I sincerely hope the UK’s Labour Party government is paying attention..

The quickest way to end up as a one-term government is by offering nothing innovative!

I like to think that any party that gets into government in a democracy, has what it takes. Even if it isn’t to everyone’s taste. In the US today, there will be all sorts of inquisition and doom-mongering. But the reality is actually quite simple: how much did the Biden government impact? I believe it was a well-intentioned government that came with minimal drama, no late night twitting etc. But the hysteria around Trump returning is not necessary: after all, he did run the country for 4 years not so long ago didn’t he? And even if his style & what he did was not to everyone’s taste and if what he will do, over the coming 4 years isn’t to everyone’s taste, it is hardly the end of the world is it? Over 75million Americans voted him in. It is what the system is, and anyone going around now, trying to convince anyone of what’s coming, need to pipe down! The democrats had 4 years to make their case, instead, they fumbled all over the place (well-intentioned or not), didn’t have an electable Plan B (which could have been Gavin Newsom or even Pete Buttegieg) and last minute, AFTER the primaries, decide to dump their past saviour (rather unceremoniously) and put forward someone who was never going to win. But the fact is: were they able to make a case for a second term?
The democrats are very decent, well-intentioned folk, but what they are trying to sell to their fellow Americans ain’t what those folk with to buy. For example, AOC’s green new deal; very noble, it will get her re-elected to congress etc., but for it to help and not be a hindering talking point at national level, it has to come with additional clarity on what those who will lose their jobs if certain sectors are impacted, what do they move on to? e.g. if I propose shutting down a diesel engine manufacturer who employs 500 people and I open up a wind turbine manufacturer on the same site, who employs 1000 people, that could be an understandable position…

The Labour Party have come in, on the back of widespread frustration with the previous government. They (Labour) must secure some very tangible wins. They have already annoyed pensioners (and pensioners have voting-age children, voting-age grandchildren etc); so, similar to Kamala Harris and the Democrats in the US, you can’t afford to alienate too many other groups. Kamala from the get go, already had a bunch of men who won’t vote for a woman to deal with, then there are a bunch of women in the US who still believe men must lead. Then her government, which she was a VP in, got on the wrong side on the ongoing Middle East issues and she lost a whole bunch of additional votes. Add to that the MAGA folk who weren’t going to vote for her anyway, and you think: what is the point of raising hundreds of billions of dollars from George Clooney and co. to campaign etc.? It was a fait accompli.

Now, the Labour government in the UK is facing similar challenges; they must deal with the illegal migration issue (regardless of how complicated it is) and must be seen to have a viable solution, which they really must get in place, with tangible results before the end on 2026. They (Labour) are very decent, well-intentioned folk, but as a government, you really can’t get much done in a single term. They need to have at least one more term and I believe they can do a great deal of good for every Brit. But they won’t get a chance to do so, if they end this first term, without having achieved some very notable wins. It won’t be enough for them to have been no worse than the previous government or more decent, with decent words etc. All that is clearly no longer enough. Americans were saying this morning, following Trumps victory, that they look forward to buying groceries for cheap. Essentially, they are not bothered by the rest. Not surprising really. How the Democrats thought the messaging around Trump being called a Fascist or some comedian at his rally calling Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage, was going to be the winning message, is quite frankly dumb! The people are saying they can overlook that stuff, if they get their groceries cheaper! Sad reality, but that’s what the majority are now stating as their reason. So, why were the democrats so oblivious of that???

Labour (in the UK) will need to take seriously, whatever it is, the population is saying is their priority. Saying the previous government got the numbers wrong as you hike up the tax, take money off pensioners etc., may well be the correct thing to do, but it is going to be their undoing, if they do not very urgently deal with some other issues that many in the country are hacking on about e.g. uncontrollable influx of illegal immigrants. This is not about taking a moral high ground; politics is about correctly gauging what matter most to the numbers you need, as Trump has made clear to the Democrats today