The gain or loss of one Member of Parliament, when the party in power has a large majority, will make no difference.
Yes, it will send a message, but, does any party take notice of that message?
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SeasideMan
Pro - 2008-07-25 @ 12:55:34
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grumpus
Pro - http://bobmblack.blog.co.uk
- 2008-07-26 @ 06:37:30
I agree this has generally been the case, but I think this time may be different. I read many comments arising from political news items and there is almost total bitterness towards Gordon Brown and this government.
This is not political flag waving on my part. I genuinely sense the electorate are crying out for change.-
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2008-07-26 @ 09:07:23
You mean rather like when the evil harridan Thatcher was in power? I don't think it's quite there yet, but who knows - things could dive into the maelstrom of unpopularity like then.
Tom.-
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grumpus
Pro
- http://bobmblack.blog.co.uk
- 2008-07-26 @ 14:56:46
Perzackerly!
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joebangles
- 2008-07-28 @ 16:11:27
Hi Tom, I genuinely believe tht Mrs Thatcher came along at just the right time, but I will concede that she stayed too long.
Please have a read of my comment to fairplay. -
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joebangles
- 2008-07-28 @ 16:17:20
Hi grumpus, Gordon Brown is a failure, was he always a failure, he did not take advice in the beginning and sold of all the UK gold reserves, you would have thought that he had learnt a lesson, maybe Blair kept him right for the next ten years, maybe he did learn a lesson and now listens to his advisers, crap advisers.
Please read my comment to fairplay. -
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I don't think you can take anything from one by-election. However, as we have several in the last four months with significant fall in support for the Labour Party, it does suggest there is a dissatisfaction with the government.
Are Labour going to be wiped out with at 22% swing against them at every seat at the next election? Not at all.
So I think the Labour Party will take note, whether they can do anything about it is another matter. They have been "listening to our concerns" after every election since 2001. Once time for a change sets in it is very difficult to turn that around.
I agree with Tom that there isn't the level of frustration with the government as there was in 1990 or 1995, but if things stay the same by 2010, there could be. Labour may well regret ditching their commitment to proportional representation in the short-sighted glory days at the end of the nineties.
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joebangles
- 2008-07-28 @ 16:08:56
Hi fairplay, in Glasgow East, and I drove around the constituency last week, has many, probably, most, areas where no human being should be allowed to live, and has been forgotten by the Labour Council that has run Glasgow for at least the last 60 years.
Somehow the electorate believes that they get a better deal from the Labour Party and have allowed themselves to be brain-washed by their Labour Party.
Many Labour voters did give their vote to the SNP on this occasion, knowing that their party, Labour, would still be in Government, but, at the next General Election, they will be returning to Labour in the knowledge that only that party could compete with the Tory's.
As for the present Government they have so often stated "we will take note of this" that their note-book must be full up, pity they don't refer to it sometimes.-
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grumpus
Pro
- http://bobmblack.blog.co.uk
- 2008-07-28 @ 18:27:28
I agree with your previous comment Trevor, Gordon Brown was never going to make a good prime minister. In the shadow of Tony Blair he appeared to be a good chancellor despite his mistakes, which are now coming to light.
On a personal note, his barely concealed jealousy of Blair and his burning ambition, blinded him to his own lack of any of the right qualities to be the head of government. He has no charisma. He is dull and dour, with narrow eyes, a twitching mouth and false smile, which give him an air of untrustworthyness.
This lack of likeability has been the downfall of many leading politicians of all parties. The people want a leader they feel they can trust.
The Labour government is now in its death throes, squabbling over its leadership, but having no realistic alternative candidate, they are now fighting to get into the lifeboats before the ship goes down.
The Labour government are not entirely to blame for the current economic crisis, but they must be blamed for not dealing adequately with the problems it causes.
They will blunder and bluff from fiasco to fiasco until they are forced to call a general election, when they will undoubtedly be wiped out. -
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I think Labour has done some good for the poorest - New Deal, SureStart. However their triangulation to outdo the Conservatives has ultimately been their downfall with their core vote.
Completely agree with you on your last paragraph about their notebook!
Labour won't be wiped out in the next election, in the same way the Conservatives weren't wiped out in 1997. It is all political cycle.
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- 2008-08-03 @ 10:10:19
It has to be said that Gordon Brown is not our elected Prime Minister, and we all know how much the Prime Minister, or leader of any political party, influences the party and the policies. If Gordon Brown said that he wanted a policy that said that all home-owners should give up their property to homeless people, and then got his whips to force the vote through, then that's what we, as the people of this country, would have to put up with.
When Thatcher was ousted, and when Blair went we should have had a general election for the people to decide how our country should be governed.
The standard wisdom is that protest votes in by-elections mean nothing as people revert to their natural leanings come a general election. History seems to bear this view out.
Tom.