UK Politics Discussion

[BloodAngel]

I really hope you guys get a new system til next time.

(currently) Democratic Unionist Party - 168,216: 8 seats. UK Independence Party - 868,054: 0 seats.

 

The Democratic Unionists are only present in Northern Ireland which is why the have so few votes but so many seats, similarly with Plaid Cymru and the SNP who are only in Wales and Scotland respectively and have low vote numbers but have 9 seats between them.

 

Clegg comes across as one of the most decent guys in politics and I hope he becomes PM one day although that will only happen if we change the voting system.

[OldJoe]

I really hope you guys get a new system til next time.

(currently) Democratic Unionist Party - 168,216: 8 seats. UK Independence Party - 868,054: 0 seats.

 

The Democratic Unionists are only present in Northern Ireland which is why the have so few votes but so many seats, similarly with Plaid Cymru and the SNP who are only in Wales and Scotland respectively and have low vote numbers but have 9 seats between them.

 

Clegg comes across as one of the most decent guys in politics and I hope he becomes PM one day although that will only happen if we change the voting system.

I know that, but what i'm getting at is that it's not representative for what the people of UK think.

[Assume Nothing]

What I'm interested in is what happens to the economy when Labour doesn't win. I don't think Labour will win though, Gordon hasn't done much for this country to justify a majority to vote for him.

 

Although I don't really approve of the way Tory's advertise on why they should vote for him, but it's still funny nonetheless.

 

[hide=Lol Conservative]

[/hide]

[BloodAngel]

They're now saying on the BBC coverage that there will be another election next year because of this hung parliament. It also sounds like the Conservatives don't want to form a coalition with the Lib Dems and if that's the case looks like Britain will have another year at least of Labour.

[Assume Nothing]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/

[Assume Nothing]

Labour and the Liberal Democrats haven't moved at all. Conservatives have moved to 298 seats now. I think they have a chance of winning, or have a hung parliment until the next election... next year...

[Racheya]

I was up till 3am watching it (waiting for my local seat to be declared - Labour hold woo!). And managed to miss college this morning quite epically by getting up 4 hours late :P

 

Atm I just hope that Labour can somehow hold on, if not... I don't know...

 

But I have a bigger qualm atm. I am very disappointed in the BBC coverage. As if David Dimbleby and Jeremy Paxman couldn't be any more Conservative... I'm seriously complaining to Ofcom over this.

[The Dark Lord]

The Returning Officer for this constituency has announced the outcome of the Department of International Politics shadow General Election.

 

 

 

Turn out: 144 votes cast

 

 

 

The Department has made an historic contribution to Northern Irish politics. A single vote proved to be decisive in our imagined Ulster community. Admittedly, it was the only vote cast, but it went to the Social Democratic and Labour Party so John Hume will be smiling down on us from the Stormont in the Sky. No votes for Sinn Fein, DUP, Alliance Party, Ulster Conservative and Unionist New Force or Traditional Unionist Voice. Ulster is now effectively a one-party state which is pretty much a return to how things were in 1969.

 

 

 

Scotland is to the Department as Canada was to Lyndon Johnson (I dont even know what street its on). No votes for the Scottish Nationalist Party nor for the Scottish Socialist Party.

 

 

 

A number of parties garnered a single vote: the Monster Raving Loony Party, UKIP, and something called the Ben Childs for Prime Minister Facebook Movement (I have no idea what that is).

 

 

 

At the extremes of the political spectrum, the British National Party gained 2 votes, but this is neatly counter-balanced by the 2 votes won by the Communist Party of Great Britain. They can have a bundle in the North room and settle their differences in the good old fashioned Cable Street manner.

 

 

 

Respect: 3 votes.

 

 

 

Trade Union and Socialist Coalition: 5 votes.

 

 

 

Rather mirroring the vote in the real world of Ceredigion, Plaid Cymru had a disappointing night. 8 votes only. I blame the students. Or the TV debates. Or the volcano. Or the London media. Or something

 

 

 

It all ended up being something of a 4-horse race. The Green Party were going nowhere until the tree and dolphin-huggers in the PhD community got their vote out and they leapt up to 21 votes and ended up in a creditable 4th place.

