Earth Science News
DEMOCRACY
UK Labour's landslide comes with its own perils: experts
UK Labour's landslide comes with its own perils: experts
By James PHEBY
London (AFP) July 5, 2024

Labour on Friday secured a huge majority in the UK's general election, giving it a massive mandate but also a few headaches once celebrations die down.

Before the vote, the Conservatives warned voters not to hand Labour party leader Keir Starmer the "blank cheque" of a "supermajority", but as prime minister he will now have a majority of over 170 and five years up against a demoralised main opposition.

"The main advantages are clarity. It means the government of the day can get on with its programme, unhindered and encumbered," Tony McNulty, lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and a Labour minister under Tony Blair, told AFP.

The thumping win also gives Labour "a nice reservoir of talent" with which to fill government roles, albeit with the risk of disappointing more MPs who miss out, said McNulty, who became an MP during Labour's 1997 landslide.

However, a "supermajority" does not have any constitutional significance in the UK, as it does in the United States, explained King's College London professor Vernon Bogdanor.

"A government with a majority of 30 can do more or less what it wants, just as much as a government with a majority of 200," said Bogdanor, one of the country's leading constitutional experts.

- 'Punishment' vote -

Some of the potential problems that Starmer will need to manage stem from quirks of the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system and the fragmentation of its political landscape, which have conspired to produce one of the most unequal results in electoral history.

"The system doesn't work very well when you've got so many parties," said Bogdanor.

Labour looks set to win fewer votes than it did in its disastrous 2019 election, but gain around 210 more seats in the 650-seat parliament thanks to the fractured right-wing opposition.

Only around one in three voters chose Labour, leaving Starmer having to balance the wants of his army of MPs and a public that is, paradoxically, not particularly enthusiastic for the incoming government.

Starmer's approval ratings are some of the lowest for an incoming prime minister, with polls by Ipsos and YouGov in May showing them at minus 18 and minus 20 points.

"It's a punishment election. People simply want to punish the Conservatives," said Bogdanor.

"Expectations are high for improvement in the health service, and other services, but they won't come about quickly.

"And the fiscal situation is very dire. Most people agree that the NHS (National Health Service) is in very serious trouble. What is going to be done?" he asked, adding that tax rises appeared inevitable.

- 'Great dilemma' -

"All sorts of other improvements need to be made in the public services: the environment, sewage in the rivers and seas, housing policy, school repairs. It's a great dilemma for an incoming government.

"So there'll be rapid disillusionment, and particularly people on the left will attack the government," he warned.

McNulty said the public will "initially" give the government the benefit of the doubt, but "how long that lasts is the moot point".

As a result, Starmer will hope to focus on issues that unite the party and are popular with the public.

The most obvious one would be eliminating the two-child benefit cap, which McNulty said was "totemic" internally and could deliver immediate results in tackling poverty.

Potential wedge issues include Gaza, where there is pressure from the left-wing to take a tougher stance on Israel, and immigration, where the public support harder policies that Labour MPs are opposed to.

Having such a large majority will also give Labour MPs, most of whom have never been politicians before, the confidence they can rebel in large numbers without inflicting defeat on the government.

"Often with a large majority there is more scope for disaffection, so it is not always good to win a landslide," said Bogdanor.

In order to ensure harmony, McNulty advised Starmer to accept that dissenting voices "need to be at least recognised and given space".

jwp/phz/fg

IPSOS

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DEMOCRACY
Macron's world standing damaged by vote turmoil: analysts
Paris (AFP) July 2, 2024
Whatever the outcome of France's parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron's influence on the world stage risks being damaged, potentially undermining efforts to unify Western defence policy, analysts say. France votes Sunday in the decisive final round of the snap legislative polls Macron called after his camp received a drubbing in European polls last month, opening the prospect of the far right taking power for the first time since the occupation by Nazi Germany. Macron will be watch ... read more

DEMOCRACY
Radiation's Impact on Bird Breeding and Microbiomes in Chornobyl

11 dead, 35 missing after Indonesia landslide

Floods and landslides kill 14 in Nepal: police

Some Caribbean islands destroyed by Hurricane Beryl: Red Cross

DEMOCRACY
Icesat-2 Resumes Data Collection After Solar Storms

MIT researchers identify routes to stronger titanium alloys

Microsoft to invest 2.2 bn euros in Spain data centres

Scientists probe chilling behavior of promising solid-state cooling material

DEMOCRACY
Dam breach triggers floods in central China

Senegal to scrap Saudi desalination plant deal: govt

Ancient Greek sanctuary slowly sinks into the Aegean Sea

China builds new presidential palace in Pacific's Vanuatu

DEMOCRACY
Dubai rowers to brave Arctic to highlight plastics pollution

Tourists seek out Nordic holidays to keep cool

Norway blocks unique real estate sale in Arctic Svalbard

White House moves to protect Alaskan land

DEMOCRACY
Sticky future: climate change hits Nepal's honey hunters

In Belgian farmland, 'Saving Bambi' one dawn mission at a time

Anti-deforestation rule leaves EU farmers worried about feeding livestock

Sinkholes spread fear in Turkey's parched breadbasket

DEMOCRACY
Eight dead, two million affected by Bangladesh floods

25 people drown in Sudan fleeing fighting: activists' committee

Six dead as floods inundate vast swath of India, Bangladesh and China

Beryl downgraded after slamming Texas with deadly rains, wind

DEMOCRACY
Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger sign 'confederation' treaty

China confirms citizens dead, missing after DR Congo attack

Niger army says more than 100 'terrorists' killed after deadly attack

Militia in eastern DR Congo kill at least four Chinese nationals: local sources

DEMOCRACY
Lucy while barely a metre tall still towers over our understanding of human origins

Murdered and forgotten: Iraqi victims of gender-based violence

Just thinking about a location activates mental maps in the brain

Tiny species of Great Ape lived in Germany 11M years ago

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.