UK: Local Elections 2006

[Lamp]

A few points ppl might want to discuss.

Big losses for Labour, gains for the Conservatives.

BNP won 11 seats. No surprise there given the amount of targeting done to the Barking & Dagenham ward. People are fed up to the back teeth with unchecked immigration and voted accordingly.

Recent events impacted Labour. Prescott, the stuff with the foreign crims, Tessa Jowell, Cherie Blaire spending £7K on her damn hair, etc, etc, etc

Going to be a re-shuffle in the Cabinet today.

Are the results at the local election a precursor for how people will vote at the General Election in 2009 ?

Turnout was higher than expected, although still comparatively low compared to GE's.

Did voters use this as an opportunity to cast their vote on who they want to run the country or did they vote with their councils in mind ?

Food for thought perhaps.

 

[[NO]Subedai]

i feel that these results are sumwhat exagerated as to what peoles real feeling are, as is the case in most local elections. THe recent skandals have exasperated this issue to a greater extent, I feel that the conservatives will win the election. However it all depends on the tabloids as to who will win.

 

[Lamp]

However it all depends on the tabloids as to who will win.

Voters determine who win elections.
Tabloids influence voters, but people are able to make their own minds up.
Take your point though. The power a tabloid editor has can be far reaching indeed.

(LOTR: "His arm has grown long")

 

[Gamah]

Some how in my area labour gained 2 council seats.. Slough..the arsehole of the world and it shows.

 

[Marc]

I see Jack Straw has been shit on by Tony Blair....

 

[Naetha]

I didn't vote in the council elections. In my ward I didn't see a single poster, I didn't receive any flyers or knocks on the door from prospective candidates/canvassers, didn't hear them go past in the cars with the loudspeakers.

Nobody really gives a fuck where I live, so why should I bother voting when the candidates don't even bother making themselves known?

/em moves to Canada.

 

[Lamp]

The lamest thing ppl come out with is "my vote doesn't count".

Every vote counts.

 

[leviathane]

Being an Oxford lad, and having had our family helped out by David Cameron a few yrs back, I'm hoping Conseratives pwn them labour goons in the GE.

 

[Naetha]

It not that my vote doesn't count, it does; however how am I meant to know who to vote for in my ward if there's nothing differentiating them, and they make no effort to get their policies across to me?

I feel no real identity to one party or the other, and to be honest, most of their policies are broadly the same / or will have a negligible effect on me or the things I care about in this country. I think this is one of the main sources of voter apathy in the last generation.

As always too much media attention is given to the spin and the scandal rather than what the politics is really about.

 

[- English -]

Charles Clarke is sacked as home secretary in the biggest Cabinet reshuffle of Tony Blair's career.

roflz

 

[Jeremiah]

The country would be in a better state if all the MPs didnt spend all their time trying to slag each other in the house of commons instead of concentrating on making the country a better place to live.

They are so scared of saying "Sorry, we mucked this up" that no one takes responsibility for all the mistakes, and so the voters dont bother voting since MPs seem to be a law unto themselves. IMO, those in positions of power in the government should face criminal proceedings when they use taxpayers money to pay for mistresses/let criminals loose when they should be deported/send troops into a war that could be considered illegal/show themselves to be incompetent.

 

[Lamp]

The standard of politicianship has declined. There's no one of experience in politics any more. Well no faces that is. Of course the civil servants run government. The faceless. But where are the characters ? Tony Benn, Heseltine, strong leaders like Thatcher. William Hague was good. I mean look at how YOUNG and diverse our MPs are. Tessa Jowell is an absolute joke. Every time I see her on TV she seems to have doubled her own hypocrisy and is utterly incapable of proffering a decent argument.

Winge over. Going home now.

HAVE A NICE WEEKEND EVERY1

 

[Amildin]

Some how in my area labour gained 2 council seats.. Slough..the arsehole of the world and it shows.

Work for Wernham & Hogg?

 

[Lamp]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1831094.html?menu=news.quirkies

 

[Thadius]

I didnt vote

Choices in my area were Labour, Tory, Liberal Democratwanker: ), Green Party and Respect.

No BNP candidate in my area so I didnt both

 

[confused]

Vote tory, save your Dads money

 

[lilmissnaughty]

didnt get any leaflets so had no idea who was standing, also didnt receive a polling card. in my area its usually the tories that have the majority every year so i dont worry if i dont feel like going after work cos the result is always the same regardless

 

[Azurus]

Lol Thadius were you going to vote BNP if there was a canditate or are you just joking?

 

[Chronictank]

Lol Thadius were you going to vote BNP if there was a canditate or are you just joking?

i think he was joking, at least i hope he was.
Thats all we need, the only party that could f*** things up more than labour (yeah yeah, thatcher etc but i think the tory's have learned from their mistakes)

 

[Azurus]

Tories chose a young looking leader to try and make themselves look fresh and exciting, mirror all the labours policies, wait for things to cock up (like all those prisoners not being deported) and just wait for the votes to roll in.

The sad thing is they will probably win an election on it.

 

[Overdriven]

Didn't vote. Had the opportunity to vote; would of most probably be the Lib Dems (I got no leaflets etc) or the Cons.. =>

Though, still interests me.

 

[Ara]

I didn't vote in the council elections. In my ward I didn't see a single poster, I didn't receive any flyers or knocks on the door from prospective candidates/canvassers, didn't hear them go past in the cars with the loudspeakers.

Nobody really gives a fuck where I live, so why should I bother voting when the candidates don't even bother making themselves known?

