UK By-elections thread, 2021-

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Love when people discover how insane by elections can be

And it really hits them when all the candidates are on stage together for the results. I know they do it in the generals too, but that gets lost in the commotion of 650 seats.

[Tintrlvr]

Betting markets have been moving against the Tories over the course of the evening. Probably a mix of noise and some activists who are sure it's decided. It's probably most phenomenal simply from a betting perspective that the LDs are at 99% odds to win Somerton & Frome. Who is risking £100 to win £1?

[Oryxslayer]

https://twitter.com/willglloyd/status/1682132674822000649?t=pA9uDcfobQ3vswEEyGsi...

[YL]

Lib Dems are already claiming victory in their internal messaging.

[afleitch]

'Voting has now closed in Tinyborough North West, a small tightly packed constituency with a small and falling electorate...a result is expected about 4.30am...'

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

'Voting has now closed in Tinyborough North West, a small tightly packed constituency with a small and falling electorate...a result is expected about 4.30am...'

Then, when 4:30AM comes along, the result is 'imminent', then another two hours pass, then there's another announcement that a recount is taking place, then three further such announcements, then the result is finally declared around the next afternoon.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

So at this stage, rumours are often unreliable as no votes will have been counted yet: anything you hear that isn't expectation management and/or denial, nerves etc. is a reflection of polling day feedback. Which isn't rubbish, but doesn't tell you everything.

[MillennialModerate]

Anyone have a place where these are being covered? I thought Sky would but guess not

[YL]

https://twitter.com/EdwardJDavey/status/1682150926847451137

They must be winning by miles to be confident enough to have started this already.

[Torrain]

Anyone have a place where these are being covered? I thought Sky would but guess not

Sky News are running an election special from midnight BST to 4am, as are the BBC. Both are probably region-locked to the UK, but Sky run a livestream on YouTube, so I’ll link that here just in case.

The Guardian live blog.

The Telegraph live-blog.

The Independent live blog.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

They must be winning by miles to be confident enough to have started this already.

Normally at this stage official party people hedge even if they think they're likely well ahead, so... er...

[Torrain]

To follow up on that theme…

https://twitter.com/BethRigby/status/1682158497822126081

[YL]

Yorkshire Party figure David Herdson thinks Labour have won Selby & Ainsty:

https://twitter.com/DavidHerdson/status/1682158531129032705

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I struggle to quite believe the suggested figures, but he has a good record with these things.

[Mike88]

Any hints of what's happening in Boris former seat?

[Oryxslayer]

Any hints of what's happening in Boris former seat?

Just announced turnout of 46.23%, or down 17.3% from the GE. ~31 to 32K votes.

Both parties are talking cautiously favorably, which is the usual By-Election lines when you aren't on track for a landslide like in S&F apparently.

[Mike88]

This was probably explained here, but I didn't find it, what is ULEZ?

[YL]

This was probably explained here, but I didn't find it, what is ULEZ?

Ultra Low Emissions Zone: basically charges for using the more polluting vehicles, especially older cars.  It already exists in inner London, but there are plans to extend it to the whole of Greater London, including this constituency.

[morgieb]

This was probably explained here, but I didn't find it, what is ULEZ?

Ultra Low Emissions Zone. Basically means that to drive certain older cars you need to pay a fee of £12.50 per day. This policy has been around for a few years in central London, but now it’s extending to the more suburban bits of London too. This is unpopular amongst suburbanites, especially as the need for a less environmentally friendly car is more prevalent there.

[oldtimer]

This was probably explained here, but I didn't find it, what is ULEZ?

It's basically a car tax.

[Mike88]

This was probably explained here, but I didn't find it, what is ULEZ?

Ultra Low Emissions Zone: basically charges for using the more polluting vehicles, especially older cars.  It already exists in inner London, but there are plans to extend it to the whole of Greater London, including this constituency.

Ah right. I understand it. Does it work in inner London? And from what I understood, this is very unpopular in the rest of Greater London.

[oldtimer]

Any hints of what's happening in Boris former seat?

Just announced turnout of 46.23%, or down 17.3% from the GE. ~31 to 32K votes.

Both parties are talking cautiously favorably, which is the usual By-Election lines when you aren't on track for a landslide like in S&F apparently.

So apparently the byelections tonight are going as expected.
Somerton the largest tory defeat, Uxbridge the closest contest due to ULEZ.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Remember that it's still rather early and that rumours can still be deceptive at this stage.

[oldtimer]

This was probably explained here, but I didn't find it, what is ULEZ?

Ultra Low Emissions Zone: basically charges for using the more polluting vehicles, especially older cars.  It already exists in inner London, but there are plans to extend it to the whole of Greater London, including this constituency.

Ah right. I understand it. Does it work in inner London? And from what I understood, this is very unpopular in the rest of Greater London.

Outer London is a bit Jeremy Clarkson when it comes to cars, speak of the devil London car traffic hasn't changed that much since they did a Top Gear Cross-London race years ago.

[MillennialModerate]

Sounds as if each party is going to win 1 seat tonight. Ulez saving the tories in Uxbridge