As Boris wins big - Labour go into crisis mode!

HE KNOWS HOW TO WIN

It has been said before, that because of his “tics and occasional tantrums” Prime Minister Johnson, is very easy to underestimate. Yes, he is clever in a rather unworldly fashion, is never going to be totally dedicated to the truth, yet the public appear to love him. Well, love might not be the word, as ‘appreciate’ might be a better one. However, one thing is for sure he certainly has a ‘connection’ with ordinary British voters that a Eton educated, ultra-posh Tory boy should never have - yet, he’s go ‘IT’ in spades. The fact of the matter was that his manifesto was a slim volume, to say the least - with a rather top-heavy list of vague, and rather large spending promises, and he endlessly parroted the phrase “Let’s Get Brexit Done.” But it worked didn’t it? It certainly worked a little better than “Strong and Stable” Theresa May’s much mock tag-line - so why? I have to say that Boris J is an instinctive politician, yet his instincts are more often than not, dead right. He sniffed the wind prior to the EU Referendum and spun around - if not 360 degrees - clearly 180 degrees. In short - he knows how to win! He knew that ordinary ‘Leave’ Labour voters were not resistant to his charm as it had been proved before in London mayoral elections. Furthermore, he could not have imagined that the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats could have been so ineffective during the campaign.

LABOUR AT WAR WITH ITSELF!

As an observer who criticised the party leaders for their pretty obvious inadequacies during the formal part of the campaign; I was fascinated to hear a BBC correspondent, Clive Myrie, who was travelling with Jeremy Corbyn’s team, point out that the Labour hierarchy seemed only to listen to what their own dedicated activists told them and not to what their traditional voters had to say - particularly in the midlands and the North. Perhaps, he was being just being wise after the event, but her told the ‘morning after’ television audience that - “The Labour team, just didn’t get it.” As for Jo Swinson, she had a dreadful night, losing her own seat whilst actually improving her parties share of the vote - the first-past-the-post system is a killer for smaller parties - so why did she constantly claim to be the next female Prime Minister in waiting, a statement that was both laughable and counter-productive? However, the real problems are with and within the Labour Party. Yes, Jeremy Corbyn will go at some stage - but, do they replace him quickly or take time to contemplate what went wrong? If only! Of course Mr Corbyn will go at some stage, but already there is a sort of civil war breaking out in the ranks of Labour. Some leading figures clearly believe that the electorate are clearly at fault for not voting them into office. You think I’m joking? Well, you should listen to some leading members of Momentum who are already planning for the parties next election disaster. For me, one of the most striking images of this election is a clip of former Labour Home Secretary, Alan Johnson ripping into the

Momentum ‘leader’ Jon Lansman. In a no-holds-barred attack, Johnson called Momentum a “cult” that was destroying the Labour Party from within. As you can imagine this has gone viral on social-media as the battle of Labour’s soul gets underway. Indeed, some so called Labour moderates are already talking about a fight to rescue Labour from extremists and fellow travellers. Many within the ranks believe that it will take at least two more general elections to recover from this disaster. Personally, I think that rather over-cooks the point at issue, as political patterns and loyalties are not as set as they once were - as Labour’s stunning defeats in constituencies such as Bolsover in Derbyshire will attest.

A STUNNING VICTORY

And so to the victor the spoils! I wonder just how many Tory figures would have predicted a 80 seat overall majority in their wildest dreams, not many I’ll be bound. Prime Minister Johnson, now has the numbers behind him to dominate the political landscape for the next 5 years at least - probably more. We should also remember that the SNP north of the border slew all before it and in a fascinating side-show, Northern Ireland now has more Nationalist MPs than their Unionist equivalents. The DUP - often seen as an immovable force, might not be as immovable as they have bragged about in the past. Scotland and Northern Ireland, could be Prime Minister Johnson’s next crisis waiting to happen. Nevertheless, with all things said, it would be churlish to underestimate what Boris Johnson has done in achieving this stunning victory. Many still believe that Brexit could still hold some horrors for his government, particularly when it comes down to the fine detail - and we are constantly reminded that Boris’s strengths are not in that particular area. We could still have some hair-raising times ahead of us and there are still plenty of people out there who only seem to recognise and accept an election result when it falls in their favour. So then, let’s hope we won’t be getting anymore talk regarding ‘People’s Votes’ and the like - as even those who bang-the-drum for that particular cause, must surely recognise that the people have now had their democratic say on the nations near future. I suspect Labour Party bosses are taking the ‘line’ made infamous by US President, Richard Nixon’s, political consultant Richard Tuck, when Nixon failed to beat JFK in the 1960 Presidential election - “The people have spoken, the b******s.”