Only once: "one-off" offer?...

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No need to go into any depth about last week's General Election in the UK. Amazing stuff: the Conservative Party polled 43.6 per cent of the popular vote, which is its highest share since 1979. The Labour Party got 203 seats, the fewest since 1935. CON got 13.96 million votes, compare to Tony Blair in his landslide win in 1997 got 'only' 13.5 million (43.2%). Now, no other parties are in the Top 5:

1. John Major 14,093,007 (1992) 41.9% 


2. Boris Johnson 13,966,451 (2019) 43.6% 


3. Margaret Thatcher 13,760,935 (1987) 42.2% 


4. Margaret Thatcher 13,697,923 (1979) 43.9% 


5. Theresa May 13,667,213 (2017) 42.4% 

The above of course are Prime Ministers, this is hard on Clement Attlee in the 1951 GE. [edit] and we all know TM is hardly a Conservative with Major also on the edge and BoJo still to prove himself.



Anyhoo..."The crumbling of the ‘Red Wall’ is the big story of this election and some commentators are describing it as a “one off.” The conventional wisdom is that working class voters have “lent” their votes to the Conservatives and, barring an upset, will give them back next time round. It’s Brexit, supposedly that has been the game-changer—an excuse leapt on by Corbyn’s outriders in the media, who are loathe to blame Labour’s defeat on their man." So writes Toby Young* on Quillette.



Maybe, maybe not. Remember Maggie's extended-thank-God success partly due to 'Mondeo Man', or Blair's slimey manipulations (aided by a weak and simpering MSM) extending his ruinous-for-the-UK run? I fully expect BoJo to fudge Brexit but if he doesn't and this happens - "If the Withdrawal Agreement Bill is not ratified by 31 January 2020, we will leave the EU without a deal in place" - then the "one off" maybe a much longer run.



* He of course knows BoJo well.



Comment of the day (from WRMF on the Quilette link) has me in stitches:  

“Labor could not have picked a worse candidate.”

US Democratic Party to UK Labour Party: “Hold My Beer”

Only once: "one-off" offer?...

---

No need to go into any depth about last week's General Election in the UK. Amazing stuff: the Conservative Party polled 43.6 per cent of the popular vote, which is its highest share since 1979. The Labour Party got 203 seats, the fewest since 1935. CON got 13.96 million votes, compare to Tony Blair in his landslide win in 1997 got 'only' 13.5 million (43.2%). Now, no other parties are in the Top 5:

1. John Major 14,093,007 (1992) 41.9% 
2. Boris Johnson 13,966,451 (2019) 43.6% 
3. Margaret Thatcher 13,760,935 (1987) 42.2% 
4. Margaret Thatcher 13,697,923 (1979) 43.9% 
5. Theresa May 13,667,213 (2017) 42.4% 

The above of course are Prime Ministers, this is hard on Clement Attlee in the 1951 GE. [edit] and we all know TM is hardly a Conservative with Major also on the edge and BoJo still to prove himself.

Anyhoo..."The crumbling of the ‘Red Wall’ is the big story of this election and some commentators are describing it as a “one off.” The conventional wisdom is that working class voters have “lent” their votes to the Conservatives and, barring an upset, will give them back next time round. It’s Brexit, supposedly that has been the game-changer—an excuse leapt on by Corbyn’s outriders in the media, who are loathe to blame Labour’s defeat on their man." So writes Toby Young* on Quillette.

Maybe, maybe not. Remember Maggie's extended-thank-God success partly due to 'Mondeo Man', or Blair's slimey manipulations (aided by a weak and simpering MSM) extending his ruinous-for-the-UK run? I fully expect BoJo to fudge Brexit but if he doesn't and this happens - "If the Withdrawal Agreement Bill is not ratified by 31 January 2020, we will leave the EU without a deal in place" - then the "one off" maybe a much longer run.

* He of course knows BoJo well.

Comment of the day (from WRMF on the Quilette link) has me in stitches:  

“Labor could not have picked a worse candidate.”
US Democratic Party to UK Labour Party: “Hold My Beer”

Open on oeuvres...

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Library closed? Local youth club shut down? No money for bin collections because of "austerity"? After the last recession we found out that many councils had hundreds of millions of savings stashed away. Now, just to confirm something else we presumed but didn't know: Wasting Monet? (TaxPayer's Alliance) "Local authorities own a significant amount of artwork. Museums, galleries and libraries are part of the public sector and often under the remit of their local authority. Some authorities’ pieces of art are of significant value." [PDF]



Local authorities in the UK own at about two million pieces of art, which is worth nearly £1.9 billion.



Middlesbrough council had the most with more than 250,000 items. They didn't reveal how much it was worth. Of those that did, Manchester city council had the highest value, just over £369 million. Bassetlaw council had the most recent purchases: 201 and Wiltshire council had the least on display: zero percent from 2099 items (one of eight councils with nothing on display).

Open on oeuvres...

---

Library closed? Local youth club shut down? No money for bin collections because of "austerity"? After the last recession we found out that many councils had hundreds of millions of savings stashed away. Now, just to confirm something else we presumed but didn't know: Wasting Monet? (TaxPayer's Alliance) "Local authorities own a significant amount of artwork. Museums, galleries and libraries are part of the public sector and often under the remit of their local authority. Some authorities’ pieces of art are of significant value." [PDF]

Local authorities in the UK own at about two million pieces of art, which is worth nearly £1.9 billion.

Middlesbrough council had the most with more than 250,000 items. They didn't reveal how much it was worth. Of those that did, Manchester city council had the highest value, just over £369 million. Bassetlaw council had the most recent purchases: 201 and Wiltshire council had the least on display: zero percent from 2099 items (one of eight councils with nothing on display).