Labour in line to get the largest majority since 1832......

I’m hoping for a humongous improvement in the NHS in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 when Labour get in. For 25 years they’ve run it from Cardiff and blamed the dire situation on the Tories withholding funds and not their own poor management.

🤗 for the sunny uplands!

I don't see why its a terrifying prospect. How could things be any worse really? I haven't got any money anyway.

Lets see.

Callistemon213

I don't think Labour will win because voters think they are wonderful, it will be because the Tories will lose spectacularly because of their track record.

I’ve seen it reported several times that Labour will not win because of love for Labour, but because voters want to punish the Conservatives. I realise that this may not be true on GN, as