Contrary to the many media comments and newspaper headlines, December 12th was definitely not a "landslide" for Johnson - neither for his party nor for his policies!
With just 330,000 more votes than in the 2017 election, Johnson only increased the Tories' score by 1.2%, up to 43.6%, compared to his predecessor, Theresa May. And let's not forget that it was the outcome of this 2017 election which eventually forced May to resign!
So why on earth should Johnson's rather pathetic performance be greeted with such fanfare? In a sane political system, where voting is designed to be a means for voters really to express an opinion, it would not be. But this system is definitely not sane!
A liar propped up by an electoral fraud
Indeed, if it was not for Britain's insane "first-past-the-post" system, Johnson's 1.2% gain would never have given the Tories an additional 47 MPs - equivalent to over 7% of the Commons' 650 seats. And he would not enjoy the big absolute majority he now has - which is precisely what the Tories and their media are celebrating with such enthusiasm.
In fact, this election is a graphic illustration of the depravity of the electoral system. While the Tories only needed 38,264 votes in order to get one MP elected, Labour needed 50,717 votes, the Lib-Dems 336,038 and the Greens, 865,697! To put it another way, this means that 4 Tory voters have more of a say in today's Commons than 5 Labour voters, 34 Lib-Dem voters and 86 Green voters! How "fair" is that?
Of course, this is nothing new. This institutional form of electoral fraud has long been used by the capitalist class to maintain some sort of political stability. Over the past century, it is this electoral system which has allowed the two biggest parties chosen by the capitalists to manage their affairs - Tory and Labour - to alternate in office, thereby giving voters the illusion that their ballot paper could actually allow them to have a say.
But, this is just an illusion. Voting has never given us, workers, a voice in Parliament - which remains dominated by politicians who compete for the privilege of managing the affairs of the capitalist exploiters and preserving their social order.
Nor does voting even allow us to make a stand for our own class interests, because there is no party standing in elections to uphold workers' interests against the dictatorship of big business.
By now, most of us know this. And it is why over the past 3 decades, almost one third of all registered voters have not bothered to vote in general elections!
His "people's government" is a threat!
Given all this, Johnson's insistence on presenting his government as the "people's government" since the election, is nothing short of a farce.
After all, which "people" does this government represent? Taking the 67.3% turnout into account, less than 30% of all registered voters actually cast their vote for a Tory candidate! That said, since 37% of all registered voters also voted for Brexit, maybe that corresponds with Johnson’s claim to express the "will of the people"!
Having secured his occupancy of Downing Street, Johnson has now embarked on a flurry of announcements leaked to the press before his Queen’s Speech.
Some are primarily meant to please the Tory right-wing: Johnson's latest version of "I'd rather die in a ditch" (...than extend the Brexit transition period beyond 2020!), a ministry devoted to tightening border controls and harassing migrant workers, longer prison sentences, or tougher “stop and search” in working class areas.
However, speculators are wary of politicians playing with a possible cliff-edge Brexit which could cause unpredictable chaos by the end of 2020. So much so, that having sharply gone up in response to the Tory majority, the pound dived down even more sharply, after Johnson's threat.
So, in an attempt to allay the capitalists' fears, Johnson's other leaks include more restrictions on the right to strike for transport workers and no guarantee that EU workers' rights (or environmental protections) will remain after Brexit. In short, Johnson's bright idea to turn Britain into a kind of Singapore for Europe, with the anti-working class focus this implies, is back.
Whether it is Johnson's Brexit plans, his plans against migrant workers or against the rights of all workers, this lying buffoon is preparing a wholesale offensive against the working class.
The only way to stop this will be to use our collective strength in the streets and our industrial muscle in the workplaces - just like hundreds of thousands of our French brothers and sisters have been doing for the past 2 weeks. It’s time to prove that we've got far more in common with European workers than with Britain's pro-Brexit politicians!