By-election and local authority results.

Growstuff, if all the people who were against Brexit had voted, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but they didn’t.
In Liverpool, I always voted Liberal because they got things done (pavements, litter, gritting the roads, maintaining parks etc.) and because David Alton really seemed to listen to voters concerns.
Now it’s more difficult. Our local party who get things done are the Greens, but since they already lie and support one lie, it’s hard to see them as trustworthy for anything else.

I live in a constituency where the Tory MP is not standing at the next election. The boundaries have been redrawn to remove the areas with Labour Councillors and a "celebrity" candidate has moved into the area.
The other parties are fielding long standing local councillors...I will vote for one of them...question is which one?

if all the people who were against Brexit had voted, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but they didn’t.

I know that, but nobody can turn the clock back. What happened is in the past and all anybody can do is make the best of the present and the future.

I think the none-of-the-above option would be a cop-out and the all-as-bad-as-one-another argument is plain silly.
Presumably people don't want anarchy and therefore need at least to decide which of the candidates/parties they think least bad.
Most politicians are decent, honest and hard working, get little thanks and are remunerated at about the minimum wage.

winterwhite

I think the none-of-the-above option would be a cop-out and the all-as-bad-as-one-another argument is plain silly.
Presumably people don't want anarchy and therefore need at least to decide which of the candidates/parties they think least bad.
Most politicians are decent, honest and hard working, get little thanks and are remunerated at about the minimum wage.

Who said 'all as bad as one another'? When there are only two or three candidates and they all agree on a deal breaker for the individual, you really think that person should vote for one of them? No MP ever thought or acknowledged any vote for them wasn't an approval vote, but one of 'least worse option'

As for earning at minimum wage....... the basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2024 is £91,346. MPs also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.

Using the London living wage, not minimum wage, an MP would need to work 7026 hours a year to earn that salary. That works out at 135 hours a week, working 52 weeks a year. There are only 168 hours in a week. Think you've gone way over the top in your exaggeration of their renumeration!

Labour retains Rotherham.

So far those London boroughs declared there is a 5% swing to Khan.

If he wins it will be an historic third term.

He will win

Regionally our Labour Mayor was re-elected by an enormous majority, not unexpected

BBC saying on it

"The win was expected, but the real analysis of the results for Labour will be in those places that voted Conservative for the first time in the 2019 Westminster elections.

Labour’s figures suggest they’ve done well there as well – boosting their hopes of taking them back at the next general election."

Ie, will the Red Wall seats return to Labour - so far it's a qualified yes, but new players are now in the arena.

There are more Independent seats won than Green. wondering how the "Independent" will translate into the GE. They are a completely mixed bunch.

I imagine it varies by area, in my region independent usually means conservative.

winterwhite

I think the none-of-the-above option would be a cop-out and the all-as-bad-as-one-another argument is plain silly.
Presumably people don't want anarchy and therefore need at least to decide which of the candidates/parties they think least bad.
Most politicians are decent, honest and hard working, get little thanks and are remunerated at about the minimum wage.

I’m sure there are many good, honest, decent and hardworking MPs, they never seem to make their way to the front benches sadly.

No MPs are working purely for the equivalent of the living wage, just by looking at their basic income plus their very generous allowances and expenses, their pretty long “breaks”, and many of them have second income streams, so it’s a pretty daft, and to be fair, insulting comment to make, particularly in the light of a cost of living crisis.

Galaxy

I imagine it varies by area, in my region independent usually means conservative.

Conservative with a small c, or Tories? I don’t think ours are Tories, they tend to be ‘issues’ people, eg passionate about the place they live, looking out specifically for farmers, or whatever. They vote on an issue, not with one party all the time.

Galaxy

I imagine it varies by area, in my region independent usually means conservative.

