Social impropriarty

Political Elitism

There is a story circulating in the UK at the moment about the flat at 10 Downing Street that traditionally houses the UK Prime Minister. Currently this is Boris Johnson.  How did we vote in an actual Muppet to the highest office in the land?

What is grating with me at this moment is the demonstration, by the political elite in this country, that they have ABSOLUTELY no idea what it is like to be a citizen in the UK right now.

The furore over the refurbishments at No10 bases largely over who Boris thought it would be a good idea to pay for it. At least he didn't expect UK taxpayer to cough up. Just as well as Boris had lofty expectations for the decor he was to live with over lock down

The articles I have read have suggested that Boris was not prepared to use John Lewis  as it would be too common. 

This was immediately followed by a Labour photo oppurtunity with the glorious leader of the working class revolution, Sir Keir Starmer QC (I  am sure he is a QC), looking around in the wall paper section of said John Lewis partnership shop

What irritated me was that Labour saw this as an affirmation that their man was a man of the people.

The  Labour party needs to get off its high horse and realise that most of the country consider John Lewis to be over priced tosh. John Lewis and the Waitrose  brand of supermarkets are the privelidge of the middle classes by price and choice. That a Labour politician would try and trick the  British Public into thinking that they are a "man of the the people" by shopping in John Lewis just points at how cosseted, elitist and down right bourgeois the rulers of this country have become

John Lewis is the most middle of middle class establishments there is, no brand could be further from the ordinary member of the public

I expect the conservatives to be elitist and entitled.  It is the mark of the conservative party.

I despise them for it. The old etonian, bullingdon club world where they  deserve money and position because Daddy damn well paid for it,

What I didn't expect was that I would be condescended to by a Labour politician who thought that a middle of middle class shop would set himself up as a man of the people. Where as it just showed up how our politicians are so far up their own assholes they have no idea that their own constituants do their basic shopping in places like Aldi and Home Bargains instead.

Our political classes are so far "evolved" they are now elitest but cannot see it. 

I read an article in The Guardian some time ago suggesting that the effect of allowing monetarism or the "marketplace" to point the way in our lives has actually denuded politics in general of it's power. To the folk of this country politicians have less effect on their daily  lives than was  once the case. As a result there  is less interest in politics generally. As a result we get the politicians we deserve, currently I wouldn't rate anyone's ideology in Parliament today.

The Conservative Party is the original populist party. There is no such thing as "the Conservative way" it will chase votes in any shameless way it chooses. It only stands for staying in power. And it is quite good at it. Unfortunately

The Labour Party used to stand for something. Once upon a time there was a genuine working class. That old definition of Working, Middle and Upper Class structure is much more nuanced than it was. This Wikipedia article is of interest but is still Wikipedia! Here is the current UK Government position on Socio-economic structures.

As a result of this the Labour Party appears to struggle to position itself. It swings from centre left to a much more radical opinion (As seen by the recent Momentum grouping). The constant is that Labour is at its most unelectable when it is at its most left wing. That point is arguable. A left wing Labour managed quite well in 2017, partly in my view as a reaction against the concept of austerity.

 So where does this leave us?

Labour has to reconnect with its core voters. But it also has to find out who they are