Without trying to sound like I’ve got NS brainrot, isn’t there still a decent chance that someone like Burnham installed as leader late into the parliament can help them stagger on? The “king in the north” might persuade enough low information voters and galvanize enough sensible centrists for another couple of wasted years, if not a full term.
«someone who will recognise the basic and clear ways in which the state is not functioning, and fix them. [...] the way in which Farage actually pitches Reform to the voters: the description of Reform as a party not of left or right, but of solutions; the constant reference to experts from outside politics who will be brought into the cabinet; the straightforward and non-ideological terms in which he discusses the problems of the day.»
I am rather surprised that Farage is being described as the second coming of Tony Blair or Emmanuel Macron or Mario Draghi or Keir Starmer: an "apolitical" "technocratic" "centrist" modernizer.
«The country is not crying out for class-warriors like Margaret Thatcher or Jeremy Corbyn [...] speaks of ‘country’ and ‘common sense’ — of the real issues which confront voters in their daily lives.»
We all know that "The country" means "Middle England"voters and the real issues which confront those voters that all major parties including Reform UK, target as their core constituency are:
* Incomes (from property and business ownership) have been flat for several years. The state managed to push them up at a robust rate for 40 years until 2022, gifting "Middle England" voters a large part of their living standards; since 2022 "Middle England" voters feel the state has "confiscated" that large part of their incomdes and have been voting for protest parties or abstaining as a result.
* Costs (from wages and taxes to pay for social insurance) have not been shrinking as much as in the previous 40 years, again reducing the living standards of "Middle England" voters as they need to pay more for cleaning, gardening, deliveries, nursing, etc. and higher taxes to pay for higher wage costs in the NHS, local councils, etc.
For the past couple dozen years it has been mass immigration that has delivered to "Middle England" higher incomes (from property and business) and lower costs (from wages and taxes) so the big question is: what are the technical, apolitical policies by which Farage plans to improve the daily lives of Middle England voters by increasing their incomes (from property and business) and reduce their costs (from wages and taxes)?
McSweeney ran Liz Kendall’s 2015 Leadership Campaign and not Lisa Nandy’s
George Spencer articles are always a delight to read
Without trying to sound like I’ve got NS brainrot, isn’t there still a decent chance that someone like Burnham installed as leader late into the parliament can help them stagger on? The “king in the north” might persuade enough low information voters and galvanize enough sensible centrists for another couple of wasted years, if not a full term.
«someone who will recognise the basic and clear ways in which the state is not functioning, and fix them. [...] the way in which Farage actually pitches Reform to the voters: the description of Reform as a party not of left or right, but of solutions; the constant reference to experts from outside politics who will be brought into the cabinet; the straightforward and non-ideological terms in which he discusses the problems of the day.»
I am rather surprised that Farage is being described as the second coming of Tony Blair or Emmanuel Macron or Mario Draghi or Keir Starmer: an "apolitical" "technocratic" "centrist" modernizer.
«The country is not crying out for class-warriors like Margaret Thatcher or Jeremy Corbyn [...] speaks of ‘country’ and ‘common sense’ — of the real issues which confront voters in their daily lives.»
We all know that "The country" means "Middle England"voters and the real issues which confront those voters that all major parties including Reform UK, target as their core constituency are:
* Incomes (from property and business ownership) have been flat for several years. The state managed to push them up at a robust rate for 40 years until 2022, gifting "Middle England" voters a large part of their living standards; since 2022 "Middle England" voters feel the state has "confiscated" that large part of their incomdes and have been voting for protest parties or abstaining as a result.
* Costs (from wages and taxes to pay for social insurance) have not been shrinking as much as in the previous 40 years, again reducing the living standards of "Middle England" voters as they need to pay more for cleaning, gardening, deliveries, nursing, etc. and higher taxes to pay for higher wage costs in the NHS, local councils, etc.
For the past couple dozen years it has been mass immigration that has delivered to "Middle England" higher incomes (from property and business) and lower costs (from wages and taxes) so the big question is: what are the technical, apolitical policies by which Farage plans to improve the daily lives of Middle England voters by increasing their incomes (from property and business) and reduce their costs (from wages and taxes)?
If he was so good, why are they below 20% in the polls? Blair could at least plausibly say "you may hate me but the voters like me".