May 2015 UK General Election Campaign.

[Valmy]

Just tax the rich?

Man Communists have gotten soft these days.

'Unite workers! We shall tax those who own the means of production!'

[Sheilbh]

I do love 'Invest in jobs, peace and public ownership'. It's like they've gone to two-thirds of the course on triangulation

[Josquius]

Was there a Blue Peter competition to find the only communist billboard in Britain or something? (those kids posing there...)


And yes. Farage insulting the audience was one of his premier moments.
Also great was when he was saying something quite agreeable about building more council houses....you could just feel the audience warming to him....till he ended it in typical ye olde BNP fashion with "But not for foreigners!"

[Sheilbh]

Also interesting, from the Spectator:

Five rules of politics that Nicola Sturgeon has broken
465 comments 20 April 2015 12:39Fraser Nelson 

Doesn't she know you aren't meant to talk to grassroots activists? (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)

Nicola Sturgeon met my Auntie Patsy over the weekend, then was kind enough to tweet a picture of their encounter (below). Seeing her sandwiched between the two people most likely to break up the union was odd, but so was discovering that many members of my extended family are now voting SNP. Aunt Patsy is, I'm afraid, a typical example: like 1 in 50 Scots she has joined the SNP in the last seven months. She wasn't really into politics until recently, but has caught the bug (there is a lot of it about in Scotland).

It got me thinking: what are the odds on a party leader bumping into random voters in England? The campaign is being fought differently up there. Sturgeon is creating panic and disorder through her failure to understand the basic rules of politics:

1. Don't try to recruit actual members. The age of mass membership of political parties is dead. If she were a proper politician, she'd content herself with plunging membership – knowing that this was a sign of modernity, rather than a party being hollowed out. Nowadays, as any PPE graduate knows, people are too busy/content to actually join parties. Her failure to understand this basic lesson of modern politics has seen the SNP membership quadruple since the referendum, causing all of this havoc.
2. Don't bother with genuine rallies and meetings – town-hall politics belongs in the last century. In the digital age, people just like to follow party leaders on Twitter – not actually see them speak. Or attend rallies. Sturgeon only encountered my aunt because of her ignorance of the basic rule of politics: never meet the actual voters, or you could end up with a Gillian Duffy moment. All you need to do is bus a few activists into cowsheds – get enough placard-holders for a backdrop for the cameras, job done. That's how modern politics is carried out: not on soapboxes, showing passion, selling out the SECC and town-hall meetings across the country. Sturgeon has so much to learn.
3. Treat grassroot party members as you would embarrassing relatives: they are the old guard, nutjobs, a liability. As everyone knows, parties expand their support by giving the impression that even you dislike your party supporters. Sure, that annoys existing members but, hey, who else are they going to vote for? And it's not as if they'll refuse to campaign for you when the election comes. Word-of-mouth politics (i.e., enthused supporters persuading workmates and neighbours to vote for you) died with the invention of 3G. Now, all you need is the press. Voters are imbeciles, who believe whatever they read. Hence the importance of spin: you control the press, who in turn control the voters. A tame columnist is worth a hundred constituency associations.
4. Run a ruthlessly narrow campaign: technology allows you to ignore most voters. Most elections are decided by about 30,000 swing voters in swing seats – and nowadays there are clever computers which can tell you where these voters live. Focus groups then help you identify the trigger messages which will change the mind of your handful of target voters. So you don't need to fight a national campaign, or pitch to a whole country. Just aim your campaign at a narrow number of people who will be decisive. It's embarrassing seeing Sturgeon adopt a scattergun approach, pitching her party at rural and urban, Highland and central belt.  If the SNP could afford the right American consultant, she could take the 21st century approach to campaigning: just junk mail a few thousand voters and be done with it. Campaign sorted!
5. Bring out the bludgeon: negative campaigning wins elections. She's talking and behaving like an amateur, trying to capture voters' imagination with uplifting messages about what Scotland can become. In fact, study after study shows the most effective message is: 'Vote for me, because the other guy is even worse!'. So you spend the campaign not selling your own message, but attacking your opponents. Negativity wins. Has no one told Sturgeon?

Nicola Sturgeon is fighting this election using tactics that belong in the 1970s, tactics being used by no other party. Not only is this hugely un-modern but it is causing chaos. So she bears a huge personal responsibility for the uncertainty that may follow after the general election.

I've always thought a problem in our politics right now is that all our politicians came up through first the Tory revolutions and then Blairism, but I think voters are now able to actually see through those, at the time, exciting innovations - ruthless spin, clever advertising etc. Perhaps because of the internet. They seem a bit like radio politicians in a TV age.

Maybe Sturgeon's just the first to catch on.

[Monoriu]

Just tax the rich?

Man Communists have gotten soft these days.

'Unite workers! We shall tax those who own the means of production!'

Lies    They just sound more moderate to get your votes.  Once in power, they'll behave just like Stalin 

[Admiral Yi]

How much does peace cost?

