Election results announced last week confirmed that the big winners were the Conservatives in Scotland and Sadiq Khan for the Labour Party in London. There has been significant commentary surrounding the results and, as the dust has settled, a few things are clear.
Firstly, the Conservatives are now a serious contender in Scotland. Ruth Davidson’s leadership has seen the party more than double its MSPs to 31, winning seats that a year ago wouldn’t have seemed possible.
Secondly, Labour is in a mess – but, for now at least, Jeremy Corbyn isn’t going anywhere. Yes, Sadiq Khan has become one of the country’s most powerful Labour politicians – arguably the most powerful. He runs a city with a budget of £3bn and more than 8 million people.
However, despite this resounding victory for Labour in London, the rest of the country’s results painted a bleaker picture. As Tristram Hunt, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, wrote in the Financial Times on Sunday: “’We hung on,’ was the bullish response of Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour party, to the local election results. But outside of the liberal citadels — London, Bristol, Exeter — the polls were, in fact, terrible.”
Labour should have taken hundreds of seats from the Conservatives, they should have gained seats in Wales – not lost them, and they should have come a strong second in Scotland. Labour are on a descent “towards political irrelevance,” as Hunt put it.
Now that this wave of elections is over, expect even more focus on the EU Referendum. Yes – there is still another six weeks of drama left! This week has been a bit of a circus from both camps. TV debates are looking set to become a drawn-out commotion for the second time so watch this space…
On the Remain side this week, it’s all doom and gloom. Spy chiefs said that quitting the EU is a security risk. Then Downing Street was accused of 'manipulating' spy chiefs after they warned against Brexit. Then we were warned about the risk of war if we leave the EU. The Times splash on Monday was: “Brexit will raise risk of world war,” and Nato chiefs warned that Brexit will “give succour to the West’s enemies”. The Bank of England says Brexit could lead to “formal recession”, the value of the pound will fall (“perhaps sharply”) and firms’ demand for labour would fall causing “unemployment to rise”. Warnings don't come much darker than this.
On the Leave side, Boris is spearheading the campaign and gave a well-publicised speech focusing on Brexit as the new “great project” of liberalism. In the meantime, Iain Duncan Smith gave a speech about how the EU damages social injustice and how Germany essentially had a ‘veto’ over EU renegotiation.
However, if you want some light relief from all the drama, Brexit: The Movie premiered this week and apparently it’s not as bad as it sounds. According to The Times Red Box, it’s worth a watch and “offers an educative, nostalgic and often humorous romp through the complex hinterlands of the European Union.” Though, I’d probably suggest the pub as a better source of light relief!