Local Elections

“Labour did actually gain seats in North Wales as well as the rest of Wales, 12 more in total than at the last election. The NOC position is common in Wales, as historically independents do well in local elections (long May it continue), and Plaid gained councils although they actually had less councillors than last time in total. Overall, it was an excellent day for Labour.”

My Plaid friends are cockahoop as they’ve gained control of two councils and retained one, my Labour friends are crowing about twelve extra seats in north Wales but despairing at no control and my Tory friends are rather quiet....Casdon ? and I totally agree about the Independents!

Labour gains outside London were hardly worth mentioning. It took Cumberland unitary authority, and Southampton – but failed to take Hartlepool, Peterborough, Redditch.

Tories have lost support in the south of England, Labour lost more in the north to the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

Of all Labour’s net gains – 137 seats, 65 of them were in Wales where the party is led by “continuity Corbyn” First Minister Mark Drakeford.

compare contrast Labour’s gains with those of the Greens.

In England, Labour gained 52 seats while the Greens gained 60.

In Scotland, Labour won 20 seats with the Greens close behind on 16.

But in Wales, Labour was boosted by 65 seats, while the Greens could only muster up an extra eight.

People don't want tepid Tory Starmer.

A United Ireland will come eventually but the support isn't there for it yet.

I think the fact that Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU a united Ireland became inevitable. Which may be imo one of the few good things to have come out of the referendum.

SF have done it!

First time since NI was formed.

nadateturbe

Whitewavemark2

The Alliance party is interesting.

Perhaps the NI are growing up at last!

The younger voters want a change.

Yes they do make a difference.

That is what is happening in the southern half of England.

The young graduates are moving out into the south and the voting profile is changing.

Most of them voted remain and are liberal centre left in their politics.

The old constituents that were always Tory, are disappearing.

Whitewavemark2

The Alliance party is interesting.

Perhaps the NI are growing up at last!

The younger voters want a change.

Pantglas2

MayBee70

Crikey. Maybe it’s because he seems like a really decent bloke who cares about the people in Wales. Who’d’ve’thought it.

He’s not so well thought of in north Wales due to the ongoing debacle of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board - as can be seen in the results where Plaid and the Independents rule across the area!

Labour did actually gain seats in North Wales as well as the rest of Wales, 12 more in total than at the last election. The NOC position is common in Wales, as historically independents do well in local elections (long May it continue), and Plaid gained councils although they actually had less councillors than last time in total. Overall, it was an excellent day for Labour.

SF collapsed the Assembly in NI over the RHI scandal. They refused to appoint a new deputy First minister.
SF also threatened to collapse it over the non-implementation of the Irish language act , which DUP ignored.
DUP refused to take part because of the protocol.
They both do it. They are in a mandatory coalition, due to the GF agreement.
The sooner we are rid of the coalition, the better.
we need a government that cares about everyday issues.
Thankfully the voters are seeing sense now. Alliance is gaining ground.

That's the best I can do atm energy wise.

www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/05/07/news/alliance-becomes-stormont-s-third-largest-party-as-naomi-long-calls-for-end-to-mandatory-coalition-2664086/

Michael Rosen ????

Dear Mogg
Several of our council leaders who've lost seats are blaming me. They will be silenced and crushed just as the Carthaginians crushed Caesar. I am the election wunderkind as the French put it. This is a temporary glitch in the road to glory.
Insomnia in nandos
Boris

The Alliance party is interesting.

Perhaps the NI are growing up at last!

I reckon the Tories will support them. Although I think it would be madness.

What happened to the £1.5bn?

How can the DUP defend their action? Is there someone here with knowledge of NI politics who can explain it? Isn't that defying democracy?

So the NI remain political parties have gained the most votes, and yet the DUP is refusing to return to the executive unless the protocol is sorted out. The vast majority of voters and nearly all businesses are perfectly happy with the protocol as it stands.

It was Burns who, on April 10, 1790, wrote: "I have long said to my self, what are the advantages Scotland reaps from this so called Union, that can counterbalance the annihilation of her independence and her very name?" Its still true now

Resonates perfectly with me paddyanne.
It why I voted for Brexit.

westendgirl

Do you think the Durham police will open the Dominic Cummings investigation again then ?
It's a bit worrying to see that a newspaper has such a sway over a police force, isn't it ~?

I'd like to see him brought to book for it, but I think the time is past now.

Interesting, though, from The Guardian this week:

Last month Durham’s chief constable, Jo Farrell, admitted that her officers did not interview Cummings as part of their three-day investigation into the lockdown movements of Boris Johnson’s then chief adviser.

She told the Mirror that the force treated Cummings’s televised press conference in Downing Street’s rose garden as a witness statement about his behaviour instead.

