Well that didn’t turn out as expected.
So I’ll admit that I was hoping for a hung parliament with a Labour lead coalition. What I really didn’t expect was a Tory landslide! We all knew that Brexit was a divisive issue but I really felt that only Labour were offering a democratic way out; a people’s vote with remain and an actually defined withdrawal agreement as the two options, rather than the 2016 ‘dream of brexit’ that had been promised in the previous referendum. That the core Labour heartlands could be so determined to ‘see it done’ and vote Tory regardless of what Brexit is/was/means took me (and I am guessing so many) by surprise, however I now realise that I have no idea how these people really feel. You see I don’t live, nor have ever lived in areas in areas that been deeply impacted with the collapse of industry and mining and didn’t grow up in its aftermath. I’m from the south east and moved to London in my twenties, so whilst still from a labour ‘family’ my experiences are much different to those from ‘The North’.
All that said though, the most shocking thing to me is that these people voted for Boris.
Boris Johnson.
Whilst they may not have liked Jeremy Corbyn, I simply cannot believe that anyone would choose Boris rather than him.
Fucking Boris Johnson.
A lying, racist, anti LGTB Tory twat, with his bumbling buffoon persona and Trump like contempt for the media (lets not forget he is in Media). Proud to have stood up for the Bankers whilst survey for a government overseeing an austerity agenda which had disastrous impact on the poor.
Fucking Boris Fucking Johnson.
I am shocked.
There were two glimmers of hope for me:
- Virtually all my friends were as shocked as I. Whilst I know living in a social media bubble is not great for awareness and dialogue, it is a source of comfort that so many of my friends think as I do.
- The younger vote was overwhelming labour which means the country mindset is changing and the next generations appreciate a more open and connected, less insular society.
But to end on a note of realism: that will be a long time coming.
steveslaw 