General Election imminent but not yet

 General Election imminent but not yet.

At some point in the immediate future the UK government may find itself staring bleakly down the bottom of a barrel. It could be that they're simply delaying the inevitable and yet it's never over until the impossible becomes highly unlikely. Sadly, the days of alleged Tory mismanagement may be numbered. Besides, the Conservative party have been in charge of the the UK for 14 years and it's all beginning to look a bit jaded and faded. The popular opinion is that the Tories have now outstayed their welcome and passed their sell by date. Cliches can never adequately explain the reasons for the patently obvious.

There is something tired, haggard, withdrawn and forlorn about the Tory government that they almost looks pathetically dated. It's rather like looking at an old chest of drawers in your living room that have been there for so long that you almost feel desperately sorry for them. They've got to be chucked in the local rubbish depot because they're no longer fit for purpose and besides it's just worn looking, antiquated and old fashioned. You look at the scratches on the edges and the generally grubby appearance of the said piece of furniture and it's got to go on the tip.

And this looks increasingly the case with the Conservatives. Even the late and sometimes overpowering Margaret Thatcher didn't know how to accept defeat gracefully and graciously. She simply sat tight, remained stubbornly adamant that she knew best, digging in her heels determinedly and refusing to believe that she was just a self righteous and pompous woman who had to be taken seriously. So after 11 years as Prime Minister she was simply driven out of 10 Downing Street like a female scorned. She wept for a while, tears streaming down her face as the Cabinet colleagues she thought were on her side turned on her and ordered her out of the front door and told her that enough was enough. So she went grudgingly.

Last night there was a furore by the British seaside. No, there were no controversial confrontations between modern day Mods and Rockers gangs. This was not Brighton on a dramatic August Bank Holiday Monday in the mid 1960s. There were no roaring motorbikes and people wearing leather jackets. Instead this was Blackpool and Blackpool South to be more geographically precise. The location was not one suited for an aggressive bust up between two biking rivals but rather an important political by election that could be an encouraging omen for the Labour party.

In fact Labour's convincing victory in a local election that could be the perfect prelude to overall victory in the General Election couldn't have come at a better time for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. There is a widespread conviction that the Labour party have now been revitalised, refreshed and plucked from the dank depths of obscurity and the land of wilderness. This time 14 years ago Labour were struggling embarrassingly, treading water and on the verge of dissolution, vanishing without trace and never to be seen again. Gordon Brown had left by the exit door with his doting wife Sarah and closely knit family. Labour were now in distress, attacked by all and sundry and just a busted flush. 

But here we are in General Election year and the mood of the nation is both toxic, inflammatory and, potentially explosive given the frequency of riots and demonstrations in the West End of London. The people are restless, disillusioned, highly critical and not very supportive at all. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sits in his Downing Street bunker with sandbags and metaphorical barbed wire around him. He can sense that his fate has now been sealed but will just keep going in case the public change their minds and back him because of some misleading rumour that something has gone right for the Tories.

Yesterday marked the arrival of the local elections when all the councillors of their respective parties start pacing around leisure and community centres like lost and wandering souls looking for somebody to talk to because nobody really wants to have a chat with them. So they kicked their heels last night deep into the small hours of the morning, hoping and wishing that their political party will win quite emphatically eventually.

It has now become fairly evident that the Tories are like battered and bruised heavyweight boxers whose eyes are black and blue, swollen beyond recognition and spattered with blood on their shorts. It used to be the case that the Tories could bluff their way out of this dire predicament like those shifty and cunning criminals who are accused of robbing the most famous bank in the world but then simply get away with it. The results of yesterday's elections have yet to filter through but something tells you that this is going to be very grisly and gruesome for the Conservatives. They may have overstepped the mark too many times.

For Sir Keir Starmer, those distant recollections of Tony Blair being declared Prime Minister in 1997 seem like some yellowing parchment from another century. Blair was Britain's last Labour Prime Minister and Starmer must be feeling that this could be his golden age. He remains a highly respected human rights lawyer and makes all the correct noises for an incoming Prime Minister. The words and phrases are perfectly pitched but without any of the legal references that you might have thought he'd resort to but then decided not to.

At the moment the Labour party have clinched over 150 of all the key strategic seats in the local council election while the Tories can only look in some desperation. If this scenario were to be reproduced at the General Election then the Conservatives may have to wave the white flag of surrender now. Of course they won't be pushed but the writing is on the proverbial wall and even Sunak must have resigned himself to a crushing defeat in the General Election- whenever that may be.

Further proof of what may seem a formality is the almost certain re-election of Sadiq Khan as the Mayor of London. Khan of course pins his colours to the Labour party but is so vilified by those who think he may have achieved little of any note that you begin to think that all is not exactly wine and roses for either Khan or the Labour party. 

Ever since the bad, old days of both Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone the role of Mayor of London has almost been diminished and undermined by those who bad mouthed both Johnson and Livingstone. But Khan will resume his seemingly stressful duties as soon as possible and some of us will wonder why. Johnson, as we all know, went from one outrageous publicity fiasco to the other while Livingstone just opened his mouth with a barrage of antisemitism that saw him shamed, stigmatised and blasted into orbit. Goodbye Ken.

Today the local election results will trickle in gradually before being completed at some point shortly. There is no such thing as a sure thing. Politics is about to head into a dark tunnel of damaging, slanderous comments, accusations and counter accusations, snide remarks, name calling and vicious vitriol. Already Sunak, Starmer and jolly Ed Davy of the Lib Dems have travelled up and down the country, promising ambitiously, then arriving at hastily costed programmes and projects that can only benefit the country. The financial bean counters have been produced and as usual, we're better than you are and you've ruined the country.

So there you are Ladies and Gentlemen. At the moment the Labour party, for the first time in 14 years will now begin to pinch itself for the comfortable position it finds itself in. Not since the heady days of Tony Blair and, quite possibly, the early, salad days of Harold Wilson have Labour had it so good. And yet that slogan was once coined by another Tory Prime Minister and Harold Macmillan always thought he knew best. General elections are always prone to unpredictability and some just easy to call. But we'll be there on some unspecified Thursday night, disentangling the knotty issues and witnessing yet another political turning point. Your guess is as good as mine but it does seem that Labour are on the verge of something pretty special and not before time as some might add.