/em moves to Canada.

Every election the respective parties spend tons and tons of cash on that kind of bullshit, that cash could be used for alot of better things. id rather see it be that way, the way it is now with every partie trying to showe their policies down our throats with crap commercials. It should be up to the voter to seek information about the party policies imo.

 

[Cadiva]

Every election the respective parties spend tons and tons of cash on that kind of bullshit, that cash could be used for alot of better things. id rather see it be that way, the way it is now with every partie trying to showe their policies down our throats with crap commercials. It should be up to the voter to seek information about the party policies imo.

At a General Election perhaps. At a local council election, which is what these were, I'd expect the person wanting me to vote them onto the council which determines the rate I pay my tax for cleaning the streets etc, to actually bother to canvas my vote.

As for David Cameron and the Tories, if they get anymore New Labour-like theyll be somewhat approaching the level of Conservative-ness that Labour had hit before the 1997 elections.

Both parties are practically the same these days and, as someone said earlier, there are absolutely no characters left in politics save Tony Benn, whose surely got to be in his last sitting as an MP given his age and stuff.

/em sighs and pines for the days when it was possible to tell which party was which by its policies and politics.

As for the BNP, let's just not go there. Totally agree with Chronic. If there's one party absolutely guaranteed to fuck it up further, it would be them.

 

[ilaya]

noticed david milliband (my local mp) got promoted. he's a blair clone being groomed for future leadership... but he's done sweet FA for South Shields.. only reason he's here is coz its a safe labour seat.

 

[Lamp]

Was listening to the radio on Sunday

The BNP's angle was not against people of colour, it was against stemming the uncontrolled tide of immigrants coming into England who end up getting preferential treatment to housing and benefits before indigenous English people.

A black women came on and started ranting and raving about the BNP and how racist they were and how racist the people of Barking and Dagenham are for voting them in.

The black presenter of the programme went to great pains to tell her she was wrong. The BNP's main theme was allowing native British people - whatever colour or ethnicity - to be allowed housing and benefits BEFORE immigrants.

I am not, and never have been a BNP supporter or advocate. But I DO agree that an immigrant fresh off the plane should NOT receive a house before someone of British nationality who has perhaps been waiting for a house for years.

 

[Chronictank]

Was listening to the radio on Sunday

The BNP's angle was not against people of colour, it was against stemming the uncontrolled tide of immigrants coming into England who end up getting preferential treatment to housing and benefits before indigenous English people.

A black women came on and started ranting and raving about the BNP and how racist they were and how racist the people of Barking and Dagenham are for voting them in.

The black presenter of the programme went to great pains to tell her she was wrong. The BNP's main theme was allowing native British people - whatever colour or ethnicity - to be allowed housing and benefits BEFORE immigrants.

I am not, and never have been a BNP supporter or advocate. But I DO agree that an immigrant fresh off the plane should NOT receive a house before someone of British nationality who has perhaps been waiting for a house for years.

you are wrong to be honest m8, they have just cleverly worded it

indigenous English people.

I.e the people who lived here before the UK was in deprerate need of a work force so employed people from elsewhere.
ANY immigrant regardless when they arrived, or whether they have British Nationality, are not indigenous English people and by default being targetted because of their race, colour etc etc
and under the BNP are second class citizens

But at the same time i do agree in giving priority to british residence on services over immigrants, but the damage they will do if they get into power outweighs any good policies they have

 

[Lamp]

Well thats the last time I ever give those BNP thugs the benefit of the doubt.

I still stick with my point that re housing it should be first come first served. Not last come first served.

 

[Chronictank]

I still stick with my point that re housing it should be first come first served. Not last come first served.

we should start a party!, only need a couple mil in donations ><

 

[Benedictine]

Two points.

First - people complaing about no leaflets etc - only about 1/3 of the UK was holding local elections (Scotland, Wales and large parts of England did not - this is a cyclical thing as many have had recent elections for all sorts of reasons. So if you didn't get leaflets, councillors knocking on doors etc the chances are your area wasn't holding an election.

Second - the BNP. A thoroughly distasteful bunch indeed. However: if you want to vote on a single issue topic what do you do?

Want less climate pollution? - vote Green
Want the local hospital to stay open - vote Mrs Miggins the Indepenent
Want less immigration - vote BNP

I am not advocating any of the above (especially Mrs Miggins!) but the fact is, single issue parties exist for a reason - its because the main parties are ignoring the will of the people.

 

[Lamp]

Two points.

First - people complaing about no leaflets etc - only about 1/3 of the UK was holding local elections (Scotland, Wales and large parts of England did not - this is a cyclical thing as many have had recent elections for all sorts of reasons. So if you didn't get leaflets, councillors knocking on doors etc the chances are your area wasn't holding an election.

Second - the BNP. A thoroughly distasteful bunch indeed. However: if you want to vote on a single issue topic what do you do?

Want less climate pollution? - vote Green
Want the local hospital to stay open - vote Mrs Miggins the Indepenent
Want less immigration - vote BNP

I am not advocating any of the above (especially Mrs Miggins!) but the fact is, single issue parties exist for a reason - its because the main parties are ignoring the will of the people.

We need a new political party. The "Peoples Party" or something. A party who understands what the man and woman in the street is concerned about. The big 3 parties are all out of touch with your average Joe. I'm not sure whether its a case of cant be arsed to empathise once we've got a few seats in the Commons, or a case of starting off with the best intentions but becomming a victim of the political process and end up being isolated from the electorate whether you want it or not.