In May 2021, Cummings admitted to MPs that he did not tell the whole truth in the rose garden. “I should probably explain some things about this that were not put into the public domain at the time in the rose garden,” he told a joint session of two select committees.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/02/partygate-dominic-cummings-nazir-afzal-critical-police

So, he was never interviewed by Durham police; they took his statement from the Rose garden press conference as his evidence. A statement that he later admitted he'd lied in. That makes me really cross!

westendgirl

Do you think the Durham police will open the Dominic Cummings investigation again then ?
It's a bit worrying to see that a newspaper has such a sway over a police force, isn't it ~?

The Daily Mail, Daily Express, Telegraph, The Times and The Sun, all controlled by ultra right wing tax dodging billionaires, have been enormously successful in controlling the political agenda, especially in the last ten years.

It is extremely disturbing that their influence seems to have extended to the Durham police, who failed to investigate Dominic Cummings and are now pushing the limits to check out whether a room full of work colleagues working late at night, broke rules by having food and drink in the office during a short break.

Meanwhile the Met Police firstly did not investigate the flagrant lawbreaking in Downing Street and Whitehall, but when they did finally decide there was law breaking, announced that the deteails would not be publicised until after the local elections - a grossly political move, aimed at dsaving the bacon of the lying corrupt Conservatives.

Cathymac

According to Prof John Curtice .. Prof of Politics at Strathclyde University…. the SNP ‘s 34% of the vote is well below what they have achieved at recent elections. One reason being the success of the Greens and where the Greens advanced it was the SNP who suffered. This was clear in Glasgow where Greens increased by 5 points and SNP dropped 5. What I find shocking is that the turnout is always so low for these council elections .. 44 % in Scotland. Many people just can’t be bothered voting.

Ah, selective reporting, how we love you...

The vote share was a 2 point improvement on its performance in 2017.

The independence-supporting parties increased their number of seats by 38 while the Unionist parties decreased theirs by 23. (Not taking account of the independents, who could be either for or against Indy).

The thing that Curtice thinks the SNP need to be worried about is that they will have to compromise with the Greens a bit more, which hardly seems a bad thing.

Oh yes, the Greens...that other Independence supporting party

Do you think the Durham police will open the Dominic Cummings investigation again then ?
It's a bit worrying to see that a newspaper has such a sway over a police force, isn't it ~?

According to Prof John Curtice .. Prof of Politics at Strathclyde University…. the SNP ‘s 34% of the vote is well below what they have achieved at recent elections. One reason being the success of the Greens and where the Greens advanced it was the SNP who suffered. This was clear in Glasgow where Greens increased by 5 points and SNP dropped 5. What I find shocking is that the turnout is always so low for these council elections .. 44 % in Scotland. Many people just can’t be bothered voting.

Maybee sorry I should say that the independence movement is built from all areas and political views,there is a large contingent of Labour for independence and the view that labour wont get back in power until they adopt that mandate .
There are even Conservatives for Indy as well as all the other diverse groups.Its not a one party trick,the SNP is the vessel that will get us over the line ,the party we need to get behind to get our country back in our control .

It was Burns who, on April 10, 1790, wrote: "I have long said to my self, what are the advantages Scotland reaps from this so called Union, that can counterbalance the annihilation of her independence and her very name?" Its still true now

MayBee70

I know I’ve asked this before but, if Scotland do gain their independence what political parties will they then have? Or will they just become a one party state ie the SNP?

I don't understand why you would even ask that MayBee70. As paddyann54 says, we'd have all the parties we have just now, but Scottish versions of them. SNP, Scottish Labour, Scottish Lib Dems, Scottish Conservatives. Plus some of our own. Scottish Family Party, anyone?

A one party state means that there is no opposition and we don't get to vote for anybody else. If many people vote for a particular party that is then popular and so gets to run all the institutions of government, that doesn't make it a one party state. Our connection to WM isn't preventing us from turning into North Korea, we're a democracy.

Personally, I think the SNP's vote will reduce if/when we become independent.

I think we'll have the same parties we have now,why wouldn't we?
The BIG difference is that all the parties will be Scottish based and working FOR Scotland .For the past 300+ years ...until the SNP rise in popularity we have been run by parties registered and run by WM . So they are being pulled by WM 's strings and not working for the people who elect them

For instance ,even after devolution Labour handed back 1.5 BILLION OF scottish funds to WM ,money from OUR taxes that should have been used to the benefit of Scotland from the so called Barnet formula which is just a portion of our own money returned to us .
The plan is that the SNP would stay in power until the others could restructure for an election .

Just like every other country that gained its independence from WM ...and there have been dozens .
We are voting in an party that 's mandate IS Independence so I cant understand why the Scottish "unionists" aresurprised that Independence is the aim ...and will be until we achieve it .

The press are trying to run this country and tell us things that aren't true and we should do something about it. What can we do?

That's precisely what I felt watching yesterday Volver. Talk about a parallel universe. I was hearing one set of votes and one persons analysis and then the journalist/host suggesting things that just weren't there.

I know I’ve asked this before but, if Scotland do gain their independence what political parties will they then have? Or will they just become a one party state ie the SNP?