[Archived] The General Election 2015

[Mike E]

Whatcha gunna DOOOOO, when Corbynmania runs wild on YOUUUU???

[yoda]

Be interesting to see what the Labour career politicians do now, they know that their seats will be in jeopardy at the next elections if Corbyn gets party support for his policies.

Some notable MP's have already left the shadow cabinet!

[Mike Graham]

Be interesting to see what the Labour career politicians do now, they know that their seats will be in jeopardy at the next elections if Corbyn gets party support for his policies.

Some notable MP's have already left the shadow cabinet!

Including one excellent Jamie Read MP from Copeland Constituency (Whitehaven, Keswick etc) who just stood down from the shadow cabinet.

The Labour Party is now lead by a Trotskyite and are unelectable. #madness

[Gav]

Including one excellent Jamie Read MP from Copeland Constituency (Whitehaven, Keswick etc) who just stood down from the shadow cabinet.

The Labour Party is now lead by a Trotskyite and are unelectable. #madness

They've been unelectable for over a decade PB...

it's about time they got back to the real values of rhe labour party, yes he's to left wing for me but at least he's offering something different to those other power hungry alternatives.

[ultrablue]

I hate being young and politically naive :/ why can no-one just tell us exactly what each party would do if in power? Too much dishonesty. At least Corbyn and Farage (opposites as they may be) mean what they say.

And that's why you are politically naive Mike. Those who have no chance of power are able to say honestly what they would like to do. Their only real ambition is to pull the dialogue left or right. Being in government is really about consensous whilst not losing face.

If you want to win elections and pass laws, you'd better sell out asap.

[imy9]

Got a higher percentage of the vote than Blair got in 94 when he was elected leader.

Have Hezbollah and Hamas congratulated him yet? I know Adams and McGuinness have.

Who knows, did the Taliban ever congratulate Blair? Corbyn has tried to initiate dialogue with groups to find a solution. Unlike some who cosy up to terrorist groups to secure pipe deals.

The man has integrity something which most politicians don't have. I voted for him so am very pleased.

[yoda]

Who knows, did the Taliban ever congratulate Blair? Corbyn has tried to initiate dialogue with groups to find a solution. Unlike some who cosy up to terrorist groups to secure pipe deals.

The man has integrity something which most politicians don't have. I voted for him so am very pleased.

That will come back and bite yer bum

I will give him six months before the cracks of concession start to appear

[imy9]

We shall see. At the very least he has made politics interesting for a new generation of people.

[yoda]

We shall see. At the very least he has made politics interesting for a new generation of people.

Actually Labour have probably given the Tories free reign for at least a generation

[imy9]

Actually Labour have probably given the Tories free reign for at least a generation

I'd argue that Labour have not given people a viable option in the last few elections.

Corbyn won by a greater margin than even Tony Blair. SNP positioned themselves left of labour and trounced them. We have 5 years of the Tories left yet so let's see what Corbyn does in the next few years.

[yoda]

I'd argue that Labour have not given people a viable option in the last few elections.

Corbyn won by a greater margin than even Tony Blair. SNP positioned themselves left of labour and trounced them. We have 5 years of the Tories left yet so let's see what Corbyn does in the next few years.

I don't think he will last that long, to many career politicians in the Labour party will see to that

[Mike E]

Depends what he does. If he pushes for renationalisation of rails and potentially of gas and electricity (he's hinted at the latter and definitely wants the former), it could be a huge vote winner.

Pretty much everyone I know (no matter which way they vote) would approve renationalisation of the above.

[T J Hooker]

household utilities(gas, electric and water) should 100% be under the control of our government its @#/? ridiculously absurd to me that they aren't and that they where sold of by the filth in the first place, local transport and national transport systems should also be totally under control of the council and government also.

[yoda]

Depends what he does. If he pushes for renationalisation of rails and potentially of gas and electricity (he's hinted at the latter and definitely wants the former), it could be a huge vote winner.

Pretty much everyone I know (no matter which way they vote) would approve renationalisation of the above.

It's the time scale that is the problem with the rail I think, he would have to wait until the franchises are finishing, same with the utilities to an extent, the cost to pay off the franchise holders would be huge.

The age old problem with the rail and utilities would have to be overcome as well, how to make them efficient while state assets

household utilities(gas, electric and water) should 100% be under the control of our government its @#/? ridiculously absurd to me that they aren't and that they where sold of by the filth in the first place, local transport and national transport systems should also be totally under control of the council and government also.

Not disagreeing with you but the age old problem needs sorting, efficiency.

Just as an aside why did Labour not take them back while in power, the time scale would have allowed it

[T J Hooker]

because they're pretty much all filth and i don't believe for one second that any government will ever take them back, Corbyns going to be to busy spending the next x amount of years dodging and pulling daggers out of his back(from his own party members as well as the oppo party members)to make any real change, I'm sure many people in the country will find it all very entertaining to watch and read about though.

[Gav]

I don't think he will last that long, to many career politicians in the Labour party will see to that

Bunkum.

He's got a bigger majority than Blair and a mandate to rule the Corbyn way, thats enough in my book in the short term at least and if they're wise enough they'll support him until the next election.

