Politics
4 lurkers |
196 watchers
| 30 Day Post Breakdown | Female | Male | Unspecified |
| Posts (Contributors) | 12 (5) | 627 (34) | () |
May 2018
8:53pm, 3 May 2018
1,207 posts
|
J2R
OK, I can understand that, jdarun. There are areas in Norfolk where everybody would still vote Conservative even if the Conservative Party's only manifesto policy was to use their area to test nuclear weapons. I still think it's worth voting, though, if only so it shows up in the vote share.
|
May 2018
8:58am, 4 May 2018
17,959 posts
|
DeeGee
I'm all for compulsion with a right to abstain. That would cause constitiutional issues, however, if 'abstain'/'none of the above' were to "win" (as was the case yesterday with a 37% turnout overall). Those are constitutional issues that need fixing anyway. The voluntary disenfranchisement of vast swathes of the country was a far more important issue than returning sovereignty to an already sovereign parliament, but it really was utterly fudged. |
May 2018
9:06am, 4 May 2018
2,838 posts
|
jdarun
Yes and I also vote for the vote share argument. But the idea that I'd risk a prison sentence in order to organise a huge conspiracy and get another 1000 votes on the national tally (amounting to a change in the 5th? digit of the percentage score) hardly passes the sniff test. There have been a handful of police investigations into fraudulent voting and the vast majority ending up being misunderstandings of some sort.
|
May 2018
9:51am, 4 May 2018
6,479 posts
|
Too Much Water
Looks like Labour did fairly poorly at local elections, and Tory vote held up well especially in key Westminster seats ahead of any future general election. 500 votes in Swindon are worth more than 5000 in Hackney etc. |
|
May 2018
9:59am, 4 May 2018
17,960 posts
|
DeeGee
Yes, it is a bit tinfoil hat. So long as we have faith in our leadership. I've studied Modern European History, though, and I've seen how even 'democratic' systems can be exploited by extremists. Currently the only issue is parties bussing activists in and not declaring the cost of it in the correct account. But it isn't beyond the wit of parties to collect proxy votes, which is perfectly legal. And from there, you get "Your son's away at University, will he vote? Shall we do a proxy vote for him too...?" And yes, 1000 votes will possibly only change the 5th digit of the percentage point. But due to the unique way out electoral system works, 1000 votes in total would have changed the colour of the 15 most marginal constituencies in the UK. The DUP holds the balance of power in this hung parliament at the moment with 10 seats. The political make-up, and maybe even the entire direction, of the UK's government *could* be totally different with those 1000 votes. Just 1000 votes. Even more reason that we should all vote when the opportunity arises. |
|
May 2018
10:01am, 4 May 2018
17,961 posts
|
DeeGee
Tories have done well, TMW, because the kippers have been utterly annihilated. So Cameron's plan for the Brexit referendum has delivered the result he wanted!
|
May 2018
10:06am, 4 May 2018
12,607 posts
|
Chrisull
Labour did fine, but lost the spin war. Increased their seats. Wandsworth was never going to happen, but London was crushing for the Tories (and not normally a Labour stronghold). The Momentum unseat events failed miserably (what a surprise) and they didn't hold one in Plymouth and yet won the council there. Corbynite reality check? Unlikely. The truth is though Labour should have done better than fine, and they know it. A general election tomorrow would be no different from 2017, except the Lib Dems might pick up enough seats to hold a balance of power. However they wouldn't go into coalition with Corbyn I'm sure. If Corbyn goes and is replaced with a young, non Blairite candidate, I'd suspect the polls would look a whole lot different. |
|
May 2018
10:26am, 4 May 2018
6,480 posts
|
Too Much Water
Agree polls would be different without Corbyn. Still with the Home Secretary resigning last week, Windrush still going on it shows that the weakness of the current Labour message beyond the Momentum clique who have already deified their leader.
|
|
May 2018
10:46am, 4 May 2018
12,609 posts
|
Chrisull
Oh yes, you won't hear any disagreement from me on that. I saw one journalist saying, 500K+ members, doesn't translate into electoral gains on the ground. One former Labour mp apparently said they're furious as Momentum were sending out activists to unwinnable seats/councils and focusing in completely the wrong areas. I'd have to agree. Meanwhile down in Cornwall, if I was Tory I'd be quietly worried, come next election. I wondered why the Lib Dems got wiped out, and it wasn't total coalition fatigue meltdown, it was the boundary changes that hurt. St Ives lost the predominantly working class town of Hayle to Camborne and Redruth. Falmouth lost Camborne and gained Truro. Both these make two very winnable Labour seats in 2022 (if you don't believe me look at the swing, and look at the gaps now). However Momentum will be too busy trying to unseat Jacob Rees Mogg or some such vanity project. I saw the John Harris "Anywhere but Westminster" on the road with Momentum in Plymouth in 2016-17, and there was about 6 of them!!! |
|
May 2018
11:03am, 4 May 2018
6,481 posts
|
Too Much Water
The momentum rallies remind me a bit of the ones Trump does over the pond. The same 1000 idiots blinding cheering.
|
Useful Links
FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.Related Threads
-
EU Referendum - In or Out? Vote here
Aug 2018
-
March to Parliament Against Brexit - Sat 2nd July
Jun 2016
-
EU Referendum
Feb 2016
-
Ads on Fetch - anyone else getting Leave and Remain?!
Feb 2017
-
The Environment Thread :-)
Apr 2024
-
Economics
Aug 2023
-
Dear Scottish Fetchies
Jan 2023
-
Any economists out there - question
Oct 2022
-
Power and exploitation - please check my sanity
Oct 2018
-
The most evil man in Politics..
Feb 2017
