New Tory Leader

[RobJames 880]

Hexham council election last night. A swing of 12.8 per cent from the Conservatives to Liberal Democrats

• Suzanne Fairless-Aitken (Liberal Democrat) - 584
• Stephen Ball (Conservative) - 370
• Jonathan Wheeler (Labour) - 154
• Lee Williscroft-Ferris (independent) - 127

[PurpleCanary 5,555]

7 hours ago, Herman said:

I feared that the country would have to hit rock bottom before the spell of Boris Johnson and his tawdry government would get broken. We're not there yet thank God, but we are very close and the Johnson magic is evaporating quicker than I thought. Mostly self inflicted.

The advice to Boris from Bernard Ingham (yes, that Bernard Ingham, and yes to my surprise he is still alive!) is this:

"Let’s cut out the busking and bluster."

But, but, but...cut those out and there is nothing left. That's all there ever has been.

PS. Shrimsley in the FT makes an interesting point:

"It tells Tory MPs that Johnson may not only have ceased to be a winner, he may be a liability. He will now be on notice from his party. This will make him more nervous of his backbenchers and also more keen to appease the party right — which is where much of the protest over Covid-19 regulations and higher taxes is coming from. This will drain rather than enhance his authority."

And hardly make him more appealing to the electorate.

Edited December 17, 2021 by PurpleCanary

[kirku 1,332]

3 hours ago, Rock The Boat said:

Well done, BF, that was a pretty good prediction, with the actual result a bit better/wise than that. 

Johnson was elected to get the job done but since catching covid he has blundered from disaster to catastrophe all of his own making. 

No one will step into the mess while Omicron is raging but a poor local election result in May and he will be spending more time with his family. 

Ah, yes - he was a paragon of integrity, intelligence and fortitude prior to covid, wasn't he?

[Well b back 3,190]

Boris slammed the EU booster roll out yesterday, he really has lost the plot. I try not to compare except to defend but on the day he said it the EU used 3,955,371 doses smashing all previous records.

[Mr Apples 1,317]

"The PM blamed a "constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians" in the media for the result." 🤣

Apples 

[RobJames 880]

"Tonight, the people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people. "They have said loudly and clearly: 'Boris Johnson, the party is over.'

"Your Government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinised, it will be challenged and it can and will be defeated. "Across the country, the Liberal Democrats are taking on the Conservatives and winning.

"In rural Shropshire today, just like Buckinghamshire in June, we have won the support of the people who have always voted Conservative and people who have always opposed them.

"Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, dismayed by Boris Johnson’s lack of decency and fed up with being taken for granted.  "And thousands of lifelong Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to the candidate who can defeat the Conservatives.

"People who think our politics should be about creating a better country for us all, not a nightly soap opera of calamity and chaos. All of them casting their ballots for the Liberal Democrats.

"And let me say specifically to all those Labour supporters who lent me their votes today: thank you.  "You have shown tonight that, together, we can defeat the Conservatives. Not with deals behind closed doors, but with common sense at the ballot box.

"These are testing times for our country.  "Our NHS, as we know here in Shropshire, is teetering on the brink. Our rural economy is in a precarious state with people's livelihoods at risk.

"Our country is crying out for leadership. Mr Johnson you are no leader. 

"Many of your predecessors took office because they believed in a sense of national service, that they were duty-bound to do what they believed was right for our country. To represent all of us even if we disagreed with them. "Mr Johnson, that is not how you operate. Too often it is all about you and not about us. 

"Instead of taking action to help Shropshire's NHS, you spend time seeking questionable donations to refurbish your flat.

"Instead of taking action to support Shropshire's farmers, you spend your time misleading the nation on how you and your office partied during lockdown.

"Tonight the people of North Shropshire have said enough is enough. They have said that you are unfit to lead and that they want a change.'

Helen Morgan MP

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

11 minutes ago, Mr Apples said:

"The PM blamed a "constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians" in the media for the result." 🤣

Apples 

😂😂 He really is as thick as two short planks isn't he? A very expensively educated dimwit.

Amazingly, over two years in and he still doesn't seem to grasp what this job, that he was so deperate to get, is actually all about. So most probably he never will as I don't think he is going to get much longer to 'learn on the job', and it's not as though he has learnt anything so far! 😂😂

 

[Icecream Snow 761]

ouch

[Icecream Snow 761]

38 minutes ago, Mr Apples said:

"The PM blamed a "constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians" in the media for the result." 🤣

Apples 

You would have expected a former journalist to understand how newspapers work 

[Yellow Fever 3,750]

48 minutes ago, Well b back said:

Boris slammed the EU booster roll out yesterday, he really has lost the plot. I try not to compare except to defend but on the day he said it the EU used 3,955,371 doses smashing all previous records.

