The opinion polls suggest a landslide general election victory for the Labour Party – not because Keir Starmer’s policies are any good but because people are so sick of the Tories that any old rubbish will seem better.
It is likely to have the lowest turnout, as a percentage of the electorate, of any election since universal suffrage was introduced, meaning there will be strong arguments that whichever party forms the next government will not have a mandate and proportional representation should be introduced to restore power to the people.
The problem is that any government formed by Starmer will be as right-wing as Rishi Sunak’s, with policies that are indistinguishable from those of Sunak’s administration. In other words, none of Starmer’s policies will work either.
And the UK’s electorate doesn’t turn out to elect right-wing governments. We don’t like them.
Consider the following:
ALL post-war UK general elections & opinion polls consistently show that around two-thirds of UK adults do not want – & do not vote for – right-wing Govts.
Concerning the next GE, here's two world-leading experts in their fields that, imho, @Keir_Starmer should pay attention to: pic.twitter.com/8N3F7SNs5n
— GET A GRIP (@docrussjackson) February 19, 2024
So election expert Professor John Curtice reckons, “None of [the party leaders] enthuse the electorate, none of them are popular, all of them are regarded as dull as dishwater… So what’s the point of turning out to vote? If we give people a reason to vote, they’ll turn out.”
But people don’t have a reason to vote.
And Ruth Wodak said: “If there is a good opposition, if there’s an alternative programme, you might have a chance [to defeat far-right populism]… One has to provide alternatives, provide more participation so that citizens feel that they are acknowledged and that their worries are being taken seriously.”
There isn’t a good opposition. There isn’t an alternative programme. Keir Starmer has removed all his alternatives and cut back on participation – because, at heart, he is a Conservative cuckoo in the Labour nest.
Oh, he keeps pretending to offer more participation – here’s his current pledge:
NEW: Labour will introduce citizens' assemblies to decide contentious issues, such as Lords reform and housebuilding
Sue Gray has told @TomBaldwin66 of the “transformational” success of bodies in Ireland that built consensus for constitutional changehttps://t.co/i7INMBsFu6
— Josh Self (@Josh_Self_) February 19, 2024
But you can be sure it will be withdrawn long before anybody expects it to be put into practice, just like all Labour’s other pledges under Starmer’s leadership.
The UK needs alternatives – and we won’t get them from Labour or any of the other mainstream parties.
That’s why I am advising everyone to actually find out what the candidates in your constituency are planning to do, if they are lucky enough to be elected.
That is what party manifestos are for. Independent candidates also have policy documents and they will all be online for you to find and read.
You need to find and read these policy documents, and then you need to make a dispassionate choice, based on what you have read.
Which of the candidates offers the most policies that fit what you need? And, by that, I mean: who will improve your own life the most?
Do not consider how other people will vote, either in your constituency or the other 649 around the UK. That is not your concern.
It is not for you to worry about which party will get enough votes to actually enact its policies. This will lead you down the usual garden path to voting in a government that won’t do anything at all for the good of the country, like the one we’ve had since 2010.
BE SELFISH. Bizarrely, it might be the only way to get the kind of government that all of us need.
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