Sleaford isn't often in the news. Yesterday's by election delivers it a brief moment of attention. And that is its probable significance. This is a constituency that is very different from Richmond Park. And it voted Conservative, heavily.
Although the government is not doing well on Brexit (I think that a kind interpretation), or just about anything else, more than 50% voted Tory.
UKIP, the LibDems and Labour were far behind, in that order.
For UKIP this was bad news: they are offering no hard Brexit alternative where many might want that. They lost votes.
For the LibDems this was quite OK: they were always 'also rans' in this contest. But they gained 5%. If I was in their HQ I would take courage from that.
Labour came a good second here in 1997. They came fourth yesterday and lost 7%. That is significant: there is no evidence, yet again, that people think Labour is providing effective opposition to an ineffective government.
The question is, when will they?
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A blundering Foreign Secretary,a failed austerity programme,falling household incomes against a background of GDP “growth”,a chaotic Brexit position, the designation of the judiciary as “enemies of the people,the airbrushing out of the NHS Brexit contribution of £350m per week, billions of taxpayer funded fines paid to the USA and yet a massive by-election majority. Have people lost their critical faculties?
We are lurching to the right at a rapid rate of knots.
Johnson is much criticised for telling some of the truth about Saudi Arabia (what a delicious irony if he should lose his job for telling the truth!) and there is much talk about British trade interests. Yet those interests seem to be worth about £3bn just about 170 times smaller than British trade interests in the EU!
Yet turnout was, I think, woefully even lower than Richmond Park.
But Labour’s opposition will never be effective until they realise that the vote to leave was not about anti immigration – though, in spite of the evidence, the Tories sucessfully keep telling them and us that it was – but about anti austerity. If Labour had firm and resolute spending plans – they could even style it as Quantitative Easing for the NHS or Quantitative Easing for local authority housing – the Tories would find it difficult to counter and the people could have hope that there IS an alternative…
Latest polling puts Tories on 42 and Labour on 25 – its lowest polling since 2009. Thats mid term with a very unpopular and frankly inept Government.
For goodness sake Labour WAKE UP!!!!! Do something. Grasp the nettle, act like a mature responsible opposition who might like to have the reins of government, otherwise electoral oblivion beckons.
The current situation is just excruciating.
2015 result Tories 56.3% Labour 17.3% is not a good second, most commentators are positive about the performance of Starmer in the Shadow Brexit role. You seem to be joining in the British media obsession with spinning things negatively for Labour. Maybe because they have accepted Brexit.
I know things are not perfect and this result not great but Labour have just been through a summer of unproductive internecine warfare. Not claiming everything was fine before but Labour’s poll rating went into decline just after the referendum when the coup was launched
There was no coup
There were Labour MPs saying that the had no confidence in Corbyn
Nor have the public
And, it has to be said, too many Labour MP’s without either the wit, background or understanding to be anything other than wedded to the austerity agenda I believe to be the starting point of the total chaos in which we now find ourselves.
Along with, I suspect, many others the silence of the Corbyn team combined with the predominantly neo-liberal MPs can lead to nowhere but the total irrelevance of the Labour Party. I’m tempted to express that very much more forcefully but don’t want to offend anyone!
I am disappointed Richard, there was a concerted and co-ordinated attempt to overthrow the leadership of the party, that is a coup. One could argue it was justifiable (I don’t) but it was a coup. Not only was it a coup but the whole behaviour of significant numbers of Labour MPs was aimed at undermining the leadership of the party, perhaps shortsightedly because if they undermine the leadership then they either get rid of the leadership or undermine the party, the latter is the one that has occurred.
I say perhaps shortsightedly because I suspect that they would rather lose than have PM Corbyn
“The question is, when will they?”
Perhaps we need to take a hard look at some the hard answers.
Start with “Not in 2017”, move on to an optimistic “sort of, in 2017-2018, but not enough to win in 2020”, and consider the answer “Never. They never got it together, the Conservative hard right did everything they damn’ well pleased, and the scattering of ‘Real Labour’ parties contesting the 2028 election are an exercise in irrelevance”.
