Party Politics

  • Reform UK power play the meeting format

    The recent rise of Reform UK to a relative-sized status in the UK Parliament has led to a power play of the meeting format. Its ‘events’ across the country have utilised this to the maximum. Its supporters are essentially taking part in party meetings.

    The results are clear. They’ve taken on more defectors who’ve got seats by their own efforts. Their membership is beyond the Conservatives total. Their imprint on media networks is increasing on different brands. The focus on people power is working.

  • Reform makes a splash (National News Report)

  • Westminster Week: Take cover!

    Monday

    The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy MP (Tottenham/Labour), praised Ukraine for its “defiant blitz spirit” in a Ministerial Statement. His disdain for the war has been a consistent line. Today he put Putin’s war into a “Tsarist tradition” in Russian imperialism. He said “Ukraine’s security is our security”, but it’s an anxious wait.

    Wednesday

    Prime Minister’s Questions brought out the gusto that sometimes is Parliamentary politics. Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex/Conservatives) said the increase of defence spending announced yesterday was her idea.

    The Prime Minister retorted, saying “she didn’t feature in my thinking at all”. He denied hearing about it, calling it a “desperate search for relevance” for her.

  • Carney seeks to be Canada PM

    Mark Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has said he will seek to win the office of Prime Minister of Canada later this year.

    Mark Carney at his launch event

    He declared his candidacy at a campaign event, held yesterday to launch his run for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. It’s the first time he’s tried to do so.

  • Westminster Week: Average expectations

    Monday

    It’s interesting to see the public gallery busy. It overlooks the Commons chamber. It’s a good view over proceedings. It can be awkward if the issue is closer to home.

    The gallery is supposed to be quiet, but every now and then an odd laugh goes up as an MP says something. It’s a natural reflex but reveals a truth that some of us are acutely engaged.

    Wednesday

    PMQ’s is a rough and ready experience for MP’s. It’s back and forth has inspired and repelled in the past. Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex/Conservatives) was in a combative mood today as she launched sideswipes at the Prime Minister.

  • Labour’s rough start

  • The leadership factor

    The outreach on social networks is indicative of a sway of digital technology and marketing in our modern era. It’s not a slick presentation about old values that gets attention. Neither is it a constant appeal to old heroes or better days.

    The new status of a party is who it’s got and why. The allure of a charismatic figure draws ire, but so does a bore. The way to connect with voters has gotten a lot more technical.

    There’s little room for manoeuvre at the top. If you’ve got it the best way is to keep it. Any drop in notoriety of being a decent leader is a statistic they build omens on. The trick is in the trade.

  • Winter blues in politics

  • Exposed: Anti-Tory X profile

    In an exclusive for ConservativeNewsSite.com, a social media profile known as “BladeoftheSun” is behind a campaign of hatred against present leader of the Conservative party Kemi Badenoch.

    The evidence

    The profile itself, reminiscent of socialist themes and context, is an online hate campaign hub meant to spread fear and instil false hope of change at leadership levels in politics.

    @BladeoftheS – X

    The setup

    Yesterday an attempt was made to “stage” an effect of non-complicity, to prepare for accusations in person and in public against her. These were meant to make her leave office.

    A setup covertly filmed

    The effect of this sort of sabotage can be disastrous for democracy, as it denies legitimate debate. It can also lead to mistrust in political realms, and derail hope for change.

  • Reform UK hits 100,000

    At a press conference this morning, Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf announced his party has over 100,000 members, an increase of over 80,000 since last year.

    It follows its first successes in July, when the party won five seats in Parliament. It had one MP before, Lee Anderson, who’d defected from the Conservative party in March.

  • Farage enjoys popularity

    According to a poll by YouGov, Nigel Farage MP (Clacton/Reform UK) is enjoying a surge of popularity.

    In the last few days of October, 86% said their view of him is either “very favourable” or “somewhat favourable”.

  • Long Report: Keeping society civil

    The idea behind rulership of any kind is a noble one, it’s just in practice it doesn’t always meet expectations. This is true in the UK, where discontent is found everywhere. The sources of it are both expected and unanticipated. There are people who, surprisingly, don’t care at all.

    It’s a sad situation, especially if your country is built around making sage decisions and believing in wisdom. The culture of England is such, and its history is ready fodder for debates in this way. However, there is a time for agreeing with one another, if not just to prosper ourselves.

    The reality of late is not as clear as this, either. It’s a truth be told that despite a belief rule doesn’t matter, or the day of Kings has passed to give way to democracy, it still matters who we are. The press release hasn’t gone out overseas, and it proves in repeated calls for independence.

    What we do wrong

    The activities of Parliament for instance are no barometer for us to measure the truth by, since sentiment – public or otherwise – is simply not as consequential as historical moments in themselves. It doesn’t matter if we write a perfect sermon, speech, or slogan, as it counts for so little.

    The genuine change is not coming because people said it so, but because we want it so. In some sense constitutions give a false impression of progress, because the past can be used to nudge things along in the present. The issue is the previous lot were not meant for this at all.

    The false logic is that people today know what they want, and so it’s best to give it to them. The reality is politics is a science and getting to a compromise takes more than an act of protest. The result has to be in line with our human interest, based on rights, and so it’s not as slapdash.

    The worry is we’ll make the same mistake we allege of others, with decisions too quick and harm created for others. The same can be said of legislatures today, because of a temptation to make snap judgements that lead to a repeat of historic offenses, wrongs, and controversies.

  • The job of covering politics

    The Commons is a mixed bag rather than a broad church. Not all turn up to worship and most are there to throw in a few cents or two. This is the reality of debates and committees where mostly contributions are not headline grabbing or vomit inducing. It’s a sedate affair.

    The array of MP’s we have are largely split into three (not four) groupings and they have their own problems too. The bigger issues are found at party level where discontent can be as onerous as the public’s.

    In general, the Conservative Party trumpet successes we struggle to see, and their activity resembles more a clandestine effort than a flag waving patriotic run at things. It’s difficult to see what the point is when things run largely the same, if not a little worse.

    The Labour Party all want the party to change no matter what hue they are or what seat they sit on. At least, this is the impression of a party that has had so many disagreements they resemble a Commons in itself.

    The Liberal Democrats would love to have the top job and might even enjoy it if only they could get it. Their results swing more than the more unstable voter and it’s difficult for them to plan for anything else than a third-party share of seats.

    The rest are fitted into this mess. It’s a difficult place to get work done and it’s also tumultuous because a normal country sits behind it and usually there’s stuff afoot there too. The job of a party leader must be difficult but the role of a journalist more so.

  • Reform pump their stats

    It’s clear Reform UK are feeling buoyant right now. They’ve just ended their annual conference and proved a decent sized audience and a slate of speeches worth hearing can work.

    They’re now pumping the stats accordingly, and it looks good on the backend of things. The party claims it’s got 85,000 members and counting, which is a good figure.

    It also says it’s set up 266 branches in just two months which is a staggering increase in its reach. It isn’t yet clear how long these will last and which are able to bring results at the ballot box.