Can he get elected, I doubt it very much, because the majority of the people that vote are not interested in policy, they're interested in:

"Whats in it for me"

and thats the Tory way, fool the the working classes into thinking they're getting a good deal, sad but true.

Great day for democracy though

[yoda]

Bunkum.

He's got a bigger majority than Blair and a mandate to rule the Corbyn way, thats enough in my book in the short term at least and if they're wise enough they'll support him until the next election.

Can he get elected, I doubt it very much, because the majority of the people that vote are not interested in policy, they're interested in:

"Whats in it for me"

and thats the Tory way, fool the the working classes into thinking they're getting a good deal, sad but true.

Great day for democracy though

Is that your favourite word these days GAV,

How many voters were genuine Corbyn supporters ?

The mandate is only to lead the Labour party, the real task is to get elected, it is not a great day for democracy if he cannot get elected, just a clear field for the Tories

[joey_big_nose]

Corbyn on paper looks viable on the NHS, welfare reform, austerity, partial renationalisation and personal integrity.

However he looks very weak and open to attack on foreign policy, business and economic growth.

As he's got the labour lefty base in the bag the next logical step is to be a total unprincipled b*stard, ignore the grass roots who voted him in completely and dedicate himself to talking credibly about the economy to middle Britain in a way that they find compelling, convincing and certainly not threatening.

I want him to do it, I hope he does it, but I just feel it's beyond him. He's not a compromiser. He has always chosen principles over expediency.

Politics at the top is neccesarily about compromising on your values and your focus as much as it is about sticking to your guns.

The next couple of months will be totally fascinating. But sadly I fear the worst.

[Gav]

Is that your favourite word these days GAV,

How many voters were genuine Corbyn supporters ?

The mandate is only to lead the Labour party, the real task is to get elected, it is not a great day for democracy if he cannot get elected, just a clear field for the Tories

You need to think bigger picture Yoda

Democracy is the process regardless of the party, and we saw just that today.

[Baz]

You need to think bigger picture Yoda

Democracy is the process regardless of the party, and we saw just that today.

Bigger majority than Blair means naff all.

Blair converted it into one of the largest majorities in modern parliament by taking the central political ground.

Corbyn has a massive task to unite the party, let alone even start to convince non-party members.

[Gav]

Bigger majority than Blair means naff all.

Blair converted it into one of the largest majorities in modern parliament by taking the central political ground.

Corbyn has a massive task to unite the party, let alone even start to convince non-party members.

Yesterday was a good day for democracy whichever way you slice it Baz.

The Tories got less than 40% of the vote in the general election, so not even 1 in 4 people actually voted Tory and they rule the country, hardly democracy in my opinion.

Corbyn got 60% of the votes yesterday, an overwhelming mandate from the labour party voters, and whilst I think he's got a tough job to convince non party members he's stiring things up, offering something different, exactly what the Labour party needs right now in my opinion.

[Baz]

Yesterday was a good day for democracy whichever way you slice it Baz.

The Tories got less than 40% of the vote in the general election, so not even 1 in 4 people actually voted Tory and they rule the country, hardly democracy in my opinion.

Corbyn got 60% of the votes yesterday, an overwhelming mandate from the labour party voters, and whilst I think he's got a tough job to convince non party members he's stiring things up, offering something different, exactly what the Labour party needs right now in my opinion.

The tories got 37% of the vote and have a tiny majority in reality, the fact the Labour Party is in a mess means that at present there is no united opposition and therefore the Tories have free reign which is bad for everyone as no one is keeping them honest.

Corbyn has won, fair & square, however he only just scraped enough votes to be nominated, so it shows the parliamentary party is different to the rest of the party. That's what I mean by having a massive job uniting the party.

In regards the general public, i think he will attract more of the votes lost to snp, green and plaid cymru but those votes didn't stop labour winning the last election- you can see that as even if labour had won every one of those votes they would still be in opposition. We do seem to have a increasingly right wing electorate (see rise of ukip) I cannot see Corbyn attracting any of that vote.

Anyway it's his chance now, I guess we'll see what he has to offer.

[Jimmy612]

Got a higher percentage of the vote than Blair got in 94 when he was elected leader.

Have Hezbollah and Hamas congratulated him yet? I know Adams and McGuinness have.

Doesn't mean a thing, except that his staunchest commy supporters have rallied around him and that in general the Labour Party is in a state of complete meltdown. Once again it will be the same old "In it for the working class" without a sound economic plan. Just hope that once again the UK population will see through their unicorn and fairies type policies and realise that this country can't help those that won't help themselves.

Throwing money into a black hole with the NHS

Punishing those with drive and ambition in life by hammering them with taxes and the idea to set a maximum wage cap!

Opening the gates as per every Labour government we've ever seen

Nationalising everything in sight.

Nuclear Disarmament - just what we need - a sitting duck of a country.

Go home Corbyn, your left-wing views are as transparent as your predecessor

[joey_big_nose]

I can't believe Corbyn has put McDowell in as Chancellor. Crazy.

I will wait to see what the policy platform is but already you have to suspect his team are not going to focus on the issue they have to focus on - a high quality, and broadly appealing, economic programme which will generate money for investment.

[broadsword]

MacDonnell?

I don't think Jeremy Corbyn's going to last very long, Labour's going to take some hammering, I think.