We *should* be working to support an effective Parliamentary opposition, whatever that may mean; but we need to be securing ourselves for a polity with a Parliament that has rendered itself irrelevant.
“The question is, when will they?”
When they start talking about fairly paid jobs that have some level of security for UK citizens. These jobs will flow from investments in things such as energy efficiency retro fit of houses – funded by the Green QE that Richard talks about.
One word that guarantees switch-off by the electorate: “policy” – people don’t give a stuff about “policy” but do want: fairness, fair pay, fair working conditions, and some level of security for the future.
I utterly fail to understand how the Labour bunch don’t grasp this – & any of them reading this – feel free to contact me – I’d be delighted to help you understand.
While the effect is the same, ie Labour had a very poor result at Sleaford, they way they got there is open to interpretation.
Sheffield in September saw Labour lose percentage, and this was followed by Richmond, and now Sleaford.
Sheffield should have been a Labour win but fielding Julie Grocutt, a vociferous AntiCorbynite, probably didnt help
Richmond was never going to be a win, last tory majority 20,000 or so, and again by putting up another AntiCorbynite, Christian Wolmar……?
Sleaford chose an unknown local man 29 days before the election, in a constituency that has had a Tory majority for a long time, and lost. My oh My what a surprise.
It appears the official Labour website is being controlled by anyone but the leadership,and it contains absolutely zero information about the party worth reading, explaining why I get asked why labour policies are so invisible, what is labours policy on immigration? etc
To combat this, Corbyn has had to launch http://www.jeremyforlabour.com as an alternative. and on that site the very clear “10 pledge” message stands on the front page. I confess that If I was in Corbyns shoes I would have lost the plot by now and tossed out a few selected MP’s out on their ear, but rightly or wrongly he refuses to lose the plot, probably a better approach than mine, probably not.
One of the biggest messaqes I take from Corbyn is his refusal to get drawn into an Immigration debate, a veritable minefield. His position is quite clear in fact, but the opposing forces want to stifle it. If the 10 pledges, could be implemented forthwith, the Immigration issue would cease to exist.
I know Richard has other ideas about Labours economic policy, but I stay away from economics when possible, its not my strong point, firts I would like to see a change of government, its imperative.
But there is not a hint as to how he will deliver those pledges
They are as realistic as saying everyone can have a free holiday in Barbados each year
And that’s tge problem: Labour is ringing hollow
Oh Tony where to start?
Lets look hard at the facts.
We lost our deposit in Richmond (where we fielded a very good candidate by the way)
We went from 2nd to 4th in Sleaford with our share of the vote declining
Our performances in local bye elections is disastrous for an opposition party, losing over 20 seats since May.
The latest polling puts the Tories 17 points ahead.
Corbyn’s own ratings are pitiful with just 16% thinking he would make a suitable PM
We are in a position which no party has ever recovered from to win a GE. Right now we are on course to have fewer than 200 MP’s.
Corbyn is taking us over a cliff. Worse, he’s failing completely in carrying out his role as leader of the opposition and the party he leads is doing a grave disservice to our democracy.
It really is time his supporters wised up.
People read newspapers.
People watch tv.
Never mind how much the “blogosphere” is talked-up, the two above rule the roost in news dissipation.
It would be interesting to return to an economy run along the lines that Brown operated within, but it is never going to happen.
Quite simply: the media have been owned by greedy, vicious sociopaths.
It makes no difference who runs labour, if they do not bend their knee to “the sociopaths”, they will never get elected to power.
And that takes no account of “boundary changes” (AKA gerrymandering)
So it looks like we are heading for “hard” brexit. Nil corporation tax. Nil regulation. Reintroduction of slavery, and reduced healthcare for those with no assets.
A sociopaths dreamworld.
IT WAS THE SUN WOT DUN IT…
Remember that?