http//www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2166685,00.html
http//politics.guardian.co.uk/localelections2006/story/0,,1768133,00.html
They're starting to look awfully like the Conservatives in the early 1990s.
who went on to win another general election in 1992....
Also, aside from London, the Tories don't seem to have made so many gains in the urban areas they need to win to have any chance to form a government.
I voted for Blair's Labour government in 1997.
However, I'd certainly vote against them nowadays (if I participated in UK elections, which I don't on the "I don't live there" basis).
I'm quite disappointed in Blair really - he seemed to start out ok but the sleaze and particularly doing USA's bidding is a vote-loser to me.
I see Blair has lost no time in reshuffling. I'm surprised Prescott has survived.
http//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SDTSRDRLYPPI1QFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/05/05/ureshuffle.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/05/05/ixportaltop.html
http//edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/05/05/britain.elections/index.html
I always find these "reassignments of the officers of the Hindenburg" stunts a little awkward; was Jack Straw the wrong man for all this time? or did he suddenly change and become the wrong person? shock
Yes it's all a bit Kremlin-like isn't it? Looks like the long knives may be coming out
http//politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,1768939,00.html
The amazing thing from this end is that the Lib Dems did nothing, the Conservatives didn't really gain all that much but Cameron seems extremely positive (as well he should i suppose) and the North has repeated its assertation that it will never ever vote for tories again.
It was actually quite interesting listening on the radio yesterday when various presenters asked people from Manchester up why they think the Cons didn't get any significant votes. Person after person came on and railed against Thatcher. It's been 15 years! Some people awarded her the blame for Heath (extremely odd) closing mines (more closed before her actually though she honestly couldn't give a fuck about the remnants of it all) the Winter of Discontent (again before her time) and things like that. It would very much appear that the north/south divide is alive and kicking. There were an awful lot of people from the north-east who lambasted against the southerner who they think has it much better. They seemed to be saying they see the south as conservative and the north everything but.
But it really is clear that Blair is on the slow path to being chucked out by his own party. Brown has had his urrogates commenting on the reshuffle negatively, a group of 75 backbenchers are organizing a "lets get the bastard out" event for June and apparently some senior members will be there. So it looks like Brown will get the number one nod, though in these things you could always end up with some other weirdo in charge.
As for the reshuffle - God it's awkward. Splitting the foreign office up is sad, especially when most thought Margaret Beckett would get the sack but now she gets the top job! Jack Straw asked to stay at home more so good for him. Prescott could never have been fired ever, but now he seems incredibly pathetic that Blair really has to go instead of him.
I'm looking forward to the next general election in anticipation now - Cameron has that Mandleson savvy and does seem to be changing perceptions about the Conservatives. He is going to have to do a sacrificial slaughtering of the Thatcher legacy though - sort of like Blair and brown chopping off Clause 4 - otherwise it's 5 more years in opposition. Menzies Campbell is very nice, very bright and all that but the Lib Dems have no hope.
I'm most surprised by how well the Green Party appear to be doing. On my home town council (Oxford), they have about 8 out of 48 councillors.
What I am surprised is with the few benches the BNP now has. To be honest, I would rather let Blair stay till election than see wannabe Brown trot around number 10 as a second choice, he will cause more harm than good to the British economy.
I quite like Cameron and will vote for him next election, even though I am not living in the U.K. If I am right on this, I actually left because the Labour government made it impossible to live in England, all benefits like marriage allowance and mortgage relieve were cancelled.
I just hope the Tories can bring the tax allowance back, it could mean a chance to go back....and my kids would have a better relationship with the grandparents and cousins.
The knives are really coming out
http//www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2170330,00.html
http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4983484.stm
http//politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,1769915,00.html
http//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=BAPRQT5RJ1JI3QFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/05/08/nlab08.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/05/08/ixportaltop.html
http//edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/05/07/britain.iraq/index.html
I'm probably more familiar these days with the nuances of Canadian politics than British political shenanigans, but I'm getting a very strong Margaret Thatcher flashback here IE not knowing when it's your time to go.
Blair has always appeared to me to be a master of charm, spin and up until this point has managed to pull off a sort of passive aggressive control of the Labour Party. But I have always felt that he is not, by a long stretch, the brains of the government - quite the opposite in fact. And there's always been something of a pious boy scout about him that's always bothered me. One of the only times he flared up and lost his temper with an interviewer, was when Jeremy Paxman asked him if he ever prayed with George Bush.
He has at least had the sense to appoint people who do have those brains, not least Gordon Brown who has, by and large, been a model "new labour" Chancellor, but also some of the people he ruthlessly sacks, or summarily demotes when they don't quite project the right image. It all now seems to be catching up with him.
The Prime Minister seems to be a product of our time. He's a master at projecting a dazzling image of promise and hope in lovely sounding phrases. The reality has of course been more mundane for most Britons. It's not really a surprise that a decade later, it all looks a bit tired and lacking substance. It's not as if the opposition parties look as though they have anything much better to offer, although, as we have discovered in Canada, sometimes it can be refreshing excercise to kick the long-in-the-tooth governing party out and just give an opposition party a minority government go. And there actually seem to be people within the Labour Party who could grab the torch. Gordon Brown or Jack Straw are not exactly John Majors. It seems that all that lies in the way is Blair's failure to learn from the past, his ego and his his confusion between personal control and the future success of his party.
My money is on Jack Straw. There'll be alot of "anyone-but-Brown" backbenchers milling about.