uk politics
5 May 2008
Bad News, Gordon Brown
The mood in London is comparable to Paul Keating's loss to John Howard in 1996 or Jeff Kennett's arrival into office in Victoria in 1992, writes David Ritter
The fool has unseated the mighty. Despite the scandals, hard right politics and his reputation for buffoonery, the conservative candidate Boris Johnson has been elected the new Mayor of London with a clear majority.In London and on the broader national stage, the night was a disaster for Labour.
Saying that there was nothing else the Labour Party could have done to get him re-elected, Ken Livingstone's eight year hold on the mayoralty has ended with him taking full responsibility for his loss.
Johnson won with 53.2 per cent of the vote to Livingstone's 46.8 per cent once second preferences had been allocated. A record turn-out of voters was recorded.
The result has polarised London. In Australian terms, the mood in the UK capital is comparable to Keating's loss to Howard in 1996 or Jeff Kennett's arrival into office in Victoria in 1992. Conservatives are celebrating the return of their party championed by an unlikely hero. Progressives are struggling to accept that the people have spoken and that Boris "the joke" is the new Mayor.
Adding to the sense of political divergence, a member of the far-right British National Party has been elected to the Greater London Council for the first time.
Johnson's victory speech, which began with a weak pun, seemed set to confirm fears. But the Mayor-elect soon settled down, paying gracious tribute to his predecessor. The script was so tight that you could almost see the wires. Johnson then outlined a vision of safe centrism: "cutting crime, improving transport, protecting green space, delivering affordable housing, giving taxpayers value for money."
David Cameron will be desperate for Johnson to continue in this moderate vein until the national election is held, probably in 2010.
Livingstone's defeat was coupled with the loss of more than 300 Labour local councillors throughout the country. Labour's overall vote in the municipal poll stood at only 24 per cent, pushing the party into third place behind the Liberal Democrats.
Some safe and long-held Labour councils have fallen in to Tory hands. If these results were transposed onto a General Election result, the Conservative leader David Cameron would be Prime Minister with a majority of well over 100 seats.
The Liberal Democrats' gains were smaller but enough to push them into second place and leave newish leader Nick Clegg secure in his job.
In the wake of the debacle, Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has vowed "to listen and to lead" in charting his party back to electoral success. Perhaps the very scale of the challenge facing Brown will yet be the making of his premiership. But there is little time left.
Facing financial uncertainty, the working and middle classes are being squeezed by economic pressure from the corporate top. The scrapping of the 10 pence tax rate for the first £2,230 of taxable income in the March national budget crystallised the sense that Brown's Government was out of touch.
Already, there are influential calls from the left for the Party to immediately shift to a more progressive course reflecting more traditional Labour priorities.
New Labour is looking very old indeed. And when not perceived as anchored in enduring values, a brand out of fashion is hard to redeem.
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NSW Labor will do the same. People have worked out that if you have a choice of two right wing parties then you may as well choose the originals.
Well, that linked article proving Boris Johnson’s supposed ‘hard right’ politics is certainly a joke. It clearly misrepresents Johnson on a number of fronts. Just to take one example, Johnson was not a ‘fanatical’ supporter of the Iraq war. He wrote a number of columns for the Spectator and Telegraph criticising the war, and the Tony Blair government for its incompetence.
The left must have thought Boris Johnson was their dream candidate - they could just waltz in, pick up several of the more colourful Johnson quotes, and put them in a context that made it look like he was a racist/sexist/fascist/whatever. Trouble is, Johnson was already far too well established as a writer, columnist, editor, and famous media figure, so the original context of the quotes was easy to find.
Result: Boris, Lord Mayor of London. Ken Livingstone, Lord Mayor of zilch.
With the return of Lynton Crosby to Australia, there may be no-one to keep a tight rein on Boris, and Boris released may prove to be a total train-wreck, in short order.
Without Crosby, Boris would have got no-where. Without Crosby by his side, watching his every word, Boris may well prove all the critics absolutely right.
Interesting times ahead. May be very bad times for London, though, and the ecology, if he reverses all Ken’s good moves, as he has said he will. Nutters are coming to the front everywhere, assisted by followers of "Bush’s Brain", Karl Rove. Conspiracy?
Dazza.
Crosby kept Boris on a very tight leash only allowing "lightweight" interviews and interviews with one John Howard. What exactly is the morality of such high profile figures from Oz playing such a vital role in UK politics? Time will tell if Boris is a man of substance or of shadow, despite his being an known adulterer. Morality, it seems, is not necessary for being elected , there are shades of our own Boy Buswell here in the West. Despite bra snapping and chair sniffing his party and the business lobby find him suitable to lead, just as the people of London find the philandering Boris suitable to represent their great city. What can one say!!