TheLaughingMagician
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Stephenson's Rocket was still in service, Victoria wasn't on the throne yet and the 1832 Reform Act which did away with rotten and pocket boroughs and enlarged the franchise had just been passed. That's how long Shropshire has been Tory. That's how badly this clown is doing.
Tyrann01
Remember everyone. This by-election would not have happened if Boris hadn't tried to change the rules to get his mate off the hook.
AjKaramba
Video: Tory minister gets openly laughed at on Question Time https://twitter.com/jonlis1/status/1471618685647396867
ToSisPoS
The bus said we’d drive out all the foreign people and it’d pay for NHS! Why did bus lie?!
Bystandr
Good. Finally. Then they can bin the idiots trying to open you up to US style healthcare implementation. Save the NHS. You dont want the
Bystandr
alternative.
reeves683
It’s a tale as old as time. When the Tories are in power, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
DrZev
Same with the Republicans in the USA.
slinkiisu
Ha
ButterworthToast
They reward their friends huge contracts, don't serve the public and have 2nd lobbying jobs. Tory's are self serving and lack empathy.
Iaimtomisbehave
Canadoug
VanillaJester
I usually like change, but Idk that the Lib Dems are better. They're a bunch of wet blankets who stand for nothing.
Sumpte
Standing for nothing and being a bit less abhorrent on civil liberties will do for now.
VanillaJester
Yeah, fair. A position of passivity aids the oppressor, but at least it's not active oppression.
SilverNicktail
Good of them to wait as long as possible and enable full-on xenophobic authoritarianism before deciding A CHRISTMAS PARTY was the last straw
dudfey
This is a pretty common thing tho, sometimes it’s the weirdest and move trivial stuff that’s enough to push people over /
dudfey
It’s fear of change, people would rather convince themselves a bad situation is fine instead of face the truth and potentially have to do /
dudfey
Something they aren’t used to - we see it a lot with voting because many people are used to just voting for the same party without thought
Thelrishlnquistion
They lost a by-election in a deep blue borough, triggered by the resignation of an MP for sleaze which Boris himself made 10 times worse.
eugene51
Well, it's not like he could make it better. Any time he gets involved, it's like throwing petrol on a fire.
Squeakybumcheeks
I hate the tories, I also hate the tories, But did i mention i hate the tories.. Cos i do.
ThatsMySecretCapImAlwaysHorny
I hate all politicians. People vote for them based on the colour of the rosette, not their abilities.
Squeakybumcheeks
They are all liars. They get voted in for the lies they tell til the next lot of liars get voted in. But yeah rosettes too.
tinkbell755
Good!
clemdarkstarzero
MaybeNever
"Still get a shitload of votes somehow"
GhostofRoland
Eat the rich with a side of chips
SlowboatToShortbus
Was the vote count 16,472 to 0?
Prinzka
bushfrogben
Never trust a Tory.
cunninglinguist85
Seems like fucking business and letting the bodies pile sky high didn't work out
Abominom
Lib Dems are essentially conservative
bohjeenie
My home county ❤️
redsmerf
No really... Who looked at this guy and though "yeah, I want him running the country"?
eugene51
He promised all the xenophobes he'd "get Brexit Done", & convinced a lot of people that everything was the foreigners' fault.
Tyrann01
Racists.
UsernameMayBeSubjectToChange
I bet bojo will regret his party
madeejit
It's the little things that trip you up...
EricPisch
The support staff party, that he didn’t organise or attend ?
EricPisch
Or the Tory party
acinonyxjubatus
It seems crazy that they didn't make that clear, or that No10 is a complex of 100+ rooms, BoJo has just been "Boosters, boosters, boosters."
RamosIsANerd
Yes, the one he assured everyone didn't happen. That's the one.
eugene51
I think his party is now regretting him.
UsernameMayBeSubjectToChange
A little late for that
eugene51
Better late than never.
Ricochet121
Came for the Tory bashing, stayed for the clever wordplay
FrogBotherer
What a swing that was too, LD gain *37%* from the previous election.
TheLaughingMagician
Tactical voting works, everybody take notes for the Big One.
FrogBotherer
Looking at the results it seems that it's mainly Tory voters changing sides, remember this was the seat held by Owen Paterson. Still it's a-
FrogBotherer
good day for progressive politics. http://www.electionpolling.co.uk/by-elections/2021/12/16/shropshire-north
TheLaughingMagician
This is entirely because Owen rage quit. But twenty fucking thousand voters jumping ship is quite the nudge on the ol' swingometer.
FrogBotherer
StorytellingSalem
American here: “what happened? Yall held an election?”
