David Craig, on June 10th, 2017Given all the heat and noise and fury and, above all, misinformation over Thursday’s disastrous election, I thought it worth using my weekend blog to calmly show what went wrong.
This is NOT an attempt to excuse the hapless, misguided Theresa May. But rather I want to show what the result means for the lack of future for our once great country;
So, here are probably the two most important facts:
Fact 1. Theresa May got 2.4 million more votes than Cameron
On Thursday, May’s Tories got 13.7 million votes (and 318 seats). In 2015 Cameron’s Conservatives got only 11.3 million votes (and 330 seats). And in 2010 the Conservatives only got 10.7 million votes (and 306 seats)
So, in spite of alienating many of her traditional voters, May got 2.4 million more votes than Cameron did in 2015 and 3 million more votes than Cameron did in 2010 when he was forced to form the Coalition with the LibDems.
Moreover, on Thursday the Tories got 42.2% of the vote compared to 36.9% in 2015 and just 36.1% in 2010
So, what went wrong? How could achieving the highest number and the highest percentage of votes for years end in such a humiliating result?
Fact 2. It was yoof what did it
Firstly, there was a massive surge in the number of young people who registered to vote.
Over a million 18-24-year-olds and 972,680 25-34-year-olds registered to vote between May’s decision to hold an early election and the deadline. That’s around 2 million new voters. Given there are around 46 million eligible to vote, another 5% were added to the electoral register in just a few weeks.
Secondly, there was a massive increase in the number of young people who actually voted. In the 2015 election only about 43% of young people bothered to vote. Initial indications suggest that last Thursday this rose to an astonishing 72%.
If we assume that most of the young voters didn’t bother with the minor parties, supported Corbyn and that the youth vote was concentrated in university towns, this explains swings of up to 10% to Labour in many constituencies.
So, all the time the Tories were assuming their traditional vote would hold up, they were absolutely right. The Tories got more votes and a higher percentage of the votes than ever before.
What the highly paid, highly-pensioned Tory strategists failed to notice, however, was the huge increase in the yoof vote fueled by social media campaigning and the lemming-like rush of these new voters to Corbyn’s Labour. Ooops
We want more free stuff!
There has been another change in the electorate over the last few years.
I don’t have the exact figures to hand. But if I remember correctly, in 2010 about 49.7% of the electorate got more in benefits and public services than they paid in taxes. By 2015 this had risen to about 53.4%. With continued open-door immigration, I imagine that by now around 60% of voters get more free stuff from taxpayers than they pay in taxes.
It should be clear that, once a majority are taking out more than they put in, a party like Labour offering ever more ‘free stuff’ paid for by someone else (the money tree) will always attract a large number of votes.
Corbyn’s genius
Given these two changes in voter demographics, Corbyn’s Labour Party had four strokes of genius – using social media to boost the yoof vote, pledging to abolish hated university fees, hints in speeches that existing student debt could be written off and promises to build 100,000 “genuinely affordable” houses a year.
So, what could go wrong?
When Britain voted to leave the EU, our screens were filled with British yoof blubbing and weeping and claiming that ‘old people’ had destroyed their futures. Well our “love not hate” and “refugees welcome” yoof got their revenge last Thursday. Brexit is pretty much dead in the water, the Tories can no longer govern effectively and we will never again get control of our borders.
But what our yoof failed to notice was the connection between the terror attacks at London Bridge, Manchester and Westminster Bridge and the open-borders, hug-a-Moozerlum policies they so love.
Perhaps when a few hundred more yoof are slaughtered, they might realise the mistake they have made?
Or perhaps not!
Category: 
As always your statistic info is so informative. I for one did not realize that May got more votes than Cameron. However she should not of called the election and I do not trust her motives on the EU.
I can understand the issue with University fees, it used to be free. How does it compere with the rest of Europe.
We have a housing shortage caused entirely by mass immigration concentrated mostly in Southern England. Rich Conservative politicians and their corrupt pals profited by this. The Home Secretary who let in the most migrants in British history was Theresa May.
In the case of housing Corbyn offered a solution more social housing , when this would not cover the additional people added to our population by mass immigration.
The policy of a political party that put its own people first would be zero net immigration http://www.englandcalling.wordpress.com
PS Any one know what percentage of new young voters where Muslim as they would have all voted Labour
I think that you have got that just about right.
However I wonder how many of the newly arrived, lovely, peaceful, worthy friends have registered as voters, including “the children” – who must be about 34 by now.
