Election 2024 - result

Well I did promise you a report of sorts last week as things were moving oh so rapidly and we we go. 

As was custom I did go down to the polling station although I had cast my vote in advance and here at least turnout appeared up and I did see more under 40 voters in an area which has seen sizable changes in property ownership since last time.

That suggested to me a sea change in results certainly was probably above and beyond the many opinion polls during the campaign that had seen Conservative support in freefall.

Newspapers like blog writers struggle to keep up but by after polls closed at ten polls of those who had voted indicated something rather shocking, a massive hemorrhaging of support for the Conservatives and a Labour landslide.

As it happened the results looked rather like this:

Labour: 412

Conservative: 121

Liberal Democrats: 72

Reform UK: 5

Scots N P 9

and others.

Was it that a vote FOR Labour or a vote AGAINST the Conservatives?

For me, Trust became an issue firstly with three leaders over one term becoming three Prime Ministers, the policies voted for drifted away as exceptional as Covid and the war in Ukraine was and remains.

That was compounded by a merry-go-round of Ministers, some lasting weeks which makes forming the connections and making the arguments  to make policies a reality difficult in the extreme even if they were workable.

Rwanda certainly was anything but.

So all we had announcements and feeling everything was very much "at sea", drifting off with little real governing taking place and that was despite some good work around helping those most affected by the rapid increase in the Cost Of Living (which only showed up what a state the safety net though deliberate underfunding was in) and the state of essential public services.

It wasn't just left leaning people who were very concerned around this, many conservative voters were, myself included, so we did the unthinkable and voted Liberal Democrat or Labour because hand outs and foodbanks are not sufficient.

We really need something like a Royal Commission into Benefit and Pension policy as the amounts just haven't kept pace with what people reasonably need, not least with housing, energy and food costs.

Arguments around "conditionality", getting those who can work to take up job offers while important should not preclude realistic support and people with complex needs need support in doing this.
 

Having won an Election and had a seamless transfer of power - memo to the U.S. of A - the new Prime Minister wasted no time in getting to work, appointing Ministers, chairing meetings and attending the N.A.T.O. Summit.

Ultimately it is the extent he can meet those expectations, deal with the unexpected and deliver that will judge if this will be the reset many of us hoped and voted for.

Congratulations!

The beginning of the end - just over two weeks to go?

Remember the betting on the Election Day story?

Well it appears two candidates and a police officer serving in a protection role are to be investigated into it as lines get thicker between the leaders responses both Conservative and of course, Labour and to be honest I feel Keir Starmer's remark to the effect they'd be through the door, out if they were his matches more how I feel as they'd have some inside knowledge and just whatever possesses someone to bet on that, something that with Mp's pay you certainly don't need.

What I might ask was any money gained through this going to be spent on and why?

That one rather like the question of what in practise is each party really going to achieve by way of immigration policy remains lacking an clear answer.

Immigration does place pressure on housing and public services that most acknowledge is real and affects the least well off the most even if the UK does have some skills shortages from its own population and so may benefit from something more like a points system immigration system prioritizing those sills we need the most.

Few of us take issue when people do work that is necessary and contribute in the wider sense to the host community.

How we deal with people who wish to claim Asylum, facing a "well founded fear of persecution or death" but insist that it's "The UK or nothing" is difficult.

Many have been through countries that could of offered asylum and they could of sought it in but a policy of rigid denial leads to tense situations, stand offs and even threats to take their own lives.

Understandably many of us feel very uncomfortable holding a rigid line but how do you prevent people just deciding where they wish to be and plowing on toward it? 

Is that fair even when all you are saying is "I cannot follow my faith, sexuality or engage in politics in my own country but there's only one I will accept to go to" when other countries can offer you that very thing?

Still there's time as I have received my Postal Vote pack and can either complete and return to the Councils Elections office or hand in, sealed on the day at the polling station.

I'd be very surprised if we didn't see a change of Government unless things really change.

