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How Should Labour Change If It Ever Expects To Form A Majority Government Again?
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Well potential leadership candidate Liz Kendall seems to think it should change dramatically, and she doesn't suffer fools lightly.
/// Miss Kendall has also revealed her relationship with actor and comedian Greg Davies, star of the InBetweeners, ended a few weeks before the general election. ///
Well potential leadership candidate Liz Kendall seems to think it should change dramatically, and she doesn't suffer fools lightly.
/// Miss Kendall has also revealed her relationship with actor and comedian Greg Davies, star of the InBetweeners, ended a few weeks before the general election. ///
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All seems a bit 'knee-jerk' to me.
Who does she think will vie with the Tories for a majority government then ? Or is she suggesting hung parliaments for evermore ? History tells us the public cycles in what it wishes to hold the reins next.
The article suggests she has made both good and puzzling points.
To answer your question, it needs to be seen as an good alternative to the present government, which probably means a mix of returning to social/community values whilst closing any loopholes that result in public help giving the receiver a better standard of life that those who contribute. Oh and all parties should support exit from the EU of course.
Who does she think will vie with the Tories for a majority government then ? Or is she suggesting hung parliaments for evermore ? History tells us the public cycles in what it wishes to hold the reins next.
The article suggests she has made both good and puzzling points.
To answer your question, it needs to be seen as an good alternative to the present government, which probably means a mix of returning to social/community values whilst closing any loopholes that result in public help giving the receiver a better standard of life that those who contribute. Oh and all parties should support exit from the EU of course.
I don't see who they have to represent anymore. The voting public are obviously in favour of a Government who at least gives them a chance of aspiring to better standards of living. Unless said Government severely cocks-up I don't see how labour can present anything other than a psesudo Conservative government. The public have seen thru that in very large numbers.
They need to be more self-confident. The government had a narrative - that Labour "spent all the money" and that now anything they were doing was implicitly justified because it was rectifying this mistake.
There are good grounds to criticise this narrative. But Labour never did. They didn't have the courage - it was a bad decision by Miliband. They should have contested it more strongly, and should have been doing it the last 5 years.
Of course, they could always become the Conservatives again, like they did under Blair. That would be great for them from a "winning seats" perspective. But it would be bad for our democracy, just like it was then.
I know that left-wing politics isn't a popular area for a lot of ABers, but it must be said there really isn't a main left-wing party in the UK today, and Labour has failed disastrously to occupy that position. The national left wing vote is split between Labour, Plaid/SNP, and (shudder) the Greens. A huge majority of the millions who voted for those other parties were very likely disaffected Labour voters.
There are good grounds to criticise this narrative. But Labour never did. They didn't have the courage - it was a bad decision by Miliband. They should have contested it more strongly, and should have been doing it the last 5 years.
Of course, they could always become the Conservatives again, like they did under Blair. That would be great for them from a "winning seats" perspective. But it would be bad for our democracy, just like it was then.
I know that left-wing politics isn't a popular area for a lot of ABers, but it must be said there really isn't a main left-wing party in the UK today, and Labour has failed disastrously to occupy that position. The national left wing vote is split between Labour, Plaid/SNP, and (shudder) the Greens. A huge majority of the millions who voted for those other parties were very likely disaffected Labour voters.
"Wait for the economy to tank, and they will be re-elected."
Firstly, the new government should repeal the outrageous Fixed Term Parliament Act. It was only enacted to guarantee the LDs five years with the spare keys to No 10 and it should be dumped forthwith. However, that aside, although I fear you're probably right, Hymie, it just about sums up the electorate's thinking. So the economy tanks and instead of staying with a party who have a proven track record of being able to manage the economy quite well voters revert to a party who, on every occasion they have been in power, have left the nation almnost on its economic knees.
Firstly, the new government should repeal the outrageous Fixed Term Parliament Act. It was only enacted to guarantee the LDs five years with the spare keys to No 10 and it should be dumped forthwith. However, that aside, although I fear you're probably right, Hymie, it just about sums up the electorate's thinking. So the economy tanks and instead of staying with a party who have a proven track record of being able to manage the economy quite well voters revert to a party who, on every occasion they have been in power, have left the nation almnost on its economic knees.
While I agree with NJ, any government that wants to maximize their chances of being re-elected should ditch fixed term parliaments – most other democracies are based on fixed terms.
Many may view the system in the UK skewed, favouring the government being able to blow the whistle (ending the game) anytime the score is in their favour.
Many may view the system in the UK skewed, favouring the government being able to blow the whistle (ending the game) anytime the score is in their favour.
I'm not sure what NJ is on about, exactly. The "proven track record" of the Conservatives on the economy includes more than a few cock-ups. Black Wednesday, for example. Or the rather awful unemployment figures in the years between 1979 and 1988. Or the recession in 1990-1992. Or stagflation under Anthony Barber. Or just a general nothing-much-of-any-good happening in the 50s and early 60s. ("...sorry to leave it in such a mess", anyone? Labour's may be more famous these days, but Reggie Maudling started it).
To be fair, the Labour growth years of 1997-2006 owed a fair bit to a reasonable position left for them by Kenneth Clarke, whose work helped recover from the mess in the early 1990s.
If the economy tanks in the next five years, then it will be the Conservative Party's fault this time. They don't have anyone left to blame.
To be fair, the Labour growth years of 1997-2006 owed a fair bit to a reasonable position left for them by Kenneth Clarke, whose work helped recover from the mess in the early 1990s.
If the economy tanks in the next five years, then it will be the Conservative Party's fault this time. They don't have anyone left to blame.
In answer to the original question, I'm not convinced that the answer is a move to the left. At least not the economic left. However much I feel that the polls played a part in exaggerating the scale of Labour's loss, the fact is that they were never going to win and this is because the message, or at least the leadership delivering it, were far from convincing. The economy failed spectacularly at the end of their term and yet Labour (or, perhaps more accurately, the Unions) decided to stick with essentially the same economic team at the top. The two Eds had at various times been advisers to Gordon Brown, which is a far from promising start. Perhaps now, with Ed Miliband resigning as Leader and Ed Balls not even in parliament, they have the chance to find a fresh leadership who can probably do a lot better even if selling essentially the same message as in 2015.
Oh, and I should also say that I'm not really expecting the economy to tank in the next five years, although in my opinion the last few years don't owe that much to the way George Osborne has run things (how can it? He failed his own targets, after all). But there's more to politics than just the state of the economy and with the constitutional future of the UK in doubt at all levels and the majority not exactly large enough for perfect comfort, then it would be spectacular if the Tories won a third term in 2020.
But we'll see. I would hope very much that Labour can re-establish themselves by 2020 and offer a genuine alternative to the Tories. If we're going to have a return to two-party politics, then we may as well have two parties who are actually in competition.
But we'll see. I would hope very much that Labour can re-establish themselves by 2020 and offer a genuine alternative to the Tories. If we're going to have a return to two-party politics, then we may as well have two parties who are actually in competition.
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