Britain's next Prime Minister

It occurred to me this morning that this is the first time in my adult life when I genuinely have no idea who will be running the country in three years' time.

(Answer = probably Cameron but you never know)

Hologram Thatcher ftw

Adam Afriyie

LOL x1000

Angela Merkel ftw

Natalie Bennett! Oh wait

I sort of wish Diane Abbott were on that list but there is no way in hell. Might have an outside shot at London mayor, though

voting Michael Gove btw

(xp) Saints preserve us

Most mayors are buffoons, but it'd be nice to have one who's on the right side of things for a change

johnson

Won't be in Parliament in time.

i didn;t say it would be under a democracy tbf

who needs hologram thatcher when the real one is ostensibly still around.

my real guess is ed miliband, heroically triumphing by a minute margin on account of being slightly less nothingy than the tories are evil.

Ed Miliband is by all measures the most likely person here to actually be the next Prime Minister but it just seems far fetched to the point of being impossible. Even his brother feels more likely.

are we voting for who's the least worst or the most likely?

do you mean PM after the next election or next PM after Cameron?

I predict/(most fear) a CON general election win and then Boris as successor

So Boris can't be next PM?

Because if so then WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I mean next PM after Cameron (if it were after the next election then Cameron would have been included in the poll).

Obviously we're not voting for best, where would be the fun in that?

not only otm but a fair description of the actual system

ed balls is such a funny name, gotta go with that guy

Funny name, unfunny guy

Ed Miliband is by all measures the most likely person here to actually be the next Prime Minister but it just seems far fetched to the point of being impossible. Even his brother feels more likely.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21947497

but still...

Phil Hammond is the only name on this list who is a complete mystery to me.

Well not David Miliband then.

Obviously we're not voting for best, where would be the fun in that?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511uCvXgTqL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Ed Mili if i had to put a cash bet on tonight.

we're fucked.

It's Hillary's turn!
(I really think Gove's gonna get this.)

And by "get" I mean kill as many people as it takes.

Gove is kind of hated by his own party and prone to gaffes that people overlook because a) the media is full of his mates and b) the divide-and-rule shit he's doing with the education system is popular with enough voters. In the event of the Tories committing regicide they'd surely go with May or Hague over Gove (or Boris if he's around in time).

Pretty sure D-Mili can do more good running the International Rescue Committee than running the Labour Party in any case.

Well you've put the hoodoo on D-Mil with this poll, Matt, fingers crossed we lose some more

Ed-Mili. The Tories are deluded if they think their biggest problem is Cameron. Ousting him will change nothing.

the "Labour" party is deluded if they think their biggest problem is EMil

We are all deluded if we think our biggest problem is who the next PM will be.

Ye are all deluded

Heard someone the other day say this would be a good election to lose because of the neverending economic shitstorm and the pile of painful long-term decisions waiting around the corner.

that's what people said about the last election right?

Was gonna say

"painful decisions" = "gosh we really don't enjoy being reactionary Neoliberal scum but what the hey"

It'd be grand if it was brown doing it?

dude when have i ever stanned for any of them?

it's true you're the best of a bad lot

xp Was true then and will be true again. We live in globally crappy times, what can I say?

No arguing that tbf!

Ed Miliband 2015, Boris Johnson 2020, Ant & Dec 2025.

Well not David Miliband then.

― Keith, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 23:34 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes, David Miliband is Goodnight Vienna.

has anyone made a D-Mili Thunderbirds gag yet? If not please feel free to do so at your leisure.

Isn't Chuka Umunna like 12?

Well yes, the Andrew Marr Show should be come the Eddie Mair Show permanently

most people don't care what Boris told Darius Guppy

my gf was listening to the actual phonecall the other evening, it made my blood run cold. the aristocracy are some vile and unpleasant fuckers.

Boris is no aristocrat though

Guppy is/was though.

Did you see Guppy's "defence" of Boris in the Spectator? Even Boris was probably shying away from that one.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/03/who-points-the-finger/

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Never change, Spectator...

What’s happening? Snow was ‘disappearing from our lives’ in 2000

Yeah, it's about time Jon called it a day

I don't know about the British public but it will lessen the enthusiasm of some of the people that were giving Boris the momentum he had within the party/Tory press etc. They'll be re-calculating whether backing him is too risky given the scrutiny he'd get as leader/prospective PM.

Boris's good fortune was Ken Livingstone. Ken had over time alienated so much of the London public that he couldn't win but not enough of to enable Labour to dump him. Beating him gave Boris the aura of a "winner" who could "beat Labour in it's own backyard". In reality he only beat another maverick chancer the public had had more time to see though. It's thin evidence that he could win a serious political contest.

As we all know, Mr Johnson never provided me with any address. It is perfectly clear from the tape recording in question that he was simply placating a friend whom he considered to be letting off steam. But while this may rightly exonerate the Mayor of London, my own line has always been somewhat different – and consistent: my only regret being that I was never able to finish the job.

hahahahahahahahaha...

The important thing is that he behaves with the entitlement of an aristo, clutching at single girls while enjoying the benefits of marriage to a woman with a powerful dad. Being in a dynastic marriage while having a bit on the side is the very definition of a certain kind of privilege.

Back in the Spectator days, Boris used to play lots of table football in the bike couriers' pub.

Boris's good fortune was Ken Livingstone. Ken had over time alienated so much of the London public that he couldn't win but not enough of to enable Labour to dump him. Beating him gave Boris the aura of a "winner" who could "beat Labour in it's own backyard". In reality he only beat another maverick chancer the public had had more time to see though.

