#GE2017 - England is Woke

Their England is a Lie 
Due to the semi-democratic nature of the British two-party state, there is always a focus on the number of seats won in the immediate aftermath of a general election, but I think it is far better to look at the way people actually voted. Though it is not a very accurate representation of the true will of the people as many voters will have voted for their second choice candidate.

Therefore, I think the best way to look at the result is to divide the parties into progressive and reactionary camps and on that score, the progressives are clear winners.

The Progressives: Labour/Liberal Democrats/Greens/non-English Nationalists/non Ulster Unionists - 53.7%

The Reactionaries: CleP*/UKIP/Ulster Unionists - 45.3%

This is a big turnaround from 2015 when there was a slight reactionary majority of 50.4% and a Progressive share of just 45.5%.

To quote the ever brilliant David Allen Green law expert and  Jack of Kent blogger "The people have become the enemies of the people".

It is not a perfect division as not all non-English nationalist voters or UKRIP flirting Labour voters can be described as individually progressive, but they are cancelled out by a chunk of Tory voters who are small "l" liberals worried by scare stories over Corbyn and a "coalition of chaos" or voting against the SNP in Scotland.

But the most heartening result of the general election is the re-birth of progressive England, with a vote split of 51.6% progressive and 47.7% reactionary, which is well down on the 55.1% from 2015.

The result in Westminster means it is hung like a donkey and a weakened and divided CleP now has to take us through Brexshit, propped up by the Raving Ulster Loonies. It may well be the most appropriate result.

I have to say, that like many, I underestimated Jeremy Corbyn and  the Great British Public but, unlike many, I am happy about this. In my guide to GE2017, I said that in another age Mr Corbyn could be a Prime Minister like Clement Attlee. I had also previously compared him to Attlee in my Moon book review of Reason in Revolt by Fred Copeman. In the 30s Mr Attlee was openly mocked and not taken seriously by the establishment, but he gradually rebuilt the party after the "Blairite" leadership of Ramsey McDonald and the Great Depression. Then in 1945 he won landslide by increasing the Labour vote share by 9.7%.

Labour did not win this election but they increased their vote share by 9.6%. Hopefully, the Corbyn leadership will not end the same way as the Attlee one when Labour managed to "lose" an election despite increasing their share of the vote from 1945 by 1 percent to 48.8%  - the nearest any party has come to an actual majority since the War. That Labour are not yet in government should make that similarity with the Attlee years unlikely. I always thought Labour under Corbyn would do better than the polls suggested, they even did better than expected and as reported in the local and by-elections. However, I did not think they could be this successful simply because it was not the 1950s, but the great British public have proved me wrong, and it may be that we are at the beginning of a new and different age.

Also, like many, I  overestimated Theresa May. Initially, I was quite relieved she became PM as it seemed as though the grown-ups had stopped the Brexshitters taking over. And it is still one of Tory parties few finest hours, as it did help to calm things down after the Brexshit vote and that, along with delaying article 50 at least managed to delay the damage.

But then it seems the Maybot got captured by the Brexshitters and rewired. Not that I was ever that impressed with her, she had been a poor Home Secretary, whether you looked at it from the right or the left and the fact she became the only obvious candidate for leader speaks volumes about the state of her party. And I have always found her fashion sense appalling, especially the shoes.

But the most amazing revelation was that she was also a Maybot in private. The leaking of the private conversation she had with EU officials at the No10 dinner was underhand, but I think if happened because they were simply amazed by the way she behaved. It was as though she was trying to be like the Iron Lady at a party conference, but I very much doubt that Thatcher would have been anything like that in private. This impression of the Maybot has since been backed up by Nicola Sturgeon, who has said that is was like she was reading from a script in private meetings, and Nick Clegg who has said he had to ask her to stop bringing her special advisers to meetings so he could engage with her, but then found out he couldn't as she would not make any decisions without consulting her special advisers.

My greatest underestimation was over the influence of the printed press, and it is the one I am most pleased about. I did think their influence was waning due to falling sales and their lack of reach online. The Daily Mail is incredibly popular but it is very much a bubble with very low engagement on social media and what is engaged with is generally not political.

It has turned out that the top two articles with the biggest reach were from Another Angry Voice a Blogger blog written by one bloke and one of God's very own. The blog is pretty basic but the writing is fantastic and although very forthright it is always backed up by strong evidence. It is a great example of substance trumping style, which social media is not renowned for. It can be described as radical left or very progressive, but it, along with a few others, have become a counterweight to the extreme bias and the dishonesty of the print media which also has too much influence in setting the broadcast media's agenda.

However, just over 14 million still voted CleP or UKRIP and the 42.4% who voted for Iron Maybot matches the percentage who voted for the Iron Lady in her 1987 landslide. So there is much work still to be done. But when The Moon guide to GE2017 was published, YouGov had CleP/UKRIP  on 52% and CleP had a 16% lead over Labour, so clearly it was The Moon wot won it.

*The Conservative little englander Party aka The Tories.

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