[Politics] Tory voters- where do you go from here?

[stewart12]

I think it'll be very interesting where the Tories go from here. Whilst I have never, and likely will never, vote for them, a weak opposition isn't of benefit to the country in my view

So my question to the Tory voters/people of the right of centre on here- where would you like to see them go from here?

So much of the media noise is about Reform, so they must be tempted to select one of their remaining far-right MPs as leader and make a lurch to the right in a bit to win back a lot of those votes. Similarly, they lost a lot of votes, and a HELL of a lot of seats to the centre and towards the left- particularly the Lib Dems but also Labour and even two to the Greens! So it could be a case of selecting a more stable moderate candidate, such as Jeremy Hunt, in a bid to hoover up lib dem/labour votes at the next election

Or the third option- do a deal with the devil and officially or unofficially merge with Reform and solidify the right wing vote

Where they can't stay is where they are- not really appealing to anyone

 

[Weststander]

Is it down to the lake I fear?

 

[Wrong-Direction]

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Aye aye aye aye aye aye

 

[Chicken Run]

I think it'll be very interesting where the Tories go from here. Whilst I have never, and likely will never, vote for them, a weak opposition isn't of benefit to the country in my view

So my question to the Tory voters/people of the right of centre on here- where would you like to see them go from here?

So much of the media noise is about Reform, so they must be tempted to select one of their remaining far-right MPs as leader and make a lurch to the right in a bit to win back a lot of those votes. Similarly, they lost a lot of votes, and a HELL of a lot of seats to the centre and towards the left- particularly the Lib Dems but also Labour and even two to the Greens! So it could be a case of selecting a more stable moderate candidate, such as Jeremy Hunt, in a bid to hoover up lib dem/labour votes at the next election

Or the third option- do a deal with the devil and officially or unofficially merge with Reform and solidify the right wing vote

Where they can't stay is where they are- not really appealing to anyone

Interesting as a similar question was asked about Labour on that Friday in December 2019, 5 years is a long time in Politics and no one could have predicted last night all those years ago

 

[stewart12]

Interesting as a similar question was asked about Labour on that Friday in December 2019, 5 years is a long time in Politics and no one could have predicted last night all those years ago

correct- and Labour lost a lot of votes both to the left and towards the right in 2019, having been caught between a rock and a hard place. A lot of parallels with last night really just on the other side of the spectrum

In response Labour had two options really, going with a fairly left leaning leader again like Rebecca Long-Bailey or moving to the centre with Starmer

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Interesting as a similar question was asked about Labour on that Friday in December 2019, 5 years is a long time in Politics and no one could have predicted last night all those years ago

Yes, but it's a bit different because, in 2019, Labour hadn't been in power for 14 years and the absolute shoeing didn't come after it had secured a landslide in the previous election.

 

[Chicken Run]

correct- and Labour lost a lot of votes both to the left and towards the right in 2019, having been caught between a rock and a hard place. A lot of parallels with last night really just on the other side of the spectrum

In response Labour had two options really, going with a fairly left leaning leader again like Rebecca Long-Bailey or moving to the centre with Starmer

There you go As to what the Tory voters do next, well i think like the majority of the electorate who didn’t vote for this government i guess they’ll be keeping an eye on the new government and their performance

 

[pb21]

Interesting as a similar question was asked about Labour on that Friday in December 2019, 5 years is a long time in Politics and no one could have predicted last night all those years ago

You're right, but a large part of the reason why Labour are in the position they are now is because they moved towards the centre. Will what's left of the Tory party do similar, or move towards the right even more en masse, or split?

I can't see them moving towards the centre, interesting times...

 

[stewart12]

Yes, but it's a bit different because, in 2019, Labour hadn't been in power for 14 years and the absolute shoeing didn't come after it had secured a landslide in the previous election.

also post 2019 you had partygate, which really did see their public trust take a real kicking and the result of that- Johnson quitting and thus spawning the reign of terror from Liz Truss- Sunak really didn't stand a chance (throwing in 14 years and desire for "change")

 

[Chicken Run]

also post 2019 you had partygate, which really did see their public trust take a real kicking and the result of that- Johnson quitting and thus spawning the reign of terror from Liz Truss- Sunak really didn't stand a chance (throwing in 14 years and desire for "change")

World Pandemic?

 

[Gabbiano]

Yes, but it's a bit different because, in 2019, Labour hadn't been in power for 14 years and the absolute shoeing didn't come after it had secured a landslide in the previous election.

The 2019 election was an outlier, in the sense that it was really a single issue election.

Everyone was sick of Brexit negotiations. Johnson came in hammering home "Get Brexit Done!"

Labour were busy dillydallying and infighting and didn't present any coherent vision.

The wishy washy stance on Brexit was what did for them, and why Starmer is still now so petrified to say that Brexit has gone badly. But to be fair to him, he has managed to secure the vote from both working class leave voters and metropolitan remainders and that's no mean feat.

 

[Chicken Run]

You're right, but a large part of the reason why Labour are in the position they are now is because they moved towards the centre. Will what's left of the Tory party do similar, or move towards the right even more en masse, or split?

I can't see them moving towards the centre, interesting times...

I’m assuming you wouldn’t want them too as they then become electable again

 

[KZNSeagull]

They have to move back to the centre - even Mad Nad thinks moving towards Reform is a bad move. Who will lead them though is another matter as all the good ones were kicked out years ago.

 

[Sorrel]

UK politics are about bringing a coalition together, usually within the same party. This election it was noticeable that the Labour Party did their best to appeal to the more right of centre voters, not those on the left.

I would guess they knew that way they were more likely to turn votes into seats - unlike in 2019 where they went the other way and concentrated votes in the cities but lost outside them.

Whoever wants to be successful has to consider that lesson. The Conservatives/Reform need to look at the two areas they need to expand into and work out the best strategy, though they don't need to do it yet. Do they go after the northern/working class seats or do they try and appeal to the "shires" voters who've gone Lib-Dem.

No idea what the answer is for them, but they have the luxury of being able to keep quiet on policies now, as Labour have for the last year or so.

The unknown to me is what happens to the Lib Dems. They are in opposition, but what in practice will they oppose? They also campaigned apparently without policies, but now they have to decide what to support and what to not. Quite a lot of people who voted for them will have done so from an anti-Tory point of view, not because they enjoyed the leader's latest clowning attempts.

Maybe not being the Conservatives is enough for the Lib Dem voters to keep voting for them, but the Greens are moving up to take that space and they have actual policies. If the Conservatives go right, then the LibDems will move further into the centre (as they are sort of doing with the policy vacuum now).

And - of course - everything depends on "events". That is when Labour will start being judged. The Conservatives last time had Covid and never really recovered. I hope Labour are not so unlucky.

 

[fly high]

And - of course - everything depends on "events". That is when Labour will start being judged. The Conservatives last time had Covid and never really recovered. I hope Labour are not so unlucky.

To that you can add Russia's invasion of Ukraine which had a massive impact on energy prices and inflation.

 

[Chicken Run]

Let’s be brutally honest, from today it only gets slowly better for the Tories, equally as of today it will slowly get worse for the Labour Party.

 

[Chicken Run]

The 2019 election was an outlier, in the sense that it was really a single issue election.

The 2024 election was an outlier, in the sense that it was really a single issue election, get the Tories out by any measure

 

[Gabbiano]

The 2024 election was an outlier, in the sense that it was really a single issue election, get the Tories out by any measure

Hah! A fair point.

 

[pb21]

I’m assuming you wouldn’t want them too as they then become electable again

I'd be more than happy with, what I would consider to be a sensible Tory party, to be electable again