Britain - The Official Thread

[Liquid]

And sharpness. Is it wrong to hope she and her court end up the same way as Queenie's? In a purely career related context, of course.

Prinz Ludwig the Indestructable would make a fine Prime Minister. At least he can act.

 

[UKMikey]

Prinz Ludwig the Indestructable would make a fine Prime Minister. At least he can act.

How do you know he didn't?

 

[Touring Mars]

Sound on...

 

[UKMikey]

It should have a custard pie taped to the top.

 

[Pupik]

Sound on...

I feel like there's always an X and Y that can be used in this evergreen video.

 

[HenrySwanson]

 

[UKMikey]

^^^I wonder what influence in particular Nigel Farage might have had on the Tories to make Europeans see British government as ludicrous. There must be something but I can't quite put my finger on it.

 

[Touring Mars]

It seems the knives are out for Liz Truss... and it's not just her own MPs that are already getting tired of her...

King Charles greets Liz Truss with: ‘Back again? Dear, oh dear’

Under-fire prime minister has awkward exchange with monarch at first weekly audience

www.theguardian.com

This truly is quite remarkable. A newly crowned monarch making an openly hostile comment straight to the face of an already beleaguered Prime Minister.

There's now open talk of getting rid of Truss and Kwarteng, and I expect that if things don't go well in the next few days, there could well be a vote of no confidence looming.

-

Meanwhile, Nadine Dorries explains that the Tories cannot replace Truss because "they cannot foist upon the British public another Prime Minister that the public have not voted for"... though apparently it was OK to foist one upon us, just not another one...

 

[Famine]

Meanwhile, Nadine Dorries explains that the Tories cannot replace Truss because "they cannot foist upon the British public another Prime Minister that the public have not voted for"... though apparently it was OK to foist one upon us, just not another one...

Of the last seven, five took the post without a general election (and three retained it after one). I guess six is Dorries' red line?

Of course four of those five subsequently called general elections; two managed to covert a majority to a hung parliament, though one remained in post by forming a minority government with religious zealots. The other was never technically elected by anyone...

For reference (and anyone not familiar with the last 30 years of British politics):
Margaret Thatcher - won general elections in 1979, 1983, 1987; resigned in office
*John Major - won party election, won general election in 1992; lost general election in 1997
Tony Blair - won general elections in 1997, 2001, 2005; resigned in office
*James "Gordon" Brown - succeeded unopposed; lost general election in 2010
David Cameron - plurality in general election 2010 (led coalition), won general election in 2015; resigned in office
*Theresa May - won party election in 2016, plurality in general election in 2017 (led coalition); resigned in office
*Alexander "Boris" Johnson - won party election in 2019, won general election in 2019; resigned in office
*Mary "Liz" Truss - won party election in 2022

Brown didn't even get elected by his party; although one MP ran against him (John McDonnell), he didn't have the required number of nominations and the Labour National Executive Committee simply declared Brown the winner - still the only Prime Minister not to have been elected by anyone since parties began electing (to varying degrees of openness) their leaders in 1922.

Major and Johnson both won party elections to take the post, and then general elections to remain there. May won her party election and then technically won a general election but converted a slim majority into a hung parliament, resulting in a minority government/coalition with the DUP.

Which, of course, leaves Truss...

 

[TheCracker]

Paul Blomfield, who has been my local (Labour) MP since 2010 has said he will stand down at the next election. One of the candidates campaigning to replace him is well known funny man ...woman Eddie Izzard!

Blomfield has been very popular in this constituency so his replacement has pretty big shoes to fill.



...and now Russell Crowe has weighed in with his support. Randomly.

 

[Liquid]

The Tories are scrambling to do anything to avoid a general election defeat. Replacing Truss so soon is obviously a humiliating omnishambles but might be the only thing stopping a wipeout should an election be forced. Truss remaining in power will, it has been rumoured, lead to Tory MPs supporting a motion of no confidence.

 

[HenrySwanson]

Has there been an explanation of the rationale for Conservative members picking the wrong option out of 2 candidates?

 

[PeterJB]

Even without all these scandals, the Tories would struggle at the next election on the basis that parties become stale when they've been in power as long as they have, and eventually people are going to want to try something different. It really doesn't help them that each PM ends up being basically the same as the last, with the same character flaws, and same obliviousness to the temperature of the nation; nor that they keep talking about all the problems we face that they insist will able to fix, as if they haven't had the power to do so for the past 12 years.

