DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived post-Murdoch era

No one's paying attention anyway.

all the more reason to go nuts imo

There's probably a point about midway through this parliament, probably after another recession, when it will become apparent that the coalition haven't actually dented the deficit despite causing a hell of a lot of pain in the process. Until that happens, it doesn't reall matter what Labour say as they'll only be greeted with responses of "zero economic credibility".

Looks like Ed Miliband has competition for the party leadership: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15064396

comedy turns at conference from callow teens, god they really are the Tory party

If he stole the show, it must have been a really dire show.

"we shouldn't have done that" <--- not feeling this rallying cry

aren't you meant to mention '-provided you then replenish the stock of available council houses' when saying 'it was right to allow people to buy their council houses'

If the reaction from people who should be favourably disposed to Miliband is anything to go by, he doesn't stand a chance of convincing the wider electorate.

just wanna let you all know, i'm not Tony Blair.

There's the germ of an intuitive and resonant idea in that speech, particularly the Rolls Royce stuff, that most people would agree with, but no-one's listening, because it's Ed Miliband.

Looks like Ed Miliband has competition for the party leadership

What age is the guy, 16? Give him 10 years? We should be only having twenty-somethings leading political parties by then. I know none of the public are impressed by Ed Miliband, but John Major got elected once so anything's possible.

By 1992, John Major had already had a couple of years as Prime Minister against an unproven Neil Kinnock with the full force of the right-wing press raging against him. And once the economy got rocky, Major was destroyed.

Looks like Ed Miliband has competition for the party leadership: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15064396

― James Mitchell, Monday, 26 September 2011 17:29 (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Daily Mail not taking any chances...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042623/Rory-Weal-Child-star-Labour-conference-truth-life-poverty.html

Of course he didn't say he had lived a "life of poverty" at all just that the welfarfe state was there when he needed it, which seems to be borne out by the article.

By 1992, John Major had already had a couple of years as Prime Minister against an unproven Neil Kinnock with the full force of the right-wing press raging against him.

True but he was also King of the Dorks with the charisma of a lettuce

The Mail seems a bit rattled by that speech, Mel P was gleefully laying into him the other day.

they live to be rattled

I think it's somewhat contentious to say Major was destroyed by the economy getting rocky. Yes, recession, yes Black Wednesday, but by 1997 the economy was in a fine state. It was sleaze, general mood for change and slick New Labour that saw off Major in that election.

Well, yes and no. He won the 92 election despite the recession using the "we know we've fucked up, but trust us to make things better - Labour will just make it worse" line. Then Black Wednesday came along a few months later and that trust evaporated overnight. They never recovered after that - sleaze, mood for change, slick New Lab etc. helped to stop them recovering, but didn't cause them to sink so low in the first place.

I just think people are too keen to reduce psephology to "it's the economy, stupid". If the Tories had won in 1997 people would have said it was because they'd successfully put Black Wednesday behind them and the feelgood factor was back. Major wins in 1992 in midst of recession; Major loses in 1997 in good economic times, yet still the explanation is that he was undone by a rocky economy? Of course BW knocked confidence, but these things are surely multiple-factorial. Perhaps it's fair to say that it was a catalyst for an "OK, enough of this lot now" mood that New Labour could exploit.

Black Wednesday destroyed the perception that the Conservatives could be trusted not to balls things up in a spectacular manner. That's arguably distinct from the state of the economy as it stood in 1997. I think you had a lot of people who didn't naturally identify with Tory politics voting for them in 1992 who did so because, whatever else they represented, they were a safe pair of hands. When that was taken away, people were much more willing to take other issues into account.

John Major though. Look at him. Listen to him.

Then what?

Vote for him obviously.

Major looks kinda reasonable and likeable stood alongside Blair and COOL BRITANNIA DO YOU SEE WE ARE COOL NOT LIKE GREY OLD MAJOR HAHAHA HE IS GREY

And Ed Miliband?

We're all, "LOL Ed Miliband, what a dork, who's would vote for that geek?"

http://www.retromodo.com/images/flumps/logo.jpg

the milliband family, yesterday

I must admit when I heard someone say the other day that EMil could solve the Rubik's Cube in 5 seconds (or however long it was) when he was a teenager, he shot up in my estimation!

