London Elections: Labour won, but... big advances for other political parties

 

Although Sadiq Khan won another term as Mayor, there have been major changes in London's political environment.

Greens, Lib Dems and Reform are winning spaces. People who used to vote Labour are now switching allegiances and turning out to vote Green.

The turnout, compared to previous elections, was lower and 6 out of 10 registered voters did not vote.

What will happen in a General Election? The results announced in May are only half of the picture due to a lower turnout. What will happen in a General Election?

This is just the end of the beginning. How will the two major political parties deal with discontent and division in their ranks? Will their be yet another leadership contest in the Conservative Party? Is this the reason why the planned October General Election might actually be run earlier than expected? The month of July has been mentioned. Will there be any more defections from now until the date of the General Election?

When it comes to geopolitical agendas, the Secretary for Defense, Grant Shapps MP, made a grandiose announcement in terms of investment in Defense, investment that he might not be able to deliver if as many predict the Conservative government comes to an end at the next General Election. By then, a winning Labour Party will be under pressure to deliver on many other priorities not to be drowned by a series of industrial disputes. For Labour voters and trade unions, national issues have a lot more weight than geopolitical issues. Health, Education and Transport - to name three key areas - are much more relevant than militaristic issues.

Who wins in France and who wins in the USA also matters. With Macron out of the way, Marine Le Pen could take the reins and it remains to be seen who will be the winner in the USA in November. If Biden wins in November, could he last another four years? Lets look at those chosen as VicePresidential Candidates.

Keir Starmer will say whatever he thinks you want to hear without actually meaning what he says

 

Keir Starmer's turnaround regarding ULEZ, about tuition fees and about two-children welfare payments tell you everything you want to know. He made promises to Stop Oil to get their financial support and to show certain factions of his own political party that he is truthful about environmental goals, but this is about it.

Keir Starmer is the kind of politician that will make meaningless promises. He will kneel down and tell you that he believes that women have penises and whatever else he thinks is popular only to turn against what he says if he senses that such statements will not bring him votes and his is oblivious to the feelings of segments of his own party that go against his declared official policies. If you need somebody that will take into account the entire country, Keir Starmer is not the man for the job.

As the budget to deal with illegal immigrants rises and rises, he will continue talking about open floodgates because segments of his own party have been indoctrinated to accept what is illegal and pretend that breaking laws and entering the country illegally for the benefit of criminal gangs is perfectly legal and normal. Such lack of consistency is dangerous as it is criminal. If you are a man in charge of enforcing laws and make a political career based on ignoring laws, then you are no different from a career criminal.

The Labour Party has quality politicians like Andy Burham. What the heck is the Labour Party thinking about when it chooses people like Keir Starmer. Things have got to the point when long term Labour supports are being preventing from standing and such is the case of Mayoral Candidate that chose to abandon the Labour Party to stand as independent because the London clique does not want to stand to represent its own constituents.

Andy Burham is consistent and experienced and it has proved it as Mayor of Manchester. Unfortunately, according to the Labour Party rules, Andy Burham cannot stand for Leader because he is not a member of Parliament. 

And what example is Keir Starmer giving to Londoners, when he turned around and accused Sadiq Khan saying that Sadiq Khan's policies lost the Labour Party the election in Uxbridge? Next year, there will be elections for Mayor of London and the London Assembly. Keir Starmer is dividing his own political party, having more political turnarounds than a merry-go-round, making statements about things he does not really believe, and failing to listen to Labour Party supporters. 

 

Three by-elections: wasted opportunities for the Opposition

When you are trying to make a major political impact, you must ensure that candidates that are certain to win the election are heavyweight candidates. For whatever reason both Labour and Liberal Democrats play their cards wrongly. 

The Liberal Democrats chose a totally inexperienced 25 year-old and Labour chose a woman who can only perform well with soft interviewers. As soon as she was press for answers, she faltered. 

