Regretting my vote.

[Chap]

Think perhaps I was wrong to vote labour. It's a bit concerning. I feel like we are heading for some serious unrest.

So which party would you have preferred to win the recent UK election? As you know, in practical terms the choice was between Conservative or Labour.

[IWMP]

The media is being freaky at the moment. This is why I avoid it usually. They are talking about Russia coming after the UK. The amount of fear mongering is unreal and I don't know what is real and what isn't in the world out there.

Rather than assume, I want to make sure I am understanding you - Are you suggesting that you're losing trust in the UK media? Or am I way off?

I think that would be accurate. But probably not a new thing though.

[IWMP]

Think perhaps I was wrong to vote labour. It's a bit concerning. I feel like we are heading for some serious unrest.

So which party would you have preferred to win the recent UK election? As you know, in practical terms the choice was between Conservative or Labour.

Sigh... None of the above. I'm in a labour constituency that wouldn't have gone to anyone but labour. And our local MP, I think is pretty good. I guess I would still vote labour but very disappointed in how things are looking at the moment.

[Chap]

So which party would you have preferred to win the recent UK election? As you know, in practical terms the choice was between Conservative or Labour.

Sigh... None of the above. I'm in a labour constituency that wouldn't have gone to anyone but labour. And our local MP, I think is pretty good. I guess I would still vote labour but very disappointed in how things are looking at the moment.

The Conservatives left behind a complete mess in the public finances, and had starved public services ever since the Osborne austerity from 2010 onwards. I think it is unwise to take any decision about Labour's competence in government for a good while yet, until you have seen how successful they are in clearing up the colossal mess they inherited.

We shall see a complete budget package in October, which will show you the big picture of their policies, as opposed to actions taken to deal with the initial problems the government had to face when it first saw the full picture of what the Conservatives had left them to deal with.

[IWMP]

Sigh... None of the above. I'm in a labour constituency that wouldn't have gone to anyone but labour. And our local MP, I think is pretty good. I guess I would still vote labour but very disappointed in how things are looking at the moment.

The Conservatives left behind a complete mess in the public finances, and had starved public services ever since the Osborne austerity from 2010 onwards. I think it is unwise to take any decision about Labour's competence in government for a good while yet, until you have seen how successful they are in clearing up the colossal mess they inherited.

We shall see a complete budget package in October, which will show you the big picture of their policies, as opposed to actions taken to deal with the initial problems the government had to face when it first saw the full picture of what the Conservatives had left them to deal with.

I hope this is the case.

[Physics Guy]

I think it’s common in parliamentary government for a newly elected government to have to deal with a shortage of funds. They got elected because the previous government, having held power for some years, grew unpopular. An unpopular government that is trying to cling to power doesn’t usually make many hard choices; they borrow and spend, hoping to pacify voters, and recognizing that someone else will have to deal with the deficit soon. They can hardly excuse unpopular cutbacks by blaming their own previous mismanagement.

The new government has enough goodwill initially that it can get away with some unpopular cutbacks, and it generally tries to get them done as soon as possible, while it is still popular and it can still blame the previous government.

So changing government often brings austerity. It’s one of the few ways by which necessary but unpopular decisions can get made in democracies. Part of the cycle of life.

[Chap]

I think it’s common in parliamentary government for a newly elected government to have to deal with a shortage of funds.

I think you may need to give more weight to the jaw-dropping negligence of Conservative governments over the last fourteen years. For headline purposes they made a large number of commitments to government spending without setting aside any funds to meet the implied costs. 'Boris' Johnson, for instance, promised to build 'forty new hospitals': the results have been more or less negligible. In order to keep the favour of those who voted conservative (basically older, and well-off financially), they kept taxes down on the wealthy and cut spending on public services, leaving behind a huge need for investment to provide at least basic standards. Poverty ballooned, so that schools complain that kids are coming to school hungry and poorly clad. And so on ... This mess really is a bit special as a legacy to the successor regime.

[Physics Guy]

This is no doubt a point, though fourteen years in power is probably too long for any party to keep up its best game. I really think there's a natural life cycle in democratic government, a time for the old organism to die and be replaced by a new one, because the old one has used up too many resources and acquired too many fixed commitments. Time for the phoenix to burn.

For what it's worth, even from an outside perspective the UK does seem to have been rather blighted in its leadership for quite a while. Brexit and Boris both surprised me.

Somehow they did keep it up for fourteen years. I guess that's the biggest surprise.

[Chap]

.... even from an outside perspective the UK does seem to have been rather blighted in its leadership for quite a while.

Many insiders agreed! That's why the Conservatives lost huge numbers of seats at the election.

It is likely that they will have to wait a long, long time before they return to power. Also, their vote is largely dependent on older people: once upon a time UK voters tended to turn to the Conservative party as they moved through their thirties, but now that source of new voters seems to have dried up, while the older voters are dying off. So they may never govern again.

[ajax18]

.... even from an outside perspective the UK does seem to have been rather blighted in its leadership for quite a while.

Many insiders agreed! That's why the Conservatives lost huge numbers of seats at the election.

It is likely that they will have to wait a long, long time before they return to power. Also, their vote is largely dependent on older people: once upon a time UK voters tended to turn to the Conservative party as they moved through their thirties, but now that source of new voters seems to have dried up, while the older voters are dying off. So they may never govern again.

What's funny is that British conservatives aren't anywhere near as conservative as Trump. Look where compromise and diplomacy as controlled opposition got them. The UK is so screwed.