Red Eric

Ahem *(cough)*
Conservative Party Manifesto 2019

BristolUK

Any idea what that decisive action was?

BritInParis

Unless you’re suggesting Boris plans to legislate for Parliaments to last more than five years then it remains a pretty safe bet that we’ll going to the polls in May 2024 with or without the FTP Act on the statute books.

Red Eric

Abolishing the fixed term would mean the government could then control the timing of the calling of elections without the rather convoluted ways currently available, which involve asking for the collusion of the opposition.

They could then seize the moment, should they ever find themselves with a convincing lead in the polls, and give themselves a good chance of another potentially 5 (or however many they decide should be the maximum term under the new regime) by calling a snap election. Might be regarded as a better option than taking a chance on the way the land lies in 2024.

paulry

They would have to make a lot of changes to become a functional opposition. And with Sir Keir as leader, with his and his shadow cabinet's post referendum anti-Brexit past, I don't see the party being electable. Maybe they're planning to reform the party under his leadership, burn the old faces off and then replace with a new untarnished lineup? Personally I doubt it though because that strategy requires the turkeys to vote for Christmas.

macliam

They have no need to do that - they just need to expose the mishandling and failure of government. Do you really think people are so in love with Johnson and his cronies tht they will forgive them their errors and ignore their repeated attempts to stifle opposition and subvert accounatbility?

dave_j

All Johnson has to do is to make it apparent that he's trying to raise standards for those voters who changed allegiance at the last election.
Errors made that affect the living standards of the middle classes will only increase this feeling. Ironically, the more the pips of the rich squeak, the more popular Johnson will be.
Just imagine it, a tory prime minister depending on labour heartland for support.
That's the degree by which Labour leadership has drifted from it's core values. It has lost it's way completely and it'll take more than a charismatic QC to find it again. Labour leadership has been so poor for decades that it's allowed every faction of all shades of red and blue to wag the dog.
Ahhh... the loss of John Smith all those years ago, much regretted by me at the time. Who would have thought it would spell the death knell of the party.

paulry

Yes., I'd forgotten about him. How different would the Labour party of today be if he's survived to become PM. ....Imagine if PM Tony Blair had never happened.

dave_j

Hmmm.. I really don't know what Labour can do.
Even if Sir Keir manages to generate some momentum, there's a nihilistic streak within the party that'll ensure it's eaten away from the inside.
It's got to the stage where much of the party has to be muzzled or it'll end up like a used pillow, lay waiting in the cupboard until the sleeper can be bothered to toss out the old one.