2010 UK General Election - Cleggmania fulfils it's potential - A Timeline

[Phony Moderate]

April 15th 2010:

The three main party leaders agreed to take part in ONE historic televised debate on ITV - the first in UK history. Nick Clegg was expected to gain the most from this debate, but no one, not even Clegg himself, could have imagined how much good this would do for the Liberal Democrats, and how much this would change the narrative of the campaign. Many comments on Mike Smithson's PoliticalBetting.com note that Gordon Brown and David Cameron both begun to resemble the 1960 Richard Nixon in the latter part of the debate, and Clegg, without a doubt, was the most articulate and Prime Ministerial.

YouGov Snap Poll:

"Who won the first debate?"

Clegg - 64%
Cameron - 15%
Brown - 12%
Unsure - 9%

April 16th 2010:

ICM:

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April 17th 2010:

BBC voiceover: And now a party election broadcast by the Conservative Party.

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BBC voiceover: That was a party election broadcast by the Conservative Party.

April 18th 2010:

Virtually all of the national newspapers condemn the Conservatives' election broadcast, even the Daily Mail and the Sun. Gordon Brown calls it "disgusting", and Nick Clegg calls it "anti-British, because tolerence and diversity are important British traditions." High-profile Tories such as the Mayor of London Boris Johnson are also highly critical of it.

YouGov:

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[Phony Moderate]

April 25th 2010:

YouGov:

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Rumours begin circulating that Michael Gove is already preparing to run for the Conservative Leadership. The Daily Telegraph does not fully back the Conservatives for the first time in it's history, instead calling for a hung parliament and a "Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition".

April 28th 2010:

After a conversation with a Rochdale voter, Gordon Brown forgets to take his microphone off, and is overheard calling the voter "a bigoted woman". He later apologises to the voter for his comments, but he is criticised by Nick Clegg and David Cameron, the latter saying that "Well, I think my point has been proved".





May 5th 2010:

Final round of polls:


ICM:

Liberal Democrats - 36%
Conservatives - 30%
Labour - 26%

YouGov:

Liberal Democrats - 35%
Conservatives - 28%
Labour - 27%

Angus Reid:

Liberal Democrats - 37%
Conservatives - 33%
Labour - 22%

ComRes:

Liberal Democrats - 35%
Conservatives - 31%
Labour - 25%

May 6th 2010 - Election Day:

9:00AM:

AD: *dials a phone number*
AW: Hello.
AD: Yeah, it's me. Any news yet?
AW: Errrr....not much yet. Turnout looks to be a lot higher than last time, maybe around 70%.
AD: Wow, so back to 1997 levels then. Well, call me back when you hear more.
AW: Ok, I will. See you later.
AD: Ok, bye.

(Call ends)

11:00AM:

WH: Hello.
AC: Yeah, hello. I just wanted to tell you that we look as if we are doing very well in the North West. We may just take Preston.
WH: Blimey, that will be some win....we where about 27% behind Labour there at the last election.
AC: Very high turnout in the South East apparently. Take that as you wish.
WH: Ok....call me back at teatime.
AC: Ok. Bye.

[feeblepizza]

Isn't there an International What-ifs child board for this?

Anywho....it's good. Continue please .

[Phony Moderate]

May 6th 2010 - Election Day - Continued:

9:55PM:



David Dimbleby: It's been the most exciting and the most unpredictable election for a generation. Over the next few hours, we will discover what's happened. Welcome to election night here on the BBC!



DD: Over the course of the night, we'll be joined by our political editor Nick Robinson:



Jeremy Vine, who will be analysing the results for us in detail:



Emily Matilis and Peter Kellner from the polling organization YouGov, who who show us the extent of how the political map of Britain will change tonight.



The Professor Anthony King, who will provide us with statistics and analysis on voting patterns:



And of course, Jeremy Paxman, who will be interviewing the winners and the losers as the night goes on:



And now we bring you our exit poll. We went to 150 polling stations across the country to work this out....and here it comes:

We are predicting a hung parliament, with the Conservatives as the largest party. We are saying that the Conservatives will be on 259 seats, a notional net gain of 51, the Labour Party will be on 205 seats, a net loss of 144, and we think that the Liberal Democrats have made a breakthrough at last - we are predicting that they will be on 152 seats, a net gain of 89.

We do you make of it Nick?

NR: Well, if that's anywhere near right, then I think another General Election later this year is almost a certainity. I'm getting reports that David Davis is in trouble in Haltemprice and Howden, and that many Labour seats in London could fall to the Liberal Democrats.

[Niemeyerite]

brilliant!!

[Phony Moderate]

DD: And I think we can now go to Sunderland....where they are ready to declare the result for Houghton and Sunderland South:

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DD: Well, Anthony?

AK: Well, it appears that the Labour vote has gone all over the place. It must be very worrying from their point of view to get under 50% in such a working-class constituency.

NR: And I'm hearing that George Galloway "may", I repeat "may" be doing very well in Poplar and Limehouse. Apparently David Davis has given up the game in his constituency of Haltemprice and Howden.

[MAINEiac4434]

Very interesting. Though I'm an American, I thought the British election could very well mirror the American one later that year. I was pulling for the Lib Dems but recently I've been back in Labour's corner (as has most of the UK, polls are showing).

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Oh f**k, Clegg again...

Nice job so far

[Phony Moderate]

AK: It's worth noting also that turnout went up by about 10% in Houghton and Sunderland South, which suggests that we may be heading for that 70% overall national turnout that many have been talking about.

DD: Ok, we are now about to get our second declaration....

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AK: Well, once again, a very poor result for Labour in this part of the world, and it has to be said, a disappointing result for the Tories too.

[Wiz in Wis]

MOAR!!!!!