Sea Change
Last night we saw a huge protest vote against Boris Johnson in both by-elections. His lies, incompetence, and lack of any plan is now depressingly obvious. He has taken the Conservative Party to new lows and the blame lies squarely at Mr Johnson’s door. But yet again someone else, his party chairman, has taken responsibility for Mr Johnson’s failures.
People want a different type of politics and politicians representing their interests and restoring their trust. Achieving this requires cleaning up politics, modernising our democracy and fighting corruption, and a range of voices in the House of Commons that better represents the country as a whole.
In particular, Mr Johnson has taken the Conservatives’ moderate base for granted, and his contempt means the blue wall is up for grabs at the next general election. Meanwhile, Mr Johnson’s land grab of 2019 already looks like a quirk of electoral history.
We congratulate Richard Foord in Tiverton & Honiton and Simon Lightwood in Wakefield - those constituencies needed representatives of a different political hue following the depraved behaviour of their previous MPs. The desire for political change means community-focused independents and anti-corruption parties like True & Fair will also be serious challengers to Mr Johnson’s Conservatives at the next General Election as we enter a new political era that will be defined by right and wrong, not right and left.
At True & Fair we have been very busy researching voter sentiment and planning the most opportune and pragmatic way to focus our resources on seats where we can make the most impact, and play our part in denying the Conservatives a catastrophic fifth term.
Look out for more details on this in the coming weeks and news on specialist groups we’re launching.
Wednesday's PMQs may already seem a long time ago but we must not let the by-election results detract from the serious issues engulfing our politics. In an environment as target-rich as Boris Johnson, where was the leader of the opposition to begin? Obvious topics would include the looming transport strikes, increasing food and fuel prices, extended waiting lists, flight cancellations, the lowest growth in the G20 outside of Russia, plummeting standards of living, the absurd and wasteful Rwanda flights policy, the fact the two upcoming by-elections were triggered by Conservative sex and abuse scandals, or perhaps the story that Johnson had attempted to procure a six-figure job for his partner Carrie at the taxpayer's expense? In the event, Starmer failed again to land any serious blows. Instead of making a stirring appeal to the voters in two important by-election to send a message to Boris Johnson that they have had enough of his corrupt, incompetent government, Starmer fluffed it and allowed Boris free hits again and again.
The fact that No.10 was able to quash the Carrie Johnson job story at The Times is perhaps the most concerning aspect of the whole tawdry affair. Threats to the freedom of the press or worse, the emergence of a supine and acquiescent press, are further steps towards an elective dictatorship. It joins the Bill of Rights, denying rights to protest under the Police Act, attacks on the judiciary, tearing up of ethics and conduct codes, voter suppression, and the hobbling of an independent Electoral Commission - almost the full bingo card for a government whose objective is not strengthening our democracy and parliamentary sovereignty, as Dominic Raab claims, but the entrenchment of a form of executive supremacy. It is one of authoritarian resistance to scrutiny and is opposed to the best traditions of our proud British constitution.
These types of underhand tactics show that the Government is truly rattled. We have already heard that David Canzini, Johnson's deputy chief of staff and election strategist (Cummings 2.0) has stated that the next election will be fought by the Conservatives entirely on Brexit, which underlines their fundamental lack of ideas beyond culture wars, which is deeply worrying for us as a country, not least since the Labour Party has been completely cowed on the issue.
It is imperative, therefore, that those opposed to this Government - either for its repellent ideology, its corrupt nature, or its shameful incompetence - need to work together strategically to corral the votes required to remove them, especially in the blue wall seats located in the home counties and shires.
True & Fair are preparing. It is more than clear that the gloves will be off at the next election, and all of us opposed to this Government must be alert and prepared to do whatever we can. We are growing, we are recruiting motivated activists, new members, and candidates (watch this space) to help us make a difference where it matters - at the ballot box.
True & Fair are preparing. It is more than clear that the gloves will be off at the next election, and all of us opposed to this Government must be alert and prepared to do whatever we can. We are growing, we are recruiting motivated activists, new members, and candidates (watch this space) to help us make a difference where it matters - at the ballot box.
In the coming weeks, keep an eye out for more news, including new campaigns, events and the emergence of local hubs that you will be able to join.
Together we can grow our movement and make it a success – just look at what the Teals achieved in Australia!
Please join us as a member and share our news on social media.
Many thanks,
The True & Fair Team