It does here too. My council has been "independent" for two terms, but many of the councillors were disillusioned Conservatives, as a result of a spat over new development/housing. Since then, a couple of LibDems and Labour councillors have defected because that's the only way they can have a voice. Most voters here seem to vote for the individuals rather than political parties - at least locally (don't mention my despicable MP).

Conservatives large C in my area. Tend to be involved in local issues where they can exert influence - opposition to new housing, or any changes to the area to be honest.

London to declare at about 4.30pm I think.

Looks like Khan with an easy win.

So the Tory frighteners of ULEZ and crime didn’t impress the voters.

I am a bit surprised tbh as I thought Palestine might be a factor that would lose him the vote.

Galaxy

Conservatives large C in my area. Tend to be involved in local issues where they can exert influence - opposition to new housing, or any changes to the area to be honest.

Many of the Conservatives here (including some of the councillors) live in the "nice" rural areas and wanted to keep the "chocolate box" characteristics. Others were happy for loads of development (so long as it wasn't in their back yards) because they realised that attracted funding from central government. Too little had been done to enforce funding from developers for new infrastructure. Not only that, but some were obsessed about keeping council tax down. As a result, the Conservatives split.

The outcome is that the LibDems have been pushed out and only have a couple of councillors. The elections are a two-way battle between Conservatives and the independent party. I think Labour gave up years ago. The LibDems seem positively radical left-wing (compared with all the others).

Generally, it hasn't been too bad. The couple of LibDems are still quite vocal and the independents have certainly provided more services than the Conservatives ever would have done. The trouble is that Essex County Council is still Conservative and the local district council often gets blamed for Essex's shortcomings. There's a feeling here that Essex County Council don't care about us very much because we're right on the border of Essex, have low unemployment and crime, so our council tax goes to the more needy areas. I don't think many people have much loyalty to Essex.

Cossy I didn’t make myself clear re remuneration. Of course councillors have daytime jobs, otherwise they wouldn’t survive.
We often hear on here, ‘They’re all in it for the money’. That’s what I was responding to.

winterwhite

Cossy I didn’t make myself clear re remuneration. Of course councillors have daytime jobs, otherwise they wouldn’t survive.
We often hear on here, ‘They’re all in it for the money’. That’s what I was responding to.

You just didn't make it clear that you were referring to local councillors. I think people tend to associate the word 'politician' with MPs.

I must admit my eyebrows raised a trifle 😆

I do however think that the Muslim vote turning away from labour is going to benefit Streeting.

Oh well sorry again! I was posting after a collection of posts from people who were lamenting not being able to tick None of the above in Thursday’s elections which were for local councillors.

Manchester and West Yorkshire - Labour win

Here are the results after 106 of 107 councils announced.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/england/results

As expected the Labour Party did best. Anyone listening to several broadcast reports would think that it was mainly a two way contest between Labour and Conservative, sometimes hearing that the Greens were challenging Labour and Reform challenging Conservatves. Occassionally we are told about independent councillors being elected .

No mention at all of the Liberal Democrats who, you might be surprised to hear, actually won more seats and more Councils than the Conservatives!

Someone on Granset said she'd heard that Reform were doing very well. They appear to have won 2 seats. The LibDems have won 520seats (an increase of 105).

winterwhite

Oh well sorry again! I was posting after a collection of posts from people who were lamenting not being able to tick None of the above in Thursday’s elections which were for local councillors.

I'm not sure what others meant, but my wanting a 'none of the above' was for all elections if voting was made compulsory. I wasn't referring to Thursday's elections because London didn't elect local councillors this time.

We had our council elections last year and Lib Dem replaced Tories. I havn’t seen the overall average swing to Labour, despite a lot of early results being very bullish it seems less than expected.

I am so pleased that Andy Burnham has been re elected. As a Manchester resident I feel he has done well in the position.
He won 420,749 votes, nearest rival won 68,946. A resounding victory.
As with Sadiq Khan in London I don't think their traffic calming measures are as unpopular as they are portrayed, but people appreciate cleaner air.