Incredible result. Alliance with the seat
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Incredible result. Alliance with the seat
State of Play at 8 a.m. with 601 seats finalised:
Tories 286
Labour 237
Lib Dems 51
SNP 6
Plaid Cymru 3
DUP 8
SF 4
SDLP 3
Alliance 1
Sylvia Hermon
Fairly level at the moment, realistically Cameron will be PM but either way there'll be another election in a few months. Fermanagh-South Tyrone is like Dick Spring 20 years ago, Connor was eight votes ahead after the first count, but after the second count, Gildernew leads by two!
Running out of ballot papers is unforgiveable - they know how many voters are on each stations list, so should have enough for 100% turnout. Similarly, it seems in some areas there were queues all day which shows they didn't have enough people on the desks. However, one wagon I heard giving out on UK radio about not getting a vote only turned up 5 to 10!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Overall, you'd have to think a minority Tory Government, unless Lib-Lab have enough for a majority. Incidentally, Cameron "failed" on a bigger vote than Blairs '97 landslide, which is pretty funny considering they're the most opposed to any form of PR.
Libdem "collapse" is the big story for me. Regardless of what hindsight vision will say, it is completely unexpected. Their numbers held up in the polls right up until yesterday.
There was an interesting article in the Irish papers a few weeks back about the different attitudes in Britain vs Ireland and most of Europe re single party Government v coalition. Even the British term for it, hung parliament, has a strongly negative bias attached to it.
Doomsday scenario is the DUP holding the key for the Tories. Lets hope it doesn't get to that.
I always felt that the lib dem vote would dwindle on the the day, but it has been a very poor election fr them after a particularly good campaign, if the predictions of the Tory's being short by 40 seats are accurate it'll still make Clegg the kingmaker though. It fortunately doesn't look likt your doomsday scenario will come to fruition but that has been my fear from the start.
Tories will likely only be short about 15ish, and the 326 number is actually a red herring as the Shinners don't take their seat's. Real number is 322/323.
An anti-Tory rainbow coalition involving SDLP, Alliance, Green would be hilarious, but probably unlikely, particularly as the SNP and Plaid Cymru refuse to go into coalitions IIRC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Yeah and that was pretty much mentioned on BBC too, what with the recession, the wars, the expenses, etc
Just wondering what ye guys thought of the TV coverage
Rte - your having a laugh, didnt bother with that
C4 - great lineup, but was very dissapointed, jokes were rubbish (very badly written), and quickly turned off it (but flicked to see what Ron Liddle was really like - he is a XXXker)
BBC/BBC Norn Iron - was dissapointed with the Beeb, too much on graphics and Dimbebley can be a pain sometimes (did anyone see the way he dismissed Northern Ireland?). Norn Iron version was actually quite good
ITV - a surprise and the station I mostly stayed with, main chair was good, and Widcome and Reid were insightful
But Im knackered today and just hoping I have enough energy to go to a football match today:o
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
It's an utter disgrace, and the UK can no longer wax lyrical about supposedly "rigged" elections in the Ukraine, Lebanon, etc...
Even turning up at 21:55 should still be ok, the vast majority UK votes will be working office hours, assuming someone finishes work at 6pm, they are likely to be home at say 7pm, then it could well be say 8pm by the time they're ready to vote. They should either make the day a bank holiday or close the ballot at midnight.
I don't really agree - it's much easier to get a postal ballot in the UK, and polls are open before work too. What happens at 5 to midnight, when the same people again leave it to the last minute? There were people who were there an hour before who didn't get in to vote and that is a disgrace, but turning up 5 minutes to go and then giving out about being disenfranchised is nonsense.Quote:
Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo
They should be allowed into the building at 21:55 or 23:55 all issued with ballot papers and then the doors sealed at 22:00 or 00:00, they can then vote while the doors are sealed.
