[Tubby Isaacs]

What's known in the trade as events.

[Bones McCoy]

I know that I'm not in a good headspace at the moment since I stopped taking my little helpers, but I am finding it very difficult to be optimistic about Labour's future right now and more to the point, what sort of society we are headed towards.

Things change, and in the grand scheme of things quite quickly. It’s just hard to see it now, or where that comes from. 15 years ago Michael Howard was in charge of a ruined Tory party we thought would never come back together. 10 years ago we had the first coalition this country had seen for decades. Who knows where we’ll be 5 or 10 years from now?

Rebuilding like that is considerably easier when you have 5 times the budget of the other parties combined.

[Arrowhead]

Things change, and in the grand scheme of things quite quickly. It’s just hard to see it now, or where that comes from. 15 years ago Michael Howard was in charge of a ruined Tory party we thought would never come back together. 10 years ago we had the first coalition this country had seen for decades. Who knows where we’ll be 5 or 10 years from now?

Excellent points. Politics in this country is so fluid at the moment, anything could happen between now and the end of the decade.

It's not a very flattering comparison from Starmer's perspective, but perhaps Cameron's experiences as Tory leader might be a pointer? Elevated to the leadership as his party were in the midst of their own existential crisis after GE2005, he was under huge pressure by the time of their party conference in 2007 when Osborne saved his bacon with his headline-grabbing inheritance tax gambit. The Tories under-performed in several by-elections under Cameron until, eleven years after leaving power, they finally beat Labour in Crewe & Nantwich. The rest of history.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Could a slow burning Brexit (albeit relieved by spaffing) hurt Johnson? There's always the chance of scandal with him too, of course. Far higher than with May or even Cameron.

[Boiler]

Could a slow burning Brexit (albeit relieved by spaffing) hurt Johnson? There's always the chance of scandal with him too, of course. Far higher than with May or even Cameron.

It'd have to be a level of scandal that would make Trump look like he'd led his life as part of a monastic order. Face it: Johnson is wearing Teflon-coated, Kevlar-lined armour.

He. Is. Unassailable.

[Tubby Isaacs]

He's unassailable till he isn't, same as Trump. But it's pretty bleak.

[mattomac]

There was the massive financial crash in 2008, I know Labour picked up a bit as I ran in 2009 and we got wiped out in Cornwall (won 5 today, shame we lost Penzance but Dwelly is a former Labour councillor who I know well and quit due to the Corbyn and momentum).

I thought that would be the lowest ebb, dunno if this or 2019 was, probably 2019.

Question is does this happen in September of last year, I dunno if it does. Is this the peak time for Johnson to go to the polls, we will see. Already COVID is starting to stir again so who knows.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Will be more policy next year, I'm sure. Though Starmer is coming dangerously close to losing a hearing.

[Crabcakes]

Before we all get too despondent…

[Boiler]

So, still in power then.

Yep, that's cheered me up no end.

The rain on the window sounds nice: then I remember my chimney leaks.

[Crabcakes]

How about this then - the consequences of actions actually being felt by Tories. And this is only going to become more widespread:

[Youngian]

How about this then - the consequences of actions actually being felt by Tories. And this is only going to become more widespread:

We’ll have to wait for the analysis in Kent but it can’t all be down to demographic changes in under four years. If its an anti-Brexit vote why has Labour and not Lib Dems gained? Hull saw the Tories and Labour both lose a seat to the Lib Dems. How ungrateful after all the Tories and Hull’s pro Brexit Labour MPs have done for the fishing industry.

[Nigredo]

He's unassailable till he isn't, same as Trump. But it's pretty bleak.

Maybe it’s due to me having an enormously tough month just gone but recent election business has made me very depressed.

Seeing Johnson saunter through scandals that would end several careers many times over, to baying and cheering crowds that still reckon he’s a ledj, has me despondently convinced Johnson could become Britain’s Putin if he wanted.

[Boiler]

Well, he is "Britain Trump". And I am sure he could become a Putin figure if he wanted, with Carrie Antoinette at his side.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I thonk the most depressing thing I saw all week was the monkey-hanger who said he was voting for Johnson because 'he's a character'. I thought that was just a cliché, but after hours of work Sky News found one to publicise...

[Boiler]

Meanwhile, here's Anna Soubry's view...

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/la ... 43980.html

And in response to Malc - I know too many people who voted for Johnson on the basis of him being a character and nothing more: that he'd be a bit of fun. People who are otherwise apolitical. Yep, they do exist.

[Tubby Isaacs]

How about this then - the consequences of actions actually being felt by Tories. And this is only going to become more widespread:

The Other jumps out. Is that a local Brexit character? Somebody moaning about Kent Council?

[Boiler]

From https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/mgElectio ... spx?ID=630

Screenshot_2021-05-08 Election results for Folkestone East, 6 May 2021(1).png (11.06 KiB) Viewed 3024 times

https://foundationparty.uk/about/values/

[Andy McDandy]

Standard right wing, light governance, low tax, freeze peach, soldier rimmers.

[Boiler]

Standard right wing, light governance, low tax, freeze peach, soldier rimmers.

Ideal clientele for Fox and Tice's new pub then.