Has nothing changed in two years?

A safe Labour seat has been wiped out by a 10,000-vote majority in favour of George Galloway.

Voter apathy at the General Election effectively meant that none of the main parties enjoyed enough support to form a Government.

The result in West Bradford by-election suggests that is still the case. There is little public support for any of the three main parties.

George Galloway wins the Bradford West seat with a 10,000 majority

People are not warming to the nasal whinging of Milliband

So labour lost a safe seat to a one trick pony?

I am betty

A result which must surely make Labour take a long look at itself,and its electability.

But what may say more is the need for Tory fans to leap immediately on a single event to make themselves feel just a little better about the complete balls that Cameron is making day after day. Everyone ok for ( record-priced with more tax to come) petrol ...?

Surely you mistake me for somebody else Phil. Not really a tory, simply somebody that detests all that labour do once they gain control over anything.

Bunch of control freaks that’s for sure

I remember someone interviewing Gordon Brown (the most disastrous Scot to be in charge of the English since Earl Haig) about his views about "digital Britain", his view was it empowered people to go on-line and claim benefits

betty.noire wrote:Bunch of control freaks that’s for sure

I remember someone interviewing Gordon Brown (the most disastrous Scot to be in charge of the English since Earl Haig) about his views about "digital Britain", his view was it empowered people to go on-line and claim benefits

Crow all you like that is something the Tories are good at, but do not know how to govern the country take a good look at what has happened over the last week and they are still getting it wrong or is it to get more money off the motorists in FOOL duty.

I know one other person that will not be too happy that Galloway won that seat Scam..er..on as that entitles Galloway to sit in the H.O.C and he will be a THORN in Scam..er..on side from the word go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go independents go, yipppeeeeee

Ed Miliband didn't win in Scotland.

He didn't win in Bradford West - his candidate was humiliated by one of the most odious people in British politics.

What if Ed Miliband doesn't win in London?

William Hill have already cut the odds on Mr Miliband being ousted. Ed Balls is sitting in his study now, dusting off the Yvette-for-Leader campaign plan and ordering in some extra lasagne.

In truth Ed Miliband is a loser whatever happens in London. If Boris is re-elected it's confirmation that Ed Miliband's Labour Party is hardly capturing the zeitgeist. If Ken Livingstone is elected Mr Miliband will be under pressure to move further Leftwards and mimic Red Ken's politics of division, grievance and state dependency. Livingstone will become the darling of Labour's redroots.

People are thouroughly cross with ALL the mainstream political parties

suckling on the tit of the state is an attractive proposition for some

A small offering for the Tories to make a big hoo ha about at last, latching on to threads whilst hanging on by their fingernails to power.

50% turnout OW, certainly more than the standard general election %. Go on vote independent you know it makes sense.

"are Labour finished as a political party ?"

No but the Tories might be and soon.

As soon as it is evident that the Tory party is under threat, out come the supporters scatching for crumbs of support. Typical and as expected.

Clare Short wants to out Blair as a liar regarding the Iraq war.

How come this thread was blocked Ivan, didn't we like the title then?

Lets not all get carried away here, the Respect Party is the largest political party in the UK to have a majority Asian following, more than half of all Asians in Yorkshire live in Bradford.

The city of Bradford has the second highest population of Asians of any city after Leicester, the highest concentration of Asians anywhere in the country is actualy in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, the other place where Galloway won a seat with Respect.

The Bradford West constituency became vaccant when the sitting MP Marsha Singh stepped down due to ill health, Mr Singh was very popular and had a loyal following.

Last nights result was bad for Labour, but it was also equaly as terrible for both Conservative and Liberal in the home city of Baroness Warsi, the result does have the potential to be a problem for Labour because it is Labour who traditionaly attract the inner city Asian vote.

Benefits anyone?

Am I the only one not surprised at Galloways win. The only surprising thing to me is the magnitude of the victory.

George Galloway, charismatic figure, Anti-war campaigner, Palestinian rights campaigner and a high Moslem population.Similar to the situation at his win in the London constituency some years ago.

A shrewd campaigner, our George.

Couple that with the Labour Party's lack of credibility with the public at the moment and you have the above.

Three years is a long time in which the Labour Party has to get the public on its side, and policies which are credible and explainable to the public in terms the ordinary man understands.

The posters on here are politically minded. They see what is going on, both openly and overtly.The ordinary man in the street is not so. Labour somehow has to get those people alongside. The Tory's can't. Their wavelength is UHF. Labour's must be MW. Crickey I'm out of date. It's DAB now.

But then, what do I know



Witchfinder. About to post the above when I saw yours. As you see I agree with what you say. Hope you don't mind me posting as I have added more.

Labour finished as a political party? LOL. What a stupid question, especially as Labour is 10% ahead of the Tories in several opinion polls this week. Last night Labour even gained a council seat in true-blue Sevenoaks.

In the Bradford West by-election, George Galloway, who once publicly praised Saddam Hussein for his "indefatigability", is an opportunist who has managed to harness the large Moslem anti-war element in a constituency which is hardly typical of the rest of the country.

If there is a message for Labour here it is to be more left-wing, more distinct from the two lousy parties in the so-called coalition. The Tories and their yellow poodles couldn't quite manage 13% of the vote between them, so if Labour is "finished", what does it say for them?

tlttf wrote:-
50% turnout OW, certainly more than the standard general election %.

I think you mean 50% is higher than the standard by-election turnout. There has never been a general election with a turnout that low (it was 65% in 2010).

