Labour's shallow victory

British headlines this morning were all about the Labour Party's landslide victory in the UK general election. But take a closer look at the numbers, and there's another story under the surface. UnHerd's Political Editor Tom McTague joins Freddie Sayers to dive into the data.

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[spinaway]

The reason we have such low voter turnout is because People think it is a waste of time, as whoever you vote for, you only get either Conservative or Labour.

[tsedge]

The headline should have been "FPTP throws up yet another absurdly unfair distribution of seats to votes". Time for a change of system.

[jayjaydubful]

That Harriet Harman is now being considered by the Labour Party to become the next chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a VERY BAD SIGN of things to come

[Volcanic]

Reform has 5 now after a recount in Basildon and East Thurrock

[Nuts-Bolts]

Starmer said he wont rejoin the EU...? But Starmer has proven multiple times that he''ll say anything at the time that he thinks people want to hear.

[petercoleman]

Well, one things certain, massive immigration.

[Wayoutthere]

'Davos over Westminster' Starmer...lovely.

[AdamJones]

I don't think anyone can think it is fair and correct that Labour has 150 plus majority on a third of the vote. Also Starmer got less votes Corbyn, hardly a ringing endorsement.

[anthonylee]

It's interesting that in his constituency, Keir Starmer's majority HALVED - apparently, this has never happened before to an incoming PM

[MrOperacynic]

It is a fundamental error to believe that 'Reform took votes away from the Tories'. I was a Tory voter and if Reform hadn't been there I would not have voted at all. The Tories abandoned conservative values and left the field empty for Reform. In my opinion there is no way back for the Tory (centre left) party. It remains to be seen if Reform can occupy the centre right successfully.

[djkush]

Great dialogue guys. I love how you prove it’s possible to have enlightened conversation about multiple political factions without denigrating anyone…. See BBC, it can be done 😮

[SirHargreeves]

David Lammy as Foreign Secretary? Surely he’s the first to be sacked.

[TheOmfg]

Labour won with Less than 20% of the eligible people to vote

[peteraston]

Look out now for Davos/Wef policies to be made UK law

[beefy]

I predict….
-Increased immigration
-Another war
-continued high inflation particularly on food and fuel
-increased minimum wage which will contribute to inflation
-increased council tax
-reduced freedom of movement especially in cars

[jamyDodger]

Add to the fact a lot of reform voters didn't end up voting reform. They voted tactically to remove seats from Labour knowing reform couldn't win. They voted Green, conservatives and lib dems.
Next election will be huge

[dcoughla]

Communication skills are essential for a successful political leader:
Margaret Thatcher, Donald Trump, JFK, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama

Those who don’t have great communication skills will fail:
Gordon Brown, William Hague, Ed Miliband, Theresa May

Rishi Sunak was like a geeky hedge funder giving a presentation to a client with his white board.
Keir Starmer was like a lawyer who would persuade you to plead guilty when you’re innocent.
Both seemed utterly clueless. That’s why Nigel Farage was such a breath of fresh air by comparison.

Also, political leaders should be honest about why the UK has declined so much (particularly outside London). My take is that globalisation and advances in tech have ruined livelihoods. 40% of British children go on to university but graduates are ten a penny. If I’m an employer & want to hire a new grad & the work can be done from home, do I take the Brit on £20K, the Hungarian who’ll take £15K or the Indian who’ll take £7K? No British graduate wants to work in retail, as a carer wiping bottoms or be a taxi driver. That’s work for foreigners. This change in world order has affected where people live in this country and whether to emigrate or not. Tech is where it’s at. That’s why King’s Cross, Battersea & Cambridge all look prosperous & shiny but the rest of the UK looks like a slum. Although working from home is common, people still need to come into the office in cities as visibility still counts as the big decisions take place in meetings held in the office & having contacts/networks ensures you’re not on the outside looking in.

We’re not the only ones in the Western world with this problem. Greece & Italy produce the highest number of law grads but there are no legal jobs there & they don’t want to be olive pickers. 70% of Portugal is empty. People emigrate to where the jobs are - either legally or illegally, usually headed to an already overcrowded western world.

In 5 years’ time, AI & robotics will have kicked in & whoever is in government will look at giving everyone UBI. Then the fun will start.
Honesty and integrity matter.

[madMARTYNmarsh]

I'm 42, 43 next month. I voted Reform UK. Last election I voted Lib Dem. Before that was UKIP. Before that, I voted Conservative. Before that was Labour. I am not a one party voter. I vote for what I think is the best option at the time, in what I think is the best interests of the country at the time. I will not vote again until FPTP is gone. This archaic system enforces the practice of voting for the least worst option. Any vote for a small party is essentially an irrelevant vote, a waste of time and effort. I will spoil my ballot from now on.
We need PR or some kind of legal obligation to not lie in election material.
Given the choice, I would move to an uninhabited island to live on my own. Unfortunately, there is no uninhabited land free of claim by a government/country. Maybe I could crowd fund a move to Mars! I think I'm finished with Earth.

[tyrqzsv]

That's what infuriates me about Lib Dem voters.. Most are not voting FOR anything. They just don't want Labour or, this time, Tory.

[keithsewell]

"First Past the Post" is an excellent way of racing horses, but an abysmal way of voting for representative legislatures.