The day is almost upon us. UK voters will go to the polls tomorrow to decide who will form the next government. How many turn up at the ballot box remains to be seen - disillusionment and discontent seem to be the main characteristics of this General Election campaign. For all the talk of a Labour majority, even those who advocate for a Labour vote admit it has more to do with ousting the Tories than a wholehearted enthusiasm for Starmer’s plans.
It has been a busy week, from Reform’s controversies around vetting to Boris Johnson’s surprise eleventh-hour return to the centre stage of campaigning. And remember the betting scandal? Turns out the thing we all knew - that politicians and their staff often place bets on political events - was true.
What are we to make of all of this? Has the media focus on Reform missed crucial scrutiny of some of the policies of the more mainstream parties? Will Labour really stroll into Number 10 with a stonking majority or will that be tempered by low turnout? It’s all still to play for.
Listen to the Academy of Ideas team give their final views before voting day in this latest Podcast of Ideas:
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I'm heading out to vote, and I'm finding this election strangely exciting. The last election was dominated by Brexit. Okay so we've been hearing that one party or other is facing an 'existential crisis' since Labour lost in 1979, but like zombies in a horror movie, the big two just keep coming back. This time, however, it looks serious for the Tories, back in the 19th century JS Mill called the Tories 'the stupid party' but in more recent times there have been thinkers like Keith Joseph, John Grey, John Redwood and David ‘two brains’ Willetts. Today there are no Conservative visionaries, perhaps this is a contradiction in terms, maybe the role of Conservatives is to keep things as they are, what ever ‘things’ are. We look forward to a new government for the new Carolean age.