United Kingdom General Election: July 4, 2024

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

https://Twitter.com/tomorrowsmps/status/1793336678096019874?t=QU1_O62L4ZAVCm0P6r...
Selections are going to come fast now. Here's the Lib-Dems choosing someone asap for a target seat. And Corbyns former seat becomes even more of a stitch-up:

https://twitter.com/tomorrowsmps/status/1793378252154913030?t=l8uSukHrwSpAga0xdI...

How many seats has Paul Mason failed to be selected in at this point?

The great British comedian Tony Hancock was from East Cheam.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Pure curiosity: are there any 'star' (non politician) candidates running who people not in the U.K would be familiar with or a good chance they'd be familiar with (some BBC foreign correspondents have run previously.) Like any musicians, actors, football players, authors/famous academics, Richard Branson, J.K Rowling...

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Pure curiosity: are there any 'star' (non politician) candidates running who people not in the U.K would be familiar with or a good chance they'd be familiar with (some BBC foreign correspondents have run previously.) Like any musicians, actors, football players, authors/famous academics, Richard Branson, J.K Rowling...

Niko Omilana.

He's still got a long way to go to get to John 'The Engineer' Turmel levels.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Pure curiosity: are there any 'star' (non politician) candidates running who people not in the U.K would be familiar with or a good chance they'd be familiar with (some BBC foreign correspondents have run previously.) Like any musicians, actors, football players, authors/famous academics, Richard Branson, J.K Rowling...

Dave Rowntree, the drummer for Blur, is the Labour candidate for Mid Sussex.

My understanding is that Britpop has strong "Blair era" associations (although most of the biggest such hits came out under Major) so this feels hilariously appropriate.

Tony Blair had been a rock band manager prior to going into politics, but I don't know for what bands. The biggest thing between Labour and Britpop in the 1997 election had to be when Oasis and Blur did, I believe, a newspaper advert for Labour that said something like "for all our differences, one thing we agree on is voting Labour."

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

After Reform defended their candidate who urged peace with Hitler, there’s been some digging. The Times revealed that 41 Reform candidate are Facebook friends and followers of Gary Raikes, the fascist leader of the “New British Union” on social media. Which Farage has defended this afternoon:

On Thursday Farage claimed it was “utter cobblers” to say they had Nazi sympathies because “on Facebook mates send each other things” without “having any idea where it comes from”. During a phone-in segment on an LBC radio show, he said: “I can only apologise that not all of our candidates have been to Eton, to Oxford, not all of our candidates are part of the London set.”

Which feels less defendable when you learn that Raikes is this guy:


Reform have also defended the candidate who referred to black people as “baboons” and the one who said Ghislaine Maxwell did Jeffrey Epstein’s victims a “favour”, saying vetting was “truncated”. Absolute bin-fire of a party.

Wouldn't be surprised if this is their way of bidding for the "youth vote" (well, a certain young *male* vote, at least--not unlike Maxime Bernier's crowd in Canada)

Aren't these people in the U.K called 'the Yobs'?

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Can anybody see some Labour supporters switching to the Conservatives to try to block Reform? Especially Labour supporters who had previously voted Conservative?

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

I don't know if this has been posted before, but this is a really good interactive quiz to see who you support as it actually puts the party manifestos up against one another in a one on one manner.  It might remind some people of a dentist visit though.


https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1804160343708442815

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

I should know this already, but I know the Speaker who is Labour doesn't count in the election total. So, Labour won 202 seats in 2019 and not 203, similarly when Bercow, the Conservative won in 2015 and 2017.

Does the Speaker run unopposed in their riding?

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

I should know this already, but I know the Speaker who is Labour doesn't count in the election total. So, Labour won 202 seats in 2019 and not 203, similarly when Bercow, the Conservative won in 2015 and 2017.

Does the Speaker run unopposed in their riding?

Not unopposed but by convention the major parties don't put up candidates against the Speaker.

Thanks!