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-   -   United Kingdom Parliamentary elections scheduled on May 6th (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=214040)

Netto Azure April 7th, 2010 4:07 PM

United Kingdom Parliamentary elections scheduled on May 6th
 
UK set for hung Parliament with Tories largest party

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47793000/jpg/_47793505_cameron_brown_clegg.jpg
David Cameron says Labour "has lost its mandate to govern" as the Conservatives look set to be the biggest party in a hung parliament.

Quote:

With more than 500 general election results in out of 650, the BBC is predicting a hung Parliament with the Tories as the largest party.
Labour cannot now win a majority, but it is not clear which party will be in a position to form a government.
Tory leader David Cameron said it was "clear that the Labour government has lost its mandate to govern".
Gordon Brown may start coalition talks with the Lib Dems, who, Nick Clegg admitted, had a "disappointing night" .
The BBC projection suggests David Cameron's Conservatives will have 306 seats. If there are 10 Unionists elected in Northern Ireland then Mr Cameron might be able to command 316 - probably still slightly too few for him to be sure of winning a Queen's Speech.
But Labour and the Lib Dems together would have 317 seats, according to the BBC figures, which even with three SDLP MPs would still leave them at 320 - again probably just a few votes short.



Expenses
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague says any attempt by Brown at securing a pact with Lib Dems "would be a shameless piece of politics".
But senior Labour figures have said that under the rules of Britain's constitution, the sitting prime minister in a hung parliament makes the first attempt at forming a ruling coalition.
In other election night news:

  • Northern Ireland's first minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson has been defeated in East Belfast by the Alliance party
  • The Greens have gained their first MP at Westminster - party leader Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavillion
  • Education secretary Ed Balls hung on in Morley and Outwood by just over 100 votes but former Home Secretary Charles Clarke narrowly lost to the Lib Dem candidate in Norwich South
  • Jacqui Smith, who stood down as home secretary over her expenses, lost her Redditch seat to the Conservative but Hazel Blears retained her seat in Salford
  • Labour's Margaret Hodge beat the BNP's Nick Griffin in Barking and Dagenham, with a 5% increase in her vote
  • Esther Rantzen came fourth in Luton South, which went to the Labour candidate
  • Lib Dem frontbencher Lembit Opik has lost his Montgomeryshire seat after suffering a 13.2% swing to the Conservatives
  • There were angry scenes and calls for an inquiry after people were turned away from polling stations as long queues formed ahead of the 2200 BST voting deadline.

With most results in, the Lib Dem vote is up 0.9% on 2005, Labour down 6.5% and the Conservatives up 4%.
Turnout is running at 65.2%, a modest increase on the 2005 general election.

Well here we are the next day with a hung parliament.

Here's a chart with the possible ways the government will be formed:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47788000/gif/_47788852_election_outcomes466.gif

But whatever government comes out of this will be saddled with some of the toughest questions on finances for the next generation. Good Luck to them.

Well at least the British Campaign season isn't as long as the US' XD
Then again we are in a perpetual campaign mode here in the US with our 2 year election cycle.

To be frank I am not sure which of the 3 main parties to support.

The Tories seem to be the choice for Deficit cuts and the NHS, but their past administrations are well...:/

New Labour on the other hand spearheaded the global bank bailouts, yet is still embroiled in the Iraqi fact-finding committee. :o

And well, the Lib Dems...are the Lib Dems. XD I'm tilting towards them this time though. but oh well. XP

Fire-Red April 8th, 2010 4:55 AM

This is my first general election and voting has never seened more pointless to me.

Netto Azure April 8th, 2010 6:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire-Red (Post 5694908)
This is my first general election and voting has never seened more pointless to me.

How so? Is it the general way each party has it's own quirks?

Bluerang1 April 8th, 2010 7:11 AM

The Tory's need to stop picking on Gordon and being so smug.

NarutoActor April 8th, 2010 7:15 AM

I am an American, but If I lived in Great Britain I would side with the conservative party.

I am assuming tho that the conservative party in Great Britain, is like the conservative party in America.

