Despite the UK being the world's fourth largest economy, it is still being said that in terms of its public services, there was no difference between the UK prior to its recent general election and Third World countries.
With such a political record, the Labour Party, which has ruled the UK for the last four years, should have faced certain defeat. But the largest opposition party, the Conservatives (Tories), were not returned to power. Despite the failure of Labour's public service policies, it won a landslide victory, although it gained 1.5 million votes and five parliamentary seats less than four years earlier.
The Labour victory, however, was not based on its performance in public services, but on its economic performance. The lowest unemployment rates for decades, low inflation rates and low interest rates on housing loans won the public's trust in Labour as a responsible manager of the economy.
The Tory defeat can be attributed to the party's leadership not understanding mainstream public opinion. While Labour put forward the slogan "schools and hospitals first," proposing to increase the number of teachers and doctors by 10,000 each and the number of nurses by 20,000, the Tories put saving the pound at the heart of their campaign. The Tories opposed replacing the pound with the euro and appealed to concerns about what they considered to be threats to British sovereignty posed by the euro and the EU, completely misreading public opinion.
European media described the UK elections as a fight between a "Left" without beliefs and a "Right" without ideals. The reason why the Left does not have any beliefs is that Labor has stolen many of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's ideas. The reason that the Right does not have any ideals is that the Tories, despite being out of power for four years, still find themselves in a state of self-destructive nostalgia, mistakenly believing that the concerns of politicians are the concerns of the people.
It is also because the Tories have become so numb that they don't see the overflowing hospitals, crowded classrooms, disillusioned teachers, frustrated doctors, overworked nurses or shabby transportation system, and instead believe that people care about opposing the euro and immigration.
The majority of people in the UK may complain a lot about the Labour's public service policies, but the Tories completely neglected public service issues. They said only what they wanted to hear, wishfully thinking that this is the way things should be. The party appears to have lost touch with reality. Labour may have performed badly, but if the Conservatives had won, they would definitely have done even worse. One could say that the election of Labour was a case of choosing the lesser of two evils.
The Tories held power longer than any other party in 20th-century Britain, but its long time in government made it believe that it is the "natural party of government," and that Labour's hold on power is only temporary. Further, many Tories are nostalgic for the "glory days" of Thatcherism, a sentiment which pushes the party further to the right, making it ever more elitist. They have become detached from their grassroots, their idealism and even their most basic political sense of awareness. It's difficult not to beat an opposition party in that kind of state.
Even though Taiwan's ruling party is failing and its hold on power is tenuous, an opposition party will not only fail to replace it, but will also give it a chance to catch its breath and hang on a little longer. I wonder how much the opposition parties in Taiwan have learned from the results of the British election?
Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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