UK Elections - The results and musings.

[nifedj]

My constituency is still Labour, with the Labour MP increasing his share of the vote - having won narrowly over the SNP in 2005. He's a pretty good politician, so I'm happy with that.

I find it brilliant and hilarious in equal measure that the Tories have made pretty much no progress in Scotland whatsoever. David Cameron will be saying that the UK voted for change; he'd be more accurate if he said England voted for change.

I reckon we're heading for a minority Tory government - a lot of Lib Dems won't be at all happy with the idea of joining the Tories, because they disagree on so many things. A Lib/Lab/Other coalition has too many variables to be likely, and the public wouldn't like it - which, despite not wanting the Tories to get in, I agree with.

 

[Charli]

I'm hoping for a Conservocrat coalition.

Same, and it's looking that way. Labour have really ballsed things up as far as my life goes and while I'm not politic-nerd, I'd like to see this so-called 'reformed conservative' party for a term.

 

[Treblaine]

i wish lib dem got in, there right about the fact that i should proportional our democratic proces should be like the Americans, proportional vote of all parties then a vote between the top two, that way UKIP and BNP who got around 916,000 and 160,000 votes respectavly would actualy get some seats whilst still stoping a hung parliment

The BNP got over 500,000 votes. Far too many.

And just a note to those Proportional Representation fans, that equals 5-6 BNP seats going by population. Enough to ensure no bill could be passed without some racist fuckjob opening his piehole in parliament and bringing shame on Britain.

Fuck. That.

PR can stuff it as long as the BNP are a significant force.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

I'm hoping for a Conservocrat coalition.

Same, and it's looking that way. Labour have really ballsed things up as far as my life goes and while I'm not politic-nerd, I'd like to see this so-called 'reformed conservative' party for a term.

Take a look at the Shadow Cabinet, most notably Shadow Home Secretary Grayling, Shadow Chancellor Osborne, Shadow Foreign Secretary Hague, and even the main social justice formulator, Philippa Stroud. Woot, the reform, it burns.

 

[Bretty]

Not a single seat went to the BNP, regardless of of the whole hung parliament, it's a great day against far right politics.

QFT

Impressed to see the Lib dems come through pretty well but I am glad the Conservatives got it. Cameron is a good leader.

 

[T3hMonk3y]

Hrmm...Didn't go great. I was expecting a far bigger amount of seats for the Lib Dems, given the momentum they got. Still, it's looking like a hung parliament, and thankfully, with Peter Robinson gone, it's very unlikely Cameron will be able to do deals with the Ulster Unionists, denying him the power to push his legislation through. That is, unless the Tories side with the Lib Dems, but even then, the Lib Dems aren't going to let them push much through without compromise.

Anyway, I'm glad Sinn Fein held on to their seats.

Can someone explain the big hullabaloo over establishing a majority in Parliament?


What is different about the political process that makes a majority position so important?

If you have a good majority, you can push through a lot of bills. If not, then it's compromise for pretty much everything you try to get through. Cameron won't be able to get any of his things through without changing them so that Labour's happy with them too.

There is one thing about Sinn Fein ( well a lot more than one but for the moment I will only discuss one thing) that I don't agree with, they want a united Ireland. The thing is a united Ireland would do nothing good at all for the country. The Republic of Ireland has one of the worst economies in Europe! Why would I want to be part of that?

 

[Samcanuck]

Huh...how bout that. With all the media hype this Canadian has heard on the BBC radio, I thought it would have went to the labour party.

 

[epikAXE]

I like my parliaments like I like my men. Hung.

Cmon the Lib Labs

 

[Sallix]

This is great, new politicians have a new pickup line. "Come home with me and I'll show you what a hung parliament is all about"

on a serious note I'm a bit disappointed that the Lib Dems actually LOST seats, after Clegg's pretty fantastic performance in the debates.

 

[Sovvolf]

i wish lib dem got in, there right about the fact that i should proportional our democratic proces should be like the Americans, proportional vote of all parties then a vote between the top two, that way UKIP and BNP who got around 916,000 and 160,000 votes respectavly would actualy get some seats whilst still stoping a hung parliment

The BNP got over 500,000 votes. Far too many.

1.9% of the population voted BNP. That's an utter disgrace.