Some General Election Thoughts

With just a couple of weeks left to the General Election heres some non partisan thoughts round issues that have been talked  about.
One area the politicians having being talking about is homelessness and housing with a main difference between the emphasis on building home for first time buyers by the Conservatives and Building 100,000 homes to rent by Labour.
To me it shouldn't be a binary choice because we know there is insufficient new build  for the UK's population and at the same time there is  a shortage of affordable property to rent, especially of an acceptable standard.
A common problem with both proposals is there is a shortage of construction workers  which already is causing delays to developments and even a shortage of bricks so I don't feel labour's proposal is achievable  as it is and there would be issues with expanding privately owned property.
I think we need to revisit prefabricated housing such a that produced in Scandinavia   where the quality workmanship is built in at the factory being pre-plumbed and wired and is effectively assembled on site. which is quicker and doesn't require as many skilled hands that we don't have.
Labour are talking about Rent Control - limiting ("Capping") rents  which are very high in some areas but what concerns me is that the minute that is starts being put into effect, private landlords who invest in property for a reward will simply send the residents to the streets which happens even now if they feel they can get more from tenants.
To be at a point to even considers needs a rebalencing   of the private/public rental market and a long period of state investment which may take more than one parliament to get anywhere near.

The Environment is important and is a world wide issue which as an industralized nation we have and continue to add to but we do have a problem when it comes to building measures to minimize our impact into.
We are losing ground to housing developments that don't tie into transport networks  which means we lose trees, visual amenities and add more Co2 while allowing brownfield sites to lay dormant. This area is badly impacted by nondescript spawl as it is.
Building on such older used sites need to be competitive  financial as greenfield site.
The sorts of measures some advocate toward dealing with global emissions would have a major impact on peoples livelihoods and if such are necessary, people are going to need to assisted during that change and into new work.
Making people impoverished isn't any nicer for saying 'it's for the environment's good'  

Ours is a mainly urbanized country but even in inner cores high car ownership exists for reasons such as poor transport even in say Dudley, in the Black County due to poor bus services that make a fifteen minute car trip over an hour  with multiple connections, you can't get to Walsall by train without going on a round trip via Birmingham from Wolverhampton and it's no better across Greater Stoke on Trent as I know personally.
In order to reduce the impact of those car trips when comes to congestion and Co2 we need to make fast, efficient public transport a reality rather than in effect fining people making necessary journeys with congestion charging.
My area doesn't even a passenger transport transport executive so in effect bus and train companies make the decision about to provide  ignore social and other needs like getting people about when infrastructure remains stuck at a level that is Edwardian at best and pre Victorian at worst frequently jammed which makes public transport less reliable.
 

And they're off...

I guess if this thing is to covered and it's not as if we can escape it, then this happens to be the best place to put it.

 It was the first day proper when I typed this up but the horses are off on this epic battle that will reach it's conclusion by Ten PM on December 12 and so far we're making our way up foot in mouth alley toward our first set of key seat speeches by the various party leaders.
What it is that causes politicians to go off at interviews and the like to go well away from anything that really within their powers as politicians and make ill considered comments.
Having been in that game myself I am puzzled why anyone who knows just how the press and certain interest groups spin things out would consider commenting on such stuff a day before the General Election period is formally announced meaning various party spokesmen spend time having to explain all of that which takes them away from those issues each party wishes to talk about.
Then you start to get difference between a leader and key member such as Chuka Umunna M.P. challenging Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat leaders assertion the party will not form a future Government with the left wing Labour Party.
Plus you have candidates either de-selected for being caught saying unacceptable things or former M.P's calling on their supporters to vote for the other side!
Just five more weeks of this circus act to go.

