Voting and the electorate
Politics is a career and one where opponents will dig up the dirt on anyone in their way
Polls are relied upon to forecast results, but no one expected the British public to vote to leave the EU, even David Cameron who allowed the referendum believing he had the result in the bag. Now we have another Conservative leader contest, but unlike last time there is no public favourite—in fact, either people have never heard of them or they are despised. Hunt, for example was foolhardy to think he ever stood a chance, and at least Gove knew humiliating himself again was not worth it.
In recent times we have seen the ‘Red Wall’ mentioned and it is something that polls cannot account for or predict. They were the ones who voted for Brexit and Boris, and many were first time Conservative voters who had voted Labour all of their lives. You see, there is a new class of Labour voter, and no one can fully understand how they think or how they vote. Labour voters no longer want to merely protest, but they want the country to do well and to be protected. We are also in an era where many people are small business owners, freelancers, or contractors so they don’t need the backing of Labour unions as before. While these people are not Conservative, they have moved up a social class and are no longer beholden to the union vote that was common in factories and industries like the coal mines and steel works. Boris Johnson appealed to them because he didn’t use fancy language and they understood what he said. Theresa May always looked slightly scared, as if she didn’t really believe what she was saying, and David Cameron depended too much on what he believed other people thought.
The domestic politics of each country matters when it comes to helping Ukraine defend itself from Russia, as we have seen the Hungarian government has Russia ties and sympathies, and Macron of France is telling the world not to humiliate Russia. Tell that to the mother who lost her 4-year-old daughter as they were walking down the street where she lost a leg a few days ago.
The governments in Sweden and Finland are also important, because they chose to join NATO and that will strengthen the defences in the Baltic region. There could easily have been a government that didn’t want to. We look back at Ukraine when they applied to join NATO, but were told to wait and they then had a corrupt pro-Russian government who put the brakes on joining any alliances in keeping with the Russian demands.
Politicians must change with the people, and no one expects a politician to be honest and truthful all the time—in fact, there are very few human beings who are truthful all of the time. What I am saying is that Boris has made mistakes and mishandled some situations, but has be conspired with external bodies to usurp them like Rishi Sunak? Theresa May failed to make headway with Brexit, and the EU were walking all over her, and I think in some small way she was relieved she didn't have that responsibility because she had been a ‘Remainer’. In the UK, we are now faced with the prospect of a World War, and need someone to complete the Brexit process—this is not something that can wait and needs someone with an iron fist to handle matters. From the choice of candidates there isn’t a single one that appears to be up to the task, and that is why the Conservative and MSM meddlers have really messed things up, and made a difficult situation even worse than it was before. They pushed their best asset out because they thought they could control things and do better. Instead, they have a bigger mess to deal with than before and have basically handed the Labour Party a win without even trying unless they swallow some pride and find a way for Boris to return before the next election.
A lot to think about! It is true that we "don't look at the overall picture"; this is true most of us anyway, because it is true, " we want a decent and comfortable life". Your insights into 'domestic politics' and the 'geopolitical' realities echo debate and discussions, but the latter is overshadowed by the fact that 'domestically', we "want the country to do well and be protected". Maybe unions, if they want to be 'relevant' and ensure voters are "beholden to the union vote", need to present a bigger picture of 'geopolitics'.