Not saying he can't be on the left but do you really want to go back to the 70s labor? That's what I meant. The left can't look at the past and just imitate that. I'm talking about the stagnation of that time period.
Although he may remind people of that period, I hardly think what he actually did as Mayor is anything remotely like 70s Labour. Though I'd certainly like to hear that argument, if you believe it.
The tories aren't "far right" at all. There are some backbenchers who are determined to drag the party off to the right, but overall Cameron has moved the party to the centre since 2005. These days there is very little difference between Labour and the Conservatives. The problem with politics in this country is that the main parties have all gravitated toward the centre, and so it doesn't really matter whether you vote red, blue or yellow. That is ultimately what is giving fringe parties (like UKIP, the Greens, and others) a look in.
I think we're on a political precipitous in this country. Labour and the Cons could diverge, while the Lib Dems are destroyed, and we could end up with a massively polarised left vs right (without the religious nonsense) like in the US, or we could see the rise of smaller parties like the Greens, UKIP, BNP, and we'd have a more fragmented "European" style parliament with more coalitions and cross party dialogue.
I disagree - the Conservatives are more right wing than their image suggests. They are a fractured, confused party, sure, but the dominant wings - the Eurosceptics and the Thatcherites are both intensely right wing. Socially the leadership is fairly centrist, though. Most aren't Republican-esque nutjobs, but you only need to look at their attacks on benefits, particularly for the disabled, their attacks of legal funding and their general privatisation to see their quite extreme agenda.
Also, we won't see that fragmentation. It will (slow term) revert to a more two-party system but it will shift to the left, which doesn't mean left wing, because the Tories will not win a majority at the next election and I would wager, will lose. Labour will be slightly to the left of New Labour, particularly socially, and I'd expect economically too at the current rate. This will draw the Tories back. But of course, this is all speculation - who knows what major world events could happen and change things. Who knows whether this government's love affair with NI will have any effect?
And Ken lost because he's a dick, and Londoners were fed up with his bullshit, that's it. His tax avoidance (and hypocrisy), anti-semitism and homophobia (in that order) lost him the election.
No one with half a brain or any knowledge seriously thinks that Ken is a homophobe. To suggest such a thing is absurd when you look at the related legislation that he introduced.
However, he is a (comparably) unlikeable guy, albeit one who has done a lot of good things for the city. I'd say he lost because he ran a terrible campaign, blighted with awful comments, regrettable tax avoidance and promised to reduce fares (a promise he reneged on before). That it was close is a measure of his lack of charisma and his personal failings in the campaign, because he really should have won.
Gotcha. I'm imagining he was spouting this stuff on the election trail, but how can he talk about "unleashing the City" right after the "london whale" and Chase blew billions on more risky bets?
He barely said anything on the election trail as far as I can tell, besides swearing and confrontation. Nothing of real substance, anyway. The guy's a horrible, privileged right-winger in my view, but his mayoral term was largely professional and competent. Largely because he was bound by a very tenuous mandate (London is definitely Labour) and his support team was very effective (not necessarily a criticism).
I can appreciate that people voted for him beyond a simple "Lol Boris is well funny guys" - he's charismatic and he proved himself to be decent. I just don't buy the argument that he represents a more popular brand of Conservatism: he's just a likeable chap who when people agree with what he says, is passed off as a people's champion but when he does or says something silly it is good old Boris and he somehow dodges the bullet.
