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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
A procrastination in of itself
So the local elections are on Thursday, it should be interesting to see what the results are, especially compared to when this lot were last up in 2015.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Okay, there has been some wild reporting by the press over the recent polls. For example, claims that if Brexit become the biggest party this year, that will be unprecedented (based on the idea that only the Tories and Labour have been the biggest party).
That isn't true. Because I'm a geek, I've collected the numbers for all previous EU Parliament elections and put them in table. Just for fun, I've gone backwards (most recent elections first, oldest elections last).
In short: when the press start suggesting that the Brexit Party is going to make unprecedented gains in this election based on the apparent assumption that Labour and the Tories are always leagues ahead of any other party, just remember the following:
- It stopped being a two-horse race in 1999, and has been a four-horse race since 2004.
- Brexit is going into this election with 14 seats, not zero.
The bold text are the parties that have, at some point, held the most seats. You'll notice some fun things that aren't really being reported:
- The dominant party is usually the Tories. It's been Labour twice (in 1989 and 1994) and UKIP once (2014).
- UKIP was the joint second-most dominant party (with Labour) in 2009.
- UKIP was the joint third-most dominant party (with the Liberal Democrats) in 2004.
The pre-2019 column is the current state of play going into the May elections.
- UKIP should have been the biggest party going into this election, but the haemorrhage to Brexit (and away from UKIP in general) has resulted in Labour and the Tories being left jointly holding the most seats. This has also left Brexit very close behind them.
- One of the UKIP MEPs defected a few months ago to the SDP, a tiny party that's been around for a long time but which hasn't fielded EU candidates for many years. The MEP concerned (Patrick O'Flynn) has confirmed that the SDP won't be contesting the EU elections in May, so his seat is up for grabs.
- MEP switches haven't just given Brexit seats; Change UK gained some, as well, but only 2.
- Five of the seats have converted from parties to Independent (as in, they don't represent any national party right now).
- There's only 71 filled seats at the moment because two are vacant.
- N/A means the party either didn't exist or didn't field any candidates.
| Seats | ||||||||||
| Party | pre-2019 | 2014 | 2009 | 2004 | 1999 | 1994 | 1989 | 1984 | 1979 | |
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Green* | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Labour | 18 | 20 | 13 | 19 | 29 | 62 | 45 | 32 | 17 | |
| LD* | 1 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tory | 18 | 19 | 26 | 27 | 36 | 18 | 32 | 45 | 60 | |
| UKIP | 3 | 24 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| ———————————————————————————————— | ||||||||||
| Brexit | 14 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Change | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| SDP | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | N/A | N/A | |
| ———————————————————————————————— | ||||||||||
| DUP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Plaid | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| SDLP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | |
| SNP | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| UUP | 1 | 1 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| ———————————————————————————————— | ||||||||||
| Independent | 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| ———————————————————————————————— | ||||||||||
| Total | 72 | 73 | 72 | 78 | 87 | 87 | 81 | 81 | 81 | |
| ———————————————————————————————— | ||||||||||
| Turnout (%) | N/A | 35.6 | 34.7 | 38.5 | 24.0 | 36.4 | 36.4 | 32.6 | 32.4 | |
| ———————————————————————————————— | ||||||||||
| * = Party names have changed over time | ||||||||||
Edited by Wyldchyld on Apr 26th 2019 at 11:55:04 AM
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.
Figure of Hourai
Wait, someone defected to the SDP? I'm flabbergasted.
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![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Can I just say ![[awesome]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minis/award_star_gold_3.png "[awesome]"){kind=small}
for the work that went into that table?
Edited by singularityshot on Apr 26th 2019 at 9:43:26 AM
She/Her Pronouns
Seconding
Wait, the SDP still exists!?
Oh, bother.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Brexit Party is a thing.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
It's actually not surprising. The Brexit party is where all the Assholes who can actually hide the frothing at the mouth went after UKIP became too visibly racist.
They shed the parts that can't camouflage well enough and start anew.
Same thing as with the NPD and the AfD takeover here in Germany.
"You can reply to this Message!"
The AfD also spawned at least three splinters at this point, two of them by former party leaders who were ousted by people further to the right of them and one by far right populists who think the AfD isn't far enough to the right.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Apr 27th 2019 at 11:39:42 AM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
A procrastination in of itself
UKIP being where the people who could hide it went after the BNP became to obviously racist, the BNP being where the people who weren’t in jail went after the National Front got banned, the National Front being where those still standing went after the British Union of Fascist got smashed at the Battle of Cable Street.
It’s fucking whack a mole it is.
Oh and anecdotal evidence I’ve heard from my mum out campaigning, she’s saying she’s seeing a lot less minor party activity this time around, anyone know if that’s representative?
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Oh, bother.
Say what you will about these assholes, but they aren't quitters.
Disgusted, but not surprised
I didn't know either until I did the table. He's standing down at the next election.
Edited by Wyldchyld on May 2nd 2019 at 9:00:28 AM
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.
One thing for sure: The Brexit party is way too well organised for a supposedly "new" movement. It is obvious that there are some pros in the background organising the BS.
