Britain's new prime minister has a 15% approval rating

An expensive education is clearly no guarantee of an intelligent outcome.

In total agreement here.

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:smiley: You’re absolutely right - that’s definitely how some MPs and papers would explain it!

I grew up in one of the home counties (though it was Oxfordshire, which was pretty firmly Remain-voting) so I can only speak with experience of that area, but it’s exactly what they would have gone for. I think that part of the world was quite firmly in the ‘I agree with Nick’ camp, at least back before he changed his mind to things people didn’t agree with any more, and then messed up the PR freferendum. I think most of the more dramatically-shifting opinions of the nation might be further north, in the battle of the previous ‘red wall’ areas, for instance. But I’ll admit my personal experience of those areas is limited, so I really wouldn’t know!

As far as the Scottish and English feelings on governance are concerned, I suspect you are increasingly right. Or at least have been for the last couple decades, at any rate. As I say, wonder about the Tory implosion and how the national mood might shift in the coming years, particularly regarding the balance of power within the Labour party.

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Yes, I did worry about that! Mind you, the Lib Dems have traditionally had a pretty decent vote around bits of Scotland, so maybe it’s not too far off the mark. Also I reckon the SNP in Westminster would get behind votes in favour of either of those two points. My local SNP MP has said as much, anyway: that even if it meant SNP lost power in Westminster he’d gladly give it up if it meant PR was adopted.

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(The Duke of Wellington had also served as Prime Minister between 1828 and 1830.) Consequently, the prime minister with the total shortest period in office was George Canning, whose sole term lasted 119 days from 12 April 1827 until his death on 8 August 1827.

Thou it was almost bojo, there was a count down time at one point to see if he would make it or not, he lasted about 3 months longer…

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Keir was often autocorrected to Keith on phones. Nothing would have happened other than the occasional mistake except his supporters made a big fuss about it, so left wing activists kept using it.

The Sir part is because Keir hates people knowing he has a knighthood. If he really hated it so much he could have turned it down, like many other people have.

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I didn’t notice that this had it’s own thread yesterday, so I’ll copy my comment from the UK politics thread onto here:

I’ve got links to the full poll results and more analysis, for those of you who don’t want to give clicks to Murdoch and the Times.

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Shut Up, Eccles!

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Apparently, city traders are calling Ms. Truss “Daggers” in reference to Dagenham, being 2 stops past Barking.

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Either a general election, where you don’t vote directly for the leader, or become a member of the party in power and vote for a new party leader when the old one stops being PM

George Canning died after 119 days. His successor, F. J. Robinson, lasted 131 days. After that the Tories brought out the big guns and put Wellington in power, who survived two years until the next election.

Wellington did have a second term that lasted 23 days, but that was a caretaker role until his recommendation for leader could get to London, so I don’t think that counts.

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Boris Johnson had many faults (maybe he was all faults), but he didn’t almost cause a global market crash single handed within weeks of becoming PM. And let’s be honest, if the Queen hadn’t died it would have happened within days of Truss becoming PM.

That’s without looking at her overt trans eliminationist rhetoric. The worst TERs have been put in cabinet positions where they can cause the most harm to trans people.

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The PM is not a president, though they might light to think of themselves that way. They are a senior member of the elected party that chairs cabinet meetings. They are the person that the Monarch will summon and request them to form a government. If you have a coalition government, they are probably a representative of the party that got the largest number of votes. But there is nothing stopping the party in question swapping the PM at a moment’s notice.

However, the PM has claimed as far up the greasy pole as it is possible to get, while kicking off the other weasels that want the role. This selection process favours those who favour a clique, and do the dirty on the others. This leadership is one of the many things we ought to be fixing.

We don’t want a new PM from the Tories. Every time they change the PM, they manage to find someone worse. Right now, they have a lower approval rating than the Daleks, but I expect they have something worse if push comes to shove.

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There are a few backbenchers who are clearly fascists, but they are less likely to win a leadership election.

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Yep. The Right Honourable Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency. I was thinking of him too, but I suspect he is tooo cunning to want to be the front man.

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She’s worse.

He was sufficiently aware to change course when it was clear things were going badly wrong. There’s no way he wouldn’t have junked the tax cuts after this week’s rout.

He also wasn’t completely owned by far right economic lobbyists.

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More on this

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That high? tophat-wow I’m surprised.
jaw

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The Daleks had an understandable and clearly-articulated policy, a firm commitment to their mission, and a certain level of effectiveness. Moreover, they weren’t beholden to a mob of shadowy plutocrats, nor dominated by a hereditary clique of bumbling public schoolboys. When you think about it, there’s a lot to like about the Daleks, at least in comparison with the Tory party.

As for the idea that the Conservatives have something worse in reserve, this is beyond any doubt. The ones whose names we know are the lizard people who’ve learned how to zip up their human suits well enough to pass superficial inspection. The boiling mass of Lovecraftian horrors lurking just below the surface really doesn’t bear thinking about, not if you ever hope to sleep again.

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I’m doubting the maths.
I think you’re missing a decimal point.
1.5 sounds about right.

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Ah, but they are creating a prosperity boom among the ultra-wealthy donners the reactionary parties in both countries are owned by, so as far as they are concerned, this is all good and going according to plan.

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