The reverberations of the crash of 2007/8 continue to be underestimated and the public is sick of austerity. Expectations for the Labour Party were so low that it has also been easy for them to outperform and Corbyn is quite the natural campaigner. Despite his largely inept front bench he has looked and sounded fine and he is now our own Bernie Sanders, stirring young voters in particular with a mixture of indignation and largesse. The response from the Conservative Party has been wooden and flat footed at best and that is being polite.
Why have the Conservatives been so hopeless? First, manifestos certainly matter when they are re-written mid-campaign….and it was also enormously complacent to assume that Theresa May on her own was enough to secure a substantial victory. Few leaders can withstand the scrutiny of an election campaign unscathed so to make the election about one person was high risk. Several members of the front bench have been scandalously under-used and that takes me back to that manifesto. It is under-pinned with sound principles and has been appallingly defended but why weren’t key cabinet ministers given a final say over the most controversial parts? The need for secrecy is obvious but unelected special advisers are not sufficient substitute for elected politicians who understand the ebb and flow of an increasingly fickle electorate. David Cameron had George Osborne. Theresa May has to enjoy her job more, trust her colleagues more and find an equivalent. She will not survive another five years being so isolated which is a shame when she comes from a reasonable place in terms of intentions.
This election has been dull in content and periodically interrupted by the tragic terrorist events in Manchester and London. We will all be glad when it is over. My feeling is that the Conservatives will win, probably even comfortably, but not as convincingly as they could have done. The UK’s version of Bernie Sanders has got away with far too much. Let’s hope the lessons of the election campaign already emerging are taken on board so that an amended style of Government allows Theresa May to enhance her effectiveness, particularly in the face of Brexit.
Inside Right Politics 