ULEZ was a major disaster for Labour in area in the outskirts of London where there are major difficulties for public transport and people are forced to use cards for their day to day activities and businesses. As it was expected, voters rejected Labour's ULEZ zone and gave the victory to the Conservative Party that maintained a strategic Parliamentary seat that was the now former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's seat. Labour wanted to make a good impression and failed miserably, courtesy of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan that persists with his plan to include areas like Uxbridge as part of the ULEZ plan.

When you look at the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, he has the odds stuck against him. In an area where people are religious and traditionalists, the present himself as the man that thinks that women have penises. In an area where people unavoidably need vehicles to move around and to survive, Keir Starmer presents himself as the 'anti-car' candidate. Ordinary people who earn a meagre living don't need any more taxes, but Labour insists in creating new taxes at local level. Labour talks about parking permits to be paid for by local residents. ULEZ to be paid by local residents. Labour talks about company permits that will make local services a lot more expensive. In its elan to 'save the planet', Labour is sacrificing ordinary Britons. 

If finding jobs is difficult and especially for those with fewer skills, Labour wants to import more illegal immigrants. If finding accommodation is expensive and sometimes impossible to find, Labour wants more foreigners to take over the jobs done by local residents and more foreigners to take whatever accommodation is available leaving local residents with nowhere to live in. Labour supports cranky individuals that go around causing disturbance and preventing access to hospitals, to name a few of the things that a minute bunch of crackpots have been involved in.

When it comes to defend democracy, Labour is nowhere to be seen. Does Labour support closing bank accounts for political reasons? Well, Keir Starmer has kept quiet on this subject and this leads people to believe that he is very much in favour of political repression. As somebody stated, Keir Starmer keeps quiet because he has nothing to say.

Sadiq Khan lost the Uxbridge election with ULEZ, but there is a lot more that should make people worry

 

Just when Labour thought that the Uxbridge by-election was in the bag, Sadiq Khan made his best to ruin Labour's chances of winning the seat of the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sorry, Dad. I didn't know what I was doing. The expression on their faces tell the full story. Labour MPs had alerted that keeping ULEZ was a very bad idea and they pleaded with Sadiq Khan to postpone the implementation of ULEZ. Sadid Khan did not listen and Labour lost a key Parliamentary seat.

Labour voters turned against Labour because Labour voters in that area on the edges of Greater London need their cars and their small businesses depend on business transport and residents have very poor access to public transport so that using a car is often unavoidable. 

The Guardian itself published an article saying that the green revolution is not taking into account the needs of ordinary people that cannot afford to pay for it. Has Labour turned its back on the British people? Climate extremists, apart from making fools of themselves, are turning people off and Labour's association with Stop Oil is a losing card. Central London Labour has lost the plot. Outside London, stauch Labour supporters are t leaving the Labour Party. In one particular case, a Labour mayoral candidate resigned his party membership and is standing as an independent because London Labour did not want him to stand to represent his constituents.

Keir Starmer is making one mistake after another and keeping quiet when he should speaking loudly. One particular scenario is when politicians of both sides of the divide spoke against the cancellation of bank accounts for political reasons. He was very quick to talk about women with penises, but he is mute when he should be defending democratic rights. After all, Chris Bryant MP is reported to have been behind a hate campaign aiming at silencing people who do not agree with his views.

Strange political animal, Chris Bryant was originally a member of the Conservative Party, but he joined the Labour party in 1986. He even tried to work as Priest, was ordained Deacon in 1986 and Priest in 1987, but decided that being a priest and being gay were incompatible. Years later, he would have reconsidered his decision to abandon the priesthood as the Church of England is now promoting homosexuality and multiple genders and say that the Lords Prayer should be abandoned.

The British Broadcasting Corporation is in cahouts with individuals that are threatening political rights and human rights. Two prominent BBC went suddenly quiet when it was revealed that a Natwest CEO Dame Alison Rose was behind the closure of an undetermined number of bank accounts for political reasons and among those accounts were the accounts of Nigel Farage. The plotters were found out and exposed and public apologies had to be made. Keir Starmer has not spoken about it, Chris Bryant has not spoken about it and Jon Sopel and Simon Jack in spite of apologies should be fired for participating in a criminal plot as willing accomplices of Dame Alison Rose.  

