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Denzil_DC

(8,009 posts)
9. The polls are all over the shop at the moment.
Sat Jun 29, 2019, 06:26 AM
Jun 2019

I've seen projections for the Brexit Party of anything from 1 seat to 90 to 200-odd. First past the post is an unpredictable system.

The recent Euro elections aren't much of an indicator because historically UKIP (now superseded by the Brexit Party) has done well in them, turnout has been low, and few seem to understand the voting system or know who their MEPs are etc. That last election was also weird because the general assumption was that MEPs would barely have time to get their seats warm before the UK Brexited. That won't apply to MPs in a coming general election.

The Peterborough by-election is the only other indicator we've had of actual performance so far under FPTP, and the Brexit Party got squeezed out in a heavily Leave constituency, with most of the candidates saying local issues were more significant on the doorsteps than Brexit, and tactical voting possibly having been a factor.

The 30 or 40 seats total you mention may be feasible if the dice fall favourably for Farage et al., but the party balance and dynamics of a new parliament are likely to be complex. Also, Farage has never won a directly elected seat in all his time on the scene. He's never even come close.

As an MEP, Farage has the luxury of spending the few days he's in the European Parliament as a pure troublemaker, hobnobbing with Holocaust deniers etc., appearing on BBC Question Time, getting pissed and ripping the system off. That wouldn't apply if he did manage to squeak a seat in the UK Parliament - he'd actually have to start delivering something beyond Brexit, and before we even got to that stage, his party would have to thrash out a manifesto, or at least some sort of agreed platform beyond Brexit. Given his stances on many issues and the weird grab-bag of members and candidates the Brexit Party's had so far, not only would that process likely be divisive, the offer to voters would likely not have broad appeal.

Johnson may have support within the Tories (though some polls have seen his standing slipping), but he's not at all a popular choice among the general public. His main advantage is the weakness of the opposition, but it's not clear that will be enough to put him in No. 10.

I'm not trying to hold out faint hope, but doomsaying plays into the bastards' hands.

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