Friday 17 December 2021

Happy Christmas, Boris!


And hopefully, you'll be the next goose well and truly cooked this Yuletide...

North Shropshire had previously only had Tory MPs in its modern incarnation and was the party's 76th safest seat.
It also backed Brexit in the 2016 referendum. But they lost it with one of the largest by-election swings (34 per cent) in British electoral history to Ms Morgan, who finished a distant third in the 2019 general election.

Even now, Starmer's unpalatable. That should tell both parties something. 

8 comments:

Ian J said...

another "Prepare for government" moment perhaps?

Stonyground said...

"Even now, Starmer's unpalatable. That should tell both parties something."

Especially as the Lib-Dems were opposed to Brexit and actually fought the last election on a policy of overturning the referendum result.

Sam Duncan said...

18,000 votes would never have won this seat before. Labour came second in 1997 with more, and the LibDems fell about 1,000 short of yesterday's total in '92. The combined Labour/LibDem vote only increased by 3,500 over the 2019 GE. That's pretty pathetic given the clear dissatisfaction with the government.

It's glaringly obvious from the raw numbers, rather than the breathless talk of “historic swing”, that almost a third of the people who've regularly voted Tory in North Shropshire for years simply stayed at home. And who can blame them?

Ted Treen said...

It's equally a result of dissatisfaction of Johnson's eminence grise, one Carrie Antionette,

Dissatisfaction with her presence, let alone her actions.

Mudplugger said...

Some of us are old enough to remember Orpington - that didn't change anything either.

Andy said...

My concern is that the knives are out for Boris because he may not be fully on board with the global narrative. Things in politics always happen for a reason, a trump card is held back to be played at the right moment. Party-gate is one such card, played to perfection by those who seek Boris unsuitable. Whoever replaces him should he go will probably ramp up the lockdowns and mandates My money would be on the current Chancellor or the Health Secretary. Lord help us.

Sgt Albert Hall said...

Whatever the reasons for the swing, the voters of North Shropshire have chosen for themselves and MP who appears unable to string two words together without a script. Ms Morgan might fit in on a parish council but I fear she will be utterly out of her depth in Parliament.

JuliaM said...

"another "Prepare for government" moment perhaps?"

Now there's been an early Frost, let's hope!

"Especially as the Lib-Dems were opposed to Brexit and actually fought the last election on a policy of overturning the referendum result."

I suspect the voters know that's not going to happen.

"That's pretty pathetic given the clear dissatisfaction with the government."

I suspect that actually, apathy rules. As it so often does. And no, I can't blame them.

"Dissatisfaction with her presence, let alone her actions."

The day she leaves No 10 will be a red letter day in every sense of the word!

"Some of us are old enough to remember Orpington - that didn't change anything either."

Good - if depressing! - point...

"Things in politics always happen for a reason, a trump card is held back to be played at the right moment."

If so, it must be a hell of a big one! I could live with the current Chancellor, but The Saj will be a bigger disaster than the buffoon...

"... the voters of North Shropshire have chosen for themselves and MP who appears unable to string two words together without a script."

I'm not sure the script helped much! Given who will have written it...