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The end of New Labour?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Is David Cameron right?

Slightly premature I think. A terrible result for Labour though...

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think the Tories have a very good chance now of winning the next election, but it won't be (sadly) the end of New Labour any more than the Thatcher and Major era was the end of the Tory party (even more tragically).

    I for one would like Labour to become a left-of-centre party again, so if 'New' Labour were really to cease to exist and take its PFIs, third ways, US imperialism arse-kissing with it, I'd be cheering for years to come. Whatever happens though the Labour party will be there in one form or other, and will go on be in power again in the future, just as the Tories are going to be in power again before them.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I wonder if Labour might someday reconsider PR as a means of keeping the Tories out. First-past-the-post is all very well when you have a huge majority ... :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    People are sick of Labour, in 8 years time or so they will be sick of the Tories and then the whole sorry mess turns around again.

    Hopefully the Tories dont bugger up the improvement (although its come at a huge cost) of public services.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm absolutely loving this. For years, Gordon Brown stabbed his "friend" Mr Blair in the back on countless occasions, in desperate attempts to get at the top job. Now that he has the job he has always wanted, he is absolutely useless in it. This election result (along with the ones from May 1st) is a damning indictment of him personally. It has almost nothing to do with deterioraing economic conditions, although Macavity has spent part of today trying to delude us into believing this nonsense.

    Although incidentally, does anyone notice how ironic this is? For years, Brown has believed his own hype, and repeatedly told anyone who'll listen how brilliant he was at running the economy when Chancellor. Yet now, Fuhrer Brown, who shares a job with his glove puppet Alistair Darling, he starts pretending that these economic difficulties are actually nothing whatsoever to do with him. In other words, he took all the credit when times were good, but now that things have started going wrong, he's changed his story. It wasn't actually him who was responsible for any of this, oh no. And he wonders why he's got a reputation as a Macavity type character?

    The sad thing is, had the aforementioned Macavity had shown some guts last year and called that General Election, he would have won comfortably. Just about all of Failed Labour's misfortunes at the moment are self-inflicted - the shameful abolition of the 10p tax band, the blatant lies he told us to get out of the manifesto promise to give a referendum on the EU Constitution/Treaty, his pathetic dithering over whether to scrap the planned 2p increase in fuel duty amidst rocketing fuel prices... the list goes on. Nothing would make me happier than seeing this government fail miserably, and they are doing an extremely good job of things.

    But ask yourselves, would David Cameron be any better at the job? Almost certainly not. Whilst it's truly wonderful to see the architechts of New Labour tearing it to pieces and killing it, Cameron is the man who is ready to take over the Blair legacy. New Labour will live on, albeit under slightly different faces, in "the heir to Blair" that is David Cameron. Tony Blair can feel proud of himself - he has ensured that his brand of politics will live on well into the next decade. What a shame that no one else will be able to share this warped sense of pride.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Losers.

    They ran the same lame sort of smear campaign over there that they did during the mayoral election in London. And, surprise surprise, the electorate saw through their bullshit.

    I think it's too soon to say that this is the end of Nu-Labour but one can hope.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well it's nearly 2 years until the likely date of the next election, and 2 years is a long time in politics, so I wouldn't like to predict anything. The one thing that I've found more surprising than the Conservatives becoming the frontrunners, is the Lib Dems utter failure to take their place as the likely main opposition. They have a hell of a lot of policies that core Labour voters and centrist voters would probably be in favour of. I think the stage could be set for them to after the next election become the main opposition to the new Conservative government, because there are a hell of a lot of dissatisfied Labour voters out there who would still be very dubious about voting Conservative. The Conservatives will probably win the next election. If they know what they're doing, the Lib Dems could take Labour's place as the main left-of-centre party (not that Labour are particularly left-of-centre any more).

    But if the Conservatives get into power, I don't expect much will change. At best, they'll carry on most of Labour's social policies, they won't have any more of a clue that Labour about how to improve the economic situation, and they'll introduce a few things to appease their core voters, like abolishing inheritance tax. I think everything else will remain pretty much the same. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the Lib Dems could take Labour's place as the main left-of-centre party (not that Labour are particularly left-of-centre any more).

    No chance whilst Nick Clegg is leader. (He contributed to the Orange Book) For as long as the LibDems fight in Conservative areas as 'Tory lite' and claim to be a real left wing alternative in Labour areas.... it's hard to take them seriously. They get away with being a mishmash because it's assumed they'll never get into power. And whilst the trade unions aren't fans of New Labour they're not going to start supporting the LibDems... TBH, I see the LibDem vote getting squeezed by Cameron's 'new' Conservative brand. I really don't think they'll ever become the 'main' centre-left party... The LibDems I think will just carry on as they've always done: the third party which can criticise Labour/Conservative from every angle safe in the knowledge that they won't ever get into power. What will be interesting I think is where Labour goes next, assuming they lose the next election...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No chance whilst Nick Clegg is leader. (He contributed to the Orange Book) For as long as the LibDems fight in Conservative areas as 'Tory lite' and claim to be a real left wing alternative in Labour areas.... it's hard to take them seriously. They get away with being a mishmash because it's assumed they'll never get into power. And whilst the trade unions aren't fans of New Labour they're not going to start supporting the LibDems... TBH, I see the LibDem vote getting squeezed by Cameron's 'new' Conservative brand. I really don't think they'll ever become the 'main' centre-left party... The LibDems I think will just carry on as they've always done: the third party which can criticise Labour/Conservative from every angle safe in the knowledge that they won't ever get into power. What will be interesting I think is where Labour goes next, assuming they lose the next election...

    :yes:

    Even if Labour loose I can't see it being such a wipe out that they are reduced to the third party - there's too many constituencies where voting Labour is hard-wired into the voters.

    If by some miracle the Lib Dems did become the second party they're the ones who are likely to change the most. It's alright taking a position when you have no chance of power, but if you look like there's a sniff of it they need to build a mass electorate and that will mean many of their policies being dumped.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I never thought I would cheer a Tory win but I did for Crewe after Labours pathetic attacks on class and immigration during this election. Someone needs to resign and I hope the Poles in Crewe have long memories.
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