I might vote Tory but that doesn't make me a bad person

TriciaF
Not quite a parallel, Ed has not exactly led us through six traumatic years of war as Prime Minister.

Radio 4 is not thinking very clearly!

I thought Alan Sugar was a Labour Lord - or am I getting that wrong?
ie a senior member of the Labour party?

Don't imagine much gets past him.

This morning on Radio 4's Thought for Today some bishop pointed out that 70 years ago, after VE Day, in the general election the nation rejected Churchill as PM, in a move many considered disloyal backstabbing.
Strange coincidence of 2 unexpected results.

That's very true about backstabbing in politics GT. Perhaps I expect too much of the Labour Party, I still want them to be better than the rest

Crossed posts GT

I hope there will be a winner with integrity rosequartz

Maybe Ed Miliband did feel that he had to take full responsibility for the failure of the campaign, but many in his position would have blamed anyone but themselves. I think it says a lot for Ed's integrity that he didnt do that.

As for Alan Sugar, who cares what he thinks. He's an arrogant so and so who may have made a mint but that doesn't mean he knows anything about politics, or people for that matter. He may think the party has gone too far to the left, there are others who think its gone too far to the right, the party has to work out for itself where the hell it is and what it represents.

So Sugar's no Labour insider?
I imagine he has a far better insight than any of us on here!

Ana what do you base that comment on? Have I missed a piece of research carried out since Friday .

When a leader loses an election, there is always the issue of whether they should go - getting rid of IDS was a pretty blood on the carpet exercise as I recall. And actually , although she hadn't lost an election, look how ruthlessly MT was got rid of - Geoffrey Howes resignation speech? Well I wouldn't lose too much sleep over what Sugar says and he's certainly no Labour insider. And a week is a long time in politics never mind 10 years . It's far too soon to be making those sorts of predictions. The libdems and labour will be having many many discussions at the moment - it is better done in private. And actually the Conservatives will be as well - they didn't have a runaway victory did they? Backstabbing is sadly a part of political life and it's ridiculous to think it's the province of one psrty over another. Had DC not got a majority this time what on earth do you would have happened to him?

This could be really interesting then, as the Lib Dems are not upcoming as a viable alternative are they!

Sinking ship comes to mind!

Yet most Labour voters seem to think the solution is to move even further to the left.

Well, everyone has to blame someone else because no one's man (or woman) enough to put their hand up and admit what a cock-up the Election was and the Party is (other than EM who had no other choice)
Lord Sugar said today it'll take 10 years to sort out so I imagine things are considerably worse than what is evident to outsiders. He also said the Party is too far to the left and has lost all sense of direction.
Certainly the back-stabbing going on is highly distasteful but evidences Lord Sugar's comments.

No one has evenr asked me which way I voted.
But I have realised something. I do not answer a load of witheld and so forth type calls.
Someone I know, answers all of them. And she and her husband answered phone polls at least 3 times.

The winner may well be one who is positive and does not criticise past failures.

Yes, I'm shocked by how quickly the knives have come out as well. Diane Abbott has criticised Chukka Umunna and Liz Kendall for criticising Ed's campaign and asked why they didn't speak out when they had a chance to influence its direction. I hate this kind of disloyalty and it puts me off both of them as potential leaders. I'm beginning to find myself moving away from the Labour Party yet again

Ana - that's a nice post ( I'm not being sarcastic). I'm quite shocked at how quickly they are rounding on him as though it was all down to him. Of course he has to ( and he has) taken responsibility but I just thought they could have given him a bit of a breather for a few days.

And Nick.
He should have gone into acting instead, very goodlooking imo.

I don't think Liam Byrne is on GN!

I do feel sorry for Ed (it's not just left-wingers who feel compassion is it!).

You do have to feel a bit sorry for Ed, don't you? So many of his party have got their knives out for him now - never had any trust in him or his campaign apparently, although they didn't think to tell him so at the time! What a mess...

pompA the [groan] was for my terrible cheesy joke
but yes, I agree!

I would have marched against the Iraq war if I had been able to (in my suit and trainers!)

No-one has ever asked me which way I voted for a poll, either by phone or outside the polling station.

I saw that Liam Byrne says that not a day goes by where he doesn't regret leaving 'that note'.
Liam you meant it as a joke (albeit very poor taste) which backfired. It may have contributed to the result but it wasn't the only reason, so please forgive yourself. What's done is done and cannot be undone.

I agree Day6, and having just listened to the Channel 5 news, the Labour Party spokesman (didn't get his name) said it is going to take Labour at least 10 years to sort out the unholy mess it's got itself into - they've also lost one of their biggest supporter, Lord Sugar. Lord Sugar said that the party has to move away from its far left wing stance if it is to regain any credibility.

And apparently Nigel Farage's resignation has been rejected because there is no one 'capable' of replacing him.

And good luck with the NHS

Day6 - so someone from a polling organisation contacts you about voting intention and you daren't tell the which way you intend to vote? And then someone stops you outside a polling station after you've voted and you tell them the truth about which way you voted? Quite how does this stack up? It doesn't make sense does it? A much more likely explanation is that it was reported by the opinion polls that a quarter of people hadn't made their minds up by the time of the last poll. This would then explain quite a lot of the discrepancy plus the fact that an exit poll ( which got it right) is based on what people did whereas an opinion poll which got it wrong is based on intention. The world I live in you get quite a lot of flack for voting Labour

TriciaF wrote: What hasn't been explained fully yet though is why the final result was so different from the predictions.

The exit polls got it very wrong, didn't they?

I think it highlights the fact that there were lots of quiet or secret Conservatives about, too scared to speak up because....well, if you vote Conservative you must be heartless, greedy, rich, lacking in compassion, and selfish etc, etc, etc.

There have been so many very vocal, far left supporters ready to damn anyone not voting Labour and paint them as uncaring, and of course that isn't the case.

Just as Labourites fear the implication of Tory policies, doesn't it follow that those voting Conservative worried about the implications of left-wing policies?

I certainly did, and I am far from wealthy. I have faced many struggles in my life and come from a working class background. I value the NHS and education. I couldn't afford private education for my children or pay for health care, yet I voted Conservative for the first time in my life. I don't see a future of doom and gloom under the Tories, but I really did fear what would happen if Ed Miliband's Labour won and managed the country for the next four years. The rise of the SNP also affected my choice, I must admit.

Those who remained quiet cast their votes, and as I wrote before, I am so glad we live in a democracy.