Comment by KaiserPro
2 days ago
The problem is more nuanced than that. but not far off.
The issue is that farage and boris have personality, and understand how the media works. Nobody else apart from blair does(possibly the ham toucher too.)
The Farage style parties fail because they are built around the cult of the leader, rather than the joint purpose of changing something. This is part of the reason why I'm not that hopeful about Starmer, as I'm not acutally sure what he stands for, so how are his ministers going to implement a policy based on bland soup?
Starmer stands for press appeasement. Hence all the random benefits bashing and anti-trans policy. If you try to change anything for the better in the UK without providing "red meat" to the press they will destroy you.
> This is part of the reason why I'm not that hopeful about Starmer, as I'm not actually sure what he stands for, so how are his ministers going to implement a policy based on bland soup?
Tony Blair said at the 1996 Labour Part Conference:
> Power without principle is barren, but principle without power is futile
Starmer is a poor copy of Blair. None of them stand for anything. They say things that pleases enough people so they get elected, then they attempt to enact what they really want to do.
> The Farage style parties fail because they are built around the cult of the leader, rather than the joint purpose of changing something.
There is certainly that. However there are interviews with former Reform / UKIP members that held important positions in both parties. Some of said that Nigel Farage sabotages the party just when they are getting to the point where they could actually be a threat. Which leads some people to think that Nigel Farage is more of a pressure valve. I've not seen any proof of it presented, but it is plausible.
Saying that though, most of the candidates for other parties (not Labour / Conservative) are essentially the people that probably would have no cut it as a candidate in Conservative or Labour parties.
In the post Alastair Campbell era of contemporary UK Politics, it often boils down to 'Don't be George Galloway' and allowing your opponents enough rope to hang themselves.