TheLaughingMagician
A Tory MP rage quit politics because he was caught being corrupt and Boris couldn't protect him. There was an election for his seat, and 1
TheLaughingMagician
Voters turned on the party. It's a bit like if Kentucky voted third party at a mid-term.
MaybeNever
Hopefully it will translate to something good in your next general election, though conservatives are incredibly good at entrenching.
StorytellingSalem
Waow! Thanks!
shankill
Conservatism is a fucking cancer!
ToastedEggSandwich
Cancer progresses, though.
Superfloofthundercat
?
Headcase444
On both sides of the pond lol.
Cilvaa
britdick
Fanofthegoldenpun
Ah! My old friend Sardo Numspa! Long time no see.
EtherealRune
Sydonis12
It's meant to reign in the pace of change, but shit doesn't work in a system where minority can rule and disinformation flies everywhere.
MetaVulture
One of the most reliable cures to cancer is to cut it out.
BillyBurnesMcGurne
Not really. Reactionaryism is the cancer. Reactionaries have just adopted the "conservative" moniker. Tory =\= conservative.
LoudAngryJerk
Conservatism is by definition reluctance to make things better.
HarryDresdenIsMySpiritAnimal
I would argue that the definition is to avoid change, but effectively they are the same thing.
LoudAngryJerk
a distinction without a meaningful difference.
DingleTheDingus
I do totally agree, but liberalism is designed to keep u pissed off by wishing for a utopia that is impossible to design. They both suck!
ChickenFingerFingers
I'd rather have progress than to recede.
DingleTheDingus
And I'd rather have food than gold.
LurkerOfDarkness
Liberalism is very close to conservatism, and what americans call conservative is actually fascism, and Liberalism is not left at all.
DingleTheDingus
I can vibe with that
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DingleTheDingus
That's not what liberals do...duuurrrr
LoudAngryJerk
That's what they try to do by definition.
DingleTheDingus
And who defined this and what was their political leaning when they did? Just because someone says something doesnt mean they'll do it.
SimianSeminar
You're a fucking idiot mate.
DingleTheDingus
I dont trust anyone that trusts either side. Anyone that thinks either side is not a villain is the fucking idiot...mate.
ekthompson
As an American - this is good, right?
Toffeeaccident
Its.. better I guess would be more accurate
Tyrann01
Yes. It's like, imagine if as a response to Trump, Texas turned blue.
ThatsMySecretCapImAlwaysHorny
A more accurate analogy would be turning yellow (not coward, a third party)
Tyrann01
Yeah good point. I just don't know enough about American politics to know of 3rd party candidates.
RuBisCO1
I want to see the whole exit spirt continue with scotland and even northern island leaving kingdom, See Boris get the blame.
MrNecrophile
No, because us multinational Brits will pay the price for a portion of the population's stupid opinions and everyone else's thirst for lols
TheGhostofElizabethShue
Nope. The same forces that supported splitting the UK from the EU (and every other country) support this too. It would be fucking awful.
AgnosticPaladin
I'd kind of like to see Scotland independent and back in the EU. At least i'd get cheap(er) scotch.
TheGhostofElizabethShue
Oh, totally worth it then.
cpcgamer
So the Conservatives are done now, right? "Literal giggling contempt for the lives of you and your loved ones" is a hard thing to overcome.
ElPoloDiablo
They'll dump Boris, bring on another tosser as a "fresh new face," and their polls will go back up. That's what they've done last two times.
smolbep
I'm out of the loop - What are you referring to?
BYERE
We wish, but not yet most likely :(
JPBStory
I wish it was harder to overcome
stringyflea
We're a country that has elected one Labour Prime Minister/government in the last 40+ years. So no, Tories aren't done unfortunately.
TheLaughingMagician
Fantastic sign, but it's more likely Boris is done. I'm worried they can change leaders and the goldfish will forget.
Cartoones
HEY!!! ....what we're we talking about?
JohnSmithterms
I spoke to a goldfish in her 30's that voted tory . She did not know what tax bands were and didn't want Corbyn raising her taxes. FML.
Sumpte
They'll get rid of Boris at some point, and then the media will help them rebrand and act like Labour were in power all along. Remember >
troyandabedpostoniiiiimgur
Vote of no confidence is coming. I see him being replaced with rishi who will end up being worse no doubt.
Sumpte
that Boris saying he would rather see "bodies pile high" than lockdown didn't finish him off. Conservative voters are fucking deluded.
TogepiSnow
They'll likely switch leaders early next year and blame every single thing on him. New leader means clean slate. It worked before
Tyrann01
Not so sure. All the potential candidates are known in the public eye as mired in the same corruption.
swagb98623
Does this mean we thank Boris?
blumpk1npie
Tbh I would rather Boris spiralled more slowly so he could fuck up the next election. Sadly, he'll probably be out next year.
mward1984
This. Boris still being in power is Kiers only chance to win the next General election really.
