We Mustn’t Be Complacent With Change

Democracy Diaries: My Election Take: We Mustn’t Be Complacent With Change

This election was another momentous landmark election for the history books. The last general election was to brace for a decade of a Boris Johnson leading the conservative party and country for twenty years of a Conservative government. This wasn’t the case but anything but within the midterm period of his elected term he was ousted as prime minister with his government sunk from that moment even with a tub thumping majority with scandal by scandal, by-election after by-election slipped away.

It could’ve been thought that Starmer would’ve been the leader to clean the labour party to become electable but not being elected himself as prime minister but warming the seat up. But within the past general elections volatility is rife and long term predictions is out of the window. In 2019 Labour suffered their worst election defeat in the post-war age now Keir Starmer has delivered Labour’s great victory. Starmer’s Labour victory gave Sunak’s Conservatives the greatest defeat ever for the oldest established political party in modern democratic history globally. Sunak suffered, endured and was responsible of the greatest act of self humiliation in political history where the crest of the conservative party fallen as the conservative movement divides and splinters in some alarming manners.

I see politics is for who needs politics the most which are the oppressed and marginalised minority few in society contrary to Jeremy Corbyn’s previous slogan of ‘For The Many! Not The Few!’ His slogan and mantra of his socialist populist movement which echoes a tyranny of the majority. Corbyn’s slogan from a fundamental socialist faction of the Labour Party of the Bennite tradition was centred around a class war and class conflict as the primary means of judging divide, division, struggle and oppression within society. This principle is outdated and unprogressive for when society is intersectional and the layers of minorities and oppression are intersection and through the layers of inter-sectionalism gives a small few in society to the point where peoples care and compassion can wane not being oppressed through the same ways.

Inters-sectionalism in politics marries the principles of individualism with collective rights the ability to be heard and represented for who we are as an individual and not generalised by the presumptions of who we are within a wider community whilst respecting how important having an identity that connects us to a community is. For those who need politics the most are those who are of minority classes particularly those impoverished in financial hardship to minority races, ethnicities, religions, disabled people, minority sexual orientations and those of minority genders including trans and non-binary peoples and those who are seeking asylum, refugees and immigrants from less economically developed nations and that of from nations experiencing conflict and exploitation of its citizens human rights to deliver equality, equity, justice and freedom for all of it’s citizens who need politics to aid them to access their fundamental human rights.

These principles leads me as a skeptical voter. These principles make me sound cynical with politics, disillusioned, apathetic, disenchanted but this is anything but the truth. This general election was the most disproportionate to the popular vote of the public where election vote reform seems a timely issue to advocate for as this fact is rather alarming. It’s more so alarming that the only party that now has cut through on this issue in the is the Reform Party with the most disproportionate share of the vote with more votes than the liberal democrats with considerably a stark difference when the Liberal Democrats scored 72 seats with Reform getting a mere 5. With me it’s not a partisan nature that I find the rise of Reform UK alarming but their words, actions, ideology and policy so detached from the values I hold deeply with their blatant racism, ableism, misogyny, xenophobia and contempt for the liberal democratic values we work to uphold in western democracy. The Reform Party, Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson and all of their cronies in and out of parliament and those who share their views is why we must not be complacent otherwise come 2029 we could have like the rest of Europe a continual shift to far right extremist politics like as seen with Georgia Melonie in Italia and the National Rally with Marine LaPen and Jordan Bardella in France (which reflecting the results of the French general election I’ll circle back toand to the Trumpian politics that Farage although.

I’m a liberal democrat member and what concerned me is how Farage has been able to trounce on the electoral reform policy something that I support but don’t support the process of having Farage as the speaker for this as much concerned as his party got more votes than the liberal democrats at the ballot box and this should concern liberals and progressives in the United Kingdom. But will the worrying be necessary when he is too busy chasing after a wounded Trump attending the Republican National Convention where the former president and primary candidate for the 2024 presidential election for the Republican Party in which he selected J.D Vance as his running mate who supposedly ‘joked’ about the new government in the United Kingdom as being the first islamist government in a western democratic nation stoking divides and testing the so called ‘special relationship’ between Britain and America where if Donald Trump is elected deep islamophobia and xenophobic rhetoric could damage the relationship of the nations with extremist conspiracies and a threat of democracy in America will make things harder for Britain. Britain is now thanks to the work of Farage and Boris Johnson both who, including Liz Truss, attended the RNC.

