Discussion
CrutyRammers said:
jonby said:
So why doesn't May call an election ? I've read it's because she is risk averse - sorry, not buying it. The risk right now is almost non-existent. Is it because she genuinely has the country's interests at heart ? Because we've had enough of elections and as a country we need to get on with implementing some policies. I'd like to believe so, but I'm not used to the idea of a politician who genuinely puts the country before personal/party gain. Any thoughts ?
Because she needs either a 2/3 majority, or to call a vote of no confidence in herself. The former won't happen as none of the other parties would want it, and who's going to do the latter?It's almost as if they drafted the fixed term parliaments act so that a government couldn't "just" call a snap election on a whim.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jere...
Justayellowbadge said:
jonby said:
So why doesn't May call an election ?
FTPA
On why May can't/won't call a snap general election:
I reckon that if Labour had voted against Brexit, that would have given her grounds to call a vote of no confidence and go to the polls. As it is, with the opposition supporting the government on the defining issue of the day, and the government getting their own way in pretty much everything else due to the incompetence of said opposition, what possible grounds are there?
stongle said:
She can't due to the legislation brought in by Cameron.
Another reason might be that it would be clearly seen as a cynical move. She knows, and the electorate know, that there is no good reason to call a snap election other than to take advantage of the implosion of Labour and the decline of UKIP. Basically, she would be taking victory for granted, and in those conditions it might not go well. People do not like arrogance.I reckon that if Labour had voted against Brexit, that would have given her grounds to call a vote of no confidence and go to the polls. As it is, with the opposition supporting the government on the defining issue of the day, and the government getting their own way in pretty much everything else due to the incompetence of said opposition, what possible grounds are there?
El stovey said:
Hosenbugler said:
RichB said:
Where's Jawknee? This should please him! 
Blimey, I wonder who stated that at the Beeb, and if they are still gnashing their teeth!BBC said:
Theresa May this morning finds her grip on British politics hugely strengthened.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.
BlackLabel said:
0000 said:
May's played an absolute blinder in the path she's treading with Brexit, completely taking the wind out of UKIP's sails at a time when Labour are looking like they might be scuppered. At least until 2025 or beyond.
+1For years we were told that that the Eurosceptics will 1 - destroy the Tories from within and 2 - make them unelectable. However, we now have a Tory party as united as they've been in a long time and as electorally powerful as ever.
SWMBO has been Labour since the day she was old enough to vote. Never voted any other way, in any election. Stayed with them all the way through Smith, Kinnock, Blair, Miliband. Been on all the marches about NHS cuts etc. She says that this time she is going to vote Tory because she likes Theresa May and she thinks Corbyn is useless.
I know that anecdote does not equal trend, but it's quite significant for her.
Unless the economy goes tits up May will win in 2020 even if Corbyn isn't leader of Labour. And with the boundary changes in place for the next election it looks likely she'll maintain or increase the Tory majority which would allow her to lead until 2025 if she wanted. It feels like Labour are in a position similar to that of the Tories in the late 90s/early 00s and Corbyn or no Corbyn it's going to take them a while to get out of this mess. They need a complete rebranding.
Thought this was an interesting article.
Someone questioned May's strategy, well according to this writer it is this.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/02/theresa-mays-ne...
Someone questioned May's strategy, well according to this writer it is this.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/02/theresa-mays-ne...
JamesForsyth said:
conservatives have believed ‘that if you value something, if you want to preserve it, there will be times when you have to be prepared to reform it and to change’. This is the paradox of conservatism: you preserve through change, and sometimes radical change.
IMO the only alternative to ever growing polarisation of politics is to make the market economy work for ordinary working people. Murph7355 said:
stongle said:
She can't due to the legislation brought in by Cameron.
Which is actually pretty sensible.Means she'll need to keep working hard for the duration regardless of the dips
ts in opposition.RichB said:
El stovey said:
Hosenbugler said:
RichB said:
Where's Jawknee? This should please him!
Blimey, I wonder who stated that at the Beeb, and if they are still gnashing their teeth!BBC said:
Theresa May this morning finds her grip on British politics hugely strengthened.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.
BlackLabel said:
It feels like Labour are in a position similar to that of the Tories in the late 90s/early 00s and Corbyn or no Corbyn it's going to take them a while to get out of this mess. They need a complete rebranding.
I can't think where Labour could go right now. Their core vote is being eaten by UKIP. Scotland has gone to the SNP. Middle England is going with the Tories, except that a small number of heavily Remain-centric areas will probably go to the Lib Dems. Beyond certain areas that will always be Labour, they seem to be screwed. What do they do?In my view it's more than a rebranding that's needed. It's a fundamental assessment of who they are, what they stand for and whom they represent.
AmitG said:
In my view it's more than a rebranding that's needed. It's a fundamental assessment of who they are, what they stand for and whom they represent.
I think a split labour party could do very well. Not the Corby union old labour section obviously. If Gordon brown hadn't had a go at being the PM I could see a centrist Labour Party under Blair then David Milliband or Dan Jarvis or some other new middle ground politician being hugely successful.
Labour are in the wilderness until they free themselves from the current union funding and string pulling which has led to a disastrous era under Brown and then Ed Milliband and Corbyn
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