UK Elections 2014

[comrade_general]

You guys' election stuff is weird.

Then again that's just because it's different from ours, which is totally fubar.

[Jubal]

We only use d'Hondt for elections to the European parliament, most of our elections use the same plurality voting system as yours.

And yeah, No2EU and An Independence From Europe will be interesting to watch though I doubt they'll get far. One of my few really positive hopes for this election is that we might wipe out BNP representation in Europe, which would be good.

[TTG4]

Wiping out the BNP can only ever be a good thing. The Christian People's Alliance could be quite interesting too, they managed to get 100,000 votes in the london mayor election and may attract the disaffected tories who aren't seduced by UKIP/N2EU/AIFE.

[TTG4]

The local election results are quite worrying. UKIP has hit 25% of the vote and I highly doubt anyone would vote UKIP in the locals and not in the EUs. From my point of view, it's disappointing that the lib dem vote fell so harshly, whereas the tories survived relatively well. Call me a pessimist, but I'm not looking forward to the EU results.

[Pentagathus]

I think these election results could well push scotland further towards independance, UKIP don't seem very popular here. And the tories obviously aren't.

[TTG4]

I think these election results could well push scotland further towards independance, UKIP don't seem very popular here. And the tories obviously aren't.

I hope not, I get that you Scots don't like us, but no-one deserves to be stuck with the tories!

[comrade_general]

[Jubal]

I should point out that Penty isn't a Scot, he's just doing his degree there

So, Cambridge went heavily to Labour, unsurprisingly.

Labour have gained 263 councillors so far, which is actually pretty good. UKIP have gained 146 by comparison, and apart from a few places in East Anglia have made a pretty minimal difference to the actual results anywhere, mostly picking up 2-3 councillors in solid Tory or Labour councils. The Lib Dems have lost very heavily, but have still had 384 councillors elected to UKIP's 148, which is a narrative that has been rather skewed by the news media. They lost control of Kingston, Cambridge, and Plymouth though which will be a nasty blow.

Generally the news guys are really desperate to make UKIP the story, when in terms of seats Labour's gains are way bigger and having much more local government impact. This seems rather silly.

[Pentagathus]

Yeah I looked at the results dans la bbc and they didn't seem so bad.

Also I'm not one of them no. I just live here, I'm not from here.

[comrade_general]

Ok, so it's not "full" full of Scots.

[Pentagathus]

Its less full of scots than england is full of english.

[comrade_general]

Well then.... 'Murica.

[Jubal]

After 150 councils:

Labour 6 net gains (10 gains, 2 losses)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Amber Valley from CON
Bradford from NOC
Cambridge from NOC
Crawley from CON
Croydon from CON
Hammersmith & Fulham from CON
Harrow from NOC
Merton from NOC
Redbridge from NOC

Great Yarmouth to NOC
NE Lincolnshire to NOC
Thurrock to NOC

No Overall Control 7 net gains (12 gains, 5 losses)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Basildon from CON
Brentwood from CON
Castle Point from CON
Great Yarmouth from LAB
Maidstone from CON
NE Lincolnshire from LAB
Peterborough from CON
Portsmouth from LD
Purbeck from CON
Southend on Sea from CON
Thurrock from LAB
West Lancashire from CON

Bradford to LAB
Cambridge to LAB
Harrow to LAB
Merton to LAB
Redbridge to LAB

Conservatives 11 net losses (1 gain, 12 losses)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Kingston-on-Thames from LD

Amber Valley to LAB
Basildon to NOC
Brentwood to NOC
Castle Point to NOC
Crawley to LAB
Croydon to LAB
Hammersmith & Fulham to LAB
Maidstone to NOC
Peterborough to NOC
Purbeck to NOC
Southend on Sea to NOC
West Lancashire to NOC

Liberal Democrats 2 net losses (2 losses)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Portsmouth to NOC
Kingston-on-Thames to CON

Not sure what any of that tells us, really.

Further points wrt the media narrative:
- UKIP have no councils, they're not even close to gaining a council anywhere, though that could change in a few areas.
- The Lib Dems lost two councils but still hold six local authorities and despite very heavy losses still got a good 400 councillors elected (obviously that's tough when you were defending about 700 seats, but it still means they're playing in a mid-range ballpark with more than double UKIP's councillor figure.
- Really a pretty good night for Labour, but UKIP did prove that it can do them a bit of damage on the east coast - Thurrock, NE Lincs, and Great Yarmouth are all coastal areas.

[Clockwork]

Wish I had time to properly discuss but just so the right has a +1 here, I am come.

[Jubal]

Yeah, sorry the Exilian news coverage tends to be rather left-of-centre.