UKIP leader

Arron Banks, who finances UKIP, has just about guaranteed that UKIP will never make any headway in Liverpool with three Tweets:

'I'm sick to death of hearing about it (Hillsborough). It was a disaster and that's it, not some sort of cultural happening.'

'Milking a tragedy forever is sick.'

'Accidents happen, 35 hillsborough's happened on our roads that year. Each one a tragedy to the families concerned.'

He's shown that he really doesn't understand the voters in communities he's trying to attract. He's supposed to be standing up to the 'establishment', which is what the Hillsborough families were fighting. It's quite stunning really, considering that the Sun is still boycotted in many Liverpool shops and Sun journalists have just been banned from Anfield.

Stoke has a Premier League team and at least some of them realise it could have been them - according to the comments in the local Stoke press. People in Stoke aren't that stupid. I suspect they'll see right through Nuttall's lies and attempted cover ups.

My money's on Labour losing Copeland to the Conservatives, but retaining Stoke Central. (And you can all have a good laugh next week if I'm very wrong.)

Oh I fancy The Monster Raving Looney (in memory of Screaming Lord Such), maybe with the "Abolish Magna Carta"party in second place

I wonder what the turn-out in Stoke will be like? I (for once) wouldn't blame anybody muttering "a plague on both (all?) your houses".
I have often wanted to see a box at the bottom of the ballot paper saying "None of the above" which you could tick and if that box gets a majority the whole thing has to be rerun with NONE of the previous candidates allowed to stand.
Of course it would be prohibitively expensive but perhaps they could all forfeit their deposits and that could be put towards it. ?

Trisher there is perhaps a certain appeal in a "vexatious litigant"??

As much as anything, it depends how the people in Stoke who voted Conservative in 2015 vote. They were only a few votes behind UKIP in 2015 and some of them might decide to vote tactically, as they did in Thanet to keep Farage out.

The turnout in 2015 was already very low, because Tristram Hunt wasn't popular. My guess is that it will be a bit higher this time (again you can have a laugh if I'm wrong). I think people will hold their noses and vote Labour this time, despite Labour not having an inspirational candidate and UKIP's smear campaign against him. I have some faith that people can see through UKIP and Nuttall in particular and will vote to keep him out.

Just a random thought.
Perhaps Nuttall's weird tweed coat and flat cap get up was intended as a parody of Tristram Hunt who might be perceived as "quite posh" -not meant as a criticism, like Tony Benn, impeccable political background, A Hon, (father Baron Hunt of Chesterton, life peer created by Tony Blair) Independent school in London, 2 degrees from Cambridge a First and a PhD etc
An excellent historian and a fantastic speaker, I heard him once at a Literary Festival talking about his latest book -brilliant.
Paul Nuttall's hare coursing image needs only a whippet on the end of a piece of string to complete the look!

Hmmm! Maybe! Or he could just be a bit confused. Maybe he thinks that Stoke is posh and rural. After all, he comes from Bootle, which is one of the poorest areas in the country and even the Liverpool Echo refers to him as a 'Bad Bootle meff', which isn't complimentary - 'meff' is a derogatory term for people who use meths to get high.

I knew he'd stood a few times as a candidate in Bootle, but I hadn't realised how badly he did. His highest percentage was in 2015, when just over 10% of people voted for him. This is his fifth attempt to be an MP - the first time he stood as a Conservative.

The trouble is that with so many candidates standing it muddies the waters somewhat!

I'm for the MRLP or Magna Carta woman myself but fortunately for Stoke I won't be voting.
DB I did scrawl 'none of these' across my paper once, not for a GE, because the candidates were all so dismal and of course it counted as a spoiled ballot paper - but at least it was counted.

Yeah, jalima and trisher

Who needs Magna Carta anyway?

What did she ever do for us?

I quite fancy the incredible flying brick to win ( is this a parody of a thrown pot....bearing in mind it's in Stoke?) because the odds are probably 100000 to 1 and if I put a tenner on...

Maw the old Hancock quip, I remember laughing at that ( age giveaway!)

Get it right, girls;

Hancock - "Consider Magna Carta - Did she die in vain?"

I would not bet on the Incredible Flying Brick (MRLP) because he wants to abolish gravity with immediate effect which makes all his other pledges meaningless - unless he wears lead lined boots and all the other candidates zoom off into outer space.

Aarron Banks if interested in money I would imagine.
You have to wonder why he puts so much money into UKIP - I can only conclude that he thinks a low wage, low regulation, low workers rights, bargain basement economy would be good for those who wish to make big profits in business.

Out of interest can I ask posters whether or not the Labour Candidate , Gareth Snell, is a good voice for Labour?

I think Labour will win (happy to be proved mistaken ) but I don't understand why he was chosen by Labour given his 'tweeting' gaffs.

Especially calling Brexit ' A massive pile of shit" in an area that voted overwhelmingly for 'Leave'.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/13/labour-stoke-byelection-candidate-gareth-snell-apologises-offensive-tweets-women

In unguarded posts from several years ago, Gareth Snell called panellists on ITV’s Loose Women “squabbling sour-faced ladies”, described Janet Street-Porter as a “polished turd” and said a “speccy blonde girl” on BBC’s The Apprentice should “piss off”.

After Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, appeared on BBC’s Question Time, Snell tweeted: “Diane, you are great, then you say something incredibly arsingly stupid.”

Poor Stoke on Trent

If one is hoping labour will lose then yes quite a good choice

Well, POGS I did wonder why he was chosen as the Labour candidate on another thread (this thread? can't remember now).

He is local but then, as the joke goes: a man goes for a job as a handyman and at the interview says he can't do any of the tasks required of him - what makes you think you could be a handyman? Well, I am handy, I live round the corner.

Mr Snell is a Newcastle borough councilor (sic) for Silverdale and Parksite, and previously led the authority from 2012 to 2014. He lost his seat in 2014 but returned to the authority in a council by-election last year. Following his by-election victory Mr Snell said it had 'nothing to do with Corbyn' but rather the result of a good local campaign.
Read more at www.stokesentinel.co.uk/labour-party-chooses-gareth-snell-as-candidate-for-stoke-on-trent-central-by-election/story-30087428-detail/story.html#ew46hBrCGux5Iqp9.99

Thank you"beammeupscottie*!
I knew it was something like that -shan't forget it next time

I live in Stoke Central. Am dreading the count - you know how things are supposed to come in threes. Brexit, then Trump....please, please not UKIP MP!!

Ladbrokes has Labour as favourite in Stoke. 4/7 for Labour, 13/8 for UKIP.

Conservatives are favourite (just) in Copeland.

Jalima love that joke.

You could always put a bet on UKIP to win GrannieBabi. At least if Nuttall does win, you would have made a bit of money.

If he loses, I think I might put a bet on Farage returning as UKIP leader. I don't think much of Nuttall's chances of hanging on. If I were him, I don't think I'd feel very safe walking round Liverpool either after all the Hillsborough stuff. Maybe he'll clear off to do his job as an MEP in Brussels - he might even campaign to revoke Article 50, so that he can hang on to his job.

Nuttall put his foot in it again.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukip-leader-paul-nuttall-rise-in-hate-crimes-a7560381.html

Maybe he doesn't want to win in Stoke.

He sounds like Trump .