Two weeks ago Labour thought they had all but sealed not only victory in the then-upcoming Hartlepool by-election as well as Local Government Elections with their “Tory Sleaze allegations.” They also firmly believed that they had politically wounded Boris Johnson.
However, for those who have followed Johnson’s career, it is a well-known fact that he is not easily politically wounded and his political savviness must never be underrated.
The last few days have shown that it is the Starmer’s led bunch who have imploded as Labour was heavily demoralised in Thursday’s Local Government Elections and humiliated in Mandelson’s old hunting ground of Hartlepool.
Thursday’s results were nothing short of catastrophic for the Labour party, which lost seats in areas where Labour has been the political heritage of the local population. Who would have thought that Labour could lose control in Durham, the home of the miner’s gala?
Keir Starmer’s political gimmicks of choosing wallpaper and boxing during the campaign represented an intellectually bankrupt party. Labour as an institution has allowed many of its members to insult the British flag, belittle British history, and even wage war against British culture. Surely you can’t represent those you chastise?
It is clear Labour was abandoned by the British people on Thursday, as it was in December 2019, because Labour as a party has abandoned them, evolving into a party of “London-based bourgeoisie, with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors,” as described by Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood who resigned from the shadow front bench on Friday.
However, while Labour has utterly failed their once loyal supporters, Thursday’s results were a reflection of voters finding confidence in Boris Johnson. Many have regularly chastised Johnson’s personal life and try to criticise his morals but Boris wasn’t voted in as the Archbishop of Canterbury, he was voted in to deliver jobs as well as progress which he has done well.
Today, the electoral results of 2019 and 2021 are showing clearly that Boris Johnson is doing what Cameron couldn’t. This makes no judgment on Cameron but the empirical evidence shows that Boris has smashed the red wall. Cameron could only dream to win places such as Bolsover, Redcar, Bishop Auckland, hell Boris has even taken away Blair’s pride and joy of Sedgefield.
The underlying factor is as one Labour Councillor said, “people simply like Boris”. But why do they like Boris? They like Boris because he is one of them. They like Boris because he says what matters to them and delivers on issues that better their lives. This is what separated Boris from Cameron and May. Boris understood Brexit.
Brexit wasn’t a simple divorce from a trading bloc, but it was the divorce from principles that hindered the UK’s true talent. When Cameron ran from delivering upon such mandate and May tirelessly failed to deliver, it was Boris who fought.
Today the polls and results show that the Conservatives under Boris is the party of the working class. Such a line has never been said under Cameron or before.
No doubt what Cameron achieved was remarkable, but there was always a sense within the Tories that they didn’t believe they couldn’t go beyond some electoral limits under his tenure. Now, Boris is showing the Tories that he is out to re-write the Political map.