Don’t give up

It is election day in the UK (July 4th 2024).

While I won’t get political here, there is one thing of interest to me in this election (that has not had a huge amount of coverage):

The boundary changes.

I really like my current MP but she will no longer be my MP after this election, not due to the vote but due to boundary changes. These changes resulting in my address being grouped in a different political geographic entity.

The changes in the boundaries for this election had been assessed as hugely benefitting the incumbent Conservative party. Instead we are seeing predictions of an opposition Labour landslide, perhaps even bigger than 1997.

So a lesson from this campaign can be seen as for us all not to give up on what we believe in.

The UK Centre-Left appears resurgent, when just a few years ago it risked terminal decline. With elections in France, the USA and elsewhere ongoing there is a lesson for the eventual losers – don’t give up.

Just some of the previous evaluations of the boundary changes that were expected to reinforce Conservative dominance:

• The UK electoral system now decisively favours the Conservatives
• What difference will the new constituency boundaries make?
• Constituency boundary changes give Keir Starmer a tougher route to Number 10