'Progressives Must Unite Against Nigel Farage and National Populism or Reform Will Win'
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What do this sequence of numbers represent and do they matter: 4, 5, 6, 9, 72,121 and 411? The politically eagle eyed amongst you would know that these are the seats for the main parties and blocks in Parliament.
Let's go through the numbers to understand what if anything they mean and tell us. 411 is the number of Labour MPs. It's a very big number in parliamentary terms. It gives Labour a whopping majority 165, which means one thing and one thing only, that Labour is going to be in office until the polls give it a good enough excuse to call the next election, or by summer 2029 they simply run out of room.
A big majority guarantees a party will stay in office but nothing else. The Conservatives had a big enough majority after 2019 and yet chaos ensued. They simply didn't have a plan for the country or how to govern it. They became rebellious and focused on plots and plans about who was next up to pretend that they were in charge.
If this all feels familiar after one year of a Labour Government with almost double the majority of the Conservatives that's because it's more a crisis of the whole political system than it is the personalities who happen to be trying to run it.
Whether Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, or Morgan McSweeney stay or not is now largely beside the point. Unless, and until, Labour develops a political analysis of the place of social democracy in the third decade of the 21st century, then changing the captain of the ship heading for the rocks is irrelevant - unless they drastically change direction.
The only difference will be that it won't take a year for the incompetence of any new leader to be exposed, but like Liz Truss, it's more likely to take months or even weeks.
121 is the Conservative seat total. Little needs to be said about the non-renewal of the Conservative brand under Kemi Badenoch. But like the existential crisis of social democracy, there is a crisis of centre right Christian style democracy the world over. The Conservative's show no sign, no inclination, and no ability to even begin to solve it.
Labour Apart: How Morgan McSweeney Levered the Left Out of Power
The story of how Keir Starmer's chief adviser hoodwinked Labour party members tells us a lot about how power really works, argues Neal Lawson
Neal Lawson
72 is a number of seats the Liberal Democrats hold. But honestly, despite some excellent new MPs in their ranks, has it made any difference to the country's political dialogue that their numbers have increased so dramatically?
Of course, smaller parties can struggle in terms of media profile, but as we will see below, numbers aren't everything. The Liberal Democrats are now a centre left Party representing a centre right electorate at a moment when post liberal sentiment is sharpening all the ti
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
What do this sequence of numbers represent and do they matter: 4, 5, 6, 9, 72,121 and 411? The politically eagle eyed amongst you would know that these are the seats for the main parties and blocks in Parliament.
Let's go through the numbers to understand what if anything they mean and tell us. 411 is the number of Labour MPs. It's a very big number in parliamentary terms. It gives Labour a whopping majority 165, which means one thing and one thing only, that Labour is going to be in office until the polls give it a good enough excuse to call the next election, or by summer 2029 they simply run out of room.
A big majority guarantees a party will stay in office but nothing else. The Conservatives had a big enough majority after 2019 and yet chaos ensued. They simply didn't have a plan for the country or how to govern it. They became rebellious and focused on plots and plans about who was next up to pretend that they were in charge.
If this all feels familiar after one year of a Labour Government with almost double the majority of the Conservatives that's because it's more a crisis of the whole political system than it is the personalities who happen to be trying to run it.
Whether Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, or Morgan McSweeney stay or not is now largely beside the point. Unless, and until, Labour develops a political analysis of the place of social democracy in the third decade of the 21st century, then changing the captain of the ship heading for the rocks is irrelevant - unless they drastically change direction.
The only difference will be that it won't take a year for the incompetence of any new leader to be exposed, but like Liz Truss, it's more likely to take months or even weeks.
121 is the Conservative seat total. Little needs to be said about the non-renewal of the Conservative brand under Kemi Badenoch. But like the existential crisis of social democracy, there is a crisis of centre right Christian style democracy the world over. The Conservative's show no sign, no inclination, and no ability to even begin to solve it.
Labour Apart: How Morgan McSweeney Levered the Left Out of Power
The story of how Keir Starmer's chief adviser hoodwinked Labour party members tells us a lot about how power really works, argues Neal Lawson
Neal Lawson
72 is a number of seats the Liberal Democrats hold. But honestly, despite some excellent new MPs in their ranks, has it made any difference to the country's political dialogue that their numbers have increased so dramatically?
Of course, smaller parties can struggle in terms of media profile, but as we will see below, numbers aren't everything. The Liberal Democrats are now a centre left Party representing a centre right electorate at a moment when post liberal sentiment is sharpening all the ti
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