[Archived] Election

[RibbleValleyRover]

2nd in - Washington & Sunderland West - Lib 6382, cons 8157, Lab 19615

Swing LAB to CON of 11.6%....ouch

Lab down 16.2%, Con up 6.9%

Very good results for Con's in a way so far. Huge swings in seats that the Conservatives didn't put effort in and are rock solid.

[Hughesy]

3rd in - Sunderland Central - Lib 7191, Con 12770, Lab 19495

Smaller jump for Conservative.....LAB to CON 4.8%

Lab down 4.1%, Con up 5.6%

[koi]

This is boring! The squirming Labour are doing over PR and coalitions is making me feel ill. I'll give it 'till one then call it a day.

[HemelRover]

Im getting really bored with the whinging whining souls who havent been able to vote cos they turned out too late. Tough. It says on your card that the polling station closes at 10pm. That means that you should get there in plenty of time.

[Grabbi Graeme]

The news channels saying that some people have been able to vote due to queue's and people being turned away, Sky News have to have the worst example of this though.

They had a woman on who had not being able to vote, but she said she turned up at 6pm and there was a queue so she went away, then said she turned up at 7pm and there was a queue so she went away agin and came back later then they closed the polling station at 10pm.

Heres a tip for you, why didn't you just stand in the queue at 6pm or are you above that, talk about stupid and she's a lectuer.

[broadsword]

I think having to queue for 2 and a half hours, as one voter had to do in Sheffield, is asking too much.

There's nothing wrong with thinking the queues will die down later, this is unprecedented, people being turned away from polling stations. The problem is with the EC, not voters.

Conversely, I was in and out in 10 mins tops.

How is it that Peter Mandelson suddenly got switched onto PR, when he doesn't seem to have mentioned it at any time in the last 13 years? Odd.

[Hughesy]

Belfast East with the first major change - 22.9% swing from DUP to APNI

APNI up 26.2% - they will go with Lib Dems, where as previous DUP would go with Conservatives.

Con 1st gain in - Battersea - Target seat no.9

[HemelRover]

The news channels saying that some people have been able to vote due to queue's and people being turned away, Sky News have to have the worst example of this though.

They had a woman on who had not being able to vote, but she said she turned up at 6pm and there was a queue so she went away, then said she turned up at 7pm and there was a queue so she went away agin and came back later then they closed the polling station at 10pm.

Heres a tip for you, why didn't you just stand in the queue at 6pm or are you above that, talk about stupid and she's a lectuer.

100% agree.

[Hughesy]

Scores about to dramatically change...Currently 9-3-1-8, however results now seem to be flying in....overall swing from LAB to CON so far at around 4.6% (bbc website)

Also looks like Wales could play a big part if the Plaid Cymru really make inroads into the votes thier.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Kingswood 135th target goes blue. 9.4% swing.

Still early days.

[Hughesy]

Quite a few 8-9% swings starting to happening!! Looks more n more likely that Conservatives might do it!!

Failed on target seat - Torbay though...Libs actually gained by 1.1%

[Rovermatt]

East Belfast takes a leap into the 20th century and kicks out the odious Peter Robinson. Nice.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Sources say Brown is going to try and do deal with the Lib Dem's in a coalition, even if they come miles short of the 326 for a majority and well behind the Conservatives (if the exit poll is correct).

[Tris]

The only certainty thus far is that David Dimbleby is anchoring his last election night programme on the BBC. He's making more basic mistakes than John Motson does. I still prefer BBC coverage to both ITV and Sky though.

[RibbleValleyRover]

The only certainty thus far is that David Dimbleby is anchoring his last election night programme on the BBC. He's making more basic mistakes than John Motson does. I still prefer BBC coverage to both ITV and Sky though.

I'm sticking with the BBC but i haven't found the coverage that great. Too much talking to celebrities on the boat on the Thames imo.

What's your gut feelings on the result Tris? Think the exit poll is correct?

[Hughesy]

Labour Hold Bolton NE - good!!

[RibbleValleyRover]

Some clear tactical voting here in some areas.

[Hughesy]

Tories starting to win some key seats...however overall swing is still only around 4%.

Lib Dems are causing conservatives some problems, but also losing some unexpected....not sure they are going to fair to well overall!

[HemelRover]

Do you think that the Tories party line is that the UK electorate has "rejected Gordon Brown"?

[Hughesy]

Do you think that the Tories party line is that the UK electorate has "rejected Gordon Brown"?

Surely not - what makes you think they will say that? That old bad on ITV is driving me mad, Anne whatever her name is.

Pendle & Blackpool North to Torries!!

[HemelRover]

Surely not - what makes you think they will say that? That old bad on ITV is driving me mad, Anne whatever her name is.

Pendle & Blackpool North to Torries!!

I think its because they cant say that the "UK electorate has rejected Gordon Brown and, en masse, chosen David Cameron"

[pg]

Western property bubbles can be tackled through the taxation system given the political will and is desirable to curb speculators and create more balanced economies. Clueless non-voting Tories planning their next lavatorial extension don't have the mental capacity to understand.

Where is the political will going to come from? Certainly not from the mainstream parties. Modern Western democracy is beholden to lobby groups and campaign donations. The parties only see as far into the future of the current election cycle. They have no idea (nor do they really care) what the effect of their policies will be in 5-10 years time.

Anybody who continues to vote for their party is consistent in their beliefs and staying true to their values. You wouldn't understand. Braindead is just a stupid thing to say.

What do you do when your party's beliefs and values are no longer consistent with your own?

Personally I'm a bit saddened that there hasn't been more of a Liberal Democrat vote.

[Paul]

At 10.00pm the BBC didn't have a clue what the result might be, 3.30am and it seems the same with Jeremy Vine, he is awful, trying desperately to make up a story. My money is on a Labour / Lib Dem coalition as even though Brown and his party are deeply unpopular Cameron doesn't appear able to win a majority, even in a recession.

Burnley elects Gordon Birtwistle, Lib Dem.

Anyone else notice the plane in which Nigel Farage crashed was Polish?

[Tris]

My money is on a Labour / Lib Dem coalition as even though Brown and his party are deeply unpopular Cameron doesn't appear able to win a majority

A Lib/Lab coalition in these circumstances throws up some huge questions.

Firstly, until 9.59pm last night, they hated each others guts and were urging people to vote for their own parties under any circumstances, and indeed Nick Clegg has stated very clearly (during the Lib Dem surge) that the most popular party is the party with initial legitimacy to form a government.

Cobbling together a Lib/Lab pact in order to defeat the winner of the popular vote - in both percentage terms and number of seats - would therefore be untenable.

Because of the Lib Dem stance on PR, it would be even more difficult - the winner in percentage terms of this popular vote being ousted by a Lib/Lab coalition just doesn't work - because the Lib requirement for PR flies in the face of any potential coaltion with a deposed Labour government ... which would clearly be against the % popular vote nationally.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Conservatives looking like they won't have enough for a majority and scraping enough for a minority will be close. They will have most seats though (unless there are some real shocks left to come) and will clearly have most votes. Clegg has to do a deal with Cameron or he loses all credibility imo.