 

 

 

Third, with 25 votes, its everyones favourite Labour Party.

 

 

 

Second, with 29 votes, the Nasty Conservative Party.

 

 

 

Which means that Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats, with 46 votes, should in theory be our democratically elected Head of Department.

 

 

 

However, given the extraordinarily complicated nature of the Departments electoral college system, and due to the fact that one sycophantic individual actually cast their vote on behalf of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, I have succeeded in forming a coalition with the Labour and Green Parties thereby garnering 47 votes and achieving a governing majority. Expect cuts. Work harder and faster for less

 

 

 

Many thanks for your participation,

 

 

 

The Supreme Leader

[Lateralus]

Man, we Scots really dislike the Tories. Almost makes me proud.

[Racheya]

Makes me wish I was Scottish...

 

At least us Northerners don't *quite* like the Tories as much as down south does.

[The Dark Lord]

I'm trying to better grasp the differences between the three main parties....

 

The Tories are corporatists?

 

The Labour are socialists?

 

The Lib Dems are?

[Danqazmlp]

I'm trying to better grasp the differences between the three main parties....

 

The Tories are corporatists?

 

The Labour are socialists?

 

The Lib Dems are?

 

 

Tories think everything Labour does is wrong.

 

Labour thinks everything Tories do is wrong.

 

Lib Dems get ignored because of our voting system, so want fair voting.

 

 

That's it in a nutshel.

[Asmodeous4]

I really want a Lib-Lab government, we need electoral reform passed... I don't see a Lib-Con coming seeing as Tories simply won't go with PR, which is the Lib Dem's main issue. I find it funny that the TOries are instead bribing them with "possible cabinet seats". Argh, anything but Tory please...

[calcarb]

Harping back to proportional representation. If we adopted that system we would then have only the career politicians would get into power which, in my opinion would mean they rule the country for their own gain and not for the good of the people.

 

If you look at the background of some of the Conservative members of Parliament you will see that they are successful business men and who better to run the country than someone with a successful business.

 

Just my opinion.

[magekillr]

Paul Krugman's thoughts:

 

Not only does no party have a majority, the two somewhat sensible coalitions — Tory-Unionist or Labour-Lib Dem — also lack a majority. Josh Marshall is right: it’s an election that all three parties managed to lose.

 

Let me draw that out a bit. Clearly, there’s a personal rejection of Gordon Brown; I actually admire him as a policymaker and have liked him in person, but he’s not a natural politician. On the other hand, if the Tories can’t close the deal with the economy a mess and an unpopular Labour leader, what hope do they have? (And I’d argue that they remain a party of no ideas.) Finally, this was the Lib Dem chance: they coulda been a contendah. But they weren’t.

 

From an American point of view: Labour and Lib Dem are both well to the left of the Democrats; arguably well to the left of anywhere progressives dream of going. Actually, even Cameron is a socialist from the GOP perspective. So from our point of view British voters overwhelmingly voted for social-democratic policies at a level of generosity inconceivable here.

 

The big loser here, clearly, is the Queen, who may find herself actually forced to play a substantive role.

 

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/hung-over-in-britain/

 

So it depends on your perspective, Serephurus. As Krugman states, the Tories are probably more liberal (on the whole) than our Democrats (on the whole). I'd say that Barack Obama is governing how a Tory would. And the sad part is that I have to be grateful about it, otherwise the far-right Republicans get in.

[Danqazmlp]

Harping back to proportional representation. If we adopted that system we would then have only the career politicians would get into power which, in my opinion would mean they rule the country for their own gain and not for the good of the people.

 

If you look at the background of some of the Conservative members of Parliament you will see that they are successful business men and who better to run the country than someone with a successful business.

 

Just my opinion.

 

 

But as this picture posted earlier in the thread shows:

 

 

Only Conservatve and Labour can really get in power as it is, when other parties may have people who are much more qualified. I think the benefits of Pr far outweigh the negatives.