Figure of Hourai
How is that remotely surprising? It's got Farage in it.
Avatar Source
Give Farage his due... when it comes to organising cons, guy's good at networking and laundering. <_<
A procrastination in of itself
The Brexit Party is just UKIP under a new name, UKIP now consists of the few people who didn’t get the memo about the rebrand.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Didn't say that it is surprising, just pointing out how obviously sketchy the party is.
Two people chosen to fight for UKIP at the next general election and a number of high-ranking party officials have handed in their resignations saying they cannot support any party which endorsed Mr Benjamin's candidacy.
It followed an emergency meeting of all six branches in Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds to discuss the 39-year-old candidate from Swindon.
He courted controversy when he recently refused to apologise for a tweet he sent to Labour MP Jess Phillips in 2016, in which he said he "wouldn't even rape her", including the hashtag "#Feminism Is Cancer".
The leading lights from Gloucestershire UKIP say they cannot stay in a party linked to controversial figures such as Mr Benjamin, better known by his You Tube name Sargon of Akkad, who is currently on a tour of the South West as part of his campaign to be elected as a member of European Parliament.
They are upset that party leader Gerard Batten described the tweet as "satire".
After the meeting numerous officials said they would resign and join the Brexit Party which has been surging ahead in the polls since the return of former UKIP leader Mr Farage to the political fray.
The decision came on the day Mr Farage announced that his new party will run candidates at the next general election to unseat M Ps who have "not delivered Brexit".
Richard Ford and Christina Simmonds, who were due to fight for UKIP in Gloucester and Cheltenham, are among those who quit the party in protest.
Mr Ford said UKIP members in the county have been concerned about the direction the party has been taking for some time.
But he said things came to a head when leader Mr Batten refused requests to distance himself from former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson and then endorsed the adoption of Carl Benjamin.
“All that these associations have done is to distract UKIP’s focus and attention away from Brexit at a key time for our country,” said Mr Ford.
“We need to focus urgently on the Brexit which the British people and the people of Gloucestershire voted for nearly three years ago, and therefore I am writing to inform the party chairman that I am resigning from all my UKIP offices with immediate effect."
Mr Ford is a senior figure who is also Gloucester and south west chairman and sits on UKIP’s ruling National Executive Committee.
Christina Simmonds accused the leadership of ignoring UKIP’s clear membership rules and said: “I have been unhappy for a while that the UKIP leaders have shifted their focus from ensuring the delivery of a meaningful Brexit, by debating the issues to obsessing about personalities.
“In these circumstances therefore I and many of my senior colleagues as well as rank and file members of UKIP here in Gloucestershire are left with little alternative but to resign from UKIP with immediate effect.”
County and Stroud chairman Stuart Love, Cotswolds chairman and former PPC Chris Harlow and Forest of Dean chairman Averil Summers also tendered their resignations, as well as several branch officials.
Today Tommy Robinson announced that he is standing as an Independent MEP in the North West, pledging to represent "the working class of England".
But UKIP face an uphill battle against Mr Farage who said he would use the EU elections on Thursday, May 23 as a "springboard" to challenge remain M Ps.
Polls put the Brexit Party slightly ahead of the remainers at Change UK and suggest any European elections will be a straight fight between the two new parties with the traditional Labour, the Tories and UKIP lagging well behind.
Both Labour and Conservatives are said to be worried about the latest developments which have left them trailing in the polls.
Lifelong Conservative Ann Widdecombe, 71, yesterday announced she was “compelled” to put retirement on hold to help finally deliver the referendum result and stand as a candidate for Nigel Farage.
Although the next general election is not due until 2022, Theresa May's fragile grip on government has led to speculation it will come far earlier.
Figure of Hourai
The SNP has once again managed to find yet another position to take on what an independent Scotland's currency should be. This time they've gone for "something completely new" but maintaining rejoining the EU, so god knows how much actual thought's gone into it. That and something about six point plans and "managing the deficit".
Avatar Source
I read the first two proposals they made with regards to that and realized they basically hadn't engaged with 95% of what having your own currency actually means economically. Guessing the new one is basically a recombination of the old talking points w.r.t. deficits bad, euro + pound more stable than hypothetical Scottish pound, end austerity while "managing deficits", what do you mean monetary sovereignty and so on? Technocratic fudge #4.
Edited by DeathorCake on Apr 27th 2019 at 9:35:35 AM
Figure of Hourai
Oh, and the membership pushed for the policy to be "as soon as possible" rather than "as soon as it wouldn't be damaging".
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New currency ASAP is almost certainly the least damaging position to take in this scenario. Certainly it's better than some form of informal currency union with zero capital controls or anything, that's just going to get you murdered horribly by the City.
Figure of Hourai
Then the timelines would be the same. As soon as possible for the reason of being as soon as possible is a pretty bad decision to have in a manifesto.
Though give them six months and I'm sure it'll be a different currency again.
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So, what's everyone else doing to celebrate Ed Balls Day?
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.
Disasturbator
I don't celebrate Edd's balls
New theme music also a box
its because they dont have one that's not in crayon
New theme music also a box