Not only that, but results from the Lord Ashcroft (2019) electoral poll (above) showed that the difference in voting this time from women between Conservatives (42%) to Labour (36%); this with Boris Johnson leading the Conservative Party, a man known for his sexual remarks, discussing the sexual prowess of fellow female MPs, or women being naturally ‘fickle’ or more likely to have sex under Tony Blair as PM (Bienkov, 2019). If gender were the important factor, then surely this would have led to a massive backlash against Johnson; we’ve seen it in the United States, where women have rejected Trump in large fashion (Easley, 2019), but it’s not happening in the United Kingdom, because we do not vote on gender lines (yet; most things that start in the U.S. come to the U.K. eventually). This is simply not an issue of gender.

Not only that, but there is something of Donald Trump in Boris Johnson in this: People know he’s a bit scummy. So when people ‘reveal’ that Johnson was once racist, or sexist, it makes no difference. People already know this. They don’t care. It doesn’t change their perception of him. It is, as Ben Shapiro of Daily Wire fame says, ‘baked into the cake’. Corbyn, who presents himself as a serious guy on the moral side, gets hit hard by such allegations, because people expect better. It is similar to the Trudeau situation.

So the focus on identity politics, that a woman will gather women, and that a Northerner shall rally the North, has no basis in reality or recent election statistics. We find that we’re not voting based on gender or class, and thus this idea is wrong, and the results will not be positive, and possibly may even embolden the right wing form of identity politics at a time when we need to unify.

Increasing Violence and Intolerance of the Left

The fact is that the perception of the Left today is one of intolerance and violence; a long cry from the old Liberal who said “I don’t agree with what you say, but I’ll die for your right to say it”. Now it seems more “I don’t agree with what you say, and I’ll die for my right to stop it”. I have written before about this intolerance and lack of accepting apologies in politics will lead to larger problems.

Not only in the U.S. where Antifa have struck across entire cities of the United States, but now it is moving to Britain as well. Riots broke out in London at the result of the election; rather than accept the democratic process for what it is, they have chosen violence and destruction (Brown, 2019).

In yet another mirror of the United States (and it ever seems we are increasingly just a mirror to the United States…), there is now discussion of whether or not the Russians interfered with the British election, and whether it was Russian interference that won Johnson the election; therefore, we should have a Mueller Report! Of course, it was an utter failure when this was used against Trump, and is just another sign that the left seems to increasing regard any election that doesn’t go their way as illegitimate (Simpson and Fritsch, 2019). It must be said, however, that there is a report on Russian interference in Britain that has not yet been published, and therefore lends some credence to these rumours, although as usual, the effects of Russian interference are likely overblown, and I notice, not assumed when Macron won the French election, nor when Merkel won her election, or when anyone on the Left wins their elections. Only when the Right wins.

We have seen an increasing amount of MPs (double the amount before the 2017 election, and many being Conservative) beginning to stand down from politics as their lives, and the lives of their families are threatened, as well as rampant abuse from strangers in the street (Jamieson, 2019). A report from Cardiff University and Edinburgh University found the majority of Remain voters believed it was acceptable to commit violence against MPs (58% in England, 53% in Scotland, 56% in Wales), and the majority of voters believe that violence is now inevitable (Walker, 2019).

Not only have the Left begun to become violent and unwilling to accept a democratic tradition that has allowed peaceful transfer of power since the Magna Carta and has only become more democratic since then, but they have become increasingly intolerant in their personal relationships. We all know of the ‘Shy Tory’ syndrome, where people are aware of the interpersonal cost and now possible harm of publicly saying you’ll vote Tory, but let’s move away from anecdote and towards data.

People are overwhelming more likely to hide their right-wing views; Republicans, like Tories, hide their political views from people in person, and so 49% of Democrats were regarded as people to not discuss politics with, compared to only 39% of Republicans, and 32% of Independents; not only that, but liberals are nearly twice as likely (28%) to unfriend or block someone for political views than conservatives (16%) or independents (14%). Not only this, but people who identify as ‘very liberal’ are exceedingly likely to only see posts that they either always agree with, or most of the time agree with (52%); for comparison, a moderate will only 18% of the time, a conservative 26% of the time, and an very conservative person 45% of the time, making the ‘very liberal’ very likely to remove everyone except those who they agree with, or to have less connections than those they agree with, even when compared with the extreme right (Rainie and Smith, 2012).

After the 2016 election, we see it again; 24% of Democrats are likely to block someone they disagree with, compared to 9% of Republicans, making the left in this case 2.5x more likely to block you (Elise, 2017). In the 2018 Journal of Social Media and Society, they found that liberals are far more likely to block and unfriend people, and far less likely to consume material that goes against their beliefs; also younger people are more likely to do so (Yoo, Ng, and Johnson, 2018).

The tolerant left is tolerant of everything except them possibly being wrong, or someone telling them that they’re wrong, increasingly to the point of violence.

Conclusion

I state it one last time; this was a Labour failure, not a Conservative win. There are some lessons to take away from this:

Choosing a candidate who has a history of questionable actions, such as discussing terrorists as friends, or being known as a communist, or allowing the growth of anti-seminitism in his party, is a bad choice. Labour should try to pick someone a lot cleaner. Choosing a candidate based on identity politics will lead Britain down the path of ethnic trouble, and disunity. The data shows we do not vote based on gender or ethnicity, and we do not want this to change. Continuing to attack anyone who is not lockstep with Labour will continue to push people away, and drive Labour harder and deeper into both the Left, and in-electability. Focusing on BAME groups at the exclusion of the the country as a whole will build support in those groups, but lose you the rest of the country outside of those immigrant or ethnic areas. Ignoring what the people want (Brexit, NHS) and focusing on what you think they want, and telling them what they want, won’t work. Talking down to people doesn’t work either; Johnson and Trump have proven this. When a candidate is consistently underperforming over 3 elections, don’t let him stand for the 4th; many voters are winnable until the last month. Stop relying on tactical voting; it isn’t enough anymore. The lack of Labour condemnation of the London riots shows the party as both sore losers and potentially violent revolutionaries, which doesn’t help when Corbyn is already accused of anti-semitism. Focusing your message is not ‘dumbing down’, it’s ‘clear communication’.

Blair won because he took the centre. Cameron won because he took the centre. Take the centre; most people are there. Ex-Prime Minster Atlee warned of a Labour Party moving too far left.

Even as I write this, I suspect that the Labour party shall drive even further left, and ignore everything I say. Leading a horse to water and all that…

Penultimately, congratulations to now and again-Prime Minister Johnson for unifying a party who was not unified under May, and bringing together one of the largest Conservative majorities in 40 years.

As a final point, I am sure people are wondering who I voted for in this election. I voted Labour, and I really had to swallow a lot of dislike for the action. I am not the only one who had trouble doing so; if they continue down this road, I doubt I shall again.