Tyrann01
Issue is, that's not the moral choice. Longer Boris is in power, the more people die. I would rather he goes now.
BisexualAtheistMinister
American here. Is this good news?
blaghart
It's akin to Kentucky electing a Dem senator.
Thelrishlnquistion
It’s excellent news.
Treblaine
It can't necessarily be extrapolated as the seat was vacated due to a major scandal AND the left-vote wasn't split like usual.
Treblaine
Nationwide, the Tories get into power as the two major left wing parties split the left wing vote in a "first past the post" system.
CP3oh
I think it'd be like Mississippi turning Blue. Kinda unusual but don't expect it to last.
Hrafna55
A good day. It will make the Tories nervous but the voters often use by-elections to slap the government. It is a massive swing though..
eugene51
It will scare enough tory MPs in the north that their seats aren't safe with him in charge. A cote of no confidence could finish him.
jimicus
It's a start. Long way to go yet.
Youhavinagiraffe
It's good yes but also small by-elections often have weird results which don't pan out nationally. And Boris has a significant majority...
madeejit
Some of the Tories could be sharpening the knives for Boris. They'll put up with with a lot of his bollocks, but they don't like losers.
Youhavinagiraffe
Lots of the Tory establishment really hate Boris and always have, and they're pretty ruthless with past failing leaders they DID like
Youhavinagiraffe
...and is actively taking on a bunch of GOP-esque moves to try and solidify Tory minority rule
RamosIsANerd
Yes. Not major but a tiny step in the right direction.
BlairT1
We’ll take it. Us Yanks worry about our buddies over the pond too. Conservative shitheads need to go
Richter12x2
Seriously. Some of us were hoping escape to Britain when the GOP fucks it all up, only to find out you're only a few steps behind us.
RamosIsANerd
When?! What else are you waiting for?
Toffeeaccident
Wouldn't recommend it for now yeah. Sorry mate, maybe in a decade or so we can all have a pint together.
W92Baj
Imagine Mitch getting voted out
TheVampireDante
Imagine Mitch in a bear trap.
stltim
I like that better
RedWingedBlackbirds
dogfavoriter
Kinda like if a progressive Democrat got elected as a senator of Mississippi.
KingORedLions
Eh, more like a centrist Libertarian, but yes.
Thelrishlnquistion
Exactly this.
Sumpte
Lib Dems are barely progressive, this is like a middle of the road democrat. Maybe not quite Manchin or Sinema, but in that ballpark.
BrdCdn
US democrats are centrist by Western Standars so his analogy is actually pretty close. Middle Road Democrat would be right leaning.
Sumpte
The Lib Dems ARE right leaning. In the past decade they worked with the Conservatives to triple tuition fees and privatise national >
Sumpte
services like Royal Mail (equivalent of UPS). They're equivalent to someone like Biden, not a 'progressive Democrat' like AOC.
azzabat
Or AOC ousting McConnell in Kentucky.
squelcheswetly
And Mississippi had a higher level of literacy.
ChainmailleAddict
I still smile when I think of Doug Jones. "Democrat senator... from ALABAMA?!"
ChainmailleAddict
(Granted he was roughly as conservative as Manchin but STILL. For that matter I'm glad we have a majority even if he sucks.)
GFYandyourstupidrequirements
Tories are English Republicans
EtherealRune
I'd say republicans are closer to britain first tbh
GFYandyourstupidrequirements
Ok. Republicans are American Tories. An asshole by any other name…
extraDimensionalAnxiety
Would smell so... It would just smell.
Tyrann01
Tories under Boris are pretty much Republicans.
youcancallmesusanifitmakesyouhappy
Even before boris
Tyrann01
True. Now they don't bother to hide it.
Cayowin
Britian first/ukip is more Maga/tea party Republicans. With conservative = older Reagan/mccain gop
DeborahMullen
I need to know that English voters are going to come to their senses at some point. Because…damn. (American resident in Scotland)
TheLaughingMagician
Hi Deb's, this is weird, I think we actually know each other but I'd rather not dox myself here. I'm a regular on the Edinburgh music scene.
DeborahMullen
Aha!! I knew I’d run into somebody on here eventually! Hello!! ?
TheLaughingMagician
Long haired beardy chap, probably been in the Royal Oak together or a party at some point. I'll leave you wondering who the fuck I am.
DeborahMullen
Aha!!!
[deleted]
[deleted]
DeborahMullen
Gav?
DeborahMullen
Gav?