UK Election

[liam88]

Ver early signs pointing to the predictedLabour win with decreased majority. Labour have retained 32 Seats, Conservatives have won 1 seat-won from Labour, and Lib Dems have retained 2.
Scotish National PArty have also retained a seat in Angus.

Night

[Risteard]

Most boring election anywhere that i can remember. I mean look at what Dubyas biitch is competing against.
Tories apparently gonna get their FIRST black mp EVER tonight.
Thats ridiculous.
Labour will only be beaten by the Lib Dems and that'll be another 8 years.

[pete]

No excitement with First Past the Post system

Think i heard Lib Dems got 22% of the vote but last i heard @ approx 10% of seats if lucky.

[jofyisgod]

Most boring election anywhere that i can remember. I mean look at what Dubyas biitch is competing against.
Tories apparently gonna get their FIRST black mp EVER tonight.
Thats ridiculous.
Labour will only be beaten by the Lib Dems and that'll be another 8 years.

WHAT!!!?? The Lib Dems won't be winning a thing for the next 30 years under this system mate. The only "real alternative" are the weakend and shambolic Conservative Party. Thank God-4 more years of progressive New Labour under Mr. Blair and then Mr. Brown. The Lib Dems are a fuzzy party, with fuzzy policy, fuzzy spending plans and a fuzzy leader. They can only benefit from Iraq protest votes. Imagine last night without Iraq looming over it! We would have seen another huge Lab majority. However, 66 (or so) will do for now. It's a comfortable majority by anyone's standards.

[hamish]

Anyone see/hear George Galloway's speech - incendiary - doesn't do diplomacy, does he!!

[Green Tribe]

Did anyone see when Michael Howard's constituency was being announced ? The guy from the Monster Raving Looney Party was soooo funny, he was cheering everyone as their results got announced. He was good craic even though he deliberately looked like an arse

[hamish]

I was waiting for Howard to whack him one!

[Closed Account 2]

Well i think the Lib Dems seem to have got their tactics wrong this time. The "Tory Decapitation" strategy didnt really work, they took 3 seats off them (Taunton, Solihull and Westmorland) none of which contained a high profile Tory. Yet Galloway's victory in Bethnal Green shows that the left could push Labour out of control, and the Lib Dem's own victories in places like Leeds and Brent East suggests they should have tried to press the Iraq issue more, and gone for Labour (and Labour pro-war candidates) instead of targeting the Tories.

All of the major parties came out of the election badly. The Lib Dems had a golden oppertunity, Iraq, tuition fees and huge media coverage on them all meant they had the most favourable conditions theyve experienced in years, yet in spite of all this they only managed around 60 seats, and actually lost a few to the Tories of all people. The Tories themselves were clearly not at all convincing enough for the electorate, they didnt do well and so Howard has quit. Labour went from having a huge majority to one of just 60 (down around 100 seats) - which in a party so divided is hardly a majority at all, it will be very diffficult for them to get tricky bills through now.

[hamish]

Well i think the Lib Dems seem to have got their tactics wrong this time. The "Tory Decapitation" strategy didnt really work, they took 3 seats off them (Taunton, Solihull and Westmorland) none of which contained a high profile Tory. Yet Galloway's victory in Bethnal Green shows that the left could push Labour out of control, and the Lib Dem's own victories in places like Leeds and Brent East suggests they should have tried to press the Iraq issue more, and gone for Labour (and Labour pro-war candidates) instead of targeting the Tories.

All of the major parties came out of the election badly. The Lib Dems had a golden oppertunity, Iraq, tuition fees and huge media coverage on them all meant they had the most favourable conditions theyve experienced in years, yet in spite of all this they only managed around 60 seats, and actually lost a few to the Tories of all people. The Tories themselves were clearly not at all convincing enough for the electorate, they didnt do well and so Howard has quit. Labour went from having a huge majority to one of just 60 (down around 100 seats) - which in a party so divided is hardly a majority at all, it will be very diffficult for them to get tricky bills through now.

