An Early Election?

Tim Farron argues in today’s Guardian for an early election. His argument stems for the legitimacy argument, one employed by the Tories to great effect in 2007 when Gordon Brown chickened out of a general election that year. That particular act of cowardice was the beginning of his long demise- remember that he had some pretty superb approval ratings in his early months as Prime Minister. It showed his weakness and the dithering that later came to epitomise his premiership.

An early election is appealing to many Tories. The opposition are breaking up and the Left is becoming ever more fragmented. The Liberals may do fairly well out of their promise to halt Brexit. There are a couple of university seats that they don’t hold, after all, and they may be able to reach double figures if they play their cards right! Labour couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery and the SNP hold all but three seats in Scotland- even a clean weep would make little difference to the overall shape of the Commons and they could even lose seats (we can all dream…)

It seems that all is looking good for the Tories, who will have a stability lacking in both Labour and UKIP in the coming months. Despite John Tickett’s statements to the contrary, Labour are not even close to being ready for an election.

May must not hold an election though. This country is on a knife edge and we just cannot allow the show to fall apart just as stability is returning. The Conservatives, for all their faults, have the ability to implement Brexit in a positive manner. Labour would surely be utterly pessimistic about the possibilities. Brexit is a tremendous possibility but it must be seen as an opportunity rather than a burden and the government seem to be getting behind the possibilities for trade what with Osborne’s trip to the US.

More importantly though is the unity of the country. We have been ripped in two over the past months and it seems that the Bremainiacs are calming down, albeit slowly. My own family was torn apart by Brexit and the wounds are beginning to heal, especially as the old star players are stepping away. We can’t risk this happening again- especially as the election would surely be cast as a second referendum.

Just as important is so-called ‘vote fatigue’. Farron doesn’t have a problem with this, apparently. That’s his lookout but the evidence is there for all to see in the Scottish turnout figures. 5% below the rest of the country is one thing but more significantly it has fallen from the General Election. That will surely be replicated moving forward and apathy for the electorate is hardly useful in these times.

We must trust our elected politicians to make the most of the tremendous opportunity we now face. Politicians are looking ever weaker as they hand off important decisions to the electorate. The country have made their voice heard. It is now up to this Parliament to enact their will. An early election is a sure way to tear this nation apart for the possibility of a bigger majority. Leave it a couple of years before repealing the Fixed Term Parliaments Act and have a proper election after we have left the EU.