That is because the Tories are now a party in name only. The factional breakdown that has long threatened to overwhelm that party is now very clearly doing so. Sunak won because no faction hated him sufficiently. They do, however, hate each other, and he lacks any apparent authority to stop that.
Spud’s usual solution to this is PR, where the coalitions are made – with the same problems – after the election, not before it. Not sure how that helps TBH.
The result is non-government. In effect, we might live the next two years with little more than a token gesture administration in office, pretending to deal with issues but actually powerless to do anything within the constraints of the two party system that has forced Tory MPs to pretend that they are a united force when nothing could be further from the truth.
PR does just lead to more forceful government decision making, doesn’t it?
Normally I would be saying that non-government is a feature, not a bug because at least then things might get worse more slowly. As it is, both the government and the opposition agree that private endeavours need to be punished more, so they will be no matter what, just by default.
The problem with coalitions is you end up with the larger parties being held hostage by the smaller ones (as with the Greens in Germany and elsewhere), which results, not in greater compromise, but worse, more extremism.
Far better to stick with First Past the Post and coalitions being few and far between. At least that way the electorate has a chance of getting the government AND the policies that they voted for.
As for the current lot, the fact that a government has little support after an unpopular coup d’etat isn’t exactly stunning news.
In effect, we might live the next two years with little more than a token gesture administration in office, pretending to deal with issues
Then it’ll be replaced by another token gesture administration in office, pretending to deal with issues. British politics in the Year of Our Lord 2022 is a spectator sport much like the weird and fake World Cup in Doha. They’ve very successfully locked out you, the idiot taxpayer, from having any meaningful influence over what the British government does. You get to choose between Sir Keir Starmer or Indian Keir Starmer, and they get to laugh at you while stealing half your income.
Anybody still dumbly expecting “issues” to be “fixed” because you “voted” has no right to look down on Aztec savages who cut out the still-beating hearts of their victims in order to fight “climate change”.
In fairness, this is the first utterance from Spud which isn’t entirely back-to-front or stupid. I don’t want his head to explode through excessive pride, but sometimes, like the monkeys typing furiously away, he is not completely wrong.
The Tories are finished & Labour are drifting hopelessly without a competent helmsman, so maybe vote Reform or SDP rather than for either aspect of the Uniparty.
PR leads to more PR
– that’s just the way that most liars work
We have had the same politics no matter who has been in power since the demise of Mrs T. As with the USA and the Demonrats / RINO ‘Uniparty’ (figure this one out – the RINO’s take over the House of Representatives with a wafer slim majority then a ‘Republican’ seeks to change the house rules so a simple majority is no longer needed to pass legislation, a 2/3rds majority is required…….).
Our Nige and The Donald tried to buck the system but that couldn’t possibly be allowed, oh no.
As George Carlin said, “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it”.
Aren’t political parties always factional?
All those narcissists with fragile egos – it’s inevitable
The Tory-Lib Dem coalition was formed before the election or after?
After, took days and days as I recall. I remember Bottler Brown hiding in number 10, refusing to give it up so that Nick Clegg could get the best possible deal in the not-so-secret negotiations with the Tories on a coalition.
Traitors all.
BiFR, JG, how many of those ‘Conservatives’ are in reality ‘LibDems’?
“Liz Truss, A former Liberal Democrat activist, who marched against Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, but claimed to be the keeper of the Thatcherite flame”.
Lib Dems – No fracking – check
Labour – No fracking – check
Tories – No fracking – check
Lib Dems – Net Zero – check
Labour – Net Zero – check
Tories – Net Zero – check
Lib Dems – Migrants welcome – check
Labour – Migrants welcome – check
Tories – Migrants welcome – check
Lib Dems -Lockdowns, masks, mandatory vax – check
Labour – Lockdowns, masks, mandatory vax – check
Tories – Lockdowns, masks, mandatory vax – check
Wow, so much diversity to choose from…..
You get this because the parliamentary parties largely ignore the preferences of the electorate. As a result, the constituency parties aren’t much of a reflection of the electorate because what’s the point of joining a political party that ignores you? They tend to attract activists. Most of the electorate is conservative, with a small “c”. Whilst most politicians are radicals. And you’re getting this because the electoral candidates are being drawn form a small pool. Either university grads or public sector activists. Neither of which share the life experience of the electorate.
Radical? What else can they be? Even most Tory MP’s are to the left of most Labour voters.
It seems like Direct Democracy is the only solution to this, but they’d never allow it this side of the Interregnum.
Lions with lasers.
I don’t think we will get PR, we appear to have HR.
We are, after all, just “human resources” to the globo-filth, and I think very few of us they even acknowledge as human.
The Secret People
…
They have given us into the hand of new unhappy lords,
Lords without anger and honour, who dare not carry their swords.
They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes;
They look at our labour and laughter as a tired man looks at flies.
And the load of their loveless pity is worse than the ancient wrongs,
Their doors are shut in the evening; and they know no songs.
We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,
Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street.
It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first,
Our wrath come after Russia’s wrath and our wrath be the worst.
It may be we are meant to mark with our riot and our rest
God’s scorn for all men governing. It may be beer is best.
But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet.
Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget.
G K Chesterton
A prescient man. Hard to believe he never saw Tony Blair, for whom the phrase “bright dead alien eyes” might have been invented.
Chris Miller
Nah. Not hard to believe he never saw Tony Blair.
Those creatures are persistent throughout history. Apparently the populace never learns..
@John Galt – “Far better to stick with First Past the Post and coalitions being few and far between. At least that way the electorate has a chance of getting the government AND the policies that they voted for.”
Nonsense. When the government routinely gets elected with less than 50% of the vote, then that is certainly not what the people voted for. As in the 2019 general election where 43.6% of the votes translated into 56% of the seats.
The Xmas do for the Tax Justice Network is a party in name only.
In countries with PR the decisions who to align with are almost always made before the election. There is squabbling after, but it is about who will get what ministries.
If I vote ACT in the next NZ election, I know they will not go with the left. Even to take power. Winston Peter’s famously did the dirty a couple of elections back, shafting National, and his party was almost wiped out for it. Voters hate parties which are unreliable.
It’s when FPP gets a hung parliament that who will align with who gets done after. With PR you know you have to do it before or you will lose support.
The idea that little parties get outsized importance under PR is not my experience. It’s the sort of thing FPP fans say, but not people who have PR. They certainly don’t in NZ. Jacinda gave the Greens very little.
In the UK the ginger groups inside the parties cause you more trouble than if they were outside. I don’t have to worry about National wets taking over, because I can vote for the dries, who are in ACT. You UK fans of FPP have no such ability. I don’t think you are better off being unable to vote meaningfully for your preference, just so you can avoid coalitions.
Belgium is famously different to the above, but it would be under any system, because the country is so politically divided. FPP would not make a jot of difference to them.
“In countries with PR the decisions who to align with are almost always made before the election. There is squabbling after, but it is about who will get what ministries.”
Thats not the case in Germany. Under their PR system the party political squabbling about who will take charge takes place after the voting. Similarly in the bits of the UK where PR is used (Scotland/Wales/NI regional assemblies) the coalition is formed after the vote, not before. For example in 2021 Labour won the Welsh Assembly elections falling just one seat short of an outright majority. It took until November for them to come to an agreement with Plaid Cymru for their support in return for various policies to be included in the new government’s agenda. None of this was agreed prior to the elction.
Chris Miller
+1