I think pushing it out to midnight would be better, those extra two hours could be vital for people working. For instance if a commuter is at work to 18:00, they might not get home til 19:00 and if they have kids etc it could be 21:00 by they time they're ready to vote, another 20 mins to get the polling station and then suddenly there is no margin for error if there is a glut of people.
By the way some booths "ran out" of ballot papers, how can they make such a basic error ?!?
It's got nothing to do with it being easier to get a postal ballot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
The point is that if the rules are that you can turn up before 10pm and you will be allowed to cast your vote, then when you turn up before the time the polling centre is due to close and are told that you can't cast your cote, you have every reason to be angry.
The reason for people not being able to vote is not people 'leaving it to the last minute', it's screw-ups in the polling centre, like it being undermanned, not having enough ballot papers, and it one instance in Sheffield, students being asked to produce polling cards which they didn't have because it specifically said on the polling card that it wasn't necessary to bring them to the polling centre.
Apparently anyone who was denied the right to vote can sue for breach of human rights (under EU law) and might be entitled to £750 in compensation.
How do you prove that?
I would guess that you have to be on the electoral register and not have your name crossed off on the voting list (which happens when they hand the ballot paper to you), but I agree it's hard to prove that someone attempted and was denied the right to vote as opposed to someone who just didnt turn up - unless they kept records of who was shut out when they closed the doors.
Very interesting the way things are panning out. The arithmetic points to a LD-Tory deal but the Tories just won't concede what the LDs need on electoral reform. Labour-LD makes more sense but they still won't have the numbers.
Tory minority government (with DUP in there) anyone?
Would a tory minority government even be that viable (ignoring the ins and outs of who they form a coalition with)? They usually have a large number of maverick MPs who wont tow the party line, and there is the whole Europe issue the Tories still havent made their minds up over it and that could divide the party or cause defections to UKIP.
I think Clegg could go down as the worst leader in the history of the Lib Dems if he joins in with Cameron. The Liberals and Tories have the least in common of all the major parties, and on top of that Clegg, now ending up as a kingmaker, needs to push for PR if he is to have any sort of positive legacy in Lib Dem history. On the other hand the Tories are highly unlikely to grant PR as it goes against all that they stand for (and all they campaigned for). Furthermore, the Lib Dems were anti-cutting and the Tories were pro cutbacks.
Id argue that the LibDems have more in common with the Tories than they do with Labout but for them, Electoral Reform is the key, and the Tories won't budge an inch on it.
I am not sure where there is any common ground between the Lib Dems and the Tories. I would view the Lib Dems as left wing, Tories and right wing and Labour (in it's current guise) as a sort of central/left party. The Tories have put forward policies such as higher tax-free limits on inheretance, the Lib Dems have put forward mansion taxes. The Lib Dems want to scrap Trident, the Tories want to keep it (as, nominally, do Labour). The Tories are anti-Euro, Cameron stating that under his leadership the UK will never go into the Euro, the Lib Dems are more pro Europe and pro Euro, Labour are non-commital (muttering about key currency tests before joining the Euro).
I think you could end up seeing Labour ditching Brown, re-branding themselves as more left, dropping right wing pledges such as Trident, and teaming up with the Lib Dems.
For some it is, and I stated that wasn't right in my first post on this and in the post you quoted, but there were some that were turning up at that time and then feeling the need to go on radio and give out. Obviously some people see that as a right to turn up as late as possible, fair enough, even if I see it as totally impractical.Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
If the only time you have is 5 minutes in the whole time the stations are open, and a postal vote is an option (as it is in the UK), then you can't abidicate yourself of any responsibility for not getting a chance to vote.
I'm always amazed how many Irish people not living over here are fascinated with the quirks of British politics! It has been a crazy day over here. The majority of people here haven't got a clue what is happening. Hung parliaments, we're all doomed, who has won etc will be heard in many an office/workplace today.
Fingers crossed the Lib Dems don't go over to the dark side (Tories). Labour should offer em PR down the line and whatever else they want to get them on board.