Election Night 2019

Well it is election night 2019 and it looks pretty bleak. A majority of 86 - with the largest share of the vote for the Conservatives in a long time, similarly historical and equally bleak is the Labour seat count - the lowest allegedly since 1935.

As I opined to a friend in a rant a few minutes ago. This has been the UK’s version of the 2016 US election - lies instead of spin, fake news instead of interrogative reporting, and a set of candidates that are largely unappealing. A bottom of the barrel kind of affair.

The landscape has changed - that’s certain. The grown-ups have left politics

MPs like Ken Clarke, Phillip Hammond and other notable Conservatives have exited the game, pushed out by an invasion of far-right opportunists. The same perhaps can be said for Labour and the left.

I miss having real politicians. You know, the kind of politicians that had vision. Politicians that could win election. One that didn’t muddle the numbers on purpose, ones that could look the country in the eye and say what needed to be said - even if it wasn’t popular, and ones that were elevated rather than propped up by their PR team.

That’s the real crux of it. Poor choices - Corbyn, Brexit, and Boris. How could you choose? When Tony Blair warned the Labour Party about engaging in an election before the premise of Brexit was settled he was right. The progressives, the left, and the centre appear to have lost because the public was lost between Corbyn and Brexit. A people’s vote made sense - this election didn’t.

If there’s one pain point in this election it’s that the so call ‘remain alliance’ crumbled before it could even walk. The Lib Dems are opportunists and have lost both my respect and my vote. They made this election possible, and they’ve gained a seat. Unfortunately it’s the country who’s to pay the real price. I wonder how many of the predicted Conservative seats could’ve been won if only one party stood?

Of course the gut punch in this election was the media. I never expect true honesty in politics. Power corrupts and there’s far too much of that to be lost or gained in Westminster - but I do expect those who aren’t politicians to be impartial. I backed the BBC in the 2017 election, but it’s clear this time around there are institutional failings there and in the media at large. You don’t say the phrase “wins the majority that he [Boris Johnson] so deserves” on air by accident and that gaff is just the tip of the iceberg.

Corbyn, for all his failings, had his image smeared and tarnished to an irreparable extent. There are valid questions about his leadership ability and some of his previous affiliations but far greater question marks about Boris Johnson’s. His past is roller-coaster of racism, character failings, and genuine harm. Yet the media depiction of Johnson’s campaign was edited and polished (think Phil and Holly with a selfie instead of the nurses questioning his proposed investment in the NHS) whilst Corbyn was tagged with three years of media baggage.

All in all - it’s a pretty depressing night. I’m frustrated, tired, and upset. Tired of a country that shoots itself in the foot, tired of a rigged political system that loads the bullets in the chamber, and tired of hoping for better but being given worse.

Merry Christmas.