In a result that few, if any, foresaw, the Conservatives won the 2015 general election with a majority of 12 seats. David Cameron will now remain as Prime Minister and form a Conservative government, free of constraints and cabinet ministers from a coalition partner. It’s a result that even Cameron would not have envisaged prior to the exit polls.
When the exit polls suggested a Conservative majority was possible, I was initially incredulous – so was Lord Ashdown. Although as the night progressed, what I, the pollsters and others had predicted of a hung parliament became less and less likely. By the morning, it become apparent that the Conservatives would form a government with a majority.
Labour took a drubbing in Scotland and elsewhere their successes were modest. However, it was the Liberal Democrats who took an absolute shellacking with high profile scalps such as Vince Cable. Given their reneging on key policies such as the increase of tuition fees, and their alliance in what initially seemed an unnatural coalition partner with the Conservatives, the opprobrium they received was always likely to manifest itself in the election result. Consequently, they have effectively been decimated in the British political landscape. As a result, we now have a government void of any representation from the centre-left and the equality and fairness that it can espouse.
I am buried in disappointment with the result. Not because Labour did not win a majority or were unable to form a coalition. Or even because I had to see Gideon’s smug face lined with glee at the prospect of making the rich richer and the poor even poorer. Instead, my disappointment is because of what a Conservative government represents for the next five years. Five years of a rejection of egalitarianism in favour of the interests of the elite. Five years of the financial sector being brazenly allowed to thrive in making gargantuan profits without any ethics and with aggressive tax avoidance (and in some cases probably tax evasion) as they circumvent or merely ignore existing regulation and compliance. After all, they are effectively the paymasters of the Conservative Party. Five years of continued and heightened demonisation of the working class, public sector and those in receipt of welfare out of need. Five years of wealth being further concentrated in the hands of the privileged few while food banks continue to be a regrettable feature of the United Kingdom in the twenty-first century.
These are not five years that will be built on fairness and equality or compassion and preservation of valuable public services. Yet one can only assume that is what those who voted for the Conservatives sought. Needless to say, this is why my disappointment and disillusionment is extended to the British electorate who voted Tory but also to those who succumbed to their apathy and declined to vote. Though when it came to the Labour Party being deemed an alternative to the Conservatives, perhaps the writing was always on the wall.
The Labour Party led by Ed Milliband simply weren’t seen as a credible party of government with a credible leader as potential prime minister. In a recent post I wrote of the opportunity for Labour to present itself as such being there to be seized yet they had failed to do so for the past five years in opposition. And I was seemingly correct. The electorate didn’t see Labour as worthy of their vote. So much so that many felt the Conservatives, with all their history, were a safer bet. It shows what a low opinion many of electorate actually had of Labour before casting their vote. And that is a painful reality that the Labour Party needs to accept and consider as it undertakes some soul-searching and seeks to rebuild and elect a new leader following Ed Milliband’s resignation.
The electorate, as in any democracy, is of course responsible for the result. And the electorate in this election simply hasn’t held the views I and others thought it might do after five years of austerity. Those five years may just have been a glimpse of what the Conservatives have in store for us now that they have a majority.
From the outset of the previous Parliament, the Conservatives have preached their vilification of the public sector, the working class and lambasted the least fortunate for their reliance on the state and their unfortunate circumstances that typically aren’t by choice. They’ve also told anyone who will listen that the financial crisis, and anything else from the death of Dumbledore to the unattainability of world peace, was caused by the previous Labour government.
To think the financial crisis was caused by the Labour Party is idiotic and uninformed. Only an ignorant fool would believe that and blindly accept it from the right wing media or from equally ill-advised individuals around them. But it’s the adoption of the Conservative Party’s rhetoric of besmirching and often ridiculing the most vulnerable that is telling. It suggests a lack of compassion and empathy that has sadly risen to the surface as a feature of contemporary Britain. Perhaps the election result worryingly tells us more about British society and attitudes than the state of British politics.
It’s not clear if the electorate didn’t want an alternative from the Conservative Party’s message of austerity or if they simply didn’t recognise that the Labour Party was offering one. I suspect it was a case of both. In the instance of the former, I wrote about society’s disinclination to revolt due to jadedness and perhaps this is another example of this being the case. Conversely, a Conservative government, with their brand of harsh austerity and a disregard for everyone but the most privileged may just bring about the inspired response that is needed. Indeed, hopefully the Bullingdon boys shan’t have the last laugh at our expense.
History has shown us what Conservative governments present. Privatisation, disdain for public services, ideologically driven and unwieldy education policy that isn’t to the betterment of children, polarised wealth and a disregard for those in need (not want) of welfare are just some of the hallmarks of the Conservatives. Just how many we shall see over the course of the parliament remains to be seen. They have a slim majority which could hamper their efforts in some instances but they’ll certainly do their best in shaping the country to benefit the privileged few.