I Laugh at your Misfortune! April 8th, 2010 7:24 AM

I think labour lost themselves the election after they launched the campaign comparing David Cameron to Gene Hunt. That must have been the stupidest move possible.

Ivysaur April 8th, 2010 9:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NarutoActor (Post 5695162)
I am an American, but If I lived in Great Britain I would side with the conservative party.

I am assuming tho that the conservative party in Great Britain, is like the conservative party in America.

The Conservative Party in Britain is halfway but something nearer the Democrats than the Republicans. If the political centre between Labour/Social Democracy and Conservatives is a 5 out of 10 (10 being right and 0 left) in Europe, it's around 7 in the US.

Quoting Timothy Garton Ash, from The Guardian, it's a really interesting election because both parties deserve to lose- Labour has been screwing its own party up since the Iraq War and Blair's resignation, and the Conservatives, despite Cameron's hard work, haven't fully left their scary legend from Major's years.

Not to mention the electoral system is blatantly biased for Labour's side. Hopefully it will be changed for a new, more proportional system.

I don't have any favourites myself. Clegg is going to be the winner unless Brown revives and grabs a full majority or Cameron attracts all the votes from the divided areas (not likely), so my hopes are, whoever wins, Clegg is intelligent enough to use his power wisely and ensure a smooth transition from the current situation instead of just giving his votes to one of the sides for free.

The Commons need to change after the recent scandals, and that will need a lot of political energy.

FreakyLocz14 April 8th, 2010 10:15 AM

The UK system concerns me. If the Prime Minister can call an election whenever he feels it's convenient that would create a system of one-party rule since elections would be called whenever the ruling party has the best chance of winning.

Ivysaur April 8th, 2010 10:21 AM

They have had that system for a century (and a similar one before) and, during the last 30 years, both parties have been alternatively winning and losing regularly, maybe not as often as in other countries, but the UK isn't a one-party country.

But I agree they need a set list of rules. I think any person who knows about the UK politics will agree with that.

FreakyLocz14 April 8th, 2010 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Went (Post 5695601)
They have had that system for a century (and a similar one before) and, during the last 30 years, both parties have been alternatively winning and losing regularly, maybe not as often as in other countries, but the UK isn't a one-party country.

But I agree they need a set list of rules. I think any person who knows about the UK politics will agree with that.

I'm probably over estimimating the system through a bit of an American bias. This system is a sharp contrast to our idea to seperation of powers.

The system certainly has the potential for abuse though.

Ivysaur April 8th, 2010 10:55 AM

That's correct. It's a wonder that, specially with a "first past the post" system, it hasn't been abused in an over-the-top way. But 10 and 15 years of same party predominance aren't so weird in other countries in Europe or the US, with different electoral systems.

FreakyLocz14 April 8th, 2010 10:58 AM

Meh the Republicans took over in 1994 then the Dems came in in 2006.
And even that party that has the majority can't get monopolize due to the fillibuster rule, checks and balances, U.S. Supreme Court rulings, executive veto, etc.
Look how much hell it took to pass a healthcare bill when the Democrats even have a fillibuster-proof majority and control the White House.

Kon~ April 8th, 2010 11:44 AM

To be honest, I doubt anyone is going to beat Labour back into power. Just because they've been in power for so long. :/

Blue Nocturne April 9th, 2010 1:40 AM

Basically:
If Labour stay in power, Britain is in trouble
If Conservative takes power, Britain is in trouble
If Lib Dems take power, Britain will fall off the maps

Im supporting conservatives though, my main gripe is with money and the Conservative plan makes a lot more sense to me than Labour. On top of that i just really cannot stand labour, and I don't think that a party stupid enough to compare Cameron to Gene Hunt in an attempt to make him look BAD should be in power of the country. And a man who has the confidence to launch his campaign with just a big picture of his head is surely more confident in handling important situations than a man who already looks like he's died and.... Richard Clegg?

