The 2024 UK General Election

They're not just lightweight incompetents they are out of touch. When they sit there saying things are getting better and don't acknowledge the enormous dip in people's finances, the increase in food banks and utility debt. This is no longer just about working class people, the children of the middle classes can't afford housing either.

I thought the Lib Dems would do much better.

It was a typical low turn out for a byelection but that is generally the case.

Labour usually only get in once the Tories have made such a pigs ear of things that nobody, even moderate Tories, can tolerate them. Typically that means the country is skint and govt debt is spiralling. Starmer is boring, no doubt about it, but perhaps it is good to get away from 'big' personality politicians and get back to solid, intelligent politicians that think before they speak. Labour are not promising the moon, they have said things are difficult and there is very little money to throw around, but I do believe the social housing programme they are promising is a good thing. A very good thing. We have had far too many commuter estates full of 4 bed, 2 garage, 3 bathroom houses being built that local people cannot afford and are detached from local towns and villages because they are built near to major roads and mainline stations so that people can live in the country (or at least not in the centre of town) and commute into work without ever using the local town at all. That is except when they predictably become part of the catchment for the only good primary school and boundaries get re-drawn so that children from the council estate can't get in anymore. Or perhaps when the local pub becomes a bistro!!

It could be that they haven't had a many changes of leader than other parties. They've always had excellent female MPs. I suppose you have to want to do it as well. More Labour MPs are working class and it could be that working class women are too busy to even think about going into politics because in the early stages there's very little pay/expenses and most councillors have another job.

Who knows really. The Tories have had two but then they've been in power longer and perhaps the ratio isn't that good overall.

For shared ownerships schemes you have to be able to get a mortgage for at least 50% of the house price and you then buy that percentage of the property, starting at about 50%, but some may be lower. Once you do that you are liable for all repairs and maintenance and the Housing Association can invoice you for works they deem needed as they are the leaseholder of the other percentage. When you sell you get 50% of the profits. You do get options to buy another 25% later on. However, you also pay rent at a lower rate than it would be otherwise on the remaining 50%. So you have to be able to do all of this before you jump in.

This means these properties are typically for people at the higher end of low wages or beginning of medium wage. Although in much of south they could also be for high end earners . I remember them building 4 bed townhouses in Wandsworth, with a parking space and garage in the late 90s. These were buy to rent and some were low cost buying via a grant scheme. Private landlords and even private buyers swooped in and now most of them are privately rented. I know one person who worked for Wandsworth Council at the time who bought one and with the rentable income on top of their income, then bought a house in Putney. They weren't the only ones cashing in either. He also kept his council flat in Battersea Rise, bought in his wife's name with at discount and rented that out too. Probably lives in Monaco now.

Another thing Labour are going to do if they win is have Citizens Assemblies. Something they do in Ireland.

They would be randomly selected in a similar way to juries and would be asked to discuss issues. Things like euthansia. They wouldn't have to agree because it's not a court and their is no judgement. Just meet and listen to information and then say what they think.

It worked well with things like civil marriage in Ireland etc.

They did have a problem getting working class men and women to take part because you do have to give up 4-6 Saturdays and lots of people work. But they got some and with encouragement could probably get more.

www.jigzone.com/puzzles/daily-jigsaw

10.11


nice scene

I don't find it odd at all. You have to want to do it and enter the fray. You then have to have enough people to support you, who presumably all like you in to the bargain. The system in the Labour Party is as follows all candidates need 22 nominations. That's made up of 10% of MPs and then the rest from CLPs and affiliates. So you have to be popular to get a nomination in the first place, you can't just nominate yourself and hope for the best. To make it to the final ballot candidates must have at least 5% constituency parties or at least 3 affiliates (two of which must be trade unions) nomiating them.

Once this is all sorted members of the party have two days to vote for their preferred candidate, every member has one opportunity to vote. Selecting 1 for their favourite 2 for their second etc. This eliminates tactical voting after the first round. Not making a choice from the others doesn't help. Voting is via post or online. The candidate who secures more than 50% of the vote is the winner. If nobody gets more than 50% the lowest is eliminated and anyone who voted for them as their 1st choice has their 2nd choice selected.

This system of AV voting was approved by the Electoral Reform Society as being the fairest as tactical voting, people having to stand down, vote splitting is not going to get your fav elected. They have to get more than 50% to win.

The difference with the Conservative is that A: we don't know how many members or affiliates they have. They refuse to say. Possibly around 160,000 (Labour have 440,000, Lib Dems 90,000+, SNP 72,000, Green Party 54,000 as of 2023). Tory party membership is predominantly male and from the top social class (80%) and predominantly white, but most parties have middle class members.

To be elected leader you need the backing of 20 named MPs to nominate yourself and have 30 MPs nominating you before the first ballot. All Tory MPs then vote in the first ballot, if no obvious winner emerges they will continue balloting until two finalists emerge. This is the time when tactical voting, vote splitting and people standing down occurs. The final two are then presented to the members who have one vote. Or in the case of Sunak simply given the job because Truss resigned. So he is probably the most undemocratically elected PM ever - well let's not go beyond 1920 because lord knows how they did it then. Probably I'll let you marry my heiress niece if you vote for me!!