Andy Shaw

Andy Shaw

@redandy54.bsky.social

216

Posts

Policy person working in debt advice. Reluctant trail runner. Occasional (and very bad) sim racer. Owner of at least one opinion (used). He/him

Posts Replies Media

From the outside, it's striking how much of the commentary about Biden is focused on whether he can beat Trump, rather than the much more important question of whether he's physically and mentally capable of actually doing the job of President for another four years.

Biden under renewed pressure to step aside as top Democrats make agonized appealswww.theguardian.com Senator Michael Bennet said Trump may win ‘by a landslide’ while two more senators echoed his concerns

It reminds me of that old joke about a US politician: "I've won the election, so now the hard work begins - running for re-election."

In which we confirm that Boris Johnson lacks object permanence

"Booing Mr. England" sounds like it should be the title of Billy Bragg's autobiography

My favorite tried-and-true resistance tactic: Being Extremely Fucking Annoying.

A strategy that has never to my knowledge failed at any time in history! I was born yesterday, by the way

Starmer can start by deporting Tony Blair.

Tony Blair urges Starmer to keep grip on immigration to tackle rise of far rightwww.theguardian.com Exclusive: former PM says immigration benefits UK but controls are needed to ‘close off avenues’ for populists

Probably not by-elections. Unless any of the imaginary candidates were elected (which doesn't seem to have happened, although some are the stuff of nightmares) I don't think an election petition would succeed in overturning the result in an affected constituency.

Difficult to say until we know the rules of the contest. Reportedly, some in Starmer's inner circle want MPs alone to choose the leader when the party is in government. I think you get a different answer depending on whether members get a vote or not.

Ro-gue Algorithm

Same root causes though - corporate profiteering at the expense of the planet, and governments too weak to stop them. If it wakes people up...

They will, of course, take lessons from both the Lib Dem and Reform campaigns. Expect the next Tory leader to spend their time performing increasingly racist stunts in front of the cameras.

Yes, ministers have to be accountable to Parliament, so the PM has the power to immediately put someone in the House of Lords when they're appointed a minister. It's also what Rishi Sunak did when he made David Cameron foreign secretary.

This is a good idea. My new MP replaced Miriam Cates, one of the vilest and most openly transphobic members of the last parliament, so it would be good for her to put some distance between herself and her predecessor.

Mark, was Stan on the other place.

I was amazed at the impact of low turnout and independents on vote numbers. In 2017, London Labour MPs like Corbyn, Starmer and Diane Abbott got more than 40,000 votes each.

I do hope Starmer steers clear of the instinct to pay tribute to his predecessor and thank him for his service. He should instead acknowledge the real and justified anger people feel towards the Tories for asset-stripping our nation and damaging our society.

They must also place 100% focus on the issue that is important to me personally, and get it absolutely right

Update your style guides, everybody: following the general election, he's now known as The Disgraced Former MP Liam Fox

Forget the Tories, Reform and even the Lib Dems and Greens. The true opposition in the new parliament will be Labour's colossal back benches, full of ex-public sector workers and local councillors who will in no way tolerate anything resembling continuing austerity.

Of the three seats left I think Dumfries is the only one they can win. Inverness is reportedly between LD and SNP, and South Basildon between Labour and Reform.

Having sat in the BBC general election studio all night, Peter Mandelson is now on the Today programme - doing little to dispel rumours that he might secretly be a vampire.

First Tory MP elected to the new parliament and of course it's Mark Francois

Obviously Keir Starmer's first act as PM should be to block that rancid, corrupt honours list.

Sparkly Mince Pie

Could well have gone to Labour in 2019 if the Lib Dems hadn't put up a prominent spoiler candidate, so not massively surprising if they take it this time

Grumpy Philosopher

Especially deranged since the exit poll shows the Tories holding their Scottish seats while their English and Welsh ones go down in flames

cinemashoebox.bsky.social

Agree with this. I still think a 2005-style result is possible - a Lab majority of 60-70 and Tories reduced to about 200 - which would be an astonishing turnaround compared to 2019, but as it's not as bad as the polling would be spun as a Tory victory/Labour disappointment of sorts

That red looks a bit blunt already - hope you've got a sharpener in

There was a poll back in the darkest days of Liz Truss that implied a greater seat share for the SNP than the Tories. Something like Lab 53% Con 19%, which is unlikely to be replicated today.

It's general election day! Don’t forget to post your "Don't forget to vote" posts, folks!

According to Sky, the LibDems have ‘one last stunt’ ready for the end of the campaign.

According to Sky, the LibDems have ‘one last stunt’ ready for the end of the campaign.

Doing everything we can here to get Cates out. Hopefully will be enough. 🤞🤞🤞

Some more watersports; he definitely needs to underline the sewage pollution issue by contracting a waterborne parasitic disease before polling day