I think you’ll find that around 125% to 130% of eligible voters in Moozerlum areas like Tower Hamlets voted for Labour
I dont have the figures but think there must also have been a UKIP effect on thursday in that they had a significant presence in previous elections but certainly not in this one.
Its quite a depressing thought to know that nearly half the population in this country are so completely dumb, so idiotic, so devoid of rational thought and comprehension of the issues that they actually believed comrade corby and his fat abbotapotamus were fit to run a bath let alone a country.
Iq’s have dropped by quite a margin, thats obvious, but then critical thought looks to have died out like the dinosaurs.
May, and i said at the time, should NEVER have called the election.
She should have got on with the business of brexit and then gone to the country.
She could have easily gotten her majority, but no, she faffed at the start, delaying the triggering of artical 50 for non reasons then thought she’d play a hand of cards with with the future of everyone ( remainers and leavers alike) and for that shes unfit to lead the country and has to go.
Corbyns right on that score but only because its so patently obvious.
Theresa May, the Gordon Brown of the tory party, leave gracefully now.
Calling Nigel Farage! Your Country Needs You!
Reference Corbyns give away isn’t there a saying that “If someone robs Peter to pay Paul then he can generally rely on the support of Paul”
And speaking of the Pauls of this world just what is the problem with the yoof of today. It is like feminism, they have it far better than anyone ever had it in all of history but it isn’t enough.
I see them with their £400 mobile phones dressed in the latest designer fashions , sporting ridiculous hairstyles that cost a fair packet , many with cars , holidays abroad, weekends on the continent, drinking in all night bars and it isn’t enough.
Then along comes JC and convinces them they should have it all, What do we want … Everything … when do we want it … now , who’s gonna but for it … we don’t give a f… but lets start the the old people , as if they are immune from the ageing process.
Funnily enough none of them seem to be stuck in Corbyns poverty trap.
As for their love of their new found friends “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad “
Well instead of trying to look after the Worlds potential Immigrants . The YOOF better start worrying about their own future.They are in for the biggest shock of any generation.The had better start thinking about who will feed them.There is no Government money tree it was all an illusion built on massive debt.Bye Bye NHS.
“The World Economic Forum, in conjunction with Mercers (the actuaries) recently estimated that the combined pension deficit currently stands at $66.9tr for eight countries, rising to $427.8tr in 2050. The eight countries are Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Netherlands, UK and US. Of the 2016 figure, $50.5tr is unfunded government and public employee pension promises.
Yes, we are now talking in hundreds of trillions. Other welfare-providing states missing from the list have deficits that are additional to these estimates.”
https://wealth.goldmoney.com/research/goldmoney-insights/how-gold-can-rescue-pensions?gmrefcode=gata
When the Fed Funds Rate hits 2.5 to 3% if it gets that far , then I am afraid its all over for the Great Socialist Welfare State Experiment. Like Mrs Thatcher said, Socialism is great till you run out of other peoples money, and they have excelled them themselves this time. Dont think Govt. and Central Banks will save you this time.Mrs Thatcher ,the last Good Politician we had.Of course nobody is listening or looking. Wont be long now, see the chart.Rates have to rise..
https://wealth.goldmoney.com/research/goldmoney-insights/business-cycles-are-credit-cycles
Ramacar continues:
EIGHT people have been injured after a car ploughed into pedestrians in Amsterdam central station tonight.
Whilst in the UK our leaders deliberately muddy the waters on BREXIT, whilst Junker & friends are celebrating.
What could possibly go wrong with brexit with an ‘ex-remainer’ seemingly in charge. Now we know.
The problem is that Corbyn does not just intend to rob Peter to pay Paul, he intends to rob Peter to pay Paul, Tom, Dick Harry, Ahmed, Mohammad……………….
For entirely selfish and revengeful reasons, the idiotic yoof decided to get back at all those “old bastards” for having the temerity to vote to leave the EU.
Thats what the election result is about, nothing else.
The irony is, they were voting to hurt someone else because of a perceived sleight on their future prospects ( yes things could and would have been better long term to run our own country) but being a tad thick they missed the point and in a completely ironic move voted against themselves.
Because instead of his country doing its own thing for its own betterment and keeping its own wealth for its own citizens (idiot yoof included) they scuppered any chance of a brighter future by voting for a cloud cuckoo land set of policies. A case of short term gain for long term pain-for the idiot yoof as theyre the ones who will eventually be landed with the costs of cleaning up their own mess and paying for it!
A deleicious example of schadenfreude.
Fantatstic!