I Laugh at your Misfortune! April 9th, 2010 5:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Nocturne (Post 5698185)
Basically:
If Labour stay in power, Britain is in trouble
If Conservative takes power, Britain is in trouble
If Lib Dems take power, Britain will fall off the maps

Sad, but true. Um, so we have....the Green party? The BNP? UKIP?

...

Why are all of our political parties so rubbish? >.<

Logan April 10th, 2010 3:43 AM

BNP ftw.

But seriously, I've always liked the Tories, and I'll be pushing them again.

Banjora Marxvile April 11th, 2010 2:22 AM

OMG Harry, a Torie!

Right, my view. It's politics, all of them have lied. However, I do have to say, I don't like David Cameron. And I live with the most fanatical Conservative ever, my dad (even delivered a Conservative leaflet to one of my best friends. Lucky they didn't know it was him.)

My political view is like the Conservative one I guess. Just, I don't like the current leader of them. And who will most likely win after Brown's major... Mess. And the Lib Dems (who I like 2nd most) have no chance, even if they won, as they need a certain number of seats in politics (as my dad constantly reminds me), so it is a Conservative victory.

Rogue planet April 11th, 2010 6:19 AM

The same scenario always happens; the Conservatives will win the election because Gordon Brown & Labour is widely hated at the moment, then after a few years the Conservatives will ruin something big that turns everyone against them, then Labour will take the next election. All our political parties are equally useless. The Liberal Democrats are almost as bad, but to be honest I'd rather see them win than Conservatives or Labour. Modern politics are a joke.

Alexithymia~ April 12th, 2010 7:25 AM

I don't think the fact that Labour sent round leaflets to Cancer sufferers saying that the Tory policies on cancer could endanger their lives, really helped them. They were sent to like two hundred thousand people, or something. They had to apologise AGAIN.

Also, Gordon Brown has the personality [and look] of boiled cabbage.

Ivysaur April 12th, 2010 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexithymia~ (Post 5709538)
Also, Gordon Brown has the personality [and look] of boiled cabbage.

And he has real chances of winning again. I think that sad line just speaks wonders about the current scenario in the UK.

I Laugh at your Misfortune! May 4th, 2010 9:45 AM

The news has just claimed that voting numbers are expected to hit a record low. Despite earlier reporting that Cleggmania was going to draw in all the students and such >.>

Kon~ May 4th, 2010 12:53 PM

As I've seen so far, Nick Clegg still seems to be the strongest candidate. It seems likelier and likelier that the Lib Dems are going to swipe this one, IMHO. Conservative aren't putting enough ideals forwards and there seems to be a mutual agreement across the country that Labour has failed us. Pretty much all smaller parties than these three are too obscure or specialist to gain much attention, or fill themselves with silly self-righteousness like the BNP or UKIP.

On the subject of BNP, Nick Griffin made a huge blunder earlier this week/fortnight. He dressed up as St. George - the Palistine-born Roman immigrant. *facepalm*

If only I were old enough to vote, because I've got this sudden and previously non-existant interest in politics right now, and I have my own ideas of which would be the best route to take.

Jolene May 4th, 2010 1:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kon~ (Post 5773453)
If only I were old enough to vote, because I've got this sudden and previously non-existant interest in politics right now, and I have my own ideas of which would be the best route to take.

That always happens when there's a big political thing. People start acting like experts and stuff, even though they're just spitting up the things they saw on TV.

Zeph. May 5th, 2010 12:18 AM

I personally think people with just stick with Brown - stick with what they know in order to get out of this apparent 'mess' the country is in.

However there's a gut feeling I have saying the Lib Dems might surprise us all...

Magik?! May 5th, 2010 9:03 AM

My school are holding a mock campaign for it and I'm the Green Party candidate (I know o.o'), despite not really having supported any politics before, so I've ended up having to read up on everything. Personally I think that the Lib Dems are gonna do well, I think that their policies are pretty good, compared to the others. But I guess it depends on your backgrounds etc... students at my school tend to be slightly 'better off' than average, so there's a huge number of Conservatives, yet my friend groups outside of school are all Labour/Lib Dem because they come from less priveliged backgrounds and they don't care about inheiritance taxes and so on.


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