#12898675, By breakablepants UK Politics Thread

breakablepants 7 May 2021 12:47:11 1,118 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 7 years ago

Rhaegyr wrote:
Here's some examples of the top comments on BBC/Fail/Guardian that I hear a lot of (with different wording) in my own experiences;

"Labour will not get back into power until and unless it realises that the average Englishman is just not interested in wokery."

"Labour's loss in Hartlepool illustrates yet again that the party has failed to connect with the Leave/working classes."

"This is what happens when you dismiss patriotic working class people as irrelevant, and rely on the woke twitterati to form your political strategy."

"This result says just as much about the rejection of the broader Culture War as to Labours ineptitude.

Obsessing on fashionable issues, more to flatter their own ego than to benefit those who they purport to serve."

How do you counter this stuff?

Easiest way to counter it is to realise that most voters are not on Twitter ;-)

These results really shouldn't be a shock, and it's clear that Starmer and Labour leadership saw it coming. The 'Red Wall' was largely pro-Brexit, nationalist/patriotic, and it will take more than 1 year to address the perception issues created by Momentum/Corbyn.

The solution to Labour's issues is not to double-down on more of what didn't work.

We are yet to see the fallout from Brexit, and lot of people are on furlough who may be out of a job soon. SO there is a lot of change on the horizon that may shift voting allegiances; at the moment, people are still likely to vote on 2019 lines as nothing has changed aside from the pandemic.

Also worth considering that turnout seems to have been low, which hurts Labour more than tories due to demographics etc etc which are well known.

The news cycle is blowing this up into 'shock disaster for Labour' when the polling has been consistent this was going to happen. As for Starmer, I personally think he's good. He's untested with the wider public due to circumstances, and a media landscape which is always more pro-Tory and pro-PM. Just look back to polling from last year where the majority of voters didn't even know who he was when he was elected leader!

A more realistic goal is a Labour government 2-3 election cycles from now. Look at what happened under John Smith; his role was essential in shifting Labour towards what became Blairism. I see Starmer as (potentially) having the same role.