Anyone understand why Johnson is so far ahead in the polls? ( 2)

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Mamie

Chipping Norton has gone to Labour. ?

Just for clarification purposes, Chipping Norton has elected a Labour councillor to sit on the Oxfordshire County Council.
It’s a small place full of the ‘Metropolitan Elite’ who have moved from London to lovely houses there, and Remainers who are furious about Brexit.?

Also, for further clarification... Oxfordshire as a whole was furious about the results of Brexit, which has resulted in more Labour and Lib Dem councillors, far far more than in previous years.

Well yes in the way that there are a number of reasons for the red wall to vote Tory, it doesnt change the result.

I'm just disappointed, as always, with the great British voting public.

I'm truly astounded that they'd still vote Conservative, even now, after the horrific failure to react quickly enough to save lives in the pandemic.

After all the too little, too late, half hearted responses - they vote for more of the same. Incredible!

Greeneyedgirl

I live in a true blue and Brexit voting shire county, but the Tories lost 5 seats on the county council, with gains for Labour and Lib Dems,. The rural heartlands remain Tory, but their support is definitely on the wane in the county town wards here. Gives me hope for the future.

Why?
As a few other posters have pointed out, these elections have all shown that voters are giving political parties a kicking for all sorts of reasons, but in England overall, the Conservatives have returned almost half as many again as Labour councillors.
Local elections are useful as indicators as to how local people feel, but many times return a very popular candidate ( no matter which party) as in Henley where a popular Independent won.

Yes, I am sure this is sometimes the case lemon but in my experience Tory voters would vote for a lump of lard here as long as a candidate sported a blue rosette. Conservatism is absorbed with mother’s milk. This time the leader of the council has lost his seat, in a hitherto safe area.

PippaZ

Conservative voters should be forced to read the Timeline of Failure, just as Germans were forced to visit the death camps to understand what the had facilitated.

Some on here should be forced to work for a week in the sweat shops of places like Leicester. That utopia with a Labour Mayor, Labour MPs, and a Labour council.

They all know what's happening there.

I have never voted Tory by the way. I voted Green for the council and spoilt my ballot if the only option was Con, Lab, or Lib.

Hetty58 I share your disappointment in the great British voting public.
What does it take to get all those non-voters to turn out and vote? When will they learn that apathy is just like a positive vote for the party you don’t like.
On our local area FB page, a number of conversations went something like this:
-OMG we’ve got a b****y Tory council again.
-Yes!????I don’t know why I bother to vote.
-Well I didn’t. I wasn’t going to get soaked for nothing . . .
Greneyedgirl I found your comment rude, but quite perceptive.
I wonder if the electorate in Wales would be equally impressed if they were told they’d vote for a leek if it sported a red rosette?

*Maybee’, what I do with anything like that (too small to read) on my iPad, is click on it (just touch it) so that the options come up, and add to photos, where I can read it in a much larger format.

I don't think the public did give any one party "a kicking" (sounds like we have an elderly football fan posting). They have voted for the status quo in each country, in general, and a different status quo in each case. To me this just says that people are saying "OK, I'm still alive, so I'll give you credit for that -now what?" If I was the "we won, we won, we won" football club follower type I wouldn't count my chicken (didn't warrant the plural). We hardly live in ordinary times.

Hetty58

I'm just disappointed, as always, with the great British voting public.

I'm truly astounded that they'd still vote Conservative, even now, after the horrific failure to react quickly enough to save lives in the pandemic.

After all the too little, too late, half hearted responses - they vote for more of the same. Incredible!

This is so so depressing- truly. I have no words anymore.

Greeneyedgirl

Yes, I am sure this is sometimes the case lemon but in my experience Tory voters would vote for a lump of lard here as long as a candidate sported a blue rosette. Conservatism is absorbed with mother’s milk. This time the leader of the council has lost his seat, in a hitherto safe area.

But don’t you see ? this lard/ pig / whatever scenario can and does also apply to the red rosette in places, and has done this time, especially in the North.
These local elections are local voters giving the different political parties a kicking for various reasons. It’s surprising,it’s true.

I have absolutely no way of influencing Leicester Mamardoit. Your post makes no sense. In my own area I voted LD for a councillor I had some knowledge of. Nationally the last time I voted I did not vote for those now in government who could give Labour councils enough money to enable rather than disable them. Your attack makes no sense.

However, those who put the clown running this government into power do have to share in the responsibility for the way he conducted our fight, a non-existent one in the first instance, against Covid.

‘A kicking’ is exactly what has happened so sorry you dislike the term PippaZ ?
Am not elderly or a football fan, nor grey haired or anything else that you can think of as derogatory, but considering that this is a forum for older people mainly, am guessing that many are and wonder why you are so ageist ( it’s a puzzle!)

I don't know if I have already posted this but we only had PCC elections here and the chap who got in was Conservative and had had obviously received lots of funding with his campaign.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned 'populism' (it may have been on the other thread-I've lost track) I went on local facebook yesterday and people were saying congratulations to him, saying he was the only person they knew campaigning etc and they LIKED him

There was a local candidate far better suited to the position who I'm presuming would have worked far better for our immediate area, who had publicised his campaign but I think a lot of people seem to just use facebook and social media to form their opinions....it is ridiculous really, the chap who they have voted in isn't going to do anything for our area at all..oh well I'm not sure I agree with this PCC thing anyway

It makes as much sense as using Nazi Germany as some sort of comparison to people voting Tory.

Voters want to know what plans Labour has for tackling the issues that concern them and where they live. They are not impressed to see Starmer in a John Lewis store brandishing a roll of wallpaper. They don't care about Boris's decorating. Instead of making himself look a complete idiot, Starmer should have been asking them what they want from their elected councillors and MP's. Listen to them and do something about it. As a couple of newspaper articles said. Labour is suffering from Long Corbyn and that will take a considerable time to recover from.

There are a lot of comparisons with current politics and the Weimar Republic. Thankfully, at least Trump is gone.

@ Long Corbyn

JaneJudge

@ Long Corbyn

That made me chuckle too.

Long Corbyn???? shared that with DH and made him chuckle too.
Yesterday, Keir was action man at last!
He axed the cabinet members he thought had lost him the election! It’s a start.

They are not impressed to see Starmer in a John Lewis store brandishing a roll of wallpaper. They don't care about Boris's decorating.

Well, there you have it in a nutshell. Tory voters have no sense of humour and they're happy with corruption.

How Labour are going to counteract that is a mystery.

Was it funny though? Nope, not remotely ( and I have a well developed sense of humour MaizieD) it was actually a lame sort of stunt, and as I like Starmer, found myself cringing for him.Left to himself he wouldn't have done it I bet, but his PR team urged him no doubt.
He needs to just keep on being himself, but maybe try and smile a bit more at times.Oh, and get rid of as many Corbyn fans from his Shadow Cabinet as he can.Unfortunately he can’t sack Raynor as Deputy as she was elected.What a negative drag on him she is.

So getting rid of any left wingers remaining in a supposedly left wing party will really reunify the party and lead to more votes.