To be fair the Tories have been in power for most of those two generations. But they are able to reinvent themselves each time they swop leader and blame problems caused by their failures on some scapegoat or other.

The fact is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a liar who cannot be trusted on anything.
In 1988 he was sacked from the Times for making up a quote in a front-page story
He lied about laying in front of a bulldozer to stop Heathrow expansion.
He lied when figurehead of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign, saying the UK sent the EU £350million a week.
He lied to the DPU about not letting there be a border down the Irish Sea

Nothing he says can be trusted at all.

[Link]

Yeah, but he has a surprisingly impressive singing voice.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Labour are screwed. As many have pointed out, there is no clear message. Even if they suddenly all aligned, the bumbling of the last two years will have made it too late. Also, average people need simple, clear messages to repeat ad nauseam to all their friends (and internal monologues), not because they know what they're voting for but because it sounds good and it's easy to remember. Patronising? You bet. See any successful advertising campaign ever. Your average 95%er does not read beyond the headline, let alone investigate and drill down into the detail.

The remain protest vote will leech from the tories to the lib dems in the south/south east, likely to happen in Cheltenham according to an interesting article in the FT. Johnson is concentrating on northern seats leaving most metropolitan areas to Labour, barring a few exceptions where the lead is very slim.

The point around some abandoning labour for the brexit party is probably spot on – can't bring themselves to vote tory so would rather protest. Fair enough. Labour will get smashed but I think the lib dem and brexit party vote will draw enough votes away to make getting a majority a real challenge.

What happens beyond then – If Labour actually bother to get their act together it could become more interesting over the next few years. Can't see trade talks going smoothly, and their spending plans are already on extremely sandy ground.

Did you know? 98.0000001% of people are morons.

Fair enough.

Did you know? 98.0000001% of people are morons.

It is a very strange situation.

Farage not running to 'support' his party's cause.

No Deal being the only way to get out of the EU, but then people being p'd off with Nigel when he basically tells everyone that the deal is tosh, always from a distance, mind.

The Tories do really have a knack for making themselves votable, I'll give them that.

The Labour party offering, what in a normal year would be seen as some type of opposition with a middle ground approach.

The Lib Dems converted into the complete opposition to Brexit, which, basically keeps Jo and Nige in jobs for life. Will never be elected, but will polarise people into the in/out crowd.

If the Tories win, which is quite likely and we have a 2008 style recession, what is to stop the Lib Dems saying it's Brexit's fault and holding a referendum to stay in?

This is a massive problem, because being in or out of the EU isn't really like a normal election. At some point, if we are out, the EU will say, if you want to be in, then no referendums ever again.

Yes, in my view Corbyn has a stranglehold on the party. I'm not saying he doesn't have any worthwhile ideas, but politically you'd struggle to find a less popular party leader. Without him I think they'd possibly hold a position on Brexit that at least had a element of consistency to it.

It's a good point to say that there are enough factors at play to say that gaining a majority isn't a formality for the Tories. It's not an unlikely scenario either though by any stretch, whereas the very best scenario for Labour would likely be a hung parliament, and that would put us in even more of a political no man's land that the previous election did.

We would certainly be in a pickle.

Mind you I bet Eric Pickles loved a few beef sandwiches....probably just as a starter.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

My own view is:
- I can't see Labour taking many seats from the Tories.
- Labour will do well in the cities but that's not enough last time they increased their share of the vote in Labour strongholds which doesn't help you get extra MPs.
- The Lib Dems may hurt the Tories in the marginal seats as Remain voters may prefer them to Labour.
- The Brexit party may hurt Labour in some key marginals but they may also split the anti Labour vote so could go either way. I think they will get votes but not many MPs.
- The Tories have now got rid of the 20 rebels more or less so if they can hang onto those seats that's a boost even if their numbers don't go up. They only need to get another twenty to have a comfortable majority.
- Wee Jimmy Krankie will clean up in Scotland and I expect the Tories to be wiped out and possibly Labour as well.

In summary I think it's the Lib Dems and the Brexit party who will hurt or help the Tories. Labour is a known quantity I just don't see undecided people flocking to their banner.

One more point

Why do you keep insisting on referring to him by his full name as it seems rather childish to me.

Is Boris Johnson any worse than Diane Julie Abbott (see how silly it looks)

Diane Abbott lied when she said that Labour had only lost 50 seats

Diane Abbott lied when she claimed it would cost £300,000 to hire the 10,000 new bobbies during an interview with LBC.

Diane Abbott lied about knife deaths in Scotland during 2017, when she claimed there was none.

Nothing she says can be trusted at all.

I think it's fairly obvious. The common 'man 'o the people' pleb voting for an elite without admitting or in most cases even understanding the irony has always amused me. And you don't get much more elite than that rather large overpiffled grouping.

As for 'all politicians lie', well obviously. Another thing I fail to understand. Why do people insist on countering with 'well look what so and so did so there' when they all do it? Are you five? Fine point it out, but don't do it in a way that seeks to make one look better than the other. It's disingenuous and meaningless. But if you need to tell yourself that you're voting for the better person in order to make it more tolerable, then fine.

Edited by SW19 CPFC (13 Nov 2019 3.15pm)

Did you know? 98.0000001% of people are morons.