After his loss to Gough Whitlam in the 1974 election, Sir Billy Snedden, former Liberal Party leader and superlative psephologist of yesteryear pronounced: “We didn’t win but we didn’t lose.”
Sadly Sir Billy came and went in 1987 without having been pressed to peel back the onion on that paradox but in a far off windswept Mahayana monastery, clinging perilously to the northwest face of Mount Everest, a small army of orange suited monks are still trying to work it out.
Without wanting to add to their philosophical toil, last week’s UK election provided a rich rota of Sneddenisms. Theresa May lost but still calls No. 10 Downing Street home. Jeremy Corbyn had a thumping victory but fell 64 seats short of forming government. Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon lost a full third of the seats her party carried in 2015 but was still babbling in front of a bank of microphones like her every word was gospel. Even Nigel Farage put a cheery face on UKIP’s predictable slide into political oblivion.
Full column here.
Corbyn wins by not getting reduced to a tiny rump and getting to stay as Opposition leader, and May loses by blowing a 20-point lead to limp back into Downing Street probably courtesy of a bunch of theocratic atavists still fighting the Battle of Boyne on account of the Tories treating the electorate like idiots for a couple of years to salve party divisions and sheer opportunism by numerous senior figures.
Still not as good a ‘victory’ lap as Kevin Rudd’s in 2013.
Horrendous news out of west London otherwise.
The compensation settlement for Manus detainees has come years earlier and a lot cheaper than I’d expected, too.
Forgot, there was the “Red Ed” factor at the last election, hence Cameron going from a coalition back to a majority.
Labour would have won back some of its traditional seats this time, ten seats have less than a hundred votes in it, marginal marginals.
OT, but perhaps not. Winner (sort of) , this is so weird it bears another airing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/us/politics/trump-boasts-of-record-setting-pace-of-activity.html?_r=0
A room full of Henry Blofelds. The end is nigh.
Mr Baptiste, ohhhh that I could serve POTUS Trump in his Government but alas I am a proud Australian and as dear Milton advised us soon many of us will be named Patriots! POTUS Trump well on his way to “Making America Great” again and we look forward to him serving 2 full productive terms. God Bless America!
JB,
That Cabinet session was the most nauseatingly fawning scene I’ve seen. I was waiting for one of the Cabinet to tell the Donald that he had the bigliest hands of any POTUS, ever. Many came close.
Bad poetry has been frowned upon but I cannot resist. Suggestion for your greeting card to the POTUS Hooray Henry.
I’d crawl a thousand miles over broken glass,
just to sniff your fat arse .
No great comfort for the conservatives, they got a bath without a huge youth turnout.
But lookie lookie, Mr Baptiste, poor old Jeremy Corbyn lost he’s not PM! Its the old “short half head” thingy buddy. Unlike POTUS Trump who won by 10 lengths! Cheers
Trump wins, the world loses. That’s a draw at least isn’t it Hooray Henry?
“lookie lookie” Henry, do you think your King of America will see the funny side of Malcolm T’s leaked parody of Trump last night?
Smells like a Tones-style no-sniping hit does it not?
Regards, Bella
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/jun/15/were-winning-so-much-malcolm-turnbull-mocks-trump-at-canberra-ball-video
The thing I most remember about good old Billy was his being found ‘on the job’ in a cheap motel. A dream way to go! Malcolm was luckier-he got out minus his pants. He was also famous for another saying. In 1974 Bill sprouted…. “It doesn’t care how long it takes, we will destroy Medicare over time”. Not to be outdone by Bill Howard in 1984 said he would “Stab Medicare in the stomach”. He also said he wanted to “Take a scalpel to Medicare”. The Looters have never forgotten this and are still trying to get rid of Medicare. Over the wall you say “Certainly, not many get their fingers smudgy from printers’ ink.” Will we ever again? Soon, sadly, print will be gone. So many great journalists, photographers and toonists have been recently sacked…SAD CAFÉ.
You present some mind blowing numbers which boil down to a rejuvenated youth vote in the U.K. …but a loss is a loss is a loss as you say and always will be. A parallel could be drawn with Shorten. People rave about his result in 2016 but not me. It was a shocker. He lost against a govt that tripled the deficit and now has half a trillion in gross debt! A govt that campaigned on electricity prices that have now DOUBLED! Shorten’s figures are still not good. Lowest primary vote in years, low satisfaction with his performance as leader, has not beaten the hopeless Malcolm once as preferred leader.
I see a loss for Bill in 2019 around an election based on refugees scare, terror scare and more terror and more scare. The Looters don’t have any policies except the ones they stole from Labor so they must fall back to their favourite rusty old dog whistle. When Shorten can win in the ‘preferred PM’ spot and ‘performance as leader’ only then has he a chance. If Dutts loses his seat Labor will win. Dutts’ seat will be my barometer.
If Bill or Albo can get the kids out to vote as you pointed out, Labor will look good. Malcolm has 30 News polls before his number comes up. How many does Bill have as preferred PM over Malcolm and his inability to raise Labor’s primary vote above freezing? The present News poll difference could easily be made up in a Khaki campaign. Abbott is quite correct on dat.
Not winning and not losing is that like releasing modelling for a CET 5 days after the report and the modelling shows that an EIS is much cheaper way to go by some 30% ?
Not winning and not losing is that like accusing someone of taking donations from the Chinese at the same time your “Glorious” self is taking $half a million $ in donations from Chinese businesses with links to the Chinese government but no actual interest in your state??
Losing while winning is that like Core and Non Core promises?
I recall several here stating that when a party pays out they are admitting fault. But dutton is claiming variously that is not the case and he didn’t do it, it was them, hey look over there? Who wins this one? Certainly not those held without charge in inhumane condition indefinitely. I also see dutton or more precisely doofus has again mislead the Nation and doubled down by saying his latest piece of legislation was discussed with the opposition three years ago? He is no winner and the Nation is the loser the longer he is in office.
Examples re the comments you refer to in your first line please Dismal.
Had to check it in Wiki, but Rudd and Gillard negotiated and re-opened Manus detention centre. Nothing to do with the Liberals or Dutton. Liberals opened Manus in 2000 and closed it in 2004. Labor re-opened it in panic during August 2012 to try and halt the flood of refugees. The Liberals are stuck with Labor’s problem. The Supreme Court of PNG has ordered the centre to close and it will once placements can be found for the current detainees.
Rudd set the policy framework in Manus in 2013. There never was an exit or third party nation willing to take the refugees. Since then New Zealand has offered to take a number of people held on Manus but this was declined by the Abbot/Turnbull governments.
I thought Cambodia was going to take them for an exorbitant fee. Belize and Surinam were mentioned at one point. It’s a pitiful mess for all concerned. PNG should push the issue and order the place closed and force Australia to act. This is a really embarrassing impasse.
Rudd’s deal was for only 12 months. The Looters have had them there for nearly 4years!
Never understood why they were even allowed to say no to NZ’s generous offer & from memory I think it was 140? refugees. They could’ve been released then but our cold-hearted politicians wanted the world to see just how perversely cruel we have become as a nation.
Bella,
Because once NZ citizens they would have ended up here.
old blighty is having a rough trot
http://www.smh.com.au/world/london-fire-people-screaming-trapped-in-grenfell-tower-inferno-20170614-gwqwv9.html
Terrible smoke………