Tentative conclusions from the mayhem of the UK election.
The younger voters are beginning to stir, expressing their dislike of traditional politics. Corbyn is very old-school but seen by the young as a rebel and anti-establishment which they appreciate. Had they exerted themselves last year, the Brexit vote (= bring back the good old days of the British Empire) would have gone the other way.
They also agreed with his ‘terrorism has its roots in western interference in the Middle East’ comments; which were shouted down by conservatives as scandalous. The Manchester and London attacks should have swung the vote towards the law-and-order Tory Party, but since they’d been in charge, especially May as Home Secretary for years, and glaring mistakes were made by under-resourced and legally hamstrung police and security services, it did the opposite.
Maybe by the end of Pluto’s slow grind through Capricorn in the mid 2020s there will be different styles of government and politics. Macron’s neither-right nor-left approach worked in France. Even the improbable Trump belongs to neither traditional party, and gave a voice (albeit false) to the dispossessed underclasses, which got him elected. The old rules no longer apply.
What it means for Brexit, heaven alone knows. A coalition government will be weak and take time to negotiate. A Tory leadership battle will delay matters and be a toxic fight between hard and soft Brexiters and Remainers; and almost certainly lead to yet another election soon (can we bear it?)
The UK/EU relationship chart looks on an uncertain and confused downhill slide over the next three years with tr Neptune square the Moon (exactly now) and moving as well in 2018/19 to oppose the composite Jupiter. Tr Pluto will oppose the composite Saturn for deadlock through 2018/19; and while there is a separating tr Saturn conjunct the composite Sun in late 2018, that’s a once-in-seven-years occurrence in hard aspect terms.
The separatist Scot Nats took a drubbing, which may be to do with local discontent about badly run services, but could also be an indication that the drive to disrupt old alliances is waning along with the fading tr Uranus square tr Pluto.
The UK chart has tr Pluto opposition the Cancer Moon giving rise to impassioned and at times violent expressions of feelings in 2017/18; and that’s amplified by tr Pluto also opposition the Solar Arc Mercury for the next three years. So vehement debates will continue to tear the country apart – and maybe that’s no bad thing, part of the deconstruction and reconstruction process where politics is concerned. At least the voters aren’t apathetic any longer. By 2019 the Solar Arc Moon opposes the UK 11th house Saturn (= the legislature) which suggests the populace will be thoroughly disenchanted, even more so, with politicians.
Tr Neptune is also conjunct the UK Solar Arc Mars exact now and running on till 2020, which will give rise to confusion and panic; plus tr Pluto sextile the 2nd house Neptune, exact now and until late 2018 which is financial uncertainty.
And last but not least the Solar Arc Midheaven squaring the 8th house Mars, exact in 2 months’ time, which has produced another shock – stirring up anger, provoking questions about where the country is going, as well as accompanying violent deaths and financial crises.
To be continued ……
I agree that Ruth Davidson has performed extremely well, and I hope that she will become the future face of the Tory Party, but she won’t be in the running as next PM as the leader of the Tory party has to be drawn from the ranks of Westminster MPs. Ruth Davidson is a member of the Scottish Parliament only.
The only thing that will save the UK is a move to a democratic system of voting, instead of the present first past the post system, which generally leads to results which give a lurch to the left or right; like Tony Blair getting a 100+ majority with approximately 25% of the vote.
The number of small parties which cause the sort of mayhem seen in Italy could be avoided by making it necessary for a minimum proportion of votes, say 5%, to be obtained before a seat can be obtained.
The other thing which would be necessary is for the choice of candidates to be removed from the control of the senior members of each party so that we no longer have MP parachuted into safe seats.
I have to point out that Italy actually has a 3 per cent election threshold, so this isn’t the cause for chaos. They also have a system where parties name their candidates, in order of preferance. So, in any election with multiple candidates for each party, one is not essentially voting for the “list”. Infighting in parties almost as fierce as fighting other parties, parties and parliamentary groups tend to “split” all the time. That said, Italian system isn’t too dissimilar of that in many more politically stable countries. So, I guess that when a country has “multiple choice”, it’s mostly about capacity to for government and work with people whose ideas are distant from yours.
Hi Marjorie,
Your thoughts on
a) the DUP and Northern Ireland
b) My interpretation is that Brexit is dead. A soft Brexit (where we lose our seat at the table, but have to follow EU laws) is no Brexit at all. Where next for the UK?
c) I think the Tories are dead in the short-term again. Where next for the Tories?
d) And your thoughts on the following people as future PMs; Amber Rudd, Boris Johnson and David Davis.
Almost forgot: What is the future for Ruth Davison? Could she be Prime Minister of the UK in the near future?
If she becomes PM in the next year, the British Isles, with a gay Taoiseach in Ireland and a lesbian Prime Minister in the UK, may become the most progressive corner of Europe.
Ruth Davison saved Theresa May’s skin and now she’s going to be asked to share a platform with the DUP, when she is openly gay and socially liberal. The DUP make UKIP look like hippies. So many Tories must be so furious with May, it’s going to be ugly.
Thanks, Marjorie. So much to look forward to then.