The E-lect-shuns

It's seven days to go as I start to work on this and like most post devolution politics it's messy because the parties unique to the devolved parts of the United Kingdom include all the parties that stand in Northern Ireland, Plaid Cymru ("The Party of Wales"), the Scottish National Party (aka S.N.P.) and have no representatives outside that part, country, region whatever the constitutional dogs dinner has left calling the bits of the UK leaving only three and three-quarters of the parties being in proper sense Nationally organized, having national statements of policies (Manifesto's) and Candidates standing nearly all the Parliamentary divisions called Constituencies. 
I say three and three-quarters because the Conservative (Tory) Party don't organize and stand in Northern Ireland although they are for the Union and have links to the two Unionist parties there.
The biggest single issue of the moment is leaving the European Union on which my thoughts can be found in other entries but I'll try to be fair.
The party most pro Europe is the Centre Left (and not what I'd recognize as Liberal) Democrats who came about from a small proportion of ex Labour people and nearly all the former Liberals and the difference between the two sides are still there.
The party was 100% behind remaining in the EU because it believes this has brought peace, economic growth and liberty to Europe and that much of the UK's trade is linked to it.
In its manifesto it has said it doesn't wish the UK to leave the Single Market for goods and services including people and the European Court of Justice.
It goes on step further and says whatever is decided at talks with the EU should go to separate referendum that include a "Remain in the EU" voting option.
The Further to the left Socialist party, The Labour party kind of agree much of that apart from the referendum but keep altering the emphasis because Labour supporters don't generally favour EU membership   and think they can talk the EU even in the last hours into some reforms.
The Conservatives and the United Kingdom Independence Party are for leaving the EU although some local branches and candidates of the former are not and generally favour what could be called a clean break.
This is because they feel the terms of keeping the Single Market which include not being able to set year on year migration targets, consider skills based applications will not be agreed to because the EU sees them as non-negotiable and all that has been able to been agreed are very short-term temporary restrictions for 'new' member states in Eastern Europe or the offer of a use one only every four year temporary limits.
Leaving the EU-"Brexit"- is like marmite: it splits people down the middle and personally is a huge issue with me and Midlands voters. One day I'll write the book "Staffordshire and how we broke the Post war settlement", lol.
Another increasingly important issue is care for the elderly in later life such as the provision of carers in peoples homes and how that especially it is they need to move into a care home where this is provided (we hope!) is to be met as that post war to mid sixties "Baby Boom" is entering the autumn of their lives in large numbers and will run on for at least fifteen or so years at a similar rate.
Presently some find it is necessary to sell off their home (if they own one) to part pay for it whereas those who are not and don't have savings have theirs paid by the state. That amount many care home providers maintain is insufficient to provide the quality of care not just expected but legally required and some scandals around this have emerged.
To pay for more of this, the Conservatives had proposed a increase in the amount you didn't need to pay before claiming back anything over £100,000 from the sale to pay for this on a deferred basis.
One problems with this is a good number of people buy a property expecting to pass it or its value on in death to immediate family (their children) and in a good number of places any property exceeds this value, not merely the better offs.
The resulting who-haa with it being called a "dementia tax" has left this quietly dropped to be re-tuned later.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats favour more state money aka taxes to pay for this but the problem with taxation is the tax yield from substantial increases is often lower and often leads to unintended consequences such as "brain drains" as the brightest and most well paid leave the UK.
My own view is you need to look at tackling tax evasion by multinational companies ("Hi Alexia, Google me Googles tax returns!" and growing the cake through greater productivity and furthering international trade.
Policing and security is an issue and while the Conservatives have talked about putting more on the ground, it also is the case the reductions in funding in their budgets since Twenty-ten had decimated them which in my personal opinion  was very short-sighted as you tend to get more significantly crime in a recession and with last weeks's awful event still in my mind here, it is obvious we are facing severe threats not just from overseas but from home grown terrorists who are not going to reduce their activities all because we're one an 'austerity' drive. 
The other parties are talking about it but as with much in this campaign we have seen little real information on exactly it has been costed and that as we get into the last days of campaigning is the one thing that really annoys me: The lack of forethought in how the policies are going to be funded together with the detail.