Francios Hollande has
been elected in France. There are two main lessons that those of us
on the Left of politics in the UK can learn from this:
- Hollande could be described as boring, he certainly isn't charismatic and does not really exude Gallic flair. The lesson here is simple: If your message resonates with the electorate then a candidate, does not have to be celebrity-like to be statesman-like.
- The French election result also proves that A Socialist party can be elected without having to embrace wholesale privatisation in order to become credible with the electorate.
Ed Miliband is not celebrity-like but the things he is
says do resonate with people. Shortly after his selection Ed Miliband
talked about the 'British promise'. The promise that each generation
should be better off than the last, is something that Hollande also
said in his acceptance speech. As a parent of two daughters this message
strikes a chord. I get a sense of how may parents and grandparents must
have felt when the mines and steelworks closed under Thatcher ... How
will our kids get a job when they leave school? How are they going to
cope? ... Will they have to leave the area?
It is the job of the government to run the country so that opportunity is provided and investment is secure. The Coalition have made deficit reduction the only priority, with the staunch, idealogical view that privatisation as the only solution. Government is like a juggling act: the Tories have kept their eye on the austerity ball and dropped all the rest.
One of the most interesting results of these local elections was in Chipping Norton. Rebbeca Brooks, Jeremy Clarkson and David Cameron now have Labour councillors. Not only is this amusing, but it proves that people who can afford to live in an expensive area will not tolerate incompetent, unfair and out of touch government any more than anyone else.
Ed is similar to Hollande in that he is better at policy than he is at celebrity. If you want to vote for a celebrity then there are many TV shows where you can vote by text for a quid. If you want a mainstream Party to provide a clear alternative to bland, centre right politics, then the French result shows that is a possibility too.
It is the job of the government to run the country so that opportunity is provided and investment is secure. The Coalition have made deficit reduction the only priority, with the staunch, idealogical view that privatisation as the only solution. Government is like a juggling act: the Tories have kept their eye on the austerity ball and dropped all the rest.
One of the most interesting results of these local elections was in Chipping Norton. Rebbeca Brooks, Jeremy Clarkson and David Cameron now have Labour councillors. Not only is this amusing, but it proves that people who can afford to live in an expensive area will not tolerate incompetent, unfair and out of touch government any more than anyone else.
Ed is similar to Hollande in that he is better at policy than he is at celebrity. If you want to vote for a celebrity then there are many TV shows where you can vote by text for a quid. If you want a mainstream Party to provide a clear alternative to bland, centre right politics, then the French result shows that is a possibility too.
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