[obfuscator]

I want the guy on the left, his eyebrows remind me of Mr. Bean.

[Sy_Accursed]

Anyone who can liken Torys to Obama is crazy.

 

Torys core basis is give tax breaks to the rich and those going into buisness just long enuff tht it helps them get rich if they r going too; meanwhile spending on education, health and public services is reigned in and taxes on the average working joe are hiked up.

[Jaziek]

Who better to run the country than someone with a successful business.

 

 

That is about the dumbest thing said in this thread so far.

[magekillr]

Paw, here's what I mean:

 

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/04/this-tory-president.html

 

And besides, Obama's proposed a deficit reduction commission which is going to rob our Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while leaving our insane and bloated defense budget alone. The stimulus was cut so that state's have massive budget shortfalls (as their constitutions require them to balance the budget every year), and our education and Medicaid got slashed in the process.

 

Anyway, off topic again lol.

 

Back to the election: I'm not sure what's going to happen now.

[1_man_army]

A poor result but hopefully if the Lib Dems do form a coalition with the Tories (which seems the most likely scenario now) then they can reign in some of the more radical ideas that the Tories have. Hopefully, they push for electoral reform in a big way.

 

The way the election was run in some constituencies was laughable, from not having enough ballot papers to not being prepared for the high turnout...they actually decided a council seat by drawing playing cards for god's sake.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8668624.stm

[Asmodeous4]

A poor result but hopefully if the Lib Dems do form a coalition with the Tories (which seems the most likely scenario now) then they can reign in some of the more radical ideas that the Tories have. Hopefully, they push for electoral reform in a big way.

 

The way the election was run in some constituencies was laughable, from not having enough ballot papers to not being prepared for the high turnout...they actually decided a council seat by drawing playing cards for god's sake.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8668624.stm

 

I'm SEVERELY doubting a Lib-Con coalition. Lib-Lab seems more likely, although it probably won't please many people, even though if Lib-Lab goes ahead, one of the Lib Dem's agreements is that Gordon must step down for them to join...

[1_man_army]

Clegg has stated that the Tories have the first refusal on forming a coalition because they have the most seats. The only way a Lib-Lab pact is possible is if the Tories are completely unwilling to compromise with the Lib Dems. I don't think Cameron is brave enough to go the minority government route and even with the Ulster Unionists he wouldn't have a majority. Of course, a Liberal-Tory coalition would be the most interesting ideology clash this side of WW2 but it is the only possible strong government possible right now.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/07/clegg-cameron-brown-coalition-election-results

[calcarb]

Who better to run the country than someone with a successful business.

 

 

That is about the dumbest thing said in this thread so far.

 

Just looked at your profile though I didn't really need to to judge your age. I have been voting since the 1960's, so maybe I know a little bit more about it than you.

[dusqi]

Libs had to offer Cons the option of "trying to form a government". I suspect this is just Clegg making a public offer so that he looks like he gave them a chance. The same thing applies to Cameron making public statements offering various things to the Libs. He wants the media story to be that the Cons made significant sucessions to the Libs but they refused. In the end it seems to me that the intractable issue is that the Cons will never offer meaningful voting reform because then they'd never be in government again.

 

Libs will then speak to Lab. They'll want Gordon Brown to step down because otherwise they'll be seen to be propping up an unpopular leader. Gordon won't want to do it, possibly his party will want him to. I don't know whether the Libs will settle for a coalition including Gordon Brown as PM, and I don't know whether Lab would be able to get rid of Gordon if he doesn't agree to go. This also has the disadvantage in that the various regional parties will need to be involved, and that will involve concessions to them that English people won't like.

 

If that doesn't work then it only leaves the Tories with a minority government. That's a massive problem because they'll never be able to get their cuts through facing all of the other left-wing parties. Why would anyone defect from their party to afflict tax increases and spending cuts?

 

 

I agree with Krugman - somehow, everyone lost (apart from the Green party).