One of the ongoing talking points on The BFD is the need for National to have friends they can partner with as without them their chances of regaining the Treasury benches are slim. In this regard, it is interesting to reflect on the UK election leading up to and on the day of the vote.
The major player during the lead up to the election outside of Corbyn and Johnson was Nigel Farage. Nigel, who has always wanted a no deal Brexit, launched the Brexit Party for the express purpose of hoping to attract enough Brexiteers to ensure the outcome he wanted was achieved. In the beginning, he was attracting huge numbers to his meetings and filling large halls. This was particularly the case in the north east of England where there had been a large leave vote in the referendum. It looked like the Brexit Party was on course to pick up a number of Labour-held seats in this part of the country. Nearer to the election Farage didn’t stand candidates in electorates which could have split the vote and prevented a Conservative win. Boris didn’t return the favour.
We now know how it all worked out. Nigel only got two per cent of the vote. Despite the enthusiasm for the Brexit Party at the start, when it came to putting pen to paper, perhaps somewhat shakily as Boris suggested, the voters went for his party. In the north east there were thousands who had never voted anything but Labour in their lives. They bought the simple slogan Get Brexit Done. This was a Brexit election first and foremost but the toxicity of Corbyn, his ridiculous policies and the anti-semitism of his party played into the Conservatives’ hands.
The fact that the UK has an FFP system meant Boris could win in a landslide without needing friends which of course is not possible here. However, I believe there are lessons we can learn from the election. First, having a leader that connects and an easy to understand slogan are a must. The slogan should reflect the major issue facing voters, in our case most on the right would say it’s the economy. On that score, most would vote National. Under MMP they need at least one support party. This is where the waters can get muddied because when it comes to support parties people can lose sight of the bigger picture and their personal policy preferences come into play. Guns, the environment, right to life etc. Then it becomes is it ACT, is it New Conservatives or some other party.
The answer to solving that problem is not to lose sight of the big picture. If it’s the economy then when it comes to a support party the sole question should be about which one would best support National’s economic direction. That answer is obviously ACT. So voters on the right should be focussing on voting National/Act as the most effective way of getting rid of the incumbent Government. Splitting votes elsewhere will not achieve the desired outcome.
The current lot of tragic imbeciles have taken just two years to have us back in debt through economic mismanagement including wasteful spending. We still have a year to go. We can’t afford another three.
National/Act it is.