I just think people are too keen to reduce psephology to "it's the economy, stupid". If the Tories had won in 1997 people would have said it was because they'd successfully put Black Wednesday behind them and the feelgood factor was back. Major wins in 1992 in midst of recession; Major loses in 1997 in good economic times, yet still the explanation is that he was undone by a rocky economy? Of course BW knocked confidence, but these things are surely multiple-factorial. Perhaps it's fair to say that it was a catalyst for an "OK, enough of this lot now" mood that New Labour could exploit

But what I actually said was "once the economy got rocky, Major was destroyed". So yes they turned things round, or things were turned round, between 1992 and 1997 but by then the political damage had been done. Also immediately after Black Wednesday a lot of the traditionally right-wing press and most notably The Sun turned on Major with a lot of force. Had they been interested in doing so, they could have soft-pedalled some of the sleaze that came after, but they went in hard on it, and made him a figure of fun. Major and Clarke's pro-European leanings probably didn't help in all that.

Black Wednesday destroyed the perception that the Conservatives could be trusted not to balls things up in a spectacular manner. That's arguably distinct from the state of the economy as it stood in 1997. I think you had a lot of people who didn't naturally identify with Tory politics voting for them in 1992 who did so because, whatever else they represented, they were a safe pair of hands. When that was taken away, people were much more willing to take other issues into account.

This too. A significant proportion of the electorate may not like the incumbent at any time, but if they trust them more than the other guys not to wreck their interests then the incumbent will probably be re-elected. The house price crash in 92 was before the election, I think, but it eroded a lot of Tory-leaning voters with minimal tribal affiliation, and that slid even further after Black Wednesday. And when Blair got in he was adept at exploiting that.

None of this helps Labour now, obviously, especially if they can't move swing seat perception past "the Tories are doing a bad job of clearing up Labour's mess".

One Osborne ally says that Margaret Thatcher's 1983 campaign, in the face of a recession and rising unemployment, is now more of a model than Reagan's 1984 one. The emerging strategy is to emphasise the Cameron-Miliband contrast, hence the conference slogan 'Leadership for a better future". Those familiar with the latest draft of the Prime Minister's speech say that "there's a huge amount about leadership in there'. This sets the tone for the presidential-style campaign the Tories would like to fight at the next election. They'll try to portray Cameron as a tried and tested national leader while depicting Ed Miliband. in the words of one influential Tory, as 'the next Michael Foot'.

I must admit when I heard someone say the other day that EMil could solve the Rubik's Cube in 5 seconds (or however long it was) when he was a teenager, he shot up in my estimation!

― Juice Should Be Sterliized (Tom D.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRCF4vVUlrI

Political interview:

I want to talk politics
Here is a rubiks cube
Ummm... what about saving the NHS?

HE CANT DO A RUBIKS CUBE THE LIER.

Ed Fauxnerd

Political interview:

I want to talk politics
Here is a rubiks cube
Ummm... what about saving the NHS?

HE CANT DO A RUBIKS CUBE THE LIER.

Dunno tbh if I was EdMil I'd have taken it off him and finished the interview while completing the cube, because I can, unlike Ed Miliarband.

dunno how we can vote for the guy now tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqrELt5f9kI

Paxo: "I hear you do a good reverse Pterodactyl?"

(PS: I at first thought it was a reverse aardvaark, it is not. I googled. And, oh Urban Dictionary, no-one does that. No-one.)

(I mean, what's wrong with just leaving it there?)

dunno how we can vote for the guy now tbh

I hear he's the next Michael Foot. Personally, I think we need leadership for a better future.

I had been thinking that, boundary changes aside, they'd probably lost as many seats as they were going to at the last election, but then I remembered about Scotland.

I can't remember if this is the right thread for this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/29/alessio-rastani-no-prank

One Osborne ally says that Margaret Thatcher's 1983 campaign, in the face of a recession and rising unemployment, is now more of a model than Reagan's 1984 one.

Are they forgetting the part the SDP played in splitting the vote in 83?

Everyone forgets that. And the SDP in general.

think there might've been some kind of REJOICE jingoism going on as well iirc

On Wednesday afternoons he would typically seek inspiration by visiting his Westminster staff in the annexe room, where he would play a game to find the best idea. On occasion this would descend into a competition to suggest the theme most likely to produce catastrophic consequences for his career. One of Boris’s favourites was: ‘Why David Cameron is a complete c**t’ – indeed, he was so enthused, he even started to compose an introduction beginning: ‘One thing that has become apparent to me in my years of Parliamentary service is that David Cameron is a complete c**t’.

http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/36423/boris_cam_and_the_c_word.html

So. Seventeen-headed Jedward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxPFZra8MuM

"Mr. Idiot in Brussels, would you like to respond?"

Yes, I saw that, that was painful viewing.

Too bad it obscured some really good packages about Greece and Europe

Indeed, but hearing this Daily Telegraph columnist call the man idiot a hundred times made me cringe