With Farage’s attendance and that of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss now ex-MPs and ex-prime ministers who lead the conservative party in the era of Brexit and post Brexit showed a lack of distinction to find a dividing line of politics of the new post-Brexit conservative party where now the right divided yes but seems that there is more that unites them and could over the next five years. Right now conservativism is in a period of post-Brexit political re-allignment that veers to a deeper ideology than that of departing the European Union and that could be shaped by that of the resurgence of the cult-like religious political movement we are seeing with Trump’s campaign that truly sees Farage as ‘British Trump’ that could threaten British civility and relatively respectable means of doing politics. Suella Braverman could be defecting to Nigel Farage’s party imminently. Time will most definitely tell. Although she denies this if her likely leadership bid to be leader of the opposition of the conservative party fails she could join Reform if she does win Reform may come to her. It’s make or break for both of the Reform Party and the Conservative Party In this time of greatest failure for the British Conservative Party in it’s hundred and ninety year history is at a moment of turning its leaf to an extreme form if it chooses to double down to become a party that Enoch Powell would’ve been proud of or it’s successor the Reform Party something he’d be proud of. For the first time in sometime the conservative party’s future seems to be uncertain even how ideologically united but seem unorganised.

With the expulsion of the likes of Rory Stewart and David Gawke and the likes the more pragmatic centre-right conservatives who supported a much softer Brexit and the ideals of a international Britain on the world stage with respect to decency in democracy with a loathing of populism. Although David Cameron the leader the aforementioned former parliamentarians, served under when he was party leader and prime minister as ministers in his government did serve in Rishi Sunak’s government as Foreign Secretary, were already lost at Johnsonian and post Johnsonian politics where the traditional voter base has been lost for the conservatives and are apart of the increasingly volatile electorate who are becoming voters that need to be persuaded. These voters have gone to vote for the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats or due to feeling disillusioned have given the ballot box a miss.

It was a vote against rather than a vote for but which questions the mandate and the abilities of the parties to do but the governing party has enough MPs to do and desperately needs to do something and be realistic and radical in some unpopular manners to see outcomes.

Judging by doubts are with good reason that the labour party aren’t shaping up to be the government of the moment as it is time for radical economic decisions. I’m no socialist, nor I’m no communist. I believe in social progressive economic policies that meet Keynesian economics that marries what works of both socialism and capitalism as both the needs and wants of the individual and the collective are of equal importance. I just like most want to see things being done after a long period of inaction but is the action going to be done and delivered with in regards of the right to acts of civil disobedience in a prison occupancy crisis the right of protest is treated as a crime. Non violent protest being treated as a crime is extending the conservative parties illiberal totalitarian protest in response to environmentalist activists which would anger the parties biggest donors and one who could’ve stop a bleed of votes going to the Green Party, Dale Vince who may become angered if Labour don’t do nothing in the long term.

Here I sum up the Labour government first fortnight in power continues the ping pong of asylum seekers with the dehumanising approach to those seeking refuge as refugees being unwanted, this sadly however is the case for the rest of Europe. Labour have positively resumed funding to UN agency for Palestinian refugees and David Lam the foreign secretary has called for an immediate ceasefire with meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders but refuses to introduce further sanctions on Israel and a ban of weapons and arms traded to Israel. Controversially, the labour party are backing the Cass review which is not peer reviewed and with many questions from the trans community and has extended the Conservative’s ban on puberty blockers for transgender children with no evidence to indicate that puberty blockers are a health risk for children and which shouldn’t be a political decision. The Labour government have scrapped the hollow gimmick of ‘Levelling Up’ and opened pay negotiations with junior doctors and are upholding two child benefit cap.

There’s much at the start to show a Prime Minister who could be respected as a statesman and competent with return of bringing the experts into government and resourcing a wealth of experience that brings previous civil servants and members of government to the forefront. It feels a return to governing of the Blair and Brown era of politics which isn’t now. It’s early on and it’s unclear that Starmer’s government is the progressive government we need of the time. The next five years isn’t going to be easy politically for the government and it wont be an easy win for the next election as voters becoming volatile. I can’t predict whats coming next but know we all need to be politically active and can’t be in armchair mode for the next five years.