Well, I knew things were going to be bad for Labour, but I did not expect things to be as bad.
First of all, due to the margin of the victory of Will Quince, tactical voting would have made no difference, so Labour and Lib Dem supporters can and should not blame the other, and instead work to getting him out, when it comes to the next election in five years time. I had hoped that he would be voted out of office, this despite the way he had answered the letters that I have sent him. But now, with over 50% of the electorate of Colchester voting for him, he can truly claim to represent the town. Let me again emphasise, the silver lining here is that those who voted Green, Lib Dem, or Labour need not regret what would have happened if they had voted another way and some of the rancour that was present before the election should be forgiven and forgotten.
Second, Arsenal did not lose. I had expected that to happen, and while going two goals down is never good, the team showed resilience to come back from that to earn a draw. Hopefully, this will be reflected in league performances and the team will be able to pull together and produce the results that the ability that is in the squad deserves.
Labour will look at the reasons why this loss occurred, the question is if the right reasons for this loss will be identified and acted on. Many are going to blame Brexit, and many are going to blame the leader of the party. It was felt that Labour were going to be destroyed in the polls in 2017 but Jeremy Corbyn proved that there was an appetite for a fair Britain for all. But, ultimately, he still lost and austerity continued (other than in Northern Ireland due to the deal with the DUP). And to put things in perspective, despite Swine Flu and the global credit crunch, Gordon Brown came closer to being PM in 2010 that Corbyn did in 2017 or 2019, and that is when Corbyn had a failing NHS, police and education cuts giving people a reason not to vote for the Tories!
I am of the view that elections are won by getting voters who do not vote for you normally, to vote for you. Boris Johnson has done that, getting Labour voters to either vote Conservative, or switch to the Brexit Party. Labour can continue on a path away from appealing to voters of other parties, one which has resulted in one term stints in government, or Labour can learn from its most successful leader and bring about a government for the many which lasts longer than one parliamentary term. But considering the calls to have a purge of Blairites (I am a Brownite), I suspect I know what is to happen. And I fear that means more Conservative rule after the next General Election in 2024.
