Why UK Labour Lost part 1 - Brexit

[crazytown]

Boris: 'Get Brexit done'

Labour: 'We will request another extension from the EU and tear up the deal, the Boris one, negotiate a new one, a good one, different but better than Teresa May's, could take some time though, hold a new referendum with another extension, if rejected we stay in, if accepted we're out, but can't say how we will campaign, in or out, because we do respect the result of the old vote, the one that settled it, you know, last referendum, like we said at time, also last election, and will never ever crash out on a hard Brexit'.

Got it?

[RelativelyJones]

1. Yes, plus the massive personal unpopularity of Corbyn and the people around him.

[crazytown]

2. Yes, but you can't ignore Brexit,

that's my point. That was the Tory campaign. Corbyn and the Manifesto are not the whole story.

[brooklynite]

7. Corbyn and the Manifesto ARE the story...

Last edited Sun Dec 15, 2019, 02:49 PM - Edit history (1)

...because Corbyn decided that the Manifesto was so popular that nobody would care that Labour was wishy-washy on Brexit.

[crazytown]

8. LOL eom

[T_i_B]

17. People are fed up with the issue

The Tory campaign promise to "get Brexit done" tapped into that, even if it is utterly dishonest.

Labour's position on the other hand may have been more honest that Johnson's bluff and bluster, but it didn't really appeal to anybody.

[Demsrule86]

19. No. The voters soundly rejected his 1945 style policies. And if we run left, will lose too.

[RelativelyJones]

3. Agreed. Lack of clarity on Labour's position put them in no man's land. Very uninspiring.

[tblue37]

4. Unfortunately, the Democrats before have also tended to present dissertations rather than

soundbites. They're doing better then his election season, but still need to work on their messaging. That's sometimes true about the impeachment battle, too, as well as the election campaign.

NRaleighLiberal posted Josh Marshall's comments on this point:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212784394

[crazytown]

5. 'Vote Trump Out'

That's simple enough, and the overwhelming wish of Democrats everywhere.

[redqueen]

12. We need more than just democrats to win. nt

[Shrek]

6. There's an interesting insight from an interview in the New Yorker

And then there is also the fact that, since Brexit happened, Corbyn and the Labour Party have made a series of missteps. A lot of people are already saying that Theresa May’s deal could have passed if Labour M.P.s had backed it. That would have kept Theresa May in her post, and British politics would look very different. Corbyn never gave a lead on that. Corbyn was hedging it all the way along. There have been moments where the Conservative Party could have been boxed in, and now Johnson and the Conservative Party have broken through, and Corbyn carries a lot of responsibility for that.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-boris-johnsons-brexit-won

Of course it's hindsight, but it's clear now that Labour could have prevented this months ago.

[Blue_true]

11. I have never been impressed by Corbyn.

He could not hold Speaker Pelosi's high heels as a strategist, plus he has a twitish way of speaking.

[T_i_B]

18. Nobody else was impressed with Corbyn

Save for a few cultists. He was wildly unpopular outside of his own little faction. Especially so with the elderly. That was a major factor in this election. Labour lost it more than anything else.

[Blue_true]

20. The consensus in the British Press was that Corbyn was a gift to Johnson. nt

[abqtommy]

9. My analogy of the recent election of the vote in Britain goes like this: I walk into a restaurant

and I'm told I must choose between a plate of boiled carrots or a plate of boiled turnips. I leave the
establishment barfing my guts up since from my childhood I have loathed these types of things. Same with Jeremy and Boris...

[Otto Lidenbrock]

10. Correct. Just look at the numbers.

Ed Miliband's Labour 2015 -----> Jeremy Corbyn's Labour 2017 = +9.6% of the vote.

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour 2017 -----> Jeremy Corbyn's Labour 2019 = -7.9% of the vote.

Theresa May's Conservatives 2017 -----> Boris Johnson's Conservatives 2019 = +1.2%

Johnson only improved the Conservatives by a very small percentage. Corbyn ran the same manifesto in 2017. So who did Labour really lose votes to?

Answer: The Brexit Party and The Scottish Nationalist Party.

Nigel Farage set up the one issue party just this year so to act as a protest vote for lifelong Labour voters who want Brexit done but will never vote for the Conservatives.

The Scottish Nationalist Party had a great night because Scotland voted to stay in the EU and don't want Brexit. Now they have the power to call for a vote on leaving the UK and running their own country.

Labour tried to placate both pro-Brexit people and pro-EU people and it backfired in a disaster. People deserted Labour to vote for their conviction on Brexit whether to leave or remain.

[tritsofme]

14. Good analysis, however a 2nd referendum in Scotland would still require consent from the Parliament

in Westminster, run by Johnson.

[mvd]

15. Good post

To me there were a few factors:

1) As you say, Labour botched the Brexit issue

2) Labour should have forcefully responded to accusations of being anti-Semitic

3) Corbyn is great on the issues but his political skills can be lacking

4) The influential BBC is not so favorable to Labour. Just look at the political editor’s track record.

[bullwinkle428]

13. I went right to the Harry Truman quote about "the real Republican"...

The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat,

https://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2016/02/harry-truman-understood-choice-between-phony-democrat-and-real-republican-will-result

[T_i_B]

16. In a choice between the worst government of all time...

...and the worst opposition of all time, who were more interested in fighting each other and standing on a platform that was at times utterly nutty people will always choose the bad governing party as that at least is a known quantity.

[The Valley Below]

21. Corbyn's far-left politics spoiled an election that Labour would have won easily

with a sane leader at the helm.

Labour literally drove off their base of support in the industrial north.

Should be a cautionary tale for Democrats not to follow suit.