that her own party will support a strategy that must require her Brexit agenda to be compromised and be 'too soft' for that half of her party that wants to see the EU fall apart and therefore wants a 'hard Brexit'.

If her managerial reputation has been so damaged by this result, I am not sure how she can create a holding operation in the Commons, but I don't believe there can be an internal challenge to her leadership until the party conference in late September. There is also the spoiling operation that the other parties could try and use to extract commitments to domestic policies they prefer, say on housing and education- as a trade for support for Brexit. And what happens if the 'Brexit consensus' produces precisely the 'backsliding' on Brexit the militants in her party are opposed to and vote against her whenever they can?

So far this morning Mrs May has not brought the Cabinet together in a meeting to tell them what is going on and what the formal position of the party/government is, and we can only wait to see if she calls a Cabinet meeting for this afternoon when she returns from the Palace. If she wants to hold her party together in the Commons, she needs to break out of her shell and even if only for a short term, learn how to be part of a team. I am speculating and events could move fast over the next few days and we don't know where the country will be on Monday morning.

[peejaye]

Couldn't of put it better myself Stavros. Having sobered up; I am quite shocked she hasn't offered a resignation! Just pure arrogance I suppose?

[Stavros]

You might be sober, Peejaye, but is Mrs May? This is what she said a few moments ago:

What the country needs now more than ever is certainty. Having secured the largest number of votes and greatest number of seats in the general election, it is clear the Conservatives and Unionist party has the legitimacy to provide that.

Certainty? Legitimacy? Yes, the Tories have the largest number of seats, but the whole point of this election was to secure a 'mandate' for her vision of Brexit with a huge majority and she has failed, and the one thing that is not certain is what is on the agenda for Brexit and what has been taken off, who is in the government and who is not. As for legitimacy, we know her own party is convulsed with rage and that her own position is vulnerable. And where is her own government this morning? Are they still asleep? This could be a long day for all concerned.

[Jericho]

Perhaps you feel vindicated?

Not really.
At that particular moment, something along the lines of 'elated' would have covered it.
Really thought Rudd had lost her seat, and Labour were in.
I'll go with gutted, atm.

Fuck!

[holzz]

i voted tory, but then the campaign was badly run.

and it makes us look pretty stupid, since May called the election when the polls were good, and then now she needs the DUP to get a minuscule majority. and it's not a shock result. The Tories were always going to get the most seats/votes, but then with a normally-run campaign, it would have been a 20 seat majority. The care policy fucked up, and if this new DUP/Tory coalition doesn't work, then May really should resign and get in Boris Johnson.

Then again, maybe Corbyn could win next time. He's not as damaged goods as he was six months ago.