Gordon Brown admitted that it had been a "disappointing" night for Labour after the party suffered its worst election results for four decades in what was his first proper electoral test as Prime Minister.Ouch!With results still coming in from elections around England and Wales, Labour’s projected national vote share was put at just 24 per cent, trailing 20 points behind David Cameron’s Conservatives on 44 per cent, and even behind the Liberal Democrats on 25 per cent.
Cameron's Conservatives, on the other hand, seem buoyantly triumphant, and the Torygraph is positively crowing. As for me? I for one am absolutely fascinated by the London mayor's race.
UPDATE: Belay that -- I like this sensationalist headline even better: "London falls as Gordon Brown bloodied in May Day election massacre."
1 comment:
It was a positive hammering, a political version of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The voters gave the Tories 44% of the vote, lib Dems got 25%, and Labor only 24%. 'Red Ken' went down pretty hard (I think Boris won by 44% to 37%.
A couple commentators think that Labor might mount a comeback like the Tories did in 1992 under John Major after dumping Thatcher. Only one problem with that theory - it assumes that Brown is a 'fresh face' after Tony Blair. The public knows that Brown is one of the two architects of the Blair government, and the least 'ept' of the two. Moreover Brown was the Chancellor of the Exchequer - and the crisises bedevilling the UK are primarily fiscal in cause.
Major was a legitimate 'fresh face' in 1990, having only been in the cabinet perhaps a year. And the Tories had a 'leader in waiting' ready to make a leadership challenge and open things up - Michael Heseltine.
Labor - really has nobody like that. No figure with the stature or the need to take on Brown at this point. All of Brown's contemporaries are wither retired (Blair), discredited (Blunkett, Mandelson), deceased (Robin Cook), or too lightweight (Jack Straw). Blair and Brown monopolized the leadership for an entire political generation - and Labor has no bench.
Labor's upcoming leadership are too young to challenge Brown & it's not in their interest to take over a sinking ship. They can hang up, take their hammering, and look to the next election or three.
They can hope an economic recovery will help their prospects. One problem with that idea; Britain was actually doing rather well economically by 1997 - but it didn't benefit John Major a bit in the election. I doubt it would help Gordon Brown either.
Labor won't lose 44-24 in the general election, but it's hard to imagine them closing the gap wby more than 10 points or so. The Lib Dems ought to take soem seats from them, particularly in Scotland and Wales where the Tories remain personal no grata. But it's going to be grimsville in the couth of England - or even in the north.
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