London Assembly Selection Process: Strong candidate, weak candidate, paper candidate?

 

Next year, the election of the Mayor of London will happen with a new electoral system. The system of first and second preferences has been abandoned and it will be run with a first past the post system. Whoever has most votes will win.

The election of Assembly Members will continue to be run with two systems: one for London Constituencies and another for the London Wide List - still giving other political parties other than the major parties the opportunity to have representatives elected.

During the selection process, due to the present situation in the Conservative Party, it has been reported that the pool of candidates has been limited due to the struggle of allegiances and that it has not been possible to include on the short-list strong gunners for Mayoral Candidate, but merely candidates with very limited public profile and some with no political experience. Some were left with the impression that the war of allegiances has left the Conservative Party without somebody that could really challenge Sadiq Khan. Will something similar happened when it comes to select constituency candidates and londo-wide list candidates?

What happened in these year local elections, could happen again next year in the London Elections. On top of two by-elections caused by political disagreements, we have to add by-elections caused by sexual misconduct.

 

Sadiq Khan: London Mayoral Election 2020

Sadiq Khan: London Mayoral Election 2020

Despite what happened in the rest of the country and in the Labour Party in particular, I don't think there is a natural challenger that could unseat Sadiq Khan as London Mayor. 

Whoever aspires to defeat Sadiq Khan will have to have enough political weight to have any chance of winning against a London Mayor that built his own political profile regardless of the troubles of the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn.

Regardless of his stances on Brexit and his statements on foreign affairs i.e. his war of words with President Donald Trump, I reckon Sadiq Khan could even benefit from his stances and statements because London is a completely different cup of tea when compared to the rest of the United Kingdom.
Who are the other contenders? Well, Shaun Bailey will be standing as Conservative Party Mayoral Candidate. The Liberal Democrats have Siobhan Benita who previously stood in 2012 as Independent. Siän Berry will stand for the Green Party. Sue Black will stand for the Women's Equality Party, Rosalind Readhead would be standing as Independent, and Rory Stewart, former Conservative MP would be standing as Independent Candidate.

Despite the fact that opinion polls indicate that Sadiq Kahn went from 62% down to 44%  (December 2018 until November 2019), none of the contenders seem to have the charisma and the experience Sadiq Khan has. So unless there is a last minute change with a bigger hat being thrown into the ring I reckon the Sadiq Khan's mandate will be extended for another four years. 

Greens and Labour will be fighting for predominance in the London Assembly. As it was stated in a husting in London before the 2019 General Election, the Green Party is a serious challenger and would do well on the London Wide List. The credibility of the Lib Dems was seriusly damaged with the loss of many MPs - including those who defected from the Labour Party and the Conservative Party and their leader Jo Swinson but they could do well enough to get Siobhan Benita elected as London Assembly Member if they play their cards right.

With regards to UKIP and Brexit Party and other political contenders, they were routed or not even stood in December 2019. Therefore, I believe that they wouldn't stand a chance. They would lose not just the election but also all their deposits.

Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn's only alternative to prevent the disintegration of the Labour Party is a Referendum

Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn's only alternative to prevent the disintegration of the Labour Party is a Referendum

Jeremy Corbyn has rejected a General Election three times while asking for a General Election more than 50 times. Why? It doesn't escape public attention the flow of Labour MPs leaving the Labour Party because of anti-Semitism, harassment and the risk of deselection. 

On the same day of the start of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, there was an attempt to get rid of Labour's Deputy Leader Tom Watson. Later on, there were dramatic changes at Labour Central Office with Jeremy Corbyn's supporters being replaced with John McDonnell's supporters. Not only that. Just a few day, key members of the cabinet spoke for Remain while Jeremy Corbyn was nowhere to be seen.

