Originally posted by ivanhoeI hope that the Socialist parties, the green parties, Plyde Cumry (or however you spell it), the SNP and RESPECT NOW win the election, form one government and start a European wide socialist revolution.
I hope Tony Blair will winn.
I also predict Tony Blair will win.
What are your own hopes and predictions ?
However, I predict that Blair will win the election with the 60 odd seat majority.
Originally posted by shavixmirHopes? That the Lib Dems sweep to power on a wave of ginger cheerfullness while the Tories are brutally wiped from the electoral map. Prediction? A win for Labour, but maybe by as little as 30 or 40 seats.
I hope that the Socialist parties, the green parties, Plyde Cumry (or however you spell it), the SNP and RESPECT NOW win the election, form one government and start a European wide socialist revolution.
However, I predict that Blair will win the election with the 60 odd seat majority.
Rich.
Originally posted by richhoeyi hope Tony Blair wins..
Hopes? That the Lib Dems sweep to power on a wave of ginger cheerfullness while the Tories are brutally wiped from the electoral map. Prediction? A win for Labour, but maybe by as little as 30 or 40 seats.
Rich.
i predict he will 🙂
the tories are so out of touch
the fact that ivanhoe is supporting war criminal, and bush's pet poodle tony b-liar shows how much new labour has leapt to the right.
you couldnt put a ciggie paper between the red and blue tories.
i made a prediction on another thread but will do the same here;
red tory majority of around 60
blue tories and the lib dems to both increase their number of seats
snp to get between 6 to 10
plaid cymru to increase
george galloway to oust oona king in london
sinn fein and the dup to be the largest parties in northern ireland.
I predict that in less than an hour I'll be standing outside a polling station.
I predict I'll be doing this for most of the day.
I perdict that by the end of the day, when its time to go to the count, I'll be knackered, starving and have forgotten my laptop.
Oh, and Blair, useless lying wee shite that he is, will get a majority of about 100.
The shift is pretty derisory in point of fact: as ever, the working-class vote stayed loyal and the middle-class Labour vote deserted to the Lib-Dems, letting in Tory candidates who would otherwise not have stood a chance. The Bethnal Green and Blaenau Gwent results are victories for groupuscles well to the left of New Labour, so what solace the Conservatives can find in this is not immediately obvious. This election has essentially been about machine politics: it also suggests that Labour is kicking towards a possible fourth term, because the windfall issues of Iraq and trust will not be the factors in 2009 that they have been during this general election campaign.
Originally posted by chris stephensThe world doesn't revolve around Bush and the US, you know.
the fact that ivanhoe is supporting war criminal, and bush's pet poodle tony b-liar shows how much new labour has leapt to the right.
you couldnt put a ciggie paper between the red and blue tories.
i made a prediction on another thread but will do the same here;
red tory majority of around 60
blue tories and the lib dems to both increase ...[text shortened]... oust oona king in london
sinn fein and the dup to be the largest parties in northern ireland.
ivanhoe might have reasons for supporting Blair (if, indeed he even does) that have nothing to do with Iraq.
Originally posted by AmauroteI think a 4th term is a real possibility, but like the 3rd, more from inertia than anything else.
The shift is pretty derisory in point of fact: as ever, the working-class vote stayed loyal and the middle-class Labour vote deserted to the Lib-Dems, letting in Tory candidates who would otherwise not have stood a chance. The Bethnal Green and Blaenau Gwent results are victories for groupuscles well to the left of New Labour, so what solace the Conservativ ...[text shortened]... trust will not be the factors in 2009 that they have been during this general election campaign.
Both parties will have new leaders. The difference is that the new tory leader will probably come about after internal strife, and will either be another right-winger or will alienate the right-wing MPs. On the other hand the new labour leader (assumings its Brown) will be able to promote himself as experienced, with a continuity of the same agenda (albeit with a bit more old labour leanings).
However, I don't think things are going to be plain sailing for this term. Iraq won't go away, and people inconveniently keep getting killed there.
There's conflict with the unions on the horizon - over pensions and the massive civil service job cuts Gordon Brown is proposing.
Who knows what adventures GWB is going to dream up in the next few years (Iran,North Korea, China/Taiwan etc) - how will Blair/Brown react?
I think though, that the tories will still not be a credible alternative, and that the 4th term will be like the 3rd - by default.
I don't see much hope of further LibDems advances. They're just chancers who say what suits them. They've no coherent platform, and Kennedy won't stand much scrutiny. He's also got a few political skeletons (I was at Uni with him in the 1980s - his attempts to present himself as left-wing aren't credible).
Meanwhile, in Scotland, we've elections in 2007. The difference here is that the LibDems are in coalition with labour, so they can't snipe from the sidelines - they'll have to defend their record, which is poor, and they'll struggle.
I think there is a realistic prospect of a pro-independence majority in the next scottish parliament (3 parties support independence - SNP, SSP and Green. 3 oppose - labour, libdem and tory). If that happens, we have a referendum and we're in a whole new ball-game.
The SNP did ok last night - increased their seats on a slightly reduced vote. The SSP didn't do well, but after recent events and the London-centred campaign (which hurt the SNP too), we expected that.
A possible scenario is that the labour/libdem coalition has to rely on tory support. While this might buy them another term here, they'd be sunk in the long term.
From a Scottish viewpoint, UK politics is increasingly dull. The parties pursue almost identical, centre-right agendas, and labour get in solely because the other lot can't organise a piss-up in a brewery.
Scotland is clearly where the interesting politics happens - we've 6 major parties, a half-decent voting system and an elctorate more than capable of a decent level of tactical voting.