It’s a lovely feeling, isn’t it? That a government that you hated and that hated you has finally been wiped out in a General Election. And how wonderful was it to see absolute pigs like Jacob Rees-Mogg, Grant Shapps, Therese Coffey and disreputable old chancer George Galloway lose their places at the Westminster trough. Pity they couldn’t be tarred and feathered on their way to the dole office. There were, of course, a few frustrating moments: the vote for he who shall not be named in Clacton and the rise of Reform being a couple of them. That said I fail to see the difference between a Tory Party who were willing to deport refugees to Rwanda and Reform (different cheeks of the same racist arse). Add Windrush, Partygate, the failing NHS, Austerity, Grenfell, food banks, Barnard Castle and the ongoing housing crisis (among many other things) to the list and you’ve got a charge sheet which should have seen Tory MPs go to jail let alone be voted out of office. Which leaves Keir Starmer and the Labour Party with a huge to-do list and absolutely no wiggle room for excuses as a 174-seat majority means they can, more or less, rip up the Tory playbook and start again. They’re going to have to fully deliver on their promise of fundamental change. They’re going to have to prove to people that they’re better, braver and bolder. If they start punching down, I may as well write their political obituary now. They need to punch up quickly, get the oligarchs and rich bastards (who’ve had a grand old time of it under the Tories) to pay their way. They need to start investing in the country in a way that British people can understand and feel in their day to day lives. People need to feel good again, feel valued, and feel respected after years of miserable Tory gaslighting. It won’t be easy as the leaders of the forces of nationalism, racism, sexism and homophobia - the people haters - are on the rise. How Labour confront these forces without (and within) will define the next four years. Which leaves me to ask, is this another 1997 things can only get better moment? I’m not sure it is. Twenty-seven years later the world and the country are in a very different place. As mentioned, the world has drifted implacably rightward, with climate change, war, famine, and the continued exploitation of people and the land they live on continuing with little change being offered. The oligarchs continue to rise and shape the planet to their corrupt design. A Labour majority may be a lovely feeling but as I, and everyone else says, there isn’t half a bloody big job to be getting on with. They can blame the Tories all they like but in four year’s time there better be something positive and tangible on the Labour balance sheet to show the public or they’ll be on the wrong side of the next landslide.