I don't know... I mean if 1.9% of the voting population voted for the BNP that means 98.1% of the voting poplulation didn't. You've also got to count up on how many people who voted for the BNP actually have a clue about what the BNP do or even if they really are racists or just ignorant idiots. What I'm trying to get at though is that I find it comforting to know 98% of the voting population of Britain aren't stupid racist bastards.

 

[Cuacuani]

i wish lib dem got in, there right about the fact that i should proportional our democratic proces should be like the Americans, proportional vote of all parties then a vote between the top two, that way UKIP and BNP who got around 916,000 and 160,000 votes respectavly would actualy get some seats whilst still stoping a hung parliment

The BNP got over 500,000 votes. Far too many.

1.9% of the population voted BNP. That's an utter disgrace.

I don't know... I mean if 1.9% of the voting population voted for the BNP that means 98.1% of the voting poplulation didn't. You've also got to count up on how many people who voted for the BNP actually have a clue about what the BNP do or even if they really are racists or just ignorant idiots. What I'm trying to get at though is that I find it comforting to know 98% of the voting population of Britain aren't stupid racist bastards.

Whilst it's nice to know 49 in 50* didn't, 1 in 50 is at least a factor of ten outside of my comfort zone for number of potential racists.

*of the 60% that voted.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

on a serious note I'm a bit disappointed that the Lib Dems actually LOST seats, after Clegg's pretty fantastic performance in the debates.

Especially since they actually gained more votes this time around, 23% from 22%. How they lost seats is beyond me.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

I was a bit surprised by the Lib Dems getting so few votes after Nick Clegg gained them so much power, but he was beginning to faulter by the third debate. And that's not what's really pissing me off currently.

What is currently pissing me off is that my local constituency (South Swindon) has turned to the Conservatives after being one of the few places in Wiltshire that have supported Labour for so long (and were predicted to do so again). Whilst the Tories has definately started trying to project their policies at the working class now, I'm still not sure about them being in power, especially with Cameron's plans on trying to cut the defecit as soon as possible. And besides, we have had a brilliant Labour candidate up until now and it's a shame to see her no longer in power.

It will be interesting to see if the Conservatives do try to do it alone (being a minority Government), but if a coalition is in order, I really think Clegg supporting the Conservatives (as something which he is contemplating to my knowledge) would be a big mistake. Labour he would probably be able to make more of a compromise with, but the Liberal Democrats forming an alliance with the Tories is something which would probably represent the end of his career in Politics.

Oh, and a mate of mine's turning 18 in a few months, so if there is a reelection he's planning on trying to 'sell his vote' to someone.

And just a note to those Proportional Representation fans, that equals 5-6 BNP seats going by population. Enough to ensure no bill could be passed without some racist fuckjob opening his piehole in parliament and bringing shame on Britain.

Fuck. That.

PR can stuff it as long as the BNP are a significant force.

And? 5-6 seats is still only 1% of the 600+ seats in the House of Commons. Even if the BNP did get in because of proportional representation with those poll results, they wouldn't be able to pass any policies as their policies are still not favoured by the other main parties who have much more power. They can try all they like but they aren't 'a significant force'.

Do bear in mind that we also have 2 members of the BNP [http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/your-meps/findmep?filter0=**ALL**&filter1=British+National+Party&filter2=**ALL**&filter6=**ALL**&filter4=**ALL**&submit=Submit] and 12 members of UKIP [http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/your-meps/findmep?filter0=**ALL**&filter1=UK+Independence+Party&filter2=**ALL**&filter6=**ALL**&filter4=**ALL**&submit=Submit] in the European Parliament (please tell me that I'm not the only one to find that deeply hilarious as these are both parties who don't want to be in the EU in the first place) and as far as I can tell we haven't had our reputation shamed because of them so far.

 

[Sallix]

on a serious note I'm a bit disappointed that the Lib Dems actually LOST seats, after Clegg's pretty fantastic performance in the debates.

Especially since they actually gained more votes this time around, 23% from 22%. How they lost seats is beyond me.

Ah my bad, I heard somewhere they lost seats.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

on a serious note I'm a bit disappointed that the Lib Dems actually LOST seats, after Clegg's pretty fantastic performance in the debates.

Especially since they actually gained more votes this time around, 23% from 22%. How they lost seats is beyond me.

Ah my bad, I heard somewhere they lost seats.

They did lose seats, it's just that due to the electoral system in England, number of votes a party gets=/=number of seats a party gets.