[Sheilbh]

The most surprising development this election:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-milifandom#.enJB552b4

[Sheilbh]

Also, weirdly, some very well-connected right-wing journos are saying that, according to senior Tories, Cameron's heart's not really in it. He doesn't really want to be PM again. He's been looking for a high to go out on for a while and none's arrived

[celedhring]

Also interesting, from the Spectator:

Five rules of politics that Nicola Sturgeon has broken
465 comments 20 April 2015 12:39Fraser Nelson 

Doesn't she know you aren't meant to talk to grassroots activists? (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)

Nicola Sturgeon met my Auntie Patsy over the weekend, then was kind enough to tweet a picture of their encounter (below). Seeing her sandwiched between the two people most likely to break up the union was odd, but so was discovering that many members of my extended family are now voting SNP. Aunt Patsy is, I'm afraid, a typical example: like 1 in 50 Scots she has joined the SNP in the last seven months. She wasn't really into politics until recently, but has caught the bug (there is a lot of it about in Scotland).

It got me thinking: what are the odds on a party leader bumping into random voters in England? The campaign is being fought differently up there. Sturgeon is creating panic and disorder through her failure to understand the basic rules of politics:

1. Don't try to recruit actual members. The age of mass membership of political parties is dead. If she were a proper politician, she'd content herself with plunging membership – knowing that this was a sign of modernity, rather than a party being hollowed out. Nowadays, as any PPE graduate knows, people are too busy/content to actually join parties. Her failure to understand this basic lesson of modern politics has seen the SNP membership quadruple since the referendum, causing all of this havoc.
2. Don't bother with genuine rallies and meetings – town-hall politics belongs in the last century. In the digital age, people just like to follow party leaders on Twitter – not actually see them speak. Or attend rallies. Sturgeon only encountered my aunt because of her ignorance of the basic rule of politics: never meet the actual voters, or you could end up with a Gillian Duffy moment. All you need to do is bus a few activists into cowsheds – get enough placard-holders for a backdrop for the cameras, job done. That's how modern politics is carried out: not on soapboxes, showing passion, selling out the SECC and town-hall meetings across the country. Sturgeon has so much to learn.
3. Treat grassroot party members as you would embarrassing relatives: they are the old guard, nutjobs, a liability. As everyone knows, parties expand their support by giving the impression that even you dislike your party supporters. Sure, that annoys existing members but, hey, who else are they going to vote for? And it's not as if they'll refuse to campaign for you when the election comes. Word-of-mouth politics (i.e., enthused supporters persuading workmates and neighbours to vote for you) died with the invention of 3G. Now, all you need is the press. Voters are imbeciles, who believe whatever they read. Hence the importance of spin: you control the press, who in turn control the voters. A tame columnist is worth a hundred constituency associations.
4. Run a ruthlessly narrow campaign: technology allows you to ignore most voters. Most elections are decided by about 30,000 swing voters in swing seats – and nowadays there are clever computers which can tell you where these voters live. Focus groups then help you identify the trigger messages which will change the mind of your handful of target voters. So you don't need to fight a national campaign, or pitch to a whole country. Just aim your campaign at a narrow number of people who will be decisive. It's embarrassing seeing Sturgeon adopt a scattergun approach, pitching her party at rural and urban, Highland and central belt.  If the SNP could afford the right American consultant, she could take the 21st century approach to campaigning: just junk mail a few thousand voters and be done with it. Campaign sorted!
5. Bring out the bludgeon: negative campaigning wins elections. She's talking and behaving like an amateur, trying to capture voters' imagination with uplifting messages about what Scotland can become. In fact, study after study shows the most effective message is: 'Vote for me, because the other guy is even worse!'. So you spend the campaign not selling your own message, but attacking your opponents. Negativity wins. Has no one told Sturgeon?

Nicola Sturgeon is fighting this election using tactics that belong in the 1970s, tactics being used by no other party. Not only is this hugely un-modern but it is causing chaos. So she bears a huge personal responsibility for the uncertainty that may follow after the general election.

I've always thought a problem in our politics right now is that all our politicians came up through first the Tory revolutions and then Blairism, but I think voters are now able to actually see through those, at the time, exciting innovations - ruthless spin, clever advertising etc. Perhaps because of the internet. They seem a bit like radio politicians in a TV age.

Maybe Sturgeon's just the first to catch on.

It took me way too long to realize the writer was being ironic. Time to go to bed I guess.

[Admiral Yi]

I hope this doesn't mean you are joining the no-crop miscreants Celery. 

[Sheilbh]

I don't think the Telegraph are dealing well:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11558732/Where-should-you-flee-in-the-event-of-a-Labour-SNP-pact.html

[Martinus]

I don't think the Telegraph are dealing well:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11558732/Where-should-you-flee-in-the-event-of-a-Labour-SNP-pact.html

[Sheilbh]

Yaaaay! Someone's talking about foreign policy

It's Miliband

Talking

[crazy canuck]

Yaaaay! Someone's talking about foreign policy

It's Miliband

Talking

[Valmy]

Yaaaay! Someone's talking about foreign policy

It's Miliband

Talking

If Labour wins maybe he can sign his way through Prime Minister question time.