This thread exists to discuss British politics.
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Recent political stuff:
- The vote to see if Britain should adopt Alternative Voting has failed.
- Lib Dems lose lots of councils and councillors, whilst Labour make the majority of the gains in England.
- The Scottish National Party do really well in the elections.
A link to the BBC politics page containing relevant information.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 3rd 2023 at 11:15:30 AM
Oh, bother.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
The Electoral College is pretty fucked up. 
A procrastination in of itself
Richmond Park may be down to Labour running a paper candidate, if we knew it was close we may have pulled back so as to try and let the Lib Dems get a win.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
(Avatar by Coffee)
The UK doesn't have an electoral college.
use political terms to describe, not insult
Yeah, Richmond Park is a non-story really - for all the parties. It's a traditional Lib Dem seat that has never had a safe majority and which turned Tory in 2010. The national backlash against the Lib Dems in 2015, saw the Lib Dem vote in Richmond Park crash and haemorrhage to the Tories (hence Goldsmith's unusual majority), something Labour benefited a little bit from to reach a vote number it hasn't experienced since 1997. Last week, the votes returned to the Lib Dems and the tally difference between the Lib Dems and the second-place Tories is now back to an historic norm.
"After an unusual 2015 result, Richmond Park voting returns to normal" isn't much of a story, I guess.
edited 14th Jan '18 9:57:05 AM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Well, if May wants to truly scupper her government, pissing the civil servants right off is a great move to pull. 
edited 5th Dec '16 6:28:47 PM by Euodiachloris
So that's what this does
Some updates from the Sleaford and North Hykeham constituency ahead of Thursday's by-election:
Brooks Newmark has been photographed
promoting women in politics for the Tories, barely 2 years after the dick pics scandal.
In all seriousness, Sarah Stock is an independent to watch, and not just for her history of giving Jeremy Hunt political wedgies.
Anybody who has the knack of pin-pointing verbal eggs at prats like Hunt's faces is worth the price of admission, as a general rule of thumb. 
Sometimes, I wish we had a system in place requiring (and funding) a certain level of Independant seats in Parliament, if only to keep parties on their toes. Sure, you'd get the odd utterly bonkers one or two, but the rest would make it worthwhile. <_< If the parties couldn't be sure where individuals in a somewhat significant bloc'd go on any topic...
edited 6th Dec '16 10:33:36 AM by Euodiachloris
So that's what this does
These weren't all verbal. One of her supporters took him to court over NHS cuts, while another stood against him in his own constituency at the GE.
edited 6th Dec '16 12:06:36 PM by Michael
All the better.
Amazingly, he actually seems to be right - but the Government aren't keen to agree.
Oh, bother.
Stopped clocks and all that...
Ah, diplomacy, how we love thee. Whether or not the government agrees, they're not in a position to be honest about it.
edited 14th Jan '18 9:58:02 AM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
So that's what this does
The main story in Sleaford and North Hykeham appears to be the terrible turnout, down from 70.2% to 33.1%
The Lib Dem and Lincolnshire Independent parties both appear to have massively increased their vote share simply by turning out, since their numbers of votes are about what they were at the GE.
I know I cost the Tories a few votes by pointing out that there is no incentive to fix things in a safe seat, but the overwhelming majority still voted Tory and are still going to complain about the same things being terrible next year as this year. There is no public transport worth the name, roads are gridlocked half the day, NHS stands for Not Here, Sir... you get the point. Don't be a safe seat.
Oh, bother.
At this point, I'm honestly wondering which decision was worse — Brexit or President Trump.
On one hand, it's fucking Trump. On the other hand, the USA will hopefully only have to put up with his shit for four years (eight at most) though there will of course be fallout (not literal fallout hopefully) and cleanup afterwards.
I mean, is Brexit something that's permanent? Could the UK rejoin the EU in the future?
edited 9th Dec '16 12:22:26 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
Assuming that it actually is carried out, yes, it can rejoin the EU. However, you can expect a level of vindictiveness beyond what's likely to happen when Article 50 is actually invoked.
Oh, bother.
I imagine that if it did want to rejoin the EU, it wouldn't be able to stick with the pound anymore. Heck, maybe it would even have to actually pay 350 million pounds a week. Whatever special privileges the UK may have enjoyed in the past would be gone.
edited 9th Dec '16 12:41:57 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
A procrastination in of itself
The UK would be highly unlikely to be able to rejoin the EU afterwards for the simple reason that the UK likely won't exist as a political entity afterwards.
Scottish independence is being held back currently by possible vetoes over article 50, Northern Ireland is going to turn into a flaming mess and could end up becoming part of the Republic, dear god London would probably vote for independence if we could find a way to do it, that just leaves England and Wales.
Sure England and Wales could rejoin at a later date, but it wouldn't be the UK, if this goes though the UK is likely to be dead as a country.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Sweden and Denmark are also not using the Euro (though the Danish crown has a fixed exchange rate with the Euro). But the UK has some other special stuff which they would lose if they left and rejoined.
Oh, bother.
True, but I imagine if the UK or, assuming it does break up, the countries that made up the UK wanted to rejoin the EU, they would be asked to give up the pound. I suppose it depends on how vindictive the EU is feeling.
edited 9th Dec '16 1:07:50 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
I have no idea how attached to the pound each country in the UK is.
edited 9th Dec '16 1:23:04 AM by Khudzlin
Captain of the Dead City
Is no-one going to mention the vote to invoke Article 50 by March?
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
The Euro? Unlikely...why would the Eurozone have another failed start in it? But loosing all its privileges? yeah, most likely.
Considering the cabinet Trump put together, I think the US still managed to beat out the UK.
Oh, bother.
'Murikka!
It's interesting to note that Norbert Hofer achieved a slightly better share of the popular vote in Austria than Donald Trump did in the United States.
In other new, Christian Wolmar only managed 3.67% of the vote in Richmond Park. This marks the first time since 1909 that the Labour Party have lost their deposit in a London by-election. Several newspapers bear warning that the party is at grave risk from a Liberal Democrat resurgence combined with the steady creep of UKIP.
General election polling (YouGov, 28-29 November)
edited 5th Dec '16 9:08:47 AM by TommyR01D