 

[UKMikey]

I wouldn't say the scandals are likely to be the main cause of the Tories' current popularity.

 

[Touring Mars]

Has there been an explanation of the rationale for Conservative members picking the wrong option out of 2 candidates?

They were both wrong.

I expect trUss to be ousted very shortly. But it remains to be seen how and by whom she will be replaced.

 

[merseyxshore]

The fact that this article is paywalled and they threw an inflammatory headline on it just reaffirms my belief that a) the Tories have fully imported the Culture War™ and subsequently b) right wing politics, just as it is in the US, is now simply sport. Policy is irrelevant, as long as you can "own" the other side.

 

[UKMikey]

The fact that this article is paywalled and they threw an inflammatory headline on it just reaffirms my belief that a) the Tories have fully imported the Culture War™ and subsequently b) right wing politics, just as it is in the US, is now simply sport. Policy is irrelevant, as long as you can "own" the other side.

From 7 October's Private Eye magazine (1583):

 

[Fezzik]

Has there been an explanation of the rationale for Conservative members picking the wrong option out of 2 candidates?

2 explanations:

1 - Truss told them what they wanted to hear, Sunak was (a bit) more truthful.
2 - Sunak is a non-white 2nd generation immigrant, he was never being elected by the current Tory members.

 

[Touring Mars]

The BBC are reporting that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, is probably going to be sacked today...

 

[merseyxshore]

Kwarteng has been binned apparently

 

[Famine]

2 explanations:

1 - Truss told them what they wanted to hear, Sunak was (a bit) more truthful.
2 - Sunak is a non-white 2nd generation immigrant, he was never being elected by the current Tory members.

3 - Truss was more east Asian than Sunak, claiming she "grew up" in Bangalore.

(niche, but it amused me)

Kwasi Kwarteng

Thus securing his role as a question for future episodes of Pointless and, further down the line, University Challenge.

Truss herself is on her way to a new record for tenure as Prime Minister too.

 

[Touring Mars]

Reports suggest that Jeremy Hunt will be the new Chancellor...

Warning: very very strong language:

Language warning:

 

[Liquid]

Clough lasted longer as Leeds manager.

 

[Famine]

Reports suggest that Jeremy Hunt will be the new Chancellor...

I heard Steve Bruce had been approached, commenting that it'd be his last job before retirement.

 

[Fezzik]

Wonder how they'll pass the buck and spin this one to keep her in power. Either Kwarteng was implementing her policies, in which case she's as liable as him and should follow him out the door - or he was freelancing in which case she's an incredibly weak leader for letting it happen and should follow him out the door.

The knives are out and very sharp by now - Tory MPs looking at the polls and calculating what level of defeat will save their own seats.

And yes, it's Jeremy **** to the rescue

 

[Touring Mars]

Jeremy Hunt is to be the new Chancellor.

I wonder if they will try and get Tom Scholar back too. Scholar was the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and was a highly respected civil servant, but he was unceremoniously sacked within 48 hours of the Truss-Kwarteng takeover. This is widely regarded as a very early and very large blunder by Truss and Kwarteng.

 

[Fezzik]

if they do ditch her, who would they pick that could stand any chance of rescuing their situation? (especially if the final vote still goes to the members)

 

[HenrySwanson]

 

[XJ40]

if they do ditch her, who would they pick that could stand any chance of rescuing their situation? (especially if the final vote still goes to the members)

I can see Boris coming back, or at least threatening to. (No facts here, just opinion) He won the last election by some margin and seems to be better able to blow through issues in his bubble of arrogance, until he couldn't any longer. Personally I am fed up of a prime minister getting the job and being back stabbed by their own party for what appears to be the stabees' own personal gain.
I don't support the conservatives and am at a loss as to who I think should run the place. Starmer seems alright, and with his background in law (I think), he seems better suited to make more educated guesses on policy.
We need a leader, that much is clear, who has a team of experienced people in the right areas, rather than someone who just wants to be popular.
So putting my money where my mouth is, I'd have:

Starmer up front.
Martin lewis as chancellor.
A recently retired nurse as health secretary.
The Dragons Den people as business secretaries.
Who ever is the Natural History Museum Director as cultural secretary.
A current or recently retired judge to do the justice bit.
Usain Bolt to do the sports engagement bit.

In short, people who has more than an interest in the section they are in charge of, people who care.

 

[PeterJB]

Chris Philp is out as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, too. The guy has a physics degree from Oxford, so he's not a stupid person, but his many car crash appearances on Question Time showed he didn't have a clue what he was doing.