BilloTheWisp: Politics

(page bio updated 04/10/26)

After June 2016 I watched in mounting horror as Teresa May serially capitulated to the EU. I watched her cowardly car-crash negotiations while all around her the Remain cadre (the ones that really called the shots) undermined, sabotaged and in some cases outright betrayed their own country.

We were in the process of having the biggest political mandate in UK history flushed down the toilet.

I needed somewhere to go.

No mainstream party was viable. UKIP (now morphed into Reform) was broken and turning ugly.
All looked lost.

Then I saw a chink of light - an old friend from many years ago. The Social Democratic Party. They were at the time ( and arguably still are ) the only "sane" party offering a home to people like me.

I did something I have never done before in my life. I joined a political party. I became a member of the SDP.

The SDP is a small and honest party I remained a member up until November 2020. But then I decided to let my membership lapse. It was nothing they had done. They remained a small and honest party and I wished them well for the future, but I decided that I would like to reclaim my political neutrality.

But time went on and things got worse. The angle of descent of our once great nation became ever more precipitous. So I rejoined.

This time I lasted a few years only to leave again. Though this time it was really due to disillusionment. Not with the SDP (very far from it!) but with the prospect of ever making a difference.

Patrick O'Flynn (an SDP hero of mine) died. Elections/bi-elections garnered a paltry 100 or so votes for capable SDP candidates. Meanwhile vacuous and useless candidates from the legacy parties won. I gave up. Or at least I tried to give up.

But it is like an itch you cannot scratch. I railed on-line on X and here against the pompous and (on many cases) virtually traitorous fools that governed us.

I considered joining Reform but they really feel like a one man band and remain wedded to shallow ill thought out policies that really will not address the countries needs. Though to be fair they are a better (or less worse) option than the legacy parties.

I looked again at my old flame. I had ideas about ways forward for the SDP. But if you are not in the game how can you ever win? So I rejoined in 2026 and here we are today.

I remain intrigued by the possibilities offered by the bottom tiers of UK government - The Parish/Town councils and how a party like the SDP (or any other party for that matter) could exploit it. (see some old SDP orientated posts below). Also how the SDP could exploit, for the national good, it's sturdy and committed band of followers and members and make a big impact. (more on this to come!)

While I am a member of the SDP I have some reservations about some policy and will always call out what I think is wrong. I do this in the firm knowledge that the SDP (unlike the rest) debate and discuss issues rather than close down and alienate those critical of policy areas.

In my posts I'll try and be amusing while I try to make some salient points.

But sometimes I'm just angry. (Sorry)

I took a long break from blogging from roughly 2020 to mid 2026 so I'll draw a line between the modern stuff and the historical.

October 2026

The Advantages of being a small Political Party. (Part 2)

The Advantages of being a small Political Party. (Part 1)

May 2026

We Need to Talk about Trains

Who are the Labour Voters in May 2026?

April 2026

You Get more right Wing as you get Older. Really?

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I also took a long break from blogging from roughly 2018 to mid 2019 so I'll draw a line between the modern stuff and the historical as well.

July 2020