@dookie Said
Well, I'm a Baby Boomer.......but an exception to the rule! But Jennifer makes the correct point - demographic analysis tells us exactly where the heart of Brexit is found. It filters out from the white male South of England Tory, and age wise will be the first to fade away! Alas I am in the midst of it, but somehow their Reality has passed me by.
Myself, I am not as optimistic as Jennifer.
The Tories have a great past record of self renewal when all appears lost. Again, though by no means a Jeremiah, I have deeper fears in these chaotic times.
When all the old EU Laws are passed into UK Law the alarm bells are already ringing......"What (a) comprehensive analysis reveals is that far from Parliament getting new freedoms to introduce new laws for the British people the powers are being transferred from the European Commission to government ministers and indirectly to government advisers like Dominic Cummings".
Again, the growing backlog of court cases already has certain people people advocating suspending Trial by Jury........
"Emergency Powers" are always to be feared from Right Wing Governments, and the Pandemic and uts aftermath offers rich opportunities.
Re: My BIB
The Tories have always had the advantage of being the only (traditionally at least) right of centre party in Britain while Labour and the Liberals / LibDems have tended to split the left of centre vote. Remember.... the referendum was only called by Cameron because he saw UKIP as being dangerous to the Tory hegemony of the right wing vote.
The last election was as good as scuppered because Labour and the LibDems couldn't come to any agreement over tactical voting whereas UKIP and the Tories struck a deal which prevented their vote from being split.
This is where the Tories advantage lies, not in any innate talent for pulling rabbits out of hats.
The disastrous regime of Jo Swinson at the LibDems (even I didn't want Article 50 rescinded without a second vote) and the unelectability of Corbyn contributed more to the Tories landslide (only 35% of the popular vote, but under FPTP, one third of the voting public can make for a "landslide" victory) than any belief that Johnson would make a good Prime Minister.
I think that message has finally been rammed home to Labour and LibDem in no uncertain terms by the events of the last four years.
Labour now have an intelligent and supportable leader who I believe the Tories genuinely fear. We don't know yet who the next LibDem leader will be, but already the signals are being sent out from Labour HQ that Starmer wants a more "constructive relationship" with them. That sounds good.
The Tories have already tried to smear Starmer, first with Nadine Dorries wretchedly - and glaringly obviously - doctored video and then with a planted "Expose" in a Sunday newspaper which attempted to paint Starmer as some sort of Rolls Royce socialist... a fraud... that backfired in their face.
Desperate measures are being resorted to already, but they both failed and Starmer had the smarts to be able to turn both attempts to actually improve his image. The public might be put off somebody who owns "a greenbelt field worth £10 millon"... but when that field turns out to be one that he bought to give to his mum so she could start a donkey sanctuary, the public see a man they can warm to.
The Tories have no dirt on Starmer to exploit, as they had in abundance with Corbyn. Starmer is squeaky clean and in their exchanges in Parliament, is making Johnson look the fool.... the inadequate buffoon... that he is.
If the Tories could pull a rabbit out of the hat come the next election, it'd be one hell of a trick.
If (as Harold Wilson once said) a week is a long time in politics, then four years is an eternity, or will seem like one. A lot can change between now and then, but yes, Dookie, I am confident. With reservations of course. Nothing is ever certain.
There is a lot of work to be done. Now is not a bad time to start.
PS... I'm not wishing your generation dead. There is no malice in any of these comments.... but as you recognise, it is something that can't be avoided in the greater scheme of things.