Election result

Ju1160, you are just talking about the numbers of qualified staff on the ward. Who else did you have?
How many bank staff do you have now because you cannot fill the vacancies?

Yes but we probably all have a story to tell re the NHS and not everybody believes the NHS was brilliant under Labour do they!

Labours campaign to 'weaponise' the NHS didn't work very well did it. I think the majority of voters found such language crass and it turned them off.

I see Burnham is being put forward as a possible candidate for Labour Leader, I hope so he doesn't interview very well, providing it is the case the interviewer knows his onions, so I think he would be good for the Conservatives to have him in place. Actually I didn't think any of them on the list of possible candidates put forward so far ar e any good.

Have they put out a list already? <surprise>

Just had an email from Oxfam to ask Cameron about his tax dodging bill.

updates.oxfam.org.uk/c/1EITjKaw6EnBRDhzVewFiEHQB

Do not know if he will take any notice, like economist Ed Balls would have done, but it's worth a try.

roseqwusrtz

It's not an official list I should clarify, speculative.

Somehow I get the feeling you will not be voting on the new leader of the Labour party, POGS.

I think Yvette Cooper would make a good leader. She was in the health and welfare department, I think.

Of course, now Ed (Balls) is out of the way, she's got a clear run.

Well I thought Cooper was very poor on GN and she hardly ever answers a question so she might prove useful.

Are only Labour supporters allowed to comment on the leadership candidates?

You make me sound like a German sausage POGS lol

I noticed that .

I'm not a Labour supporter, POGS (in case you hadn't noticed! )

I only meant that it could have been a bit awkward if both Yvette and her husband had been vying for the post.

I read somewhere that it had been decided quite a while ago that Yvette would run and Ed would support her.
Someone who was at their house for dinner was assured by one of their children that mummy would be the Prime Minister one day
Out of the mouths of babes .....

If you want to keep tabs on your MP in parliament this is a website to do it on. Tells you when they speak or get written answers, etc.

www.theyworkforyou.com/

Thanks for that link djen

Yes, thanks for that link durhamjen. I shall certainly be keeping tabs on my new MP. From what I've read on her website and on Facebook, I'm not sure she knows where her new constituency is

I have to say that I'm not that impressed with any of the Labour possible candidates mentioned so far. I rather liked Ed Miliband - he was a little eccentric and too cautious for my liking but, on the whole, I think he was a decent bloke.

Ideally, I don't think a leader should outshine his/her team but should draw them together and maintain focus and direction. Sadly I think most politicians these days are pretty uninspiring and it's hard for me to think of anyone who stands out in a crowd - and I mean that for the Tories too.

It's about time we saw a woman as leader. I used to like Yvette Cooper but her no doubt genuine concern about various issues can come across as angst-ridden and gloomy. Of course, politicians deal with serious matters but sometimes a little warmth or humour is welcome.

I don't know what the "rules" are for choosing a leader - how much experience a person needs and if they have to have held a particular position for a certain length of time - but at some point I think our local MP, Stella Creasey, would be a good leader. She has run some very effective campaigns such as the regulation of pay day loan companies and, locally, against rogue letting agencies - and she has proved herself to be an unruffled and effective communicator in her frequent TV appearances.

I actually think Labour needs a bit of a "tough nut" to handle the media. Any politician can be caught at an unguarded moment looking geeky or unattractive but it seemed to me that the right wing newspapers (which constitute about 85% of UK newspapers) focused particularly on ridiculing Ed Miliband (the bacon sandwich incident) for his appearance and mannerisms as much as his policies.

I cried with despair and disbelief when I heard the results. As a Londoner it was some comfort to see that Labour faired well in my home city. However, the rest of the country gave the Tories an outright win.
As one of the vulnerables in our society I feel very scared indeed. I have Chronic fatigue syndrome and my life is an endless round of exhaustion and stress due to low income and I fear that the housing benefit payments, that top up my meagre wage, will be reduced drastically under this government and that I will literally end up without a roof over my head. It is such a struggle already without further cuts.
This government will allow, and even promote, the rich getting even richer at a time when it allows its poorest members to literally live without enough money for basic food.
I just want a fairer society for all. I am not naive enough to believe that Labour was going to save Britain but we did need a ruling party who has just one ounce of compassion for its most vulnerable citizens.
It is terrifying to think what is going to happen to our precious NHS.
So who did vote Tory and why,when we knew they were very likely to start to privatise our NHS and slash billions from our welfare budget? Did you vote Tory because you wanted a Tory government or because you didn't want any other party to lead the country? I am just interested in the mindset behind people's voting choice.

I have to agree with you wondergran and am slowly realising that I won't wake up from what feels like a very bad dream.

The Tories have said what they will do so let no one who voted for them complain when they bring in the £12 billion worth of cuts to welfare.

History will, I believe, treat Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems rather better than the voters have done, but there is so much work to do to rebuild it. The party has done it before but must now take a little time to regroup. I understand large numbers of people actually joined the party yesterday. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step so they say and this is certainly going to be a long journey for them.

Good link Jen

There was a good question on Question Time last night wondergran ..asking why the voters have punished the LibDems for being part of the coalition yet at the same time rewarded the Tories for being part of that same coalition.

My own feeling about this is that the country have not forgiven Labour, for the economic problems under the Brown administration; 'that note' stating there was nothing left in the kitty did untold damage. And secondly Ed Milliband ought not to have been elected Leader. There were better candidates and his integrity was in question.

Finally there are those who have not been directly affected by cuts, YET.
They feel that the Torries are doing a good job.

ggran and wgran - a bit patronising to question why 'the rest of the country' voted Conservative and to ask for their motives - as if we are some kind of 'other' who would not have very very good reasons for voting the way we did. this is a democracy.
enough said

Perhaps they really wanted to know mollie65. And is the UK really a democracy, given the inadequate first past the post (a movable post) voting system, and the high percentage of newspapers owned by Conservative supporters?

I think changes need to be made. When 4% of the vote give 56 MPS. and
12% of the vote gives 1MP.

In 2011 UK voters were given the chance to change the voting system Brenda and they rejected change.

Only about 41% bothered to vote in the Referendum.

The final result put the Yes vote at 32.1% and the No vote at 67.9%.

So the UK has the voting system it deserves.

I did not hear any arguments about the voting system and democracy when nulabour swept to power in 1997 and subsequent election
the problem lies in constituency boundaries and population changes not reflected in the number of MPs
absent - they may have wanted to know but the very fact they are asking (when I have not asked the same question of them) implies they think Conservative voters are 'selfish, idiotic, contemptible' and have no justification for the way they voted. That is patronising.

I am pleased the Conservative won the election.

They are in for 5 years, so as my daughter would say to those who didn't vote for them

GET OVER IT