Even if it was a three way tie in the votes, the number of seats given out to each party wouldn't necessarily be split evenly between the three parties as well. This is what people referr to as the main flaw of the First Past the Post system that we have here.

EDIT: It's also why the Liberal Democrats want electoral reform.

 

[Treblaine]

I was a bit surprised by the Lib Dems getting so few votes after Nick Clegg gained them so much power, but he was beginning to faulter by the third debate. And that's not what's really pissing me off currently.

What is currently pissing me off is that my local constituency (South Swindon) has turned to the Conservatives after being one of the few places in Wiltshire that have supported Labour for so long (and were predicted to do so again). Whilst the Tories has definately started trying to project their policies at the working class now, I'm still not sure about them being in power, especially with Cameron's plans on trying to cut the defecit as soon as possible. And besides, we have had a brilliant Labour candidate up until now and it's a shame to see her no longer in power.

It will be interesting to see if the Conservatives do try to do it alone (being a minority Government), but if a coalition is in order, I really think Clegg supporting the Conservatives (as something which he is contemplating to my knowledge) would be a big mistake. Labour he would probably be able to make more of a compromise with, but the Liberal Democrats forming an alliance with the Tories is something which would probably represent the end of his career in Politics.

Oh, and a mate of mine's turning 18 in a few months, so if there is a reelection he's planning on trying to 'sell his vote' to someone.

And just a note to those Proportional Representation fans, that equals 5-6 BNP seats going by population. Enough to ensure no bill could be passed without some racist fuckjob opening his piehole in parliament and bringing shame on Britain.

Fuck. That.

PR can stuff it as long as the BNP are a significant force.

And? 5-6 seats is still only 1% of the 600+ seats in the House of Commons. Even if the BNP did get in because of proportional representation with those poll results, they wouldn't be able to pass any policies as their policies are still not favoured by the other main parties who have much more power. They can try all they like but they aren't 'a significant force'.

Do bear in mind that we also have 2 members of the BNP [http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/your-meps/findmep?filter0=**ALL**&filter1=British+National+Party&filter2=**ALL**&filter6=**ALL**&filter4=**ALL**&submit=Submit] and 12 members of UKIP [http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/your-meps/findmep?filter0=**ALL**&filter1=UK+Independence+Party&filter2=**ALL**&filter6=**ALL**&filter4=**ALL**&submit=Submit] in the European Parliament (please tell me that I'm not the only one to find that deeply hilarious as these are both parties who don't want to be in the EU in the first place) and as far as I can tell we haven't had our reputation shamed because of them so far.

I don't know why Clegg is even considering a Con-Lib coalition, maybe he is just dogmatically sticking to democratic principals (though why should 3rd place go to support 1st place...).

Cameron and Cons would clearly much rather go it alone as a minority government or with various deal with many minor parties (probably not as coalition, more agreements not to oppose acts), than try to work with Liberal Democrats. Any deal Cons make with Libs will be unequal and I can almost guarantee will be marginalised in the long run.

The Left should stick together, form a coalition, Labour-Democrats, New Liberals, Lib-Lab.

Cameron points out "our parties have a lot in common" as if it was an obscure fact on QI, that you really wonder how true it actually is, and certainly how relevant it actually is. I mean, of course Libs and Cons share policies, I'm quite sure they both think murderers should be sentenced to prison and other popular laws.

But in so many HUGE fundamental issues the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are completely at odds with no visible compromise.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

I don't know why Clegg is even considering a Con-Lib coalition, maybe he is just dogmatically sticking to democratic principals (though why should 3rd place go to support 1st place...).

Cameron and Cons would clearly much rather go it alone as a minority government or with various deal with many minor parties (probably not as coalition, more agreements not to oppose acts), than try to work with Liberal Democrats. Any deal Cons make with Libs will be unequal and I can almost guarantee will be marginalised in the long run.

From what I know, Clegg wants to make a coalition with the Conservatives based on the principle that the most popular party deserves the most support. To be honest, this is something I personally agree with. Now if only every MP could follow that principle, would certainly make getting laws passed a lot quicker.

/sarcasm

As I've already said, deciding to form a Lib-Con coalition may just be the end of Nick Clegg's career in Politics. Well, that and the quote:

How about we just assume that from now on, whenever you say something about our policies, you're wrong?

