I think the weird thing is just that our press have decided it's Labour's turn, because Labour have installed the people and policies that our media owners wanted. So nothing Labour do is particularly questioned anymore (look at the difference in pushback a Starmer interview and a Corbyn one for example, or how shocked and angry Starmer immediately gets at even gentle dissent from an interviewer). So here we are with this election where the result is effectively tacitly arranged well in advance and they all know it. There's barely a rizla between them on any meaningful policy but people who write breathless columns and blogs about Westminster can get very excited about Red Team beating Blue Team and get their wallets inspected again when nothing much improves, and so on.

I live in a safe Labour seat these days, our current guy seems a bit of a wet blanket but at least isn't conspicuously as horrid as the current leading group (but he works with Reeves I think, it may just be a matter of time and anonymity). Cons look a far distant second, Reform predicted to flop completely here at least. I'll probably vote Green, just to throw a droplet in the bucket of "look, these vaguely centre-left policies, they are popular!" that might exert a tiny pull on the parties that actually get in power. Haha *sad trombone*

We've had a few leaflets in but very little activity, I remember in 2017/19 there were canvassers and posters up all over the place. Just a further illustration that there's nothing meaningful about to change. Mind you I went out mountain biking in Surrey last week and there's a lot of Reform posters up around those villages! A lot of rich racists in that neck of the woods who want to protest the Tories.

True. It really is amazing how smiley and relaxed the meeja is when talking to NICE labour people like Keir and Rachel. There are bugger all posters up around here, although I know from the posh houses with union Jacks flying in the gardens that reform will garner a few votes. We've had a load of paper crap in the last few days, and there's some kind of effort from some sweet-looking anti-abortion candidate who keeps pushing medical photos through our letterbox. We did have a canvasser from the labour party, but he didn't hang around when I told him I was voting labour. I vaguely recognised him, and I'm pretty sure he was one of the troops when I last gave the local CLP any help back in 2015. I'm also pretty sure he didn't recognise me and I didn't start a lively chat going, even though he was a decent man.

God help us though. Starmer, McSweeney, Streeting, Reeves (either of the fuckers), Akehurst, Rt Hon Loses will to live...... I remember listening to Alexei Sayle on his "Imaginary Sandwich Bar" radio show a couple of years ago. He recalled his sense of hope that somebody genuinely decent might get to lead the labour party when Corbyn was elected, and his feelings of despair as the machinations against him began. They are, he said, "Really horrible people." That says it for me. And there isn't really any hope, because just like The Donald has packed the judiciary and the Supreme Court with rightwing morons, so Starmer has packed the NEC and just about every staff position in the labour party with hard-right labour buddies. 

Sorry for rambling. Honestly, I promise not to reveal that hurricanes and earthquakes across the world are steered by electromagnetic instructions from covid vaccinations.

Yup, that all rings very true.

Reform are really the winners in all this. The fact that Farage has made himself politically relevant again, despite Brexit not being a particularly live issue, is kinda stunning.

Absolutely enabled by both Labour and the Tories unwillingness to actually *do* anything of course.

Not saying they're going to get a ton of seats or anything. But they're definitely going to be politically relevant for the next few years.