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Date archive for: June 2017

Ruth Davidson, the Queen of Scots who will be the Tory party’s saviour?

Ruth Davidson, the Queen of Scots who will be the Tory party’s saviour?

Published by Editor on June 14, 2017

Written by Mark Stuart.

While the Prime Minister licks her wounds in England, another female Tory leader north of the Border has emerged as the new star of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. Last Thursday, Ruth Davidson presided over a dozen spectacular gains for the Scottish Tories.

Remarkably, after years in the wilderness, Davidson engineered her Party’s best performance since 1983, including the spectacular toppling of former SNP leader, Alex Salmond in Gordon and the scalp of Angus Robertson, the Leader of the SNP’s Westminster MPs in Moray.

Continue reading Ruth Davidson, the Queen of Scots who will be the Tory party’s saviour?

For Jeremy Corbyn, the hard part of being Labour leader has only just begun

For Jeremy Corbyn, the hard part of being Labour leader has only just begun

Published by Editor on June 13, 2017

Written by Steven Fielding.

Suddenly, the Labour party is in a much stronger position than even many of Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters believed possible. Only a few weeks ago, Unite leader Len McCluskey said if the party ended up with just 200 seats that was good enough for him. Others argued that if Labour only slightly improved on the 30.4% of the vote it received in 2015 Corbyn should remain leader. It wasn’t just the media predicting disaster for the party when Theresa May called an election.

But having added a remarkable 9.5% to its 2015 share and with 30 more MPs, what should Labour do now? For while Corbyn campaigned unexpectedly well, Labour remains 64 seats short of a House of Commons majority.

Continue reading For Jeremy Corbyn, the hard part of being Labour leader has only just begun

Jeremy Corbyn will explain Labour’s 2017 defeat by going back to 1983

Jeremy Corbyn will explain Labour’s 2017 defeat by going back to 1983

Published by Editor on June 7, 2017

Written by Steven Fielding.

“… for the first time since 1945 a political party with an openly socialist policy has received the support of 8½ million people. … the Labour manifesto commanded the loyalty of millions of voters and a democratic socialist bridgehead has been established from which further advances in public understanding and support can be made. …It is no wonder that the establishment still fears the Labour Party and its ideas so much. For they know that it is the only real challenge to their privileges.”

No, this is not a leaked draft of Jeremy Corbyn’s concession speech, one all the polls suggest he will need to deliver on June 9th. It is an excerpt from a Guardian article written by Tony Benn published within days of Labour’s cataclysmic 1983 defeat. That election – coincidentally held on June 9th – saw the Conservatives win a 144-seat majority and reduced Labour to 27.6 per cent of the vote, just 700,000 ahead of the Social Democratic Party-Liberal Alliance, and to a mere 209 MPs. It was Labour’s worst result since 1935. Continue reading Jeremy Corbyn will explain Labour’s 2017 defeat by going back to 1983

Conservative immigration policy: a tragicomedy in two parts?

Conservative immigration policy: a tragicomedy in two parts?

Published by Editor on June 5, 2017

Written by Helen Williams.

It’s been a bruising week for Mrs May’s Team. Mocked for her non-appearance at the BBC debates and visibly uncomfortable at press conferences, the Prime Minister should be very clear that what once appeared to be a guaranteed Conservative landslide in the 2017 General Election is now increasingly in danger of becoming a hung parliament.

After a disastrous public response to the social care proposals (deftly dubbed the ‘dementia tax’), Mrs May appeared to completely rebrand her campaign, attempting to shift the focus back to Brexit and immigration. Gone is the prominent slogan ‘Theresa May: strong, stable leadership in the national interest’ (with the words Conservative Party difficult to locate); now it’s ‘Theresa May and the Conservatives: a Brexit deal for a bright future’. Continue reading Conservative immigration policy: a tragicomedy in two parts?

General Election 2017: A Futile Election