Friday 4 May 2018

LOCAL ELECTION DISAPPOINTMENT FOR LABOUR

Despite the considerable hype which was drummed up over the Labour Party's expectations in the latest round of local council elections, they've ended up pretty much where they were before.

While elements of the media, notably the BBC, have been playing down the disappointing Labour results and making out that the Conservative's improved position is no more than was expected, the truth is that Labour have done pretty poorly and the Conservatives rather better than would have been expected given the arguments over Brexit, Windrush, general immigration, the NHS and lots more.

There seems to be little doubt that the 'Corbyn effect' has passed it's high point and the combination of a shift towards the extreme left and the recent anti-Semitism debacle have caused voters to have second thoughts about voting for Labour. At the same time, Theresa May seems to have overcome all manner of difficulties over the last year and given voters greater confidence in the Conservative Party and its future direction.

Inevitably, the spokesmen for all parties are claiming positives from the results but, in reality, Labour have disappointed, the Conservatives have shown considerable resilience and even some progress, the Liberal Democrats remain largely in the wilderness, the Greens are pretty irrelevant in most of the country and UKIP have almost ceased to be relevant at all. 

In the end, a lot of fuss about very little.



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