UK local by-elections 2012

[Filuwaúrdjan]

They started springing up in the 20s and 30s in order to oppose Wasteful Socialist Spending in municipal affairs. Which was ridiculous given Labour's weakness in local government outside the coalfields and extreme concentrations of heavy industry during the period, but privet hedges have a hallucinogenic effect on people or something. They were generally Ratepayers Associations back then; the switch to Residents Associations came about after the Thatchermajor government did what it did to local government finance. A related, though different and very much extinct, phenomenon were local Anti Socialist parties in county boroughs and larger urban districts where Labour were strong, or at least strong enough to cause concern about vote splitting. These were generally coalitions of Tories, Liberals and assorted local business interests and went by a wide variety of different names in different places; 'Progressives' (especially in Scottish burghs, but also on Tyneside), 'Anti-Socialists', 'Moderates', 'Citizens', etc. The older Conservative local machines in Birmingham ('Unionists') and London ('Municipal Reform') sort of became like that in practice, even if their roots were quite different.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Regarding Church Stretton & Craven Arms, 20% probably isn't far off the Labour ceiling in most circumstances. Craven Arms is a town with a fair bit of Labour potential, but it's only about a third of the division (and generally the lowest turnout, unless I'm misremembering things), and the rest is a Labour dead zone where the Party struggled to poll much better than 10% in good years before the advent of tactical voting in South Shropshire. The Green vote in the division is basically all from Stretton and votes overwhelmingly LibDem in General Elections, while the Independent from last time around was an incumbent Tory district councillor from one of the Stretton wards.

As someone who grew up nearby, I'm just amazed that a Labour candidate managed to poll a fifth of the vote in a division with 'Church Stretton' in its name, especially in the context of a clear Con/Lib battle - shows how things have changed since the formation of the National Government.

Anyways, the LibDems would likely have picked the seat up (national woes are what they are, but Tory run Shropshire Council is not popular; see other by-elections in Shropshire over the past couple of years) had they chosen a better candidate.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That's right. But for a long time it was technically a hamlet.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The King's Lynn result is strikingly good.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A double-barrelled Tory running in New Tredegar? lol.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Evil Supermarket Company.

lol

[Filuwaúrdjan]

dominating

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Fun news from the Whittlesey count; Electoral Services have forgotten to bring the postal votes to the counting hall.

Nice to see that they're doing their bit to maintain the good reputation of Fenland District Council.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Anyone would think that New Tredegar and Maidenhead do not have much in common.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What else do you expect from a bunch of monkey murderers?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

what the f[inks]

[Filuwaúrdjan]

So... Neath is not like Wombourne or Brentwood?