Comments on: Ipsos MORI July Monitor

By: John B Dick

John B Dick — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:17:10 +0000

The Labour Party is not finished in England, but in a PR independent Scotland there may be realignments involving several parties on the left. The New- bit is the one likely to fail.

By: Joe James Broughton

Joe James Broughton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:57:22 +0000

Of course they will.
We have seen Labour written off in 1981-89, and the Tories
from 1997 to about 2005.
Perhaps parties are elected for longer periods of office, and when they are defeated the end is more spectacular, but I don’t think any party’s hold is permanent.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:57:24 +0000

It is possible that the current Labour Party is finished. However, I doubt this country will stop electing centre-leftish parties into power, just not for a while. Look what happened to the Conservatives in Canada, they were demolished in the 1993 election, yet there is a (somewhat rebranded) Conservative government there now.

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:05:06 +0000

‘Now does anyone agree with me that the Labour Party are finished north and south of the border & are now finished as a political party – they will divide and fall within 18 months.’

Wish fulfilment again oh Oraclesless one; yes they are in trouble but so they were in the 80s and the Tories in the 90s. Try to stay in the real world; only ‘god’ can see that far into the future… perhaps you should just stay at Delphi…

By: thomas

thomas — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:28:36 +0000

Mike,
all parties are in hock to their creditors one way or another – whether it be for financial support, technical communications support through various media, moral support in the polls or activist support on the ground.

Being ‘taken over by the liquidators’ may actually benefit Labour as this would rebalance their prioities away from over-emphasis on either large single donors or bloc backing from the unions, thereby preventing them from being dictated to by one or other. This would benefit Labour by enabling to make a wider base appeal of commonality to a larger cross-section of society rather than just counting on a coalition of minority interests who are gradually being set against each other by successive Brownite ‘wedge’ issues.

Meanwhile the conservatives are starting to come under greater scutiny over their dependence on benefactors who demand a return on their ‘investment’.

Midland Industrial Council members have consistently been provided with free advertising and photo-opportunities with david Cameron in exchange for their financial endorsement (Scania, JCB), while a number of other suporters have each sought to try to influence policy (Nadine Dorries acting as a spokesperson for ‘Christian Concern for our Nation’ immediately springs to mind). Additionally it appears that Cameron chooses to commend donor companies in his speeches to the exclusion of some more relevant examples of leaders in the specific field.

The less-successful smaller parties are similarly charged as lobby groups for the specific interests of members.

It seems Nick Clegg has taken note of the trend in what would seem a series of counter-intuitive decisions to reverse long-standing policies which initially appear to be against the instincts of LibDem activists, so it will be significant whether he can convince their annual conference to support him or whether he opens up a divide between the policy buffs and ideologists of that party.

On a smaller scale the SNP has its problems too with the likes of Donald Trump, Brian Souter and the hard-core of the independence movement. It hardly seems necessary to point out the Greens’ single-issue platform.

Preferential access is a fact of life in the lobby system we have, the question each of the parties must answer is whether they respond in a sufficiently representative manner while balancing the demands of all sides.

The concern about expenses and standards in public life raises questions about the thin divide between lobbying and corruption for all sides and shows it is a massive political issue about actual representational ability. But the conflict between bias and balance is an age old debate which I doubt will be resolved here or any time soon.