British/French elections
The local elections in England and the elections for the devolved Parliaments of Scotland and Wales and the Presidential election in France, all have significance for Israel.
First, the English local elections have resulted in net losses for the Labor and Liberal Democrat Parties and gains by the Conservatives. The extent of this gain was ca. 40% of the vote, which is a huge increase, while Labor received only 27%. This shows that the new Conservative leader David Cameron has struck a cord with the British electorate, and that they are fed up with Labor Government control. But, what is most interesting about this result is that the Lib Dems that have gained at the past two elections, have been put back where they were as the lowest running "third party." Although Labor lost a lot, Labor and Conservatives are now running very close, and in a General Election that includes the vote for Prime Minister that is not due for another two years, it is impossible to predict at this stage who would win. If it is George Brown for Labor against David Cameron for the Tories, then either could win. Certainly the unpopularity of the Iraq War has lost Blair a lot of support, especially among the left wing of the Labor Party. But, the Conservatives have generally supported the war, while the Lib Dems have been consistently against it (and pro-Palestinian), so this does not compute in simple terms. One could conclude that the dominant issues are domestic and that people are ready for a change.
In Scotland (pop. 5.2 million), the results are revolutionary! For the first time the Scottish National Party (SNP) has beaten Labor, although only by the slimmest margin, and won the largest bloc of seats in the Scottish Parliament (49 out of 129). They will have to form a coalition to govern, but they plan to have a referendum on secession for Scotland within 5 years, which if passed would sever Scotland from the United Kingdom and would require many major changes, including the names of the countries and the flag. It is important to note that Scotland has been part of the UK for 300 years, not so long a time in the history of the British Isles and certainly not irreversible. However, breaking away would involve a complex economic realignment for Scotland and could potentially be ruinous. It will be very interesting to see what happens, Sean Connery could be the first President of Scotland, and it might become compulsory to wear kilts!
In Wales (pop. 3 million), the equivalent Welsh national party, Plaid Cymru, did not do so well, they won only 15 seats in the Welsh Assembly, and although this is their best showing yet, it is not nearly as good as Labor which got 26 (out of 60) seats. It should be noted that Wales has been joined to England for 1,000 years, so the relationship is much closer than that of England and Scotland. As usual the Conservatives, that are identified as the predominantly traditional English Party, did not do so well in Wales and Scotland.
In France, the national election came down to a race between the socialist candidate Segolene Royal and the right wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. Their last debate resulted in an improvement for Sarkozy, he looked more competent than Royal, and was also very polite to her, while she tended to interrupt and also had many nice ideas but few specifics on how to implement them. It was not surprising that Sarkozy won by 7% of the vote, and since he is quarter Jewish (his grandfather) and much more pro-Israel than his predecessor Chirac, we can look forward to better relations with France.
Altogether a good day for Jews and Israel at the polls in the UK and France.
First, the English local elections have resulted in net losses for the Labor and Liberal Democrat Parties and gains by the Conservatives. The extent of this gain was ca. 40% of the vote, which is a huge increase, while Labor received only 27%. This shows that the new Conservative leader David Cameron has struck a cord with the British electorate, and that they are fed up with Labor Government control. But, what is most interesting about this result is that the Lib Dems that have gained at the past two elections, have been put back where they were as the lowest running "third party." Although Labor lost a lot, Labor and Conservatives are now running very close, and in a General Election that includes the vote for Prime Minister that is not due for another two years, it is impossible to predict at this stage who would win. If it is George Brown for Labor against David Cameron for the Tories, then either could win. Certainly the unpopularity of the Iraq War has lost Blair a lot of support, especially among the left wing of the Labor Party. But, the Conservatives have generally supported the war, while the Lib Dems have been consistently against it (and pro-Palestinian), so this does not compute in simple terms. One could conclude that the dominant issues are domestic and that people are ready for a change.
In Scotland (pop. 5.2 million), the results are revolutionary! For the first time the Scottish National Party (SNP) has beaten Labor, although only by the slimmest margin, and won the largest bloc of seats in the Scottish Parliament (49 out of 129). They will have to form a coalition to govern, but they plan to have a referendum on secession for Scotland within 5 years, which if passed would sever Scotland from the United Kingdom and would require many major changes, including the names of the countries and the flag. It is important to note that Scotland has been part of the UK for 300 years, not so long a time in the history of the British Isles and certainly not irreversible. However, breaking away would involve a complex economic realignment for Scotland and could potentially be ruinous. It will be very interesting to see what happens, Sean Connery could be the first President of Scotland, and it might become compulsory to wear kilts!
In Wales (pop. 3 million), the equivalent Welsh national party, Plaid Cymru, did not do so well, they won only 15 seats in the Welsh Assembly, and although this is their best showing yet, it is not nearly as good as Labor which got 26 (out of 60) seats. It should be noted that Wales has been joined to England for 1,000 years, so the relationship is much closer than that of England and Scotland. As usual the Conservatives, that are identified as the predominantly traditional English Party, did not do so well in Wales and Scotland.
In France, the national election came down to a race between the socialist candidate Segolene Royal and the right wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. Their last debate resulted in an improvement for Sarkozy, he looked more competent than Royal, and was also very polite to her, while she tended to interrupt and also had many nice ideas but few specifics on how to implement them. It was not surprising that Sarkozy won by 7% of the vote, and since he is quarter Jewish (his grandfather) and much more pro-Israel than his predecessor Chirac, we can look forward to better relations with France.
Altogether a good day for Jews and Israel at the polls in the UK and France.
posted by Jack Cohen at 11:46 AM
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