Summary
- The Conservatives gain more than 560 seats, and control of 11 councils
- Labour loses more than 380 seats, and control of seven councils, including Glasgow
- The Liberal Democrats lose 41 seats
- UKIP loses 145 seats - every one it was defending so far, gaining a solitary seat from Labour in Lancashire
- Plaid Cymru gains 33 seats in Wales
- Conservatives win 'metro' mayor races in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Tees Valley, West of England and West Midlands, Labour wins Greater Manchester and Liverpool City
- A total of 4,851 council seats are up for grabs in 88 councils - all of those in Scotland and Wales and 34 in England
What should she do with her defeated opponents ? Invite them in to a Strong and Stable Brexit coalition ?
Or
13 comments:
She should respect democracy and freedom, and let them represent the remoaners / communists / sympathisers of terror as best they see fit.
Given how Burnham went out of his way to avoid Corbyn(http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jeremy-corbyn-raced-manchester-congratulate-12994811) in her boots I'd arrange some form of public meeting about the Northern Powerhouse and offer him some sweeteners just to watch Corbyn and McDonnell go apeshit
The collectivists see compassion and mercy and fair play as signs of weakness. While she had the opportunity, Mrs May should do all she can to crush the Labour, Libdem and Green parties into the mud such that they never rise again. Then I'd go after the far-left bbc and do the same to that hateful organisation. Opportunities like this don't often present themselves so I hope she makes use of it while she can.
What strategy should Mother May follow now?
She should carry on doing exactly what she is doing now until the facts on the ground change (ie when the general election results are in).
What should she do with her defeated opponents ? Invite them in to a Strong and Stable Brexit coalition ?
Grasshopper, if you have rats in a sack that are fighting each other, do not look in the sack until peace is restored.
"Opportunities like this don't often present themselves so I hope she makes use of it while she can"
Too right, John - but this is where her lack of imagination cuts in.
Recall the first Gulf War (which I do, rather clearly ...): a complete rout. Now, the Coalition armies were not in the usual danger of going over to looting because, well, not much to be looted in the desert (and wise Geo. Bush snr called Halt at the Kuwaiti border, a great act of democratic political control over a rampant victorious army that had been given 99% freedom of action for the fighting phase)
But then the lack of imagination kicked in. Schwartzkopf, at his own admission, failed to demand that Saddam presented himself at the surrender table to be publicly and personally humiliated (and deposed shortly thereafter; such loss of face would have been irredeemable). He could easily have been made to come, by threatening to steam on up the road to Baghdad as everyone was expecting anyway. But no, some senior Iraqi general was permitted to suffice for the surrender.
Entirely different case: recall the Boer War (I've mentioned this one before). Hard-won victory after grim, no-hold-barred fighting. Next step? Brits imaginatively give Boers £3 million - a bunch of money in them days - for reconstruction. Result? Boer South Africa becomes a seriously loyal component of the Empire for the next 40 years, contributing conspicuously to both world wars (when their natural sympathies were in many cases distinctly towards the Other Side)
2 examples, one +ve, one -ve, as to what can be / should have been done after a decisive win, when anything's possible. Sadly, I don't see May as having anything like the wit to capitalise on her coming victory.
Hope I'm wrong
If she wins the GE with a good workable majority, she might usefully see if she can seduce any sane antiEU Labour MPs to cross the floor. She might be wise to try to manage Conservative party factions in a magnanimous way.
Other than that she must press on with boundary reviews. She needs to put in charge of that someone who is clever enough to avoid bloody silly compromises. I wonder whether Gove might suit?
Nick Drew, yes you are wrong about The Boers. The £3 million was chicken-feed in comparison with the diamond and gold resources that the British and their backers wanted to control.
I didn't say it wasn't an investment
In fact, I think I said it was!
(In fact, I think I said it was imaginative)
May and Gove are mortal enemies.
She forgave Boris his knifing of Cameron.
But not Gove his knifing of Boris.
Hence my remark about magnanimity. Let Gove work his way into favour by supervising the boundaries biz. Unless the Conservatives have such a surplus of clever wee buggers that they can afford to ignore him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc
Is she want to vanquish all before her, she should shut up and stop parroting those soundbites as if they are policies.
Recommend she is locked away in a room and the decision to let her out is made after the Election. She can then be wheeled out like the Queen for ceremonial duties.
The longer she is in the public eye, the more you conclude she is vacuous.
I don't trust her with her current majority, let alone a huge one. When Trump was elected (partly on an "anti-invade the world" platform, May went to the States and parroted the then Trump non-intervention line.
Trump seems to abandon his isolationism and a week later there are "May wants to ask Parliament if we can bomb Syria" stories in the press.
Nonetheless she's what we've got, so I hope for an improved majority, but not an overwhelming one.
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