I'm really struggling to see how any Tory or Lib Dem could find the idea of a coalition between the two being possible, let alone both of their leaders. It certainly makes a lot more sense for the Tories to try and succeed as a minority government like they're currently planning. Otherwise they will need to either bargain with one of the two main parties (Lib Dem? Too left-wing in comparison with the Conservatives to actually work. Labour? That one really shouldn't need answering. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITBGjNEp08]) or they'll have to compromise with at least four of the smaller parties to round up the remaining 20 seats to just scrape a majority government (based off of BBC results as shown here [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/]). And the smaller parties would require getting together parties of too far different ideologies to work either.

It may be the choice of the Conservatives to do it alone, but it isn't as if they that have many options left anyway.

The Left should stick together, form a coalition, Labour-Democrats, New Liberals, Lib-Lab.

Cameron points out "our parties have a lot in common" as if it was an obscure fact on QI, that you really wonder how true it actually is, and certainly how relevant it actually is. I mean, of course Libs and Cons share policies, I'm quite sure they both think murderers should be sentenced to prison and other popular laws.

I would like to point out that these are the two greatest paragraphs I have read in a long time.

And I definately agree that Labour and Lib Dems should form Lib-Lab. Certainly has better chance of succeeding than Lib-Con.

 

[Treblaine]

The Left should stick together, form a coalition, Labour-Democrats, New Liberals, Lib-Lab.

Cameron points out "our parties have a lot in common" as if it was an obscure fact on QI, that you really wonder how true it actually is, and certainly how relevant it actually is. I mean, of course Libs and Cons share policies, I'm quite sure they both think murderers should be sentenced to prison and other popular laws.

I would like to point out that these are the two greatest paragraphs I have read in a long time.

And I definately agree that Labour and Lib Dems should form Lib-Lab. Certainly has better chance of succeeding than Lib-Con.

thank you, I'm here all week Try the veal [/comedian schtik]

I may want labour in, in some way or another... but after taking a look at the stock market and the health of the pound right now I want ANYONE in just to make SOME decisions at least for the next 6 months till a new election.

Is suppose a minority conservative government can't do that much damage and at least it will begin some stability.

 

[Two Angels]

The rules and the law are quite clear, the deadline for voting was 10pm. No exceptions, if your ballot paper isn't in the ballot box by 10, then tough you can't vote.
We can't just keep all polling stations open for stragglers, there will always be people that get there late and complain. As anyone that has ever worked in a place with a closing time will know, there is always a few at the door demanding service and going on about their rights, closing time is closing time, people need to learn that.

I've been hearing a lot about people wanting more staff at the polling station, few reasons that is stupid.
There is only one Electoral list per polling station and you need to be checked against that list to ensure that you can vote, and that you haven't already and are trying for more votes than you are allowed, the latter would be difficult and time consuming to do on multiple lists and the former requires your name and some information about you being on this list, does anyone really want multiple copies of their info floating around?
Most importantly, these people are council workers, their wages are your taxes, more of them means more taxes.

Claiming for not being able to vote is stupid.
Person A goes to vote at 9:40, gets turned away at 10, gets angry, goes home and claims.
Person B chose not to vote, but is on the electoral roll, sees stuff on news about people that didn't get a chance to vote, claims.
How do you prove you were there waiting?

If people got turned away when they reasonably could have voted before 10pm, I agree with them, they deserve some sort of compensation, if they had no chance of voting by that time then better luck next time, or better timekeeping anyway, but the problem is, we can't distinguish between these people.
If one single person gets the money then every one of the registered people that didn't vote for whatever reason will be able to get it, current info says that there was a 65% turnout nationwide so the other 35% could attempt a claim. That's a lot of money which the country doesn't have.
Way to go, you were unhappy with the economic climate so you wanted to try changing that, only you were too slow so you made the economy worse, woo!

Now I'm no expert on other countries voting systems but I'm almost certain that they have voting deadlines too and that, just like here, if you don't vote before that time then you missed your chance.

Although I will say those reports of a place in Liverpool running out of Ballot papers, that's just wrong in every way, I wonder if certain Scouse stereotypes are ringing true?

Actually many thousands turned up BEFORE 10pm, queued for hours and then got turned away! That is where the problem lies, that is how their legal right to vote has been breached and that is why only they will get the money. People who didn't turn up to vote can't claim jackshit. So that pretty much fucks up a fair chunk of your argument and if I'd be so inclined I could easily tear the rest apart but this is only the internet and I really can't be bothered to have an e-argument with someone who could't take five miutes to do some research before they posted.