With a new Labour government a betting certainty, the most important question confronting voters, who are not passionate Labour supporters, is how to ensure a meaningful Opposition in Parliament to challenge and hold government feet to the fire, supported by a serious and intelligent media.
There is a severe risk that the non-Labour vote will be so split, perhaps for not very good reasons, that no party can be a credible opposition for the next 5 years. Would the best outcome on that front perhaps be a Conservative Opposition? Probably it would, provided that after the election they are committed to reform the Conservative party and approach, recognise its divisive and selfish faults, and present a new face of honesty and real integrity throughout their numbers, united and diverse, appealing to younger generations and their aspirations, respectful and respected.
Such an Opposition could, if it wants to, make a real difference, working to present an alternative programme on the big issues of the day. It could, instead of short-term vote catching policies, put on the table a real debate about the future of healthcare and social care in the UK, examining how a real public/private/insurance partnership could make the NHS fit and affordable for long-term purposes.
Such an Opposition party could lay out meaningful plans to inspire younger generations to reject the narcissistic self-centred culture permeating society, and to reject the culture of entitlement, which is infecting the nation, and to ditch the obsession with pandering to the ever-expanding ageing population to cement their votes.
And such an Opposition party could truly challenge any threat to personal freedoms, such as of speech and action, or to the empowerment of individuals to thrive, which may be posed by any excessive zeal for extreme socialism should it arise.
But such an Opposition party will remain a mere fantasy if voters simply vote to punish conservative candidates for the sins of the past and the idiocy of a few; or if voters choose a Reform party led by a man who is demonstrating more and more Trump like characteristics including a disgraceful respect for and appeasement of the modern evil incarnate Putin. The outright racism and fascism with which Reform is infected has at least become apparent.
We should surely all hope that the new government is effective in growing the economy, in building houses and stabilising the mood and sentiment around the UK and in so many other respects, with good leadership which does not pander to short-termism and the entitlement society. Equally, we need strong voices, including the formal media, whether broadcasting or news journalism, to seriously encourage voters to turn out and vote in record numbers, and to do so by making considered and serious choices, not polluted by fickle emotion, revenge or even hatred.
