Labour in the long run

[Big Ted]

New here so hello.

When Labour won in '97 it was a landslide. Huge majority. The size made it almost impossible for the Tories to regain power after just one term in opposition.

However they when on too choose completely the wrong man as leader and suffered a similar defeat next time round, thus making a win next time again very difficult.

What i'm getting at is perhaps it's time for Labour, behind closed doors at least, to except defeat and make every effort to ensure that it's not a three figure thrashing.

Just interested to hear from all shades of politcal option.

Cheers

[agentmancuso]

What i'm getting at is perhaps it's time for Labour, behind closed doors at least, to except defeat and make every effort to ensure that it's not a three figure thrashing.

I don't think it will be anything like three figures. Maybe 50 seats behind. They will get thrashed in the popular vote, but many seats in the north of England and Scotland have such enormous majorities that Labour could conceivably lose 5- or 10 thousand votes a seat and still retain the vast majority.

It would an interesting electoral technique for Labour to accept publicly that they're due a kicking, and so appeal to their core support to come out to help them out a bad place on election day.

[ArminasAnarchy]

It would an interesting electoral technique for Labour to accept publicly that they're due a kicking, and so appeal to their core support to come out to help them out a bad place on election day.

It'd be political suicide O_o.
Who's going to vote the "We fail and know it!" party?

[JAMC]

New here so hello.

When Labour won in '97 it was a landslide. Huge majority. The size made it almost impossible for the Tories to regain power after just one term in opposition.

However they when on too choose completely the wrong man as leader and suffered a similar defeat next time round, thus making a win next time again very difficult.

What i'm getting at is perhaps it's time for Labour, behind closed doors at least, to except defeat and make every effort to ensure that it's not a three figure thrashing.

Just interested to hear from all shades of politcal option.

Cheers

As someone on the left, but not a Labour supporter, my reading of the climate says that the chances of Labour winning an outright majority are close to zero.
I think there's a 50-50 chance of either a modest Tory majority or a hung parliament (which I would prefer).

Either way, Labour could be facing a long time out in the cold - during which I hope they rediscover their true identity as a socialist party in the mould of Attlee and Bevan and drop the centerist ******** of the Blair era.

[CAGAN]

New here so hello.

When Labour won in '97 it was a landslide. Huge majority. The size made it almost impossible for the Tories to regain power after just one term in opposition.

However they when on too choose completely the wrong man as leader and suffered a similar defeat next time round, thus making a win next time again very difficult.

What i'm getting at is perhaps it's time for Labour, behind closed doors at least, to except defeat and make every effort to ensure that it's not a three figure thrashing.

Just interested to hear from all shades of politcal option.

Cheers

Labour no doubt will lose, and the Torry party will get in. The size of the majority is dependent the Conservative party creating the sort of policies the voter wants to here. If the voter can be convinced that the Torrie's would actually be tough on crime, do something about immigration and genuinely reduce taxes, they will walk it, otherwise they will just win by default.

Personally I will be voting UKIP

[leejames]

Labour no doubt will lose, and the Torry party will get in. The size of the majority is dependent the Conservative party creating the sort of policies the voter wants to here. If the voter can be convinced that the Torrie's would actually be tough on crime, do something about immigration and genuinely reduce taxes, they will walk it, otherwise they will just win by default.

Personally I will be voting UKIP

Surely the tories are only going to be able to get in by default, which at the moment seems very likely. See this recent article from Cameron for evidence of the tories' current brand of populist vacuism. It seems to me that everything basically depends on if, and how soon the economy swings round. A return to growth by the end of this year would allow Labour to argue that they've been a stable hand on the tiller through tough times. Otherwise, a tory landslide seems inevitable, though certainly not because of any policies that they'll produce.

Out of interest, how do you think UKIP would have managed the current economic crisis?

[DTE]

As someone on the left, but not a Labour supporter, my reading of the climate says that the chances of Labour winning an outright majority are close to zero.
I think there's a 50-50 chance of either a modest Tory majority or a hung parliament (which I would prefer).

Either way, Labour could be facing a long time out in the cold - during which I hope they rediscover their true identity as a socialist party in the mould of Attlee and Bevan and drop the centerist ******** of the Blair era.

A hung parliment would be an ideal step for this country, with a lack of any true political leader, the very nature of such a government would engage the public on a whole host of topics. Lets hope it happens.

[TellMeMore]

A hung parliment would be an ideal step for this country, with a lack of any true political leader, the very nature of such a government would engage the public on a whole host of topics. Lets hope it happens.

A hung Parliament would be great. Would you just use the one lamppost 600 times or would you use a set of lampposts?
(By the by it should be 'hanged ' Parliament).