UK Politics #7

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

The Greens & LibDems got under 400 votes each
The Tories have Reform to contend with now & were almost knocked into 3rd place.
View attachment 2912008

The Reform candidate is 'a character' to say the least:

Reform UK by-election candidate touts conspiracy theories in rambling 2018 video

Mark Butcher, who is standing for Reform UK in the Blackpool South on Thursday, posted the 15-minute clip entitled 'Don't mug me off' in 2018 exploring a number of conspiracy theories

www.mirror.co.uk

Reform UK’s Blackpool byelection candidate denies wrongdoing amid charity probe

Charity Commission opens ‘compliance case’ into soup kitchen founded by Mark Butcher after allegations about use during campaign

www.theguardian.com

DailyDOOH » Blog Archive » Blackpool County Court Find Showreel TV Have Case To Answer

Showreel TV who have always claimed that they have a network of, we quote "selected premier salons across the UK to generate the latest in salon entertainment" seem to also have, by far, the largest 'network' of disgruntled customers one can possibly imagine (read all of comments below whilst tryin

www.dailydooh.com

The soup kitchen is legitimate I think but he gives me minor Depher vibes.

 

[Bobby Chariot]

The Reform candidate is 'a character' to say the least:

Reform UK by-election candidate touts conspiracy theories in rambling 2018 video

Mark Butcher, who is standing for Reform UK in the Blackpool South on Thursday, posted the 15-minute clip entitled 'Don't mug me off' in 2018 exploring a number of conspiracy theories

www.mirror.co.uk

Reform UK’s Blackpool byelection candidate denies wrongdoing amid charity probe

Charity Commission opens ‘compliance case’ into soup kitchen founded by Mark Butcher after allegations about use during campaign

www.theguardian.com

DailyDOOH » Blog Archive » Blackpool County Court Find Showreel TV Have Case To Answer

Showreel TV who have always claimed that they have a network of, we quote "selected premier salons across the UK to generate the latest in salon entertainment" seem to also have, by far, the largest 'network' of disgruntled customers one can possibly imagine (read all of comments below whilst tryin

www.dailydooh.com

The soup kitchen is legitimate I think but he gives me minor Depher vibes.

"The C.I.A make television sets that put people to sleep:

 

[Ndrangheta]

"The C.I.A make television sets that put people to sleep:

As Nick Ferarri would say: "We'll file that under 'an idea'".

 

[Blueblue123]

I've seen a few turnout figures (admittedly, only 5 or so) and I'm yet to see anything higher than 40%. One London Borough had a turnout of less than 20%.

That's really poor. People really are dissatisfied.

Edit: I've looked up some others, still nothing above 40%. Most is upper 30s

 

[thegirlscout]

It’s so frustrating knowing we have more than 2 parties but very few people will consider the alternatives. The status quo is maintained by this, we will never have true change until people realise there are alternatives and start voting for them.

I agree, that’s why I vote the way I want to. We need to move away from this two party system in all but name and that won’t happen until people start voting for alternatives.
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Are you feeling politically adrift too? Are there any independent or LibDem candidates you could get behind? I’m in Wales, when there isn’t a candidate I can get behind I can always vote Plaid Cymru. I wish we could have a none of the above option.

Yes, very adrift. There’s no one party that really speaks to me and I have a hard issue ignoring things that I personally believe are important or need to be sorted.
I think voting independent will be how I go because I don’t feel right spoiling my ballot however the general election hasn’t been called so I will look and see what the individual candidates will say when the time comes.

 

[HelloStereo]

I've seen a few turnout figures (admittedly, only 5 or so) and I'm yet to see anything higher than 40%. One London Borough had a turnout of less than 20%.

That's really poor. People really are dissatisfied.

Edit: I've looked up some others, still nothing above 40%. Most is upper 30s

Yeah, even in 2021 turnout was about 40% or so and that was when they had the SV system.

 

[thegirlscout]

I wish they gave numbers of how many voted instead of percentages as I’m too tired to try and work it out.
Has there ever been a high turn out?

 

[HelloStereo]

I wish they gave numbers of how many voted instead of percentages as I’m too tired to try and work it out.
Has there ever been a high turn out?

I think they give numbers as well as the percentage. Here you can download PDFs which list the number of votes recorded for the boroughs for the 2021 local elections: https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/election-results/results-2021

 

[JaynieDay]

I agree, that’s why I vote the way I want to. We need to move away from this two party system in all but name and that won’t happen until people start voting for alternatives.
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Yes, very adrift. There’s no one party that really speaks to me and I have a hard issue ignoring things that I personally believe are important or need to be sorted.
I think voting independent will be how I go because I don’t feel right spoiling my ballot however the general election hasn’t been called so I will look and see what the individual candidates will say when the time comes.

We seem to have similar attitudes, I can’t vote for a party that doesn’t share my priorities or values. It’s one of the reasons I feel so disenfranchised in our current political climate, I think it’s not just us though. The turnout figures are very poor, which speaks loudly how none of the major parties aren’t reaching the majority of most voters. The GE will give a clearer picture on how apathetic people really are, that is going to be interesting. I think Spineless Starmer believes he is going to get a similar win to Bullshitter Blair the War Criminal. If he does, I’d be greatly surprised.

 

[Laughingforlife]

In their dreams

 

[Blueblue123]

I wish they gave numbers of how many voted instead of percentages as I’m too tired to try and work it out.
Has there ever been a high turn out?

They do, but I guess it's a bit abstract until final votes are being counted because you've only got each individual council, no overall count.

