Grisly pantomime - Because while our departure from the EU
has just shaped yet another chapter of our politics in an unconventional way,
two of the old rules do still apply.
Neither the prime minister nor the Labour leader has
anywhere to hide. The UK joined the EU in 1973
After nine years in
government it's not surprising that the Conservatives have lost a significant
chunk of seats.
But the sheer number
that have disappeared and the loss of control of authorities will hurt -
especially with so many activists identifying Theresa May's handling of Brexit
as a root of the problem, not just a general malaise. The perceived personal
nature of the failure is more of an indignity than an encounter with a
heckler in tweeds.
And
for Jeremy Corbyn, it IS surprising and disappointing that Labour has simply
failed to make any significant capital from such a divided and chaotic
government.
However
ardently his devotees swear loyalty, the party has fallen back - on this set of
results at least - seeming further rather than closer from winning power in a
general election he so often claims to crave.
Take a breath. Local ballots do not translate directly into
the next general election. It bears repeating time and again that specific rows
over green belt building, local party spats, even simple quirks of geography
all apply too.
But such an enormous set of
results does give a sense of the public's political taste at this moment. And
it provides a bitter flavour for the two big UK parties - locked in an
uncomfortable embrace with historically feeble levels of support.
The public will also
have given both of them anxiety about the potential of the Lib Dems to creep
back into their territory after a strong show. And the sour mood around Brexit
adds more pressure to Labour and the Tories in their own ranks too.
For Mrs May it directly and overtly gives ammunition for
convinced Tory Eurosceptics to demand a more rapid departure from the EU,
whatever happens.
The delay, they believe has been toxic, so the solution is
to speed on. And for Labour's many supporters of a second referendum, the
significant advance of the Lib Dems and the Greens is evidence that a clear
demand for another say is the only way to carve out a convincing identity.
That geographical pattern is very marked, although unwise
maybe to assume it can last, or a howl for another referendum is what it overwhelmingly
means.
After months of grisly
pantomime, the rejection of both parties may well also be a simple judgement on
both main parties' competence.
Voters quite plainly
like politicians who look like they know what they are doing. And the public
does not like parties that spend vast amounts of time fighting amongst
themselves.
Whether government or
opposition, we want them to care about us, rather than be expected to care
about them.
No surprise for today at
least, that the Labour and Tory leaderships are both outwardly trying to push
harder for a joint deal that could find a way out for them both - damned or
saved together.
But their local election
anguish doesn't make a deal any easier to achieve. So our two big political
parties are both finding there's been a cost to conflict and messy internal
compromise.
And will look ahead
nervously to the European elections when two new parties created specifically
to advance clear ways out of the Brexit stalemate could divide the public more
cleanly, and mete out a much more painful punishment to them.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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