PURITY OF ESSENCE MANDRAKE : The flurry of polls that come out each and every day have so far masked one of the more important aspects of the current general election campaign.
They’ve focused predominately on the daily argy-bargy of the GE campaign, the rising and falling of the stars on show, but little attention has been given to studies about what UK voters anticipate to come after the result is in.
Thankfully the University of East Fukit, located in the town of Fukitmore, in the county of Fourfuksak, has turned the attentions of its newly created polling department to assessing the reactions to various outcomes from the varied, possible GE results.
“Clearly it’s still all to play for,” head of the department, Professor Ohmygod, told LCD Views, “any outcome, from a Tory majority which releases a face eating plague upon the country, to a Labour one which sees FDI evaporate overnight, due to the current Labour leadership’s almost total silence on Tory electoral lawbreaking, is possible. But the hottest of the potatoes is surprisingly focused on what academics will make of a Tory victory.”
And it seems the expectations here are very straightforward.
“People are eagerly anticipating all the robust academic studies that will follow the GE result which will prove, without fail, that if the current Labour leadership had gotten off its high horse and engaged in marginal seat electoral pacts, not only would the Tories have been completely humiliated at the GE, but Labour would have won a majority.”
As it stands that’s unlikely, everyone must just vote for Labour, because party allegiance, and road to Damascus conversions, are more important than getting the Tories out.
“Well, it all depends on how hard you really want to get the Tories out, doesn’t it? Working with other parties Labour could see Raab, Rees-mogg, IDS, Redwood, Gove and even Boris Johnson booted out, but they’d just have to accept the price of that will be allowing opposition parties to win some other seats they were never going to win anyway.”
That’s tough.
“I’d say it’s blinding, bloody obvious if you want to get the Tories out.”
But maybe it’s more important that the supporters of Corbyn, and party tribal supporters of the other leaders, get to feel more virtuous? Even if they will then be eating rat under a Boris Johnson majority? At least they will be able to entertain themselves blaming each other? What’s so bad about that?
“Quite a lot, judging by our data. Grass roots campaigners from all parties are pulling together in various areas, and all the opposition parties in England, Wales and NI, bar Labour, have agreed to work together in dozens of seats. But what would totally do for the Tories, and most likely see Corbyn enter Downing Street, would be for the biggest opposition party to get involved.”
If that doesn’t happen, we will just have to pin our hopes on the common sense of the ordinary voter…