This account has breakdowns of some votes by numbers, I'm sure it'll be available elsewhere like Sky or BBC news too.



I believe local and by elections typically have lower turnouts than general elections anyway and from what I'm reading, this year's turnout is lower than 2021.

 

[thegirlscout]

I think they give numbers as well as the percentage. Here you can download PDFs which list the number of votes recorded for the boroughs for the 2021 local elections: https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/election-results/results-2021

Thank you for the link. Surprised that they are quite low, never above 50%
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They do, but I guess it's a bit abstract until final votes are being counted because you've only got each individual council, no overall count.

This account has breakdowns of some votes by numbers, I'm sure it'll be available elsewhere like Sky or BBC news too.



I believe local and by elections typically have lower turnouts than general elections anyway and from what I'm reading, this year's turnout is lower than 2021.

Thank you. Quite frustrating that the turn outs are so low. I get people are disenchanted by it all but if we had more people voting then we could change this and get more voices represented.
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We seem to have similar attitudes, I can’t vote for a party that doesn’t share my priorities or values. It’s one of the reasons I feel so disenfranchised in our current political climate, I think it’s not just us though. The turnout figures are very poor, which speaks loudly how none of the major parties aren’t reaching the majority of most voters. The GE will give a clearer picture on how apathetic people really are, that is going to be interesting. I think Spineless Starmer believes he is going to get a similar win to Bullshitter Blair the War Criminal. If he does, I’d be greatly surprised.

I think that Labour will get in but I agree, I don’t think it’s going to be some iconic victory like Tony Blair in the 90s. Potentially I can see a collation with Lib Dem and Labour happening.
The Tories I feel will be decimated. Even true blue Conservative voters that I know are done with the party and are looking elsewhere, mainly to Reform. So I can see the potential for Reform to get a few seats.
I can see the biggest issue facing the next group that gets in after the GE is immigration and cost of living. Whoever gets in needs to start getting results with these problems (not spending millions on silly ideas like Rwanda for example).

 

[HelloStereo]

Thank you for the link. Surprised that they are quite low, never above 50%
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Thank you. Quite frustrating that the turn outs are so low. I get people are disenchanted by it all but if we had more people voting then we could change this and get more voices represented.

You're welcome .

Yeah, local elections generally have quite low turnouts.

I'm not really sure what the alternative is. I guess another voting system might help more parties get seats and represent who people vote for more accurately but how do you motivate people who don't even bother looking up party manifestos and just are completely apathetic to it all.

 

[Blueblue123]

View attachment 2913265

In their dreams

Have they even got a seat?

The Greens and Independents have done quite alright and actually gained seats but the media will mainly give attention to Labour, Conservative and whatever party is right of the Conservatives and making the most noise at election time.

We've seen it with Britain First, UKIP, Brexit Party.

No wonder people feel those are the only choices.

I nearly voted Independent/Green myself but I didn't take enough time to look up the candidates.

 

[monga]

 

[bubbadabut]

We had a mayoral election only.
Turnout? Just over 8%

 

[Ndrangheta]

The coverage of Ben Houchen on the news boggled my mind ... 'Local Lad done good' etc. etc. Bloke is a crook who has lined his own pockets (along with family and friends) with millions of pounds of tax-payers money. Unreal.

 

[Happy Lady]

I've seen a few turnout figures (admittedly, only 5 or so) and I'm yet to see anything higher than 40%. One London Borough had a turnout of less than 20%.

That's really poor. People really are dissatisfied.

Edit: I've looked up some others, still nothing above 40%. Most is upper 30s

There seems to be a lot of people who don't care about these results and are waiting to vote in the GE later this year. That will be the real result.

Yesterday Sky were predicting Labour would be 32 seats short of taking over from Conservatives. We'll see how close to this figure Sky were later today. Hmmm

 

[Onetwofour]

My views are that people are waiting for politicians to provide them options they like. People don't want to get involved in politics yet they are disappointed by what they are offered. When democracy was "new" people were much more engaged than today. But for society change to happen it has to come from the people. Politicians won't rescue us.

The other issue is of course the FPTP system. It needs to be abolished to let grassroots parties growing - it will influence big parties as they will be concerned to lose voters to grassroots parties. They will have either adapt themselves and take more into consideration the need of the people or they will lose their dominant position.

The current apathy and the "they are all the same" feeling help parties that don't meet anymore the needs of the voters to stay in power. They take advantage of that situation and they would prefer to reinforce those sentiments than politics being again competitive.

 

[Moth]

My views are that people are waiting for politicians to provide them options they like. People don't want to get involved in politics yet they are disappointed by what they are offered. When democracy was "new" people were much more engaged than today. But for society change to happen it has to come from the people. Politicians won't rescue us.

The other issue is of course the FPTP system. It needs to be abolished to let grassroots parties growing - it will influence big parties as they will be concerned to lose voters to grassroots parties. They will have either adapt themselves and take more into consideration the need of the people or they will lose their dominant position.

The current apathy and the "they are all the same" feeling help parties that don't meet anymore the needs of the voters to stay in power. They take advantage of that situation and they would prefer to reinforce those sentiments than politics being again competitive.

I suspect that what a sizeable chunk of the electorate 'want' is unrealistic and unachievable. So either politicians don't offer it or they offer the impossible, fail to deliver and the people that voted for them become disillusioned. Ultimately the problem is the people not the politicians.

As for the FPTP system, one could argue that the Tories are being influenced by the threat of losing voters to a 'grassroots' party i.e Reform. They are 'adapting' by becoming increasingly right-wing. Is that a good thing?