The Tory vote is largely a pensioners vote these days regardless of what class they are.What a strange world we occupy at present - Working class Hartlepool is strong Tory and leafy Middle class Buckinghamshire goes Liberal.
I have a feeling Batley will go Tory - Labour don't seem interested in older working class voters, outside the Metro areas.
Things have definitely moved on on the HS2 front since then though, and i would see it as a reason for some viters, maybe just not the only reason for others. Work on HS2 is fully underway now, with swathes of the Chilterns looking like a building site and destruction of a nature reserve towards the north of the county on the Bucks / Ox border. It's a pretty sore point down here.This is a massive slap in the face for Johnson and the Conservative Party and trying to dress it up as anything other than that is disingenuous, HS2 was an issue in 2019 and this can only be seen as a rejection of Johnsonism in the very heart of the traditional Conservative, commuter belt, bluelands of Buckinghamshire. the right wing press are doing there best to put the focus on this as a failure for Starmer but the reality is that whilst it's disappointing result for Labour the real story is the Conservative candidate receiving fewer votes than the majority held by his predecessor.
The laxing of planning restrictions to enable thousands of new houses was also cited as a major local issue.Things have definitely moved on on the HS2 front since then though, and i would see it as a reason for some viters, maybe just not the only reason for others. Work on HS2 is fully underway now, with swathes of the Chilterns looking like a building site and destruction of a nature reserve towards the north of the county on the Bucks / Ox border. It's a pretty sore point down here.
Tbh at the moment it feels like the whole northern part of the county is earmarked for development. Development is basically edging closer and closer to the chilterns from the north, swallowing up the villages in between in the process, and they were wanting to put a motorway from Oxford to MK, luckily it's been thrown out.
That’s a slur on big rudi.With Keir Starmer occupying the Rudy Gestede role?
Didn’t they lose most of their seats?., and their leader went quicker than summer snow.The LibDem vote didn't collapse in 2019, as claimed above, despite a stupid and self-defeating campaign.
At the moment the LibDems support Universal Basic Income (as do Greens and SNP), which is surely a touchstone of "leftishness".
Definitely, and although I'm not in their constituency, it wouldn't surprise me at all. I have no doubt that if that motorway had been approved, plenty of new developments and exits from said motorway would have been put in place.The laxing of planning restrictions to enable thousands of new houses was also cited as a major local issue.
Don’t know about Starmer but the absence of Corbyn is also being put forward as one of the reasons the Tories were annihilated!!That’s a slur on big rudi.
We saw that in the council elections too. There's a big shift in voting styles at the moment. No traditional heartland anymore and much fewer safe seats.It looked like a lot of the traditional tory voters didn't come out to vote.
At the last General Election they believed they had to defeat the bogeyman Corbyn at all costs and voted accordingly.
Corbyn is no longer there, but a lot of them are beginning to realise something else is also no longer there, that is the traditional Tory Party.
Over the last five years or the right wing loons in charge of the Tories have turned the party into UKIP in all but name. This may poll well with the residents of Hartlepool but a lot of the traditional Tory voters in the south are finding it increasingly difficult to vote for the party the Tories have become
George Galloway is not helping Labour there; in fact, he's deliberately trying to undermine them. Just when any kind of alliance is necessary to keep the Tories out.What do you base that on? Generally Labour policies are about redistribution and greater equality of opportunities. IMHO some of these older working class voters forget how they have had the opportunities to live the lives they have had, decent pensions, welfare state etc... and who has been responsible for the economic policies that have eroded those opportunities.
Ditto!I know this was raised at the last general election, but it didn't seem effective. I am in favour of this given our awful FPTP system, but last time I lent my vote to the Lib Dems they ended up propping up Cameron and Osborne so would be reluctant to do this again until I understand more about Ed Davey and co.....many of the coalition enablers are still key players in the Lib Dems.
Think I'd grit my teeth and vote for them regardless.Ditto!
Hopefully just the start people realising they made a wrong choice when they last votedWell done to the good people of Buckinghamshire. The Libdems overturning a 16000 majority as well.
It’s big because nobody expected it, Hartlepool was expected, but this result came from nowhere because of this fairy story that ‘everybody loves Boris.’still the biggest story of the week.
many will ignore it....only its not to be ignored.
even tonights match is secondary !
A bit unfair to call them Nimbys.They're all saying it's HS2 and building houses. They voted Boris in 2019 because they thought he would stop it. He didn't. Therefore the nimbys voted yellow.
caca tories.