Conservative party/opposition watch

[Potemkin Villager]

There's a program on SBS News (edited) at the moment about Rupert Murdoch. Allegedly Murdoch does all his business activities for the influence and not the money. For some people power is more important than money.

I saw the Dirty Digger quite by chance and at close quarters many years ago and he was not an impressive sight. He gives off an air of melodious permadissatisfaction suggesting he will never be happy with his lot. He seemed unimpressed by the bowing and scraping of various Sky News functionaries surrounding him. Who can he trust? His family?

[BritDownUnder]

I still love the Spitting Images puppets of the farting Press hacks with the Aussie accents. The resemblance to Rupie is purely coincidental of course.

[mr brightside]

I still love the Spitting Images puppets of the farting Press hacks with the Aussie accents. The resemblance to Rupie is purely coincidental of course.

Do you have a ytube link for that?

[Mark]

There's a program on SBS News (edited) at the moment about Rupert Murdoch. Allegedly Murdoch does all his business activities for the influence and not the money. For some people power is more important than money.

I saw the Dirty Digger quite by chance and at close quarters many years ago and he was not an impressive sight. He gives off an air of melodious permadissatisfaction suggesting he will never be happy with his lot. He seemed unimpressed by the bowing and scraping of various Sky News functionaries surrounding him. Who can he trust? His family?

Fox News settles Dominion defamation case for $787.5m:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65318654

Small beer for Murdoch, but I guess he thinks it money well spent to prevent a Court visit...
More to come though - Smartmatic also have a $2.7B defamation lawsuit against Fox for peddling the same Trump lies...

[clv101]

These are huge sums of anyone's money. Murdoch is falling out of favour somewhere.

[BritDownUnder]

I still love the Spitting Images puppets of the farting Press hacks with the Aussie accents. The resemblance to Rupie is purely coincidental of course.

Do you have a ytube link for that?

No I don't and I searched for it and could not find it. Not surprising really given he runs a lot of media. I do remember it from the 1980s spitting image program.

There used to be a scene with two press hacks with at least one with an Aussie accent trying to light their farts.

[Mark]

MASSIVE NEWS - Nadine Dorries resigns with immediate effect...








and BoJo too....

[UndercoverElephant]

Two by-elections in tory constituencies. Get the popcorn ready, because this is going to be good. The tories need a small miracles to hold on to Johnson's seat, but Dorries was sitting on a huge majority. Voters feel free to punish politicians at by-elections, so this could be a historic by-election victory for Labour.

[Mark]

2019 General Election

Mid Bedfordshire
Candidate/Party Votes Share Change
Nadine Dorries Conservative 38,692 59.8% -1.9%
Rhiannon Meades Labour 14,028 21.7% -6.8%
Rachel McGann Liberal Democrat 8,171 12.6% 6.6%
Gareth Ellis Green Party 2,478 3.8% 1.0%
Alan Victor Independent 812 1.3% 1.3%
Ann Kelly Official Monster Raving Loony Party 536 0.8% -0.2%

Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Candidate/Party Votes Share Change
Boris Johnson Conservative 25,351 52.6% 1.8%
Ali Milani Labour 18,141 37.6% -2.4%
Joanne Humphreys Liberal Democrat 3,026 6.3% 2.3%
Mark Keir Green Party 1,090 2.3% 0.4%
Geoffrey Courtenay UK Independence Party 283 0.6% -2.8%
Lord Buckethead Official Monster Raving Loony Party 125 0.3% 0.3%
Count Binface Independent 69 0.1% 0.1%
Alfie Utting Independent 44 0.1% 0.1%
Yace Yogenstein Independent 23 0.0% 0.0%
Norma Burke Independent 22 0.0% 0.0%
Bobby Smith Independent 8 0.0% 0.0%
William Tobin Independent 5 0.0% 0.0%

[UndercoverElephant]

Another Johnson ally has resigned, so now we have three by-elections. This appears to be a full-blown tory civil war. These are Johnson stalwarts resigning in order to punish the party for finding Johnson guilty for partygate. I wonder if more will follow.

[Potemkin Villager]

Yes Bojo has left a damned fine legacy.

Hurrah! A job well done, a country badly served and dozens of good friends stabbed in the back.

It is often said that you don't have to be mad to work here but it helps. The emotional and cognitive dysfunctionality of these tossers continues to beggar belief. Part of the problem is that politics largely attracts all the wrong sort of people for the wrong sort of reasons.

If the voters of Uxbridge elect another tory clone I will eat my hat.

[UndercoverElephant]

Yes Bojo has left a damned fine legacy.

Rivalled only by Liz Truss, who somehow managed to do a similar amount of damage while also breaking the record for the shortest serving PM in British history. Neither of them should ever have been serious candidates for tory leader or Prime Minister, and I think the same applies to Theresa May, who now looks really not that bad even though she completely screwed up both brexit and the election she didn't need to call. I hate the tories for their politics, but I look at Thatcher, Cameron and Sunak and I see people who were/are at least competent as political leaders. Johnson should have stayed in journalism. I am struggling to think of any appropriate use for Liz Truss.

[Mark]

2019 General Election

Selby and Ainsty
Candidate/Party Votes Share Change
Nigel Adams Conservative 33,995 60.3% 1.5%
Malik Rofidi Labour 13,858 24.6% -9.6%
Katharine Macy Liberal Democrat 4,842 8.6% 4.5%
Mike Jordan The Yorkshire Party 1,900 3.4% 3.4%
Arnold Warneken Green Party 1,823 3.2% 3.2%

[Mark]

FWIW, my predictions:

Mid Bedfordshire - CON HOLD
Uxbridge and South Ruislip - LAB GAIN
Selby and Ainsty - CON HOLD

Anyone else ?

[clv101]

Agreed, if the conservatives lose either of those seats they might as well just close the party down.