I love political debates. Over the past couple of years, we have been arguing about what party should govern this country. However, it seems that this debate is now over: the electorate have settled it for us.
People across the country decided to surprise everyone (probably including themselves) and return a Conservative majority government. The Tories made gains at the expense of Labour in predominantly working class areas like Wales or the North (#Balls). But some people only seem to like democracy as long as it delivers the right result. For Oxford’s radical left, the result was far from ideal.
The sheer and utter contempt for the millions of ordinary votes expressed by so many people at Oxford is quite frankly staggering. Guess what: most of the electorate are not white boys from Eton and the South East. Most of them are not selfish, ignorant or stupid. Facebook over the past week or so really has shown that radical left are exactly what they accuse the Tories of being: nasty, mean and arrogant.
Guys, you lost, and the mature thing to do would be to ask why, so you can fix it for the next election. Instead, some of you have decided to spread vitriol, and refer to us, Conservatives, using words for which my granny would smack me. You have the audacity to claim that the Tories are elitist, whilst claiming that the voters are stupid and don’t understand, because how on Earth could anyone ever vote for the Tories? There was a surge in Tory support among ethnic minorities, young people and the LGBT community – please get a grip and stop telling me I’m a self-hating gay (and foreigner) for voting Tory.
We now hear how the Tory government has no mandate, as it only got a majority because of our rotten and discredited voting system. This is the very system the public overwhelmingly supported in a referendum a couple of years ago. Where were these voices when Labour got a staggering majority of 179 seats with 43 per cent of the vote in 1997? Or in 2005 when the Tories got a million more votes in England but a hundred fewer seats? Everyone enjoys the game when they’re winning: the real test of character comes when you start losing.
As is always the case, the vast majority of people are very sensible. Most of my Labour and Green friends shook my hand on Friday, said ‘Well done’, and started preparing the campaign for 2020. This is one of the (many) things the rest of the world – and me personally – admire about the British: your ability to control and manage your emotions and handle them in a mature manner. Most people don’t feel the need to insult me, most want to talk to me about politics.
Respect for James on the right here; while I disagree with him on virtually everything (I bet he even likes Marmite), at least he actually campaigned for Labour and fought for what he believes to be right, like a grown up. A huge well done to everyone who did the same, whichever party they supported.
We all want to make Britain a better place, we just disagree over the best way to do it. However, ultimately it’s the voters who decide what the best way is, and in 2015, they decided it’s the Tory way.