As others point out he's lashing out in all directions to blame anybody and everybody else for his own miserable shortcomings - the media, the EU - it will be Gordon Brown next.

If only we all believed him....

[RobJames 880]

et tu Brutus

"Fraser Nelson, one of Boris Johnson’s successors as editor of the Spectator, has delivered a scathing verdict on the PM’s reaction to the byelection.

Nelson writes:   I think it would be fair to say that we have heard some self-serving twaddle from him of late and yet this ‘I blame the media’ line was not only hypocritical and sinister: it was downright insulting to the intelligence of the British public. Politicians can sometimes be so consumed with vanity that their very existence — their self-definition, their self-esteem — depends on how they think they are portrayed in the media ...

The moment he decided to criminalise women meeting up for coffee was the moment he lost the right to complain if the press take an interest in No10’s own rule-breaking. And yes, such stories may distract attention from his skills agenda, his vaccine booster data or tractor production figures. But in our place, what would he be writing about? Would he have led The Spectator on drugs policy, as we did last week - or gone all-out on the hypocrisy in partying No10?

Since he defended the press in 2007, newspapers sales have probably halved - haemorrhaging power and influence. If voters give him a bloody nose, can he really blame us? As Enoch Powell said: for a politician to blame the press is like a ship’s captain complaining about the sea. Ultimately, as Prime Minister, he makes the weather. His bungling triggered this by-election. And he should not blame us if he does not like the result."

 

[Herman 9,731]

Man in "man investigating unlawful parties turns out to have had an unlawful party" shocker.🤣

https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-simon-case-downing-street-london/

[Well b back 3,190]

8 minutes ago, Herman said:

Man in "man investigating unlawful parties turns out to have had an unlawful party" shocker.🤣

https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-simon-case-downing-street-london/

On here to the say the same, you just couldn’t write it could you. 
Didn’t they have to disclose he hadn’t attended any parties before being allowed to investigate ?

[Herman 9,731]

7 minutes ago, Well b back said:

On here to the say the same, you just couldn’t write it could you. 
Didn’t they have to disclose he hadn’t attended any parties before being allowed to investigate ?

I'm not sure how many nails this government's coffin will need......🤣

[RobJames 880]

There is a thought that this may all unravel very quickly for Johnson. Powerless, it will embolden others to come forward.

 

[Well b back 3,190]

3 minutes ago, Herman said:

I'm not sure how many nails this government's coffin will need......🤣

Time for the Dominic Cummings one I think.

But on a more serious note, I think the fact some of them dared to lay into Whitty even more would have lost their last bits of respect.

[Well b back 3,190]

1 minute ago, RobJames said:

There is a thought that this may all unravel very quickly for Johnson. Powerless, it will embolden others to come forward.

 

To early, they need him held up for COVID, Brexit etc. If he goes to soon what has been sowed will just attach to the new PM / Party.

[RobJames 880]

It will not be a case of those around him. It will be 'lesser mortals' who will damage him. Further tales of his misdeeds. Hitherto only hinted at.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Adam Boulton, retiring Sky Political commentator said that in the thirty years he had been in the job, PM's, particularly Thatcher and Blair, would jump at the chance to be interviewed, so that they could put their views across and were happy to argue the point.

Johnson has not done a proper immediate, interview for the two years in power. Sky had an open invitation to chat at any time. He always wanted it to be controlled so that the questions were tabled beforehand, the setting contrived and he set the tone of the meeting. In other words, he does not have the ability to answer questions about policy etc because he doesn't have any. Boulton said Johnson, if you analyze his thoughts, has not an aim or collection of policies.

[Mr Apples 1,317]

56 minutes ago, Well b back said:

Time for the Dominic Cummings one I think.

Dom will wait until the very last moment...so he can claim to have finally finished him off. I suspect the Tories are now just working out the optics for the best time for putting Boris out of his misery. 🤣

As Wbb says, they need to pin everything on him (not too difficult 🤣) to give the new line-up a fighting chance.

Apples

[BigFish 1,986]

 

[BigFish 1,986]

4 hours ago, 1902 said:

That's true now, but the SW is an area where they previously held a big chunk of their seats. Its also an area with strong Liberal Democrat local parties. This is the list of Lib Dem councils; its a real mix of SE, SW and outer London seats but my point is that whereas they have been making strides in those SE seats, they need to make more progress in the SW  to grow and Labour need them to do the same.

