UK Election - Results Thread

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Lib Dems just lost another seat to the Cons.

[rbt48]

Conservative popular vote lead over 1.25 million votes.

[You kip if you want to...]

Close for Balls is Outwood.

[Dan the Roman]

The thing to remember is that the key number is Labour+LDs. The SNP will not support any form of PR, SF will not take their seats, and the Unionists will not want an LD government. Furthermore, this election makes the prospect of an independent Scotland a strong likelihood - if there is a Tory government. So the likely Tory goal is 311, not 326.

[bullmoose88]

Ed Balls sweating this one out.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

What's the number of rejected voters and in what constituencies?

[bullmoose88]

The thing to remember is that the key number is Labour+LDs. The SNP will not support any form of PR, SF will not take their seats, and the Unionists will not want an LD government. Furthermore, this election makes the prospect of an independent Scotland a strong likelihood - if there is a Tory government. So the likely Tory goal is 311, not 326.

But do the Labour and LD voters in Scotland really want independence?  Sure they'd prefer a different government, but if the Tories aren't too dickish (big assumption I know), they'd be tolerated for a while.

or no?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Substantial swing to Labour in Dumfries and Galloway. Conservatives will have only one seat in Scotland.

Well, the headlines won't be about Scotland.

[You kip if you want to...]

Labour hold Ochil. SNP will be disappointed.

[angus]

The headline will be the LD implosion.

And that is yet another sad similarity between British reporting and American.  Sensationalizing the results to sell ad space.  Clearly the polling data has for about a week suggested the LD would gain, at most 20 seats.  And probably fewer, possibly not gaining any.  Despite many hopeful interviews broadcast here (and I assume in the UK as well), the more level-headed analysts have suggested that those who predict large LD gains are being overly optimistic (or pessimistic, depending on your ideology), especially given that their support was unfortunately distributed.  If the trend holds, then it would seem that those who said that the LD would make, at best, modest gains have called it correctly.  Breaking even is not an implosion.  As an American, you must recognize how difficult for a third party to gain seats by defeating the candidates of the larger, more entrenched parties.  The fact that they held about 60 of 650 seats coming in to this election, and will hold on to that number, roughly, in a time of severe economic insecurity and in spite of the fact that an overall party shift between the two dominant parties was in the making, is not an "implosion" in my opinion.  But don't let that stop newspaper editors from labeling it as such.

I used the word "implosion" based on expectations, rather than vis a vis the last election. I suspect the LD's are very depressed. They had hopes, and those hopes were dashed, which I suspect will truncate any demands they otherwise might have had to form a stable government. With these numbers they are no position to make any such demands.

ah.  still, I'd chose an exciting noun like "implosion" if I were a newspaper editor too. 


D'oh.   Aw, man.  I was just channel surfing and found live coverage on TV!

Did youze guys already know CSPAN is playing live UK election coverage?   I've been sitting in the Piano Room, in front of my laptop watching streaming on-line BBC coverage, and occasionally watching it on my wife's laptop in her cramped office, when the whole time I could have been lounging downstairs, in the living room, in front of the 42-inch LCD TV, or in my bedroom, lying back on the bed, propped up with pillows with a warm snifter of Courvoisier, watching it on my 25-inch TV.  Goddamned. 

Am I the only gringo posting here who didn't realize that this has been on TV the whole night?

[Verily]

The thing to remember is that the key number is Labour+LDs. The SNP will not support any form of PR, SF will not take their seats, and the Unionists will not want an LD government. Furthermore, this election makes the prospect of an independent Scotland a strong likelihood - if there is a Tory government. So the likely Tory goal is 311, not 326.

But do the Labour and LD voters in Scotland really want independence?  Sure they'd prefer a different government, but if the Tories aren't too dickish (big assumption I know), they'd be tolerated for a while.

or no?

The SNP might be able to convince Labour supporters in Scotland that independence is better than living under a Conservative government. The election results in Scotland show that this tactic has at least some traction. That said, I seriously doubt Scotland becomes independent.

[cinyc]

Interviewing stars of The Apprentice?  Really?  Have BBC run out of D-List celebs to interview?

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

No Scotland = Labour is screwed.

Lib Dems may move into the top leftist party.

[Boris]

Priti Patel, the Conservative Party's new MP in Witham, isn't all that bad looking:

[patrick1]

Labour: 3.9 million votes, 121 seats
Liberal Democrats: 3.1 million votes, 23 seats

Awesome

England Results:
LD 24.8%, 15 Seats
Lab 24.1%, 59 Seats

An absolute tragedy for any democratic system.

Please, maybe the LibDems should work harder at building a base- other than yuppies.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Labour: 3.9 million votes, 121 seats
Liberal Democrats: 3.1 million votes, 23 seats

Awesome

England Results:
LD 24.8%, 15 Seats
Lab 24.1%, 59 Seats

An absolute tragedy for any democratic system.

Please, maybe the LibDems should work harder at building a base- other than yuppies.

I don't care how the hell you insult them, the voting system is atrocious and incredibly slanted against them. When party that is gaining more votes in England at the moment than Labour is but has a fourth of their seats, something is horribly, horribly wrong.

[Meeker]

Labour: 3.9 million votes, 121 seats
Liberal Democrats: 3.1 million votes, 23 seats

Awesome

England Results:
LD 24.8%, 15 Seats
Lab 24.1%, 59 Seats

An absolute tragedy for any democratic system.

Please, maybe the LibDems should work harder at building a base- other than yuppies.

How does that have any relevance? Why should one party get a built in advantage simply because of the type of supporters they have?

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Would Lib Dems be able to work well in a snap election?

West Oxford was just lost to the Conservatives.

[bullmoose88]

Tories take Oxford West.  Majority 176. 6.9% swing.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Lab just gained from the Lib Dems as well.

[nhmagic]

Can someone explain how something gets named Stoke-on-Trent C?  Is there a B and an A?

[You kip if you want to...]

Labour take Chesterfield. 2nd lab gain

[Torie]

Tories take Oxford West.  Majority 176. 6.9% swing.

And the LD's drop another seat as well, Abington. It is a really suck night for the LD's, a veritable disaster vis a vis expectations.

[Meeker]

I give up trying to understand what's happening here.

[Meeker]

Labour: 3.9 million votes, 121 seats
Liberal Democrats: 3.1 million votes, 23 seats

Awesome

England Results:
LD 24.8%, 15 Seats
Lab 24.1%, 59 Seats

An absolute tragedy for any democratic system.

Please, maybe the LibDems should work harder at building a base- other than yuppies.

How does that have any relevance? Why should one party get a built in advantage simply because of the type of supporters they have?

They cant seal the deal. If they were more popular they would be able to win these close seats they are continually losing.  My cheap insult aside- they have to look inward and broaden their appeal or get a core group of supporters.

That doesn't make any sense logically. Why should Labour and the Conservatives get more seats just because their supporters happen to live geographically closer together?