“I’ve voted Labour all my working life but I won’t be voting Labour this time round” said a Tipton man on last night’s local BBC news.
Previous General Elections are claimed to have been decided by “Worcester Woman” and “Essex Man” Types of voter who switched political allegiance to produce the result.
There is growing evidence that the June 2017 General Election may be decided by what might be called "Princes End People"
"Princes End People" live in towns and cities, run by Labour councils who assume that they have a right to rule and, consequently, take the electorate for granted and deliver bad services.
It's where many local Labour councillors arrogantly assume “their people” will turn out at elections to tick the appropriate box despite the fact that those same people’s needs and communities have been routinely neglected by that councillor.
In the past, the expectations of Labour politicians have been meet. The faithful have trooped out, against their own best interest, to vote for the walking stick with the red rosette.
Sounds so much like Sandwell that we can call these voters "Princes End People" after that ward in Sandwell.
What has sustained this has been a gigantic urban myth as fantastic as any fairy story yet told. The myth is that only the Labour party represents the interests of working people.
That falsehood is exploding faster than a fire cracker in Labour strongholds around the country. Voters have learned by experience.
Labour, in desperation, as usual preaches the politics of envy and division with a soak the rich to pay the poor approach. Corbyn was at it again in his first campaign speech. Trouble for Labour is it’s not what people want or believe anymore.
Promoting division among us, along antiquated class lines, has little place in a post Brexit world. The UK and its people need to stand together.
Envy is the enemy of ambition. Ambition is what ordinary families have. Working parents want to see their children better off than they are, better educated, in better jobs. Labour, somehow, makes this seem shameful, Tories applaud aspiration.
"Princes End People" want to keep more of what they earn through hard work rather than be punished by the rod of excessive taxation. That’s a Tory belief too.
What happens with punitive taxation is that the rich get going… abroad …and the rest of us are left with a heavier burden. Practical sensible people appreciate that confiscation of the assets of the rich, even if it were feasible, would be unlikely to buy the rest of us a pint of beer each.
A practical approach, the Tory approach, is fairness, with everyone contributing according to their means to ensure that the vulnerable in society have their needs meet.
Fairness and sensible practicality appeal to "Princes End People" who know that a strong economy means jobs, homes and is essential to pay for services like the NHS. Princes End People don’t forget that when it comes to managing the economy, Labour’s track record in government is nothing to shout about.
"Princes End People" have certain expectations of a British Prime Minister. They don’t want to be lied to and have their children serving in the forces put in the way of harm in foreign wars in which this country has no discernible strategic interest. But they are patriotic enough to want our values and country defended.
How, they wonder, can Labour have progressed from the Iraq warmonger, as its leader, to the pacifist nuclear disarmer? Now that so many of the most responsible national Labour politicians have run to the hills, the party is left with Corbyn and “loyal” deputy Watson. "Princes End People" are unimpressed.
It is, most likely, that these traditional Labour voters who have suffered most from living in Labour heartlands and have seen their interests repeatedly betrayed by Labour will decide the 2017 General Election result. Evidence is that everywhere they are rising up and shedding their Labour chains.