tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25656996.post5209186093154756108..comments2024-03-28T21:47:05.704+00:00Comments on David Lindsay: A Leader Of Whom It Can Be ProudDavid Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06839882674758833524noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25656996.post-70095498961493239342012-09-30T06:36:21.136+01:002012-09-30T06:36:21.136+01:00We will see what happens after he becomes Prime Mi...We will see what happens after he becomes Prime Minister, which I agree is looking increasingly likely.<br /><br />Its hard for an Opposition Leader to have a big effect. You have the recent example of Jack Layton in Canada, but he started as a third party leader and the situation is a little different since third parties are simply more dependent on their leaders to get favorable attention (and handle the negotiations when there is a hung parliament). With Labour in the UK, Kinnock gets favorable notice but the party was in such bad shape in the mid-1980s that just being able to run a professional election campaign and not lose in a landslide was considered to be impressive. Atlee established Labour's credibility before 1945 in government, not opposition.<br /><br />Favorable mention to the two Tory PMs who lost in landslide elections, then got the party back to essentially draws in the next election. That this was harder than it looks was shown by the failure to repeat this after 1997 (maybe Major should have stayed on as leader?). But again a very different situation. Incidentally Labour after 2010 got a percentage of the vote almost as low as in 1983 but was probably in better shape as a party due to the failure of the Tories to close the deal in the election or in government.Ednoreply@blogger.com