As for those who don’t comprise the privileged demographic that benefit from Conservative policies but nonetheless felt the Conservatives were the party for them, they may well soon find that their support will not be reciprocated as they had hoped.
When the exit polls suggested a Conservative majority was possible, I was initially incredulous – so was Lord Ashdown. Although as the night progressed, what I, the pollsters and others had predicted of a hung parliament became less and less likely. By the morning, it become apparent that the Conservatives would form a government with a majority.
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I am buried in disappointment with the result. Not because Labour did not win a majority or were unable to form a coalition. Or even because I had to see Gideon’s smug face lined with glee at the prospect of making the rich richer and the poor even poorer. Instead, my disappointment is because of what a Conservative government represents for the next five years. Five years of a rejection of egalitarianism in favour of the interests of the elite. Five years of the financial sector being brazenly allowed to thrive in making gargantuan profits without any ethics and with aggressive tax avoidance (and in some cases probably tax evasion) as they circumvent or merely ignore existing regulation and compliance. After all, they are effectively the paymasters of the Conservative Party. Five years of continued and heightened demonisation of the working class, public sector and those in receipt of welfare out of need. Five years of wealth being further concentrated in the hands of the privileged few while food banks continue to be a regrettable feature of the United Kingdom in the twenty-first century.
These are not five years that will be built on fairness and equality or compassion and preservation of valuable public services. Yet one can only assume that is what those who voted for the Conservatives sought. Needless to say, this is why my disappointment and disillusionment is extended to the British electorate who voted Tory but also to those who succumbed to their apathy and declined to vote. Though when it came to the Labour Party being deemed an alternative to the Conservatives, perhaps the writing was always on the wall.
The Labour Party led by Ed Milliband simply weren’t seen as a credible party of government with a credible leader as potential prime minister. In a recent post I wrote of the opportunity for Labour to present itself as such being there to be seized yet they had failed to do so for the past five years in opposition. And I was seemingly correct. The electorate didn’t see Labour as worthy of their vote. So much so that many felt the Conservatives, with all their history, were a safer bet. It shows what a low opinion many of electorate actually had of Labour before casting their vote. And that is a painful reality that the Labour Party needs to accept and consider as it undertakes some soul-searching and seeks to rebuild and elect a new leader following Ed Milliband’s resignation.
The electorate, as in any democracy, is of course responsible for the result. And the electorate in this election simply hasn’t held the views I and others thought it might do after five years of austerity. Those five years may just have been a glimpse of what the Conservatives have in store for us now that they have a majority.
From the outset of the previous Parliament, the Conservatives have preached their vilification of the public sector, the working class and lambasted the least fortunate for their reliance on the state and their unfortunate circumstances that typically aren’t by choice. They’ve also told anyone who will listen that the financial crisis, and anything else from the death of Dumbledore to the unattainability of world peace, was caused by the previous Labour government.
To think the financial crisis was caused by the Labour Party is idiotic and uninformed. Only an ignorant fool would believe that and blindly accept it from the right wing media or from equally ill-advised individuals around them. But it’s the adoption of the Conservative Party’s rhetoric of besmirching and often ridiculing the most vulnerable that is telling. It suggests a lack of compassion and empathy that has sadly risen to the surface as a feature of contemporary Britain. Perhaps the election result worryingly tells us more about British society and attitudes than the state of British politics.
It’s not clear if the electorate didn’t want an alternative from the Conservative Party’s message of austerity or if they simply didn’t recognise that the Labour Party was offering one. I suspect it was a case of both. In the instance of the former, I wrote about society’s disinclination to revolt due to jadedness and perhaps this is another example of this being the case. Conversely, a Conservative government, with their brand of harsh austerity and a disregard for everyone but the most privileged may just bring about the inspired response that is needed. Indeed, hopefully the Bullingdon boys shan’t have the last laugh at our expense.
History has shown us what Conservative governments present. Privatisation, disdain for public services, ideologically driven and unwieldy education policy that isn’t to the betterment of children, polarised wealth and a disregard for those in need (not want) of welfare are just some of the hallmarks of the Conservatives. Just how many we shall see over the course of the parliament remains to be seen. They have a slim majority which could hamper their efforts in some instances but they’ll certainly do their best in shaping the country to benefit the privileged few.
As for those who don’t comprise the privileged demographic that benefit from Conservative policies but nonetheless felt the Conservatives were the party for them, they may well soon find that their support will not be reciprocated as they had hoped.