I don't think this is true, nearly half the electorate voted for Ken last time as well. Boris would have beaten Oona King or some other rank and file Labour type by a bigger margin, if anything. Ken alienated a lot of people, yes, but I think there's ample evidence that enough Londoners *want* maverick chancers in the Mayor's office. But maybe not as Prime Minister.

Ken alienated West Londoners who moaned about having to pay congestion charge, ie the people most of the rest of London wanted first up against the wall come the revolution.

The reasons for his defeat go beyond alienating a small sub-section of people who were going to vote Tory anyway.

Actually what probably did for him worst was alienating the Evening Standard who then went to war with him, but that was an act of such stupidity on his part that it would do for any politician.

I know he's not popular on ILX but I liked London a lot more under Ken. His speech after 7/7 was exactly right.

xpost and even then, what was the margin of defeat/victory?

I mean I still think it's a case of Boris having won it rather than Ken having lost it, it's harder to think of many other Tories who would have won in London.

Evening Standard was edited by a close friend of Boris'. Before that, Ken was doing their restaurant reviews and his LTP worked there.

Besides, if my choice is between a lefty philanderer and a right-wing philanderer...

it's harder to think of many other Tories who would have won in London.

even harder to think of any labour candidates who could've beaten boris

Well as someone who'd normally vote Labour in a Labour/Tory contest but wouldn't have considered voting for Livingstone under any circumstances I may be over-generalising from my own experience. But I knew enough people who think the same way to believe otherwise. And no matter how small a minority we were we were certainly not a minority who were going to vote Tory anyway.

Yeah but I'm assuming the reason he alienated you was nothing to do with the congestion charge in Kensington & Chelsea, right?

Yeah, the line that's going to stick from the interview isn't any of the specific allegations as much as "You're a nasty piece of work, aren't you?" plus Boris's characteristic "Oh it's all in a day's work" attitude when asked about it.

They won't pick him because they will calculate that he's too weird-looking/vulcan/hard line to win over an electorate that's still very suspicious of the Tories.

They elected Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard though, I wouldn't put anything past them.

I suppose there's a conflict between those who think that now the party is in power, it's because the country Understands Stark Reality and is now ready for more Norman Tebbit-in-a-gimp-mask policies, and those who are aware of what was keeping them out of power all those years.

Neither of which explains why people are still talking about William Hague!

I have a suspicion Hague's not as villainous as most of them. He still makes me spit blood when I hear him on Radio 4, but I think that's mostly because he has such a bizarre cadence and accent.

No it was my perception that he had the moral integrity of a weasel. Like Boris.

Hague is Thatcherite through and through but... hasn't been a disaster as foreign secretary? It's difficult to tell because he hasn't seemed to do much other than shaking his fist as Gadaffi and Assad, most of the real foreign policy clangers have been Cameron's.

If anything, Mair's "nasty piece of work" bit - which was entirely unnecessary; BJ was doing an adequate enough job of hanging himself - has probably pushed a lot of sympathy back BJ's way.

Not sure it would've gone viral without the "nasty piece of work" money line though.

If only there was some way of determining how people felt about Boris vs Ken in 2012...

That's the problem. British people don't want any truth, just a handy tag line and a good story. Londoners go "YAY MAIR" and then pick up the Evening Standard the following day.

It'll probably be Cameron again in 2015. Hopefully I'll be out of this country by then.

Hague is Thatcherite through and through but... hasn't been a disaster as foreign secretary?

Yeah, that was my take on him as well.

has probably pushed a lot of sympathy back BJ's way.

Kind of think anyone whose sympathy was pushed back BJ's way by "You're a nasty piece of work" was prob gonna vote Tory anyway?

They might have been considering voting Ukip.

you say potato i say tomato

London is full of people who say they're moving to Australia because this country is finished and you can't start a business here with the red tape & the health and safety & the minimum wage & the EU regulations & it's gorn to the dogs (but you're running a tanning salon!) so provided they haven't all buggered off by then, the Tories will get back in next time, probably nicking enough of Ukip's ideas to keep themselves electable, as Thatcher did with the '79 equivalent.

So, which country were you thinking of in 2015 then?

First port of call would be France, I think. They're currently looking for people to go over there and work. Decent socialist government, none of the back to the workhouse shit we're getting here, better culture, probably more affordable housing...definitely going to look into it.

"I'm leaving the country, the taxes aren't high enough"

hahah, do I look like Stephen Fry (actually don't answer that)?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Balls wuz robbed

"Someone we haven't heard of yet" is presumably the scenario where the Tories win resoundingly in 2015 and someone steps through the wreckage of the Labour Party to pick up the "oh god anyone but Cameron" vote?

Hologram Thatcher ftw

― acid in the style of tenpole tudor (NickB), Tuesday, March 26, 2013 3:47 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

James Purnell was a joke, right?

I mean his inclusion in this poll, altho otoh...

Notably absent: Danny "Beaker" Alexander

I got to the wall for Balls

cameron will probably be elected again eating babies on stage once the tv debates with e-mili are over. it's one thing riding high in the opinion polls when you're in the corner of people's eyes as opposition and another winning a vote with the reality of your studenty self in full view

Don't understand what the eating babies adds to that post.

just to exaggerate that he could get elected afterwards even despite any unspeakable evil

soz if u had a baby that got eaten though

It's cool bro just takin each day as it comes