Yeh, I was going to state that the Liberals would do well under PR but then so would the Tories and Labour. I felt that the whole shebang was a damp squib - only Galloway, whatever one might think of him, spoke without recourse to the usual cliches/BS/waffle. He's a guy I'd normally have time for but when I remember "Sir, I salute your indefatigability....", I have me doots.

[liam88]

From the BBC
Today was the moment they [the DUP] had been working towards for the past seven years - destroying the career of the unionist leader who signed the Good Friday Agreement.
Significant?

[Poor Student]

Results in Northern Ireland:
18 seats
DUP 9
UUP 1
SF 5
SDLP 3

Trimble is gone and the UUP have been decimated. The DUP's decision to run a candidate in every constituency lost the UUP their South Belfast seat to the SDLP due to the shortcomings of the majoritarian voting system taking the seat with 32% of the vote where 50% voted unionist. SF increased by one taking Seamus Mallon's seat and the SDLP were saved a loss by the freak result in South Belfast. Who knows where things go from here. Rightly or wrongly unionism has one clear voice now which will enable them in enforce their intransigence or renegotiate the agreement. At this stage now 8 years down the line I don't see a full implementation of the Good Friday agreement ever.

[Green Tribe]

From the BBC
Today was the moment they [the DUP] had been working towards for the past seven years - destroying the career of the unionist leader who signed the Good Friday Agreement.
Significant?

I heard Big Gaab Ian ranting on the news earlier, Jaysus, he is one vicious trouble-making git, always has been, always will be. The sooner he and the other bitter old-timers in Northern Ireland go the better, let the younger people take control.

[Poor Student]

I heard Big Gaab Ian ranting on the news earlier, Jaysus, he is one vicious trouble-making git, always has been, always will be. The sooner he and the other bitter old-timers in Northern Ireland go the better, let the younger people take control.

Sadly there's another one in the making and he is Ian Jr. From what I heard he wrote the famous "sackcloth and ash" speech for his father recently.

[hamish]

Yeah, Poor Student, there's something particularly obnoxious about Junior. Some future for the North, eh?

[Closed Account 2]

Yeh, I was going to state that the Liberals would do well under PR but then so would the Tories and Labour. I felt that the whole shebang was a damp squib - only Galloway, whatever one might think of him, spoke without recourse to the usual cliches/BS/waffle. He's a guy I'd normally have time for but when I remember "Sir, I salute your indefatigability....", I have me doots.

Well it was a well delivered speech last night, reminded me a bit of the Norweigan commentator after Norway beat England at football ("Maggie Thatcher, Can you hear me ... etc). Did anyone see the guy who stood in Blair's constituency ? He gave a pretty strong speech slamming Blair right in front of him, it looked like Cherie Blair was going to nut him at one stage.

[Green Tribe]

Well it was a well delivered speech last night, reminded me a bit of the Norweigan commentator after Norway beat England at football ("Maggie Thatcher, Can you hear me ... etc). Did anyone see the guy who stood in Blair's constituency ? He gave a pretty strong speech slamming Blair right in front of him, it looked like Cherie Blair was going to nut him at one stage.

yup, it was a guy who's son served in Iraq and you've guessed it..died and blames Blair etc etc

[Green Tribe]

Sadly there's another one in the making and he is Ian Jr. From what I heard he wrote the famous "sackcloth and ash" speech for his father recently.

Yes, I would include him too, he unfortunately is an exact replica of the old git himself, actually sometimes I think he is worse than Big Ian. Bitter as a lemon.

[Green Tribe]

Sadly,had the misfortune of speaking to the wee ***** a few years ago on BBC radio

I could imagine that was the highlight of your life

[Green Tribe]

You gotta love Big Ian... That's enough politics, don't want it going off-topic, then closed.

[hamish]

I see Galloway is threatening to "hound Blair" . I have this image of Balir scuttling up, down and all over the green seats of the House of Commons with Galloway in hot persuit shouting "Come here and face me, you bugger".