Bath and North East Somerset
Bedford Borough Council (via elected Executive Mayor)
Chelmsford City Council
Cheltenham Borough Council
Cotswold District Council
Eastbourne Borough Council
Eastleigh Borough Council
Hinckley and Bosworth District Council 
Kingston upon Thames
Mendip District Council
Mole Valley District Council
North Devon District Council
North Norfolk District Council
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
Richmond upon Thames
St Albans City and District Council
South Cambridgeshire District Council        
South Lakeland District Council
South Somerset District Council
Somerset West and Taunton Council
Sutton London Borough Council
Teignbridge District Council    
Three Rivers District Council
Vale of White Horse District Council
Watford Borough Council
Winchester City Council

 

Very true

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

41 minutes ago, BigFish said:

Very true

My constituency is Tory at the moment with George Useless Eustice, the MP. It has been fairly equally Labour and Conservative over the years with one intervention by the LibDems.

So there is no reason why the current Labour policies won't be accepted by the voters. There was absolutely no way they would accept the out of town art school hippie we were lumbered with in 2019 so the Tories do have a large majority. But up until then since 2010 the vote has been very close. Just over 60 votes  at one election.

So there is a good possibility that a decent local candidate could get Labour back in front.

[RobJames 880]

Their one USP was that the bloated buffoon would get Brexit done. What happened there is perhaps another argument. It will, however, now need a complete party reset as far as the Tories are concerned. Out will have to go Johnson and his 3rd rate failures: Hancock, Rabb, Patel etc. They will in response fight back and tear the Tory Party apart. They have tasted blood. And will want more. Ot will not be pretty. Nor will help when the next GE is held.

Edited December 17, 2021 by RobJames

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Cummings has now said that one of the parties that the Cabinet Secretary is investigating is a red herring. It did not take place. But Boris was there to say goodbye to someone who was leaving. So he is hoping the investigation says the protocols were observed by the PM. Boris Goebbels.

[Van wink 2,994]

My goodness 

 

“The country’s leading civil servant has stepped down from his role investigating alleged lockdown-breaking parties inside Downing Street after claims emerged he had hosted an event himself over the same period.

No 10 said Simon Case had removed himself from the process “to ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence”. He will be replaced by veteran civil servant Sue Gray, second permanent secretary at the communities and levelling up department.”

[Well b back 3,190]

34 minutes ago, Van wink said:

My goodness 

 

“The country’s leading civil servant has stepped down from his role investigating alleged lockdown-breaking parties inside Downing Street after claims emerged he had hosted an event himself over the same period.

No 10 said Simon Case had removed himself from the process “to ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence”. He will be replaced by veteran civil servant Sue Gray, second permanent secretary at the communities and levelling up department.”

Did he really think the public had any confidence in the process anymore, they live in cloud cuckoo land.

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

3 hours ago, Well b back said:

On here to the say the same, you just couldn’t write it could you. 
Didn’t they have to disclose he hadn’t attended any parties before being allowed to investigate ?

I must admit I had a good laugh at the time when No 10 announced (after having been asked the question about the party at No 10) that the Cabinet Secretary definitely hadn't been present at the party that didn't take place at No 10 😂

Turns out that might have been a very rare truthful statement by No 10 but only because he was actually too busy hosting his own illegal party elsewhere 😂

Rotten to the core, the whole bunch of them and yet the Met still desperately looking in the other direction and hoping it will all blow over without them having to do their job properly for once.

[Well b back 3,190]

42 minutes ago, Van wink said:

My goodness 

 

“The country’s leading civil servant has stepped down from his role investigating alleged lockdown-breaking parties inside Downing Street after claims emerged he had hosted an event himself over the same period.

No 10 said Simon Case had removed himself from the process “to ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence”. He will be replaced by veteran civil servant Sue Gray, second permanent secretary at the communities and levelling up department.”

Just been seeing all this lol warning Johnson not to lie as there were plenty of pictures.

Also said no way Johnson would not have known unless he was at Chequers as he would need to walk past the rooms to get to his flat.

Also a nice little teaser about he may not have been at one particular party but said goodbye to the attendees.

[ricardo 7,350]

1 hour ago, Van wink said:

 

No 10 said Simon Case had removed himself from the process “

They will ask his brother, Justin, to take over.