The Month That Was……July 2024

I like politics. I like numbers. There’s only one thing for it then……a political numbers special this month.

You’re very welcome.

After 43 days and 8 debates……Labour it is.

There was no rioting in the streets. No burning of cars. No damage to public buildings. Not even a spiteful speech here or there (Keir and Rishi actually paid each other compliments!). The most controversial thing that happened was a removal truck arriving at Number 10 a few minutes early.

In fact, it was a truly dignified transfer of power……especially compared with the treasonous chaos in the USA in January 2020 after Donald Trump lost the election there.

For the record……

14 years that included……5 Prime Ministers, 7 Chancellors, 8 Foreign Secretaries, 13 Culture Secretaries, 8 Home Secretaries and 16 Housing Ministers. If the Government were a Head Teacher, the school would be in Special Measures.

We’ve endured David Cameron’s self-loving smugness, Thereas May’s chaos, BoJo’s lies (and lies about his lies), the Liz Truss experiment and Rishi’s vanilla approach to everything.

It marks the end of 20 months of Rishi’s time in office, as Keir becomes the UK’s 58^th Prime Minister.

But some significant legacies have been left. We must continue to endure the fallout from Brexit that is costing us £100 billion a year in loss trade, we have the worst trade deficit since records began and our national debt is at £3 trillion. Now that’s a legacy.

Whist this was a spectacular victory for Labour given they came from the doldrums (their result in 2019 was their worst since 1935), the story of this election is one of an electorate showing a ruthless determination to eject the Conservatives. It was a loveless Labour landslide win.

Conservatives suffered their worst electoral defeat in history and were left with just 121 MPs. The Tory rhetoric has proved to be so divisive for the country that they also managed to divide their own party. Quite the achievement.

Labour took 412 seats, giving a majority of 174.

Liberal Democrats (remember them!) won their highest tally since 1923, taking 72 seats.

Nigel Farage became the MP for Clacton. He will finally go to Westminster after 8 attempts, 30 years after his first attempt. Thanks for that Clacton.

I found the most amusing aspect of the election was watching Tory MPs who usually talk complete (add word to suit) lose their seat. I assumed that they could finally relax, drop the party line, be themselves and finally open up……but yet they continued to talk absolute (add word to suit). Priceless. 

The most bizarre element of the election was the speed with which Keir jetted off to America. Presumably after permission from the King to form a Government we must now ask permission from the President. 

Perhaps the most worrying part of the election is the election itself.

Labour received 34% of the votes yet won 64% of the seats. Consider this……Labour’s national vote share was just 2% higher than it was in 2019 and yet it has gained 211 seats.

I tried explaining the logic of this to an American recently. I failed. I am now failing to convince myself also.

In a weak moment, I almost felt sorry for Nigel Farage……despite winning 14% of the national vote, Reform gained 4 seats, the equivalent to 1% per cent of the seat share. .

Perhaps it’s time to reconsider how voting and MP electing works in reality as there does seem to be a need for consideration given that 66% of voters did not vote Labour……yet they won handsomely.

Regardless, Labour’s share of the vote is the lowest won by a post-war single-party Government, suggesting a breadth, not a depth to its support.

British politics has changed profoundly. The challenges for those now leading it have not.

Interesting times.

Elsewhere, my own favourite number of the month……2……the number of end of School year awards the little lady won. 

Trump of the Month

So many worthy candidates this month……rich pickings in fact.

Rishi was always a strong consideration given the dreadful showing at the genny lec. The failure was spectacular yet he was probably the wrong person at the wrong time to inherit the Bojo-Truss mess that was difficult to clean up.

I wanted my Michael Portillo moment and I was not disappointed with two absolute beauties……

Firstly, Jacob Rees-Mogg lost to Dan Norris who celebrated……“We’ve got Mogg-xit done.” Joyful.

And then Lizzie went as well! Already the shortest-serving Prime Minister in history, Liz Truss also become the first former leader since 1935 to lose their seat. Double joy.

She then had the audacity to appear on US TV to proclaim that Kamala Harris isn’t qualified to lead a country. Let’s be fair, if anyone knows about not being qualified to lead a country it's Lizzie.

Not to be outdone, Nigel Farage described Kamala Harris as a “black African woman.” Just for the record and to avoid any confusion here Nige, Kamala Harris is not African……her parents are Indian and Jamaican. I imagine Kamala Harris would describe Nigel Farage as: “Exactly who is he?”

In any other month Joe Biden would have been a shoe-in. During a TV debate in front of an audience of 50 million he garbled answers and at one point he ground to a halt completely. Like a robot running out of batteries. At a later press conference, Joe B introduced Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” and he referred to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” Utter madness.

And then there is The Trump. Where do we start with this?

In May he was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records. But a ruling this month grants former Presidents immunity from prosecution for “official actions” taken while in office. The official action The Trump took when in office was to sign off his business accounts whilst he was in “office” that included the hush money paid to an ‘adult’ actress and then falsifying the payment through his business.

Or to put that another way……he definitely didn’t do it but, if he did, he was President at the time and that makes it OK. He now wants immunity for things that he definitely didn’t do. Still with me?  

The craziness continued by living to tell the tale of a truly despicable assassination attempt……by a member of his own political party. Two days later he was back on stage (with Hulk Hogan) to announce JD Vance as his running mate for the election campaign……somebody that previously called him an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler.”

And then on the back of the assassination attempt and increase in coverage, the share price of The Trump’s social media company rose by a third, giving the former President a paper profit of about $1.2 billion. Nice work if you can get it.

And then the cherry on the cake……Joe B stood down from the Presidential election race as he simply couldn’t compete with the levels of craziness, limelight and increased (head scratching) support offered to The Trump. With defeat staring Jo B in the face, he stood down. Nobody wants a loss to The Trump on their CV.  

He craves madness……he makes little sense……he is a complete lunatic……but he is consistent with the craziness. Month after month. The Trump of the Month for July 2024 could only go to Donald.

Utter madness.

Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10

 

And Finally……

““Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.”

John F. Kennedy