I must admit I did have a good chuckle this morning when I switched on the news....13 years of an open door policy to garner future Labour voters and they have quickly realised that the party is all talk and no action.

Miliband and his motley crew offer no alternative to the present government and for all Ed's waffle that New Labour is dead, his shadow cabinet and responses to the Coalition policies are more 'Tory Light' than ever before. No wonder people are voting for independents, not one of the 3 major parties cover themselves with glory at the moment...or in recent history.
Labour are waging a phony war based on Class and most of the general public can see right through it. What does the multi millionaire Ed Miliband know about living in the real world?? About as much as 'Call me Dave' I guess.
I'm sure Ed could always ask advice on how to connect with the real world from Harriet Harman, the niece of the Countess of Longford I mean did you see how uncomfortable he was in that failed publicity stunt in Greggs...It was like he had walked into an alien world……Embarrassing!!!!

Labour will continue to fail to connect with the electorate if it continues to be a party of 'sound bites' and hypocrisy. At the moment they are just showing the country that there is little alternative to the coalition.....except Galloway of course

Out of the woodwork they come in ever increasing desperate defending numbers. They allways do when the stench from their Tory party starts wafting under the publics noses.

"Not really a tory,"

You voted for the buggers remember Land? Still talking the same old crap.
Run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

Ivan wrote:Labour finished as a political party? LOL. ....

If there is a message for Labour here it is to be more left-wing, more distinct from the two lousy parties in the so-called coalition. The Tories and their yellow poodles couldn't quite manage 13% of the vote between them, so if Labour is "finished", what does it say for them?

".... to be more left-wing ...." To Be, or not To Be, that is the question.
Amidst the conflicting excuses and evasions for an unexpected result, the significant difference may lie in the simple fact that Gorgeous George is OLD LABOUR, whatever the label he's wearing now.

Out of the woodwork they come in ever increasing desperate defending numbers. They allways do when the stench from their Tory party starts wafting under the publics noses..

Oh dear!!! Some people are just not in a good mood today are they Mel?! Ivan's also got a bit strop on deleting inconvenient threads...what's cutting edge coming too? Maybe the news rules will be only Labour Party members can start a thread and all other posters will be heavily edited just in case they upset the 'home' team....Oops I guess that could be me suspended too?

A most interesting post from blueturando in the most difficult week so far for the Conservatives, and with them now lagging behind Labour by ten points ( according to several reputable polls ).

In 1997 we heard the phrase "things can only get better" and as 2012 moves towards the summer months, the promise for the two coalition parties is "things can only get worse" with local elections coming up, more cuts to come, a worsening economic outlook and a real likelyhood of squabbles both within the Tory Party and between the coalition partners.

The only thing that Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have to do is sit tight and wait.

Don't go just yet, blue, we need reminders from time to time of what those words like "Freedom" and "Liberty" mean in real-life.

OW......If a person is politically 'centre' or 'centre/right' you would generally vote for the Tories. Tony Blair bucked the trend by creating New Labour or 'Tory Light', but as New Labour has been delacared extinct, surley Ed and his gang should be offering an alternative to the Coalition?

Right now there is no alternative. Ed is silent, except to say he wouldn't reverse coalition policies...he even refuses to say whether he would reverse the top rate of tax. What does Labour currently stand for???? Who knows!!!!

The only thing that Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have to do is sit tight and wait

Wait for what?

A most interesting post from blueturando in the most difficult week so far for the Conservatives, and with them now lagging behind Labour by ten points ( according to several reputable polls ).

Agreed a shocking 2 weeks for the government and I would expect Labour to currently have a 10 point lead...at least!!!

The coalition will get all the nasty stuff out of the way until the final 12/18 months of this parliament and then sweeten everyone up with tax give-aways and new investment ect...It will be too late for Labour to make a difference by then

Well blueturando - that WAS the plan, but things have gone very badly wrong


"The coalition will get all the nasty stuff out of the way until the final 12/18 months of this parliament"

The original plan was to wipe out the defecit as quickly as possible, within the Parliamentary term, it was a political move designed to enable George to embark on great give-away just before the next election.

Unfortunately his policies have brought the economy to its knees, we are teetering on the very edge of recession again, only this time it is not caused by world events, but by sheer economic and political incompetence.

The defecit now cannot be repaired or put right before 2015, this is now acknowledged by George himself, the cuts are going to go on and on until the next election - and beyond.

Labour is far from finished. It is currently the most popular political Party. If it weren't for Ed Miliband, it would be a lot more than 10% ahead in the polls.

Ergo, the Party is popular; its leader isn't. But it has three years to switch leaders.

Witchfinder

We are in a recession - now!

By the way, did anyone hear the one about the PM buying a pasty from a shop that wasn't there?

Oh, and in terms of "has nothing changed?", well unfortunately people forget extremely quickly.

This government has messed up just about everything thus far, but each mistake gets forgotten about within a couple of weeks, or even more quickly sometimes. It's a sad reality that they can mess up for four years ten months, then have a great two months with good press, and they'll get re-elected.

There's been political apathy for decades, but I'd say the last General Election was buzzing. Unfortunately, the buzz fostered a superficial vision of everything. I actually think Gordon Brown would have had a chance if it hadn't been for the hype and the leaders' debates.

This was pre-fall of the Murdoch empire, when he was still in love with Cameron (or any Tory leader), so Cameron was always going to be declared the front-runner and debate winner, and the British public will always believe the press.

Blamhappy

What a xxxxxxx that Murdoch is...I hate him.