Still nearly 3 weeks to go, the campaign will step up a gear. Please don't kid yourself that the polls are tightening - they are not. I have seen the returns this week - you would not believe how badly Labour is doing.
Corbyn has attempted to build a winning coalition around 4 distinct groups 1. Students 2. Benefit claimants 3. Metropolitan liberals 4. Immigrants Unfortunately 1&2 tend not to vote in large numbers. No. 3 do vote, but are congregated in areas that are already safe Labour. And the same applies to group no.4.
I blame Len McLuskey. At the beginning of the year he said publicly that Jeremy had a year to turn things round. As soon as there was a possibility of Corbyn being replaced by the next election the Tories had no choice but to call a snap election. The Conservative Party do not miss open goals, unlike Labour. A recent example was the chaos in the NHS. Under Labour the government paid microsoft £65m a year to keep security updated, the Cameron government cancelled it, and decided to save this money by letting trusts sort out their own cyber security. With the financial pressures, there were always other priorities for hospitals, and you see the result. But Jeremy is far too nice for political points-scoring, preferring to lead with his chin.
I said right at the start I would be happy with 150. Hopefully that will include the likes of Keir Starmer, Dan Jarvis, Hilary Benn, Chuka Omuna and Yvette Cooper, with Dan Jarvis my own choice. It would also mean there is no chance of another left-wing candidate getting 15% needed to stand. Team Corbyn has not been too successful in parachuting his cronies into safe seats. It's not for the want of trying, but they have met too much resistance.
Seems to show a clear fight between St Jezza and Nasty 'School meal stealing' May http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39856354 and St Jez gaining ground in leaps and bounds!
The polls always underestimate the Conservative vote by 3-4%. In addition there is always a full-on attack on the Labour leader by their attack dogs in the last week. Over the years Jeremy has provided them with plenty of ammunition, as you will see. Mrs May, on the other hand, has been playing the long game in her quest for the party (strong & stable) leadership, and has said nothing incriminating.
I see the Eltham Tory candidate is also the Leader of the Tories on Greenwich Council, I guess if he wins he will keep both jobs... after all 'Barking Boris' could be Mayor of London and an MP at the same time... obviously, that was prior to Citizen Khan taking the Mayor job. Obviously the Tories haven't got much to take on with that fat slob 'Efford' to take on!!! The joke was he was once the shadow Sports Minister... shows what Labour think of sport!
Interesting..... for the first time EVER... I will not be voting (in a positive manner) in the general election ..... I will not vote for Efford (Lab)... I certainly will never vote LibDem... I will not vote for May.... which leaves me with the BNP, I refuse to vote for racists!..... seems I will just get my voting paper and poo on it!
@Royston and I had a private and frank chat about what I thought about the Tory manifesto.... lets just say he doesn't return my calls anymore
A very strange state of affairs when Labour's Defence spokeswoman is kept away from the media because she SUPPORTS the Labour Party defence policy to renew Trident - whereas Corbyn, Abbott, McDonnell & Lady Nugee are all declared pacifists (aside from when it comes to supporting people who kill Protestants or Israelis..)
They can put whatever they like in the manifesto, the result of the election was decided the day Jeremy Corbyn was voted in as leader. The Tory campaign has been poor, but it doesn't matter, the electorate trusts Corbyn, Abbott & McDonnell as far as they can throw them. Like Messrs Thatcher and Blair, Mrs May has the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time to benefit from unpopular opposition.
It's not just a weak Opposition, there is a. palpable shift in the public mood. The vast majority of people - including many Remainers - have had enough of mass immigration and the EU.
Strange then the level of popularity for a Prime Minister who campaigned for remain, and who as Home Secretary presided over such a high level of immigration. The opposition is the weakest in living memory (which in my case is too long), so Mrs May looks strong (and stable) by comparison. The Conservatives should be vulnerable, but are not, thanks to the state of the Opposition.
