Charlotte Tosti

British Politics' Midlife Crisis Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

It's almost as though today's liberals would rather water down their values than fight for them.

Watering down basic principles of fairness is not 'strategic'. It's cowardice.

Really rubs me up the wrong way when people go on about Farage's talents. He's a narcissist, a manipulator, and he is dangerous.

Why has it become so difficult in recent years to call out politicians who are obviously immoral?

"No, Nigel is really talented, he just can't do sums."

If Labour and other parties can't find a way to scrutinise, criticise and condemn a policy like this, they give Reform a free ride and make the future less safe & certain for those who come here, work hard and contribute.

alas, only they know! Last time round it was 'hero voters'

I never said the 'country' was the 'client' in the discussion above. In this context, the client is whoever Labour HQ considers the target voter.

it could be argued yes, it could also be argued no.

As a lawyer I can see this. One of core duties is to the client. When you get a brief, the question is not 'who do I think should win', it's 'what is the right thing to do for my client'.

That said, I think Starmer comes across as more of a lawyer than a politician with each passing day.

I am running to be Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

As a proud working-class woman from the North East, I have come from a tough council street all the way to the Cabinet.

I will be a strong voice to unite our Party, take the fight to Reform, and deliver for our country.

More in Common have produced research on attitudes to deporting people who come in small boats, uninvited, by characteristics.

A sixth of people support Farage (and now Conservative) policy in all the cases.

A quarter will deport genuine refugees.

Most will remove those without a refugee claim

Think the government need to just act like they're in power because they are in power. Be the loudest voice in the room rather than coming across as though they're scared of saying anything.

Stop treating Farage like some mother in law that needs pleasing. Just belittle the man who belittles!

Of course, Labour's comms game is mediocre at the moment and needs shaking up. The whole 'show don't tell' style of politics doesn't work in this day and age. But that doesn't mean there's no hope.

I do often despair on Bluesky seeing people speak as though Farage is PM already. He isn't!

Not good news for newly graduated aspiring parliamentary researchers is it

(Well, unless the role is ask chat GPT to do your job for you)

Today is a sad day for my 80 year old grandmother who loves to drive, but also I feel a little scared whenever she drives me anywhere, so...

On the topic of British children's exposure to the internet ebbing their social confidence, this tendency has bled into people in their twenties like me too.

I live in a city where most of my peers live, but I barely see them.

I blame it on the internet + being more time poor the older you get.

I'm sorry the youth club stuff really is over-egged by some people. The socialising happened outside the supermarket, for me at least!

I have Gen Alpha brothers and I am 100% sure the reason they all don't have birthday parties/meetups is because they just talk to their friends online. It's sad!

Trade unions are great and more people should join them! But I just quiver at any suggestion that “net zero” goes against the interests of the working class. Yes environmental groups are largely dominated by middle class people, but it’s just such an unhelpful and weird dividing line to make.

It's just another example of contorting things into a zero sum game when improving workers' rights and protecting the climate are not mutually exclusive. If that is truly a concern, run a recruitment drive to unionise workers in green energy industries.

Perspectives like this make me wonder if anyone in politics has ever heard of the duty of care to future generations before?

Sorry, but I couldn't give a monkeys about my energy bill being cheaper in 20 years' time if my great grandchildren have to live through climate breakdown.

Reading 'Get In' before bed is not a good way to go to sleep, especially since half of it was about the time I worked in Parliament and I'm discovering machinations I had no idea about.

Guess that is all part of the beauty of politics!

Legal practitioners handbooks are funny. Today I read a case in which someone 'tying up their ass'.

My eyes widened a second before I realised what they really meant was their donkey.

And yes, these books get updated pretty frequently.

Excl: Day one rights against unfair dismissal, the right to work from home and a ban on zero-hours contracts will not come into force until 2027 under Labour’s workers’ rights overhaul.

Full plan 👇🏻

Had no idea for years that Caroline Polachek's song 'Breathless' is not an original and is actually a cover of Irish family pop / folk band The Corrs.

I don't know how it is possible to make a song so completely your own that the original song sounds more like a cover than the cover.

Who is writing the Prime Minister's speeches?

Can we have white smoke being released from Elizabeth Tower in general elections when the exit poll is *actually* out rather than waiting until the close of polling?

Just because it would be so cool. No other reason other than wanting to copy the coolest part of the conclave.

I say this because it was not that long ago that Andrea Jenkyns, for example, was a Conservative PPS (famous for putting up her middle finger outside Number 10). Now she's a Reform UK Mayor.

Interesting to me how Nigel Farage is slowly edging towards his fantasy of becoming a Conservative leader, albeit smoking and drinking his way up there along a parallel line like a Bond villain.

We now have >250 wards/divisions reported and an increasingly clear picture of the Reform vote. It is higher in areas with fewer graduates, more people with no qualifications, areas where more people are employed in primary industries (e.g. manufacturing) and areas with more older people.

Results of ULEZ:
18.5% reduction in sick leave following LEZ implementation
6.8% drop in the incidence of health problems
10.2% decrease in respiratory issues

These are the reasons why I will always be staunchly pro-ULEZ. And also why anyone criticising Sadiq Khan for it should feel bad, sorry!

Seeing lots of 'pub or gym' articles going around. I think you can do both?

But I also think as you get older your metabolism slows down, your ability to recover from hangovers gets worse, work and family obligations ramp up. As such, I think drinking less the older you get is kind of normal.