Following the landslide victory of Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party in the 2019 General Election commentators and broadcasters have debated the reason why the Labour Party lost so badly.
Some say that the Corbynista, or the socialist metropolitan elite as the group has often been described, message didn’t resonate with ordinary working class voters. The reasons given for failure have been diverse and it seems that many MPs are in denial. The same MPs that have thwarted Brexit at every turn and called for a second referendum (or People’s Vote) have mainly lost their seats. It seems clear that they underestimated the nationwide frustration caused by continual uncertainty surrounding the UK’s future.
Tactical voting
Gina Miller opened a website advising people to tactically vote if they wanted to either remain in the EU or supported a second referendum on the deal. That clearly backfired dramatically when Labour voters who had never voted Conservative in their lives, did so to block Remain MPs from winning. Ms Miller is already scheming to stop Brexit according to The Express
The Brexit Party also encouraged tactical voting which seems to have been more successful. But in reality this General Election result appears to have had more to do with voters’ sense of democracy than anything else.
Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats, lost her Dumbartonshire East seat to the SNP. She resigned as leader of her party on Friday. It is notable that Ms Swinson made it very clear that she would stop Brexit even if there was another referendum with the same result as the last. As we have seen among audiences on BBC Question Time recently, there are many Remainers who feel the result of the EU referendum should be delivered. Many have echoed the view of Remainer Piers Morgan. He believes that irrespective of his wish to stay in the EU, not to honour the referendum result would be undemocratic.
Credibility
Promises made by leaders of all parties during the 2019 General Election campaigns were scrutinised in televised debates. It seems clear that Labour’s policies were popular including free broadband for everyone, a higher minimum wage, more money for the NHS and countless other pledges. However, the feasibility of carrying out everything in the Labour manifesto was questioned several times before the GE took place. Voters didn’t believe that there would be enough money for Labour to follow through.
Boris Johnson’s message was largely “Get Brexit Done”. An electorate with Brexit fatigue listened to that slogan and the result is obvious. Voters clearly trusted Boris Johnson more than other party leaders.
Businesses such as ours have had to place future plans on hold, due to over three and a half years of Brexit uncertainty. Another hung parliament and more years of debate about the EU would cause many to lose the will to live. Something had to happen to break the impasse.
The 2019 General Election should signify a new beginning
Most sensible people will now be looking forward to forging ahead with whatever deal the government arrives at. One thing is clear, we will be leaving the EU and the duly elected majority government will decide how that is done.
We would like to believe that everyone would get behind the government and make our departure from the EU a success. Unfortunately on social and mainstream media division is still being debated. Protestors carrying signs stating “Not my Prime Minister” were in London this week and we understand will continue in other major cities.
It’s time to stop the division. The government needs to get on with all the important things that have been neglected since the EU referendum. Irrespective of whether you voted to Leave or Remain it’s time to move on. Let’s do it together.
As our government works during the course of 2020 we will soon learn if the promises they made were true. Let’s give the Conservatives a chance with their new leader.
