Thought For The Day – Friday 5th July 2024
A Night Of A Thousand Stories
“This was a night of a thousand stories. Politics at its heart is about human beings, and their emotions: success, failure, jubilation, anguish, regret. The big picture is this: within hours, we will soon have our fourth prime minister in under two years. The whirlwind of British politics continues. We live in a world of unprecedented voter volatility – more people in more places are more willing to change their minds more often and more quickly about politics than ever before. And it has happened again.” (Chris Mason, Political Editor of the BBC, 5th July 2024)
After a dramatic, extraordinary and an historic night, at around 5 a.m. U.K. time, the Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, won the 2024 General Election.
This morning, Rishi Sunak will now meet King Charles III to tender his resignation as Prime Minister.
Whereupon, Sir Keir Starmer will visit King Charles III. He will be asked to form a government. At the time of writing this message, 9 of the 650 seats, or constituencies, are still to be declared.
Sir Keir Starmer has transformed the Labour Party, from an historic defeat, their worst since 1935, in the 2019 General Election, which saw the Conservatives triumph, to be the 58th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This landslide victory is on a par with Labour’s victory in 1997, under Tony Blair, and their victory in 1945, under Clement Atlee. It is said to be the worst defeat for the Conservative party since 1832.
In a speech this morning, Sir Keir Starmer talked of the importance and immediacy of change, of “walking into the morning”, with “the sunlight of hope”, being ready to serve of others.
We wish Sir Keir Starmer, the new government, well as we did to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and his government, in a daily message of 1st November 2022. We thank Mr. Sunak for his service and thank all who serve, and have served, the U.K. and the world at large, recognising the very precious nature of democracy, including all involved with the running of elections, and the civil service who support all behind the scenes. People have sacrificed their lives in previous generations so others could vote.
Beneath the headlines there is also a complex and complicated picture in terms of votes and gains of smaller parties, as Professor John Curtice’s analysis of the 10 p.m. exit poll articulated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfM1bTztDGk
It appears the Conservatives have suffered heavily in places where more than a third of households have a mortgage – a reflection perhaps of the damage done by former prime minister Liz Truss’s “fiscal event”, says BBC polling expert John Curtice. Meanwhile, Labour’s vote is up more in seats where a large part of the population say they are …
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More locally, a student of The Bishop’s Stortford High School, Andrew Lewin, was elected just after 3 a.m. this morning to serve the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield, his home town, as Member of Parliament, defeating the respected Defence Secretary Mr. Grant Shapps.
A fine debater, cricketer and student, Andrew Lewin contested TBSHS’ 2005 School Election, when a sixth former, and in 2010, stood to be a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Stortford and Herford. He now enters the House of Commons. Andrew Lewin is the first former student of this school to be a Member of Parliament. He visited the school in 2018 to talk with sixth formers in their Citizenship lesson.
After, and during, any election, the country comes together, as all work for, humbly serve and respect all in the common good with good will, compassion, empathy, love and kindness.