He announced a three-line whip and 19 Labour MPs supported the Deal proposed by the Conservative government. Now, it is reported that faced with possibility of a motion for General Election on Monday, Jeremy Corbyn is asking Labour MPs not to support it. There deselection processes south of the border and north of the border. And the issue of anti-Semitism has not gone away. Some of his key MPs even joined the Liberal Democrats. 

Jeremy Corbyn and others like to talk about chaos in the Conservative Party but looking at what has been going on in the Labour Party I would say that they situation is a lot worse in the Labour Party.

The great benefitiaries are the Conservative Party as party for Leave and the Liberal Democrats as party for Remain. They are the only two parties that stand to be net winners in a General Election. The Labour Party performed badly in the European Elections and there is the danger that Labour could become the third party in a General Election.

Vince Cable spoke about the creation of a centrist political party. The fact that Conservative MPs and Labour MPs have joined the Liberal Democrats would be a step in what Vince Cable called a new alternative. The creation of a non-Marxist alternative in British politics could be the sign of things to come.

When you go down to local level, Labour grassroots have been turning against local authorities controlled by the Labour Party accussing them of being the drivers of gentrification and ethnic cleansing. The next stage would be a challenge to Labour hegemony at local authority level. If there is a General Election in December, what will happen in the London Election? Siobhan Benita - former independent Mayoral Candidate will be standing for the Liberal Democrats. Shaun Bailey will be standing for the Conservatives. Will Sadiq Khan survive? At constituency level, with processes of deselection of local MPs, the outcome for the Labour Party is less than certain.

  

President Donald Trump visits UK

President Donald Trump visits UK

President Donald Trump is due to arrive in the United Kingdom on July 13th 2018. On the build up to the Presidential visit, the British Broadcasting Corporation who visibly doesn't welcome President Trump has been broadcasting a series of programmes that attack the reputation of the American President given credence to individuals who have made all kinds of accusations of a personal and private nature against President Trump. The timing of the broadcast shows very clearly the animosity of the BBC and a deliberate attempt to promote a climate of confrontation. 

Police Forces in the UK have raised the alert about the potential for civil unrest given the fact that the British public is divided in terms of supporting or opposing President Donald Trump. Despite this, the BBC has continued his very well organised campaign of provocation that will certainly undermine the efforts of Police Forces in the United Kingdom to prevent the unthinkable.

The Mayor of London himself has engaged in provocation by supporting the idea of putting a provocative balloon in the air with the aim of adding logs to the fire. Sadiq Khan has been blatantly unable of dealing with rising crime in London and seems determined to promote crime of a political nature in the streets of the capital city.

All this is happening at a time when the United Kingdom is going through a political process that has heightened tensions. Some members of the public therefore need little encouragement to get involved in acts of violence as a way to show their frustration whatever side of the political arguments they are in. It is therefore advisable that mass media and political authorities don't do anything to make things worse than they already are. We all benefit from peaceful demonstrations as long as they don't become a battlefield.

There are many important issues to talk about. Undoubtedly, what we call Brexit is inextricably linked to the relationship between Britain and the USA. If in an effort to reach an agreement with the EU, Britain were to accept conditions that would not allow Britain to trade freely with the US and with the rest of the world there would be extremely serious repercussions. It goes without say that British public opinion is extremely divided but it must be added that vested interests and ideological stances stand on the way of solutions that would benefit all parties involved.

We are  either all winners or we are all losers. Looking at developments in the continent, it is self-evident that what remains of the European Union is very much disunited. Whether we speak about France, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Austria or Poland - for example - the cracks are plainly visible. The disagreements are of a very serious nature. In Germany, there is a very fluid political situation that could be made even more serious if Germany fails to agree a deal with the United Kingdom. German manufacturers for whom US and Britain are crucially important customers are closely watching developments that could damage German industry leading to mass unemployment at a time when the issue of immigration is leading to a change of the political landscape.

Not everyone of those taking part in demonstrations is fully aware of the whole picture and of the consequences of No Deal. Not many are fully aware that the EU has a lot more to lose if there is No Deal.