As the UK votes, The Telegraph notes that the Conservatives are declining precipitously as Blair seems set on reelection.
YouGov’s final campaign survey for the Telegraph – based on interviews yesterday and the day before with nearly 4,000 electors across Britain – suggests that the Tories are heading for yet another catastrophic defeat.
Far from improving their position during the final days of the campaign, they have apparently slipped back.
According to YouGov, 37 per cent of voters have already cast postal ballots for Labour or seem likely to vote Labour today. For their part the Conservatives began the campaign on 35 per cent, but only 32 per cent want to back them now.
The Conservatives have essentially been rudderless since Lady Thatcher left public life. John Major was affable, but hardly dynamic. Moreover, Blair’s “Third Way” which combines much of the Thatcherite reforms of the 1980s with a squishy socialism has been wildly popular. Thatcher won because she could point to the fact that Labour “wasn’t working” as garbage piled up in the streets of London and the entire country faced fiscal chaos. Modern Britain is economically vibrant thanks to Thatcher’s reforms and the “New Labour” policy of embracing many of her fundamental structural changes. Andrew Sullivan notes that this election might as well be Thatcher’s seventh victory.
Sullivan is also right — if the choice is between Tony Blair, an eloquent and charismatic leader who is a bit too fond of the welfare state and a party that essentially stands for more of the same, why not pick the original? If the Tories want to avoid dying out entirely, they need to find a leader that can elucidate the value of limited government, lower taxes, and the rollback of the nanny state. They need to offer a “choice, not an echo.” So far, they’re entirely unable to do so.
But how long will Tony Blair hang on. There is talk that within months Gordon Brown will replace him as party leader. Blair has a razor thin majority as the election saw gains by the Tories and by the ever loathable Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats. It was also humiliating to see some of his top ministers like James Twigg and one of his big supporters Oona King lose their seats. King lost to the disgusting human being George Galloway. The anti-war scottish carpet bagger whipped the bethel green constituency into an anti-semitic frenzy (King is half black and half jewish) and played the muslim card in order to win. Michael Howard has however resigned since he will be too old at the next general election. I feel his campaign focused too much on anti-immigration issues and their party election broadcasts were poor. Howard was certainly much better than Iain Duncan Smith whom I once remember you refering to as a “human wasteland” (an assesment with which I agree).
Other interesting British election news saw gains for the Scottish National Party (from 4 seats to 6) proving that Alex Salmond is a much better party leader than John Swinney ever was. Also Plaid Cymru in Wales dropped a seat from 4 to 3 (welsh nationalism is having some issues now) and Wales also saw Peter Law, an independent socialist formerly of Labour take a seat. In Northern Ireland, vichy unionism is now dead as David Trimble and the Ulster Unionist Party were reduced to a single seat. With the Democratic Unionist Party firmly in the ascendancy atleast Northern Ireland’s unionist community has someone who will stand up to Irish irredentism and not keep plugging away at the failed Belfast Agreement.
Overall with Tory gains, Blair’s majority being reduced and a stronger Unionist party on the rise in Northern Ireland I would say it was a positive election for center-right interests, ground was gained. Also the Greens failed to win any seats too, something which makes me quite happy.