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    Original OP 
(I saw Allan mention the lack of one so I thought I'd make one.)

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

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#40176: Dec 6th 2019 at 5:38:59 AM

what chain of events could lead to that happening, unlikely as it may be?

Jo Swinson being kicked, or else deciding to actually back Remain instead of posturing while actually wanting Brexit so she can claim she was against it.

3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#40177: Dec 6th 2019 at 5:46:36 AM

Swinson would probably demand every position she has is sacrosanct in a coalition and if the partner isn't willing to sell out it's their fault for Brexit.

Edited by 3of4 on Dec 6th 2019 at 2:47:10 PM

"You can reply to this Message!"
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#40178: Dec 6th 2019 at 5:48:12 AM

Swinson of a few weeks ago, sure. The sail has been taken out of her wings somewhat since then. She has been force-fed some freshly baked humble cake, and I really want her to lose her seat to the SNP.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
Kayeka Since: Dec, 2009
#40180: Dec 6th 2019 at 7:31:32 AM

[up]Now don't be too hard on him. They may have been armed with milkshakes.

RainehDaze Figure of Hourai from Scotland (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
Figure of Hourai
#40181: Dec 6th 2019 at 7:40:09 AM

Swinson's seat is the one and only time I've hoped that the SNP gain something.

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Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#40182: Dec 6th 2019 at 7:43:40 AM

Whenever I see this guy, I just can't help but think he is Trump's little brother.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#40183: Dec 6th 2019 at 8:17:11 AM

Which is strange for us Brits, he's been around the political scene for waaaay longer than Trump ever has.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
Ultimatum Disasturbator from Second Star to the left (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Disasturbator
#40184: Dec 6th 2019 at 8:24:21 AM

I swear Borris moonslights as a America president sometimes

thats the only explanation

New theme music also a box
singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#40185: Dec 6th 2019 at 8:55:33 AM

Once upon a time there was a fantastical rumour that he might switch to US politics, given that he was eligible to be President on account of being born in New York.

TommyR01D Since: Feb, 2015
#40186: Dec 7th 2019 at 8:05:02 PM

Today Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as Leader of the Opposition surpasses that of William Hague. [1]

Edited by TommyR01D on Dec 7th 2019 at 8:05:15 AM

PresidentStalkeyes The Best Worst Psychonaut from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
The Best Worst Psychonaut
#40187: Dec 8th 2019 at 3:46:34 AM

Have the polls been updated lately? Last I heard, the Tories' lead had 'plateaued' while Labour's projections were still rising.

I'm getting the distinct sense right now that Labour can only win by, ironically, 'pulling a Trump' - basically relying on an unprecedented last-minute surge among overlooked demographics (such as youth voters and tactical voters) that defies the polls to squeeze out a narrow victory. I assume in order to do that, they'd simply need more seats in the Commons than the Tories, and not necessarily an outright majority.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Dec 8th 2019 at 12:14:00 PM

"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Ultimatum Disasturbator from Second Star to the left (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Disasturbator
#40188: Dec 8th 2019 at 4:07:42 AM

Meh,life is so unfair sometimes

New theme music also a box
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#40189: Dec 8th 2019 at 4:12:58 AM

It’s unclear what the polls are saying, there’s even variance between polls depending on if they ask voters a out all parties or only parties running in that voter’s constituency. Plus UK polling has issues anyway, on top of that national polling doesn’t map well onto a FPTP system, especially when you consider that tactical voting could see minor parties tank at the last second in many areas.

Labour might not need more seats than the Tories to win, if Boris is short of a majority and a deal can be worked out between Labour-Lib Dem-SNP than that might be enough votes to form a government long enough to get a people’s vote though (hopefully with a bit of Levison implemented aswell).

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
TommyR01D Since: Feb, 2015
#40190: Dec 8th 2019 at 4:45:39 AM

Today's update on Electoral Calculus:

  • Conservative 346
  • Labour 225 note 
  • SNP 41
  • LD 13
  • DUP 8
  • SF 7
  • PC 4
  • All 3
  • Gr 1

Kayeka Since: Dec, 2009
#40191: Dec 8th 2019 at 4:50:57 AM

Whelp, those are some bad numbers. It's going to take a miracle for labour to take it now.

PresidentStalkeyes The Best Worst Psychonaut from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
The Best Worst Psychonaut
#40192: Dec 8th 2019 at 4:55:44 AM

I find it interesting that, according to the Vote For Policies survey, the Green Party's policies are more popular than the Conservatives' nationwide - and in England, they had the most popular Brexit proposal.

Granted, less than 500,000 people have taken the survey so I suspect there's probably an unintentional demographic bias there (for starters, there haven't been many Scottish or Welsh respondents given the lack of SNP/PC support - said parties' policies don't appear unless you say you're from Scotland/Wales).

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Dec 8th 2019 at 1:03:28 PM

"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#40193: Dec 8th 2019 at 5:54:40 AM

I kind of wish 538 would take a gander at the polls like they did back in 2017.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#40194: Dec 8th 2019 at 6:31:13 AM

Why is it the closer the polling margin gets the bigger the majority that Electoral Calculus gives to the Conservatives gets?

"Yup. That tasted purple."
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#40195: Dec 8th 2019 at 6:53:49 AM

Just note that the Electoral Calculus's methodology only takes stock of national trends. While it is generally considered accurate, there's a lot of other factors in this election like tactical voting and the youth surge isn't really accounted for. They were wrong on the 2017 election for example and they predicted very similar results.

It ain't over till its over.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
RainehDaze Figure of Hourai from Scotland (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
Figure of Hourai
#40196: Dec 8th 2019 at 7:03:59 AM

Their method particularly assumes that voting patterns are consistent between elections, as their method is to take a small sample and apply regression to every constituency on the UK based on its makeup to arrive at a result. Their result is very much "in a normal election based on our sample of opinions".

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Ultimatum Disasturbator from Second Star to the left (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Disasturbator
#40197: Dec 8th 2019 at 7:04:37 AM

> Why is it the closer the polling margin gets the bigger the majority that Electoral Calculus gives to the Conservatives gets?

because the Conservatives really want to win and Electoral Calculus is biased towards them

New theme music also a box
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#40198: Dec 8th 2019 at 7:08:18 AM

Or maybe they are convincing people in the right places, while Labour is doing so in the wrong ones?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
RainehDaze Figure of Hourai from Scotland (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
Figure of Hourai
#40199: Dec 8th 2019 at 7:24:12 AM

That wouldn't be represented in the methodology.

I'm really not sure how accurate you can be when your method relies on a rather small sample size and assuming that voting patterns and behaviours are the same as a normal election, when for a start we never normally have elections in December. It's already pretty weird.

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Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#40200: Dec 8th 2019 at 7:29:45 AM

Note that the numbers posted are the middle of the ranges for everyone, that’s not actually how ranges work, their vote prediction shows Labour behind by 11 points, which doesn’t match to the most recent polling.

Their ranges make a lot more sense, with the 90% confidence interval showing the Tories getting 262-441 seats and Labour getting 136-300 seats. So there is a world where Labour get more seats than the conservatives, especially if the national vote looks closer than the 11% lead they are currently expecting the Conservatives to get.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

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