Iraq Is A Factor - There Is No Doubt

BrianH

BrianH

At the Start
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Where my spread betting was concerned I underestimated the "Iraq effect". It is obvious with the big swing to the Liberal Democrats, the only party that opposed the war, what the electorate as a whole think about it.

I suppose that the result won't be too bad - a Labour government with a greatly reduced majority. Betting-wise I will make a small profit, while expecting a significant one.

To quote Mark Twain: "The people have spoken. The bastards".
 
I just saw that !! We should have a proper election thread really . Sorry , PA itis , I start to organise at the drop of a hat . I think this will be closer than labour would like . Anyone else staying up to watch?
 
It is a fascinating picture . Tories have had a disaster in the North . In seats like Pendle their vote has gone down . Their No1 target Cheadle they have failed to take .

They have failed to recover Hove which is a surprise .

In London however the Iraq effect has been very bad news for Labour. Looks like Islington South will follow Hornsey & Wood Green .

What is most shocking is that Galloway looks like taking Bethnal Green which is sickening .
 
I want to know what's happening with our local elections but we have no word yet
 
Hardly surprising though, the most boring election I can remember in recent times. A personality such as Galloway is always liable to do well
 
He has whipped up tension appallingly against Oona King - he is beneath contempt.

Tories have failed to win their target seat in Scotland Dumfries and Galloway where Labour's vote increased .

In Brighton Pavilion there was a massive swing to the Greens of 10% .
 
It's no shock that George Galloway is going to win - it's the Iraq factor again. He was famously against the war, Oona King supported it, the constituency has a very high proportion of Muslim voters.

The Conservative party vote is not up on last time - it is pretty much the same. The Labour vote is down and they will be eelected with a majority of around 70 but only about 25% of the electorate will have voted for them.
 
Interestingly, Taunton has gone back to the Lib-dems - only a 250+ Tory majority last time and a 500+ Lib-Dem majority this - a very close race. I think the hunting issue genuinely went against Jackie Ballard in the previous election but now it's a 'done-deal', it appears to have gone-away!!
 
A bizarre election . The Tories failed to take their three top target seats . There can be little doubt that if Brown had taken over from Blair it would have been landslide no 3
 
That's "first past the post" for you, GIVE PR A CHANCE!!

Democracy, MY ARSE!!

Colin
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While PR obviously gives a more democratic representation in Parliament, representation in itself is worth sod all, on a National level, without power. PR would inevitably lead to hung parliaments, which lead to dodgy coalitions and alliances, with small minority parties having the opportunity to exercise way over their due influence in government.
 
You could describe NEW Labour as a minority party in the respect that more people have voted for other parties, rather than them.

Surely in a true democracy everyone's vote should have equal weight.

I live in an area that is a safe Labour seat, how can I make my vote count?..........move to a marginal seat, perhaps?

Colin
 
I'm not saying first past the post is any better than PR, but both have inherently undemocratic problems. For example Robert Kilroy Silk and co would end up winning a few seats, which is fair enough as he represents some peoples viewpoints. If, however, the numbers game was such that the Tories were a few seats short of forming a government alone, they could end up being supported by the nutter, maybe even giving him a place in the cabinet, and having far more political influence than the Labour party, despite the fact that 99% of the population wouldn't want to see him anywhere near government.

Governance by compromise can work really well where the guidlines are well established and all concerned act responsibly. It doesn't always work that way though.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but, other than local issues, I'm not sure how important it is to have your views being represented by someone who is not in power. The way I see it, the public pay a small number of people to run the country, enough to make up over 50% of parliament to support them and the remainder to try and undermine them.
 
Robert Kilroy Silk's humiliation was the best moment of the night - what an arse he is .
 
Originally posted by BrianH@May 6 2005, 02:33 AM
Tories take Newbury!
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Indeed......despite the all-knowing saying they wouldn't!!!!! ;) :D

Great result, very happy with it - and it is fully deserved too. I was woken up by text messages at 3am & then 7.45am informing me of the fact!! :lol:
 
There is no doubt that the Iraq war - which has had enough airing on here over the past couple of years - was an important factor in the election. For the first two and a bit weeks of the campaign it was a non-issue but after the leaking of the Attorney-General's legal opinion it domonated the last week's campaigns.

I don't know whether you know of the method by which it was leaked? It was left on the doorstep of Channel 4 News anchorman Jon Snow's home!
 
I think I read somewhere that Skybet had been swamped by Green Party members rushing to get the 100/1 on offer for them to get a seat. Skybet said they'll be keeping a watchful eye on Brighton Pavilion...
 
Today is Mr Tony's fifty-second birthday. I suppose that the country sort of gave him a present - though they might have given a better one to Big Gordon.
 
Just noted the profoundly vile Tim Collins lost his seat in Westmoreland to the Lib Dems :lol:
 
Originally posted by Ardross@May 6 2005, 02:04 AM
He has whipped up tension appallingly against Oona King - he is beneath contempt.

Tories have failed to win their target seat in Scotland Dumfries and Galloway where Labour's vote increased .

In Brighton Pavilion there was a massive swing to the Greens of 10% .
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Personally Galloway was the highlight of the night for me. He will hound Blair remorselessly.

67 people killed by a car bomb in Iraq today.
 
Well, I certainly didn't help the Greens to their hike in the Brighton Pavilion ward: the current Labourite, David Lepper, is avowedly 'green' enough in outlook. And the ethos works so well: piles of litter and black bin bags left out all hours, graffitti on every possible wall, house door, and building, pigeons (which I don't essentially dislike) breeding and shitting for Britain everywhere, flytipping just outside the new, much-vaunted library, chewing gum stuck all over the pavements, and absolutely no control over hideously-garish house and shop fronts in what's supposed to be (in parts) a 'conservation' area.

The only interesting stat coming out was that this ward is the most 'non-religious'. Rather odd, since I've got the Brighthelm Church mere yards in one direction, and the Brighton Buddhist Centre in t'other.
 
Originally posted by Homer J@May 6 2005, 11:08 PM
Personally Galloway was the highlight of the night for me. He will hound Blair remorselessly.

67 people killed by a car bomb in Iraq today.
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I'm with Homer on this one. I've always had time for the guy and the fact the media have it in for him only reinforces that. While they delight in showing that "indefatigability" sketch the real story behind that was his efforts to highlight the injustices of sanctions on the Iraqi people.
 
Labour have scraped home by 97 votes in Harlow . Depressingly , the racist campaign by Howard appears to have borne fruit in lovely Essex yet in Kent Labour hung on .
 
Galloway will be what he has always been Homer - a joke and a particularly bad one at that.

His praising Saddam is not easily forgotten . Far greater numbers died under his rule than in this war and its aftermath . The message about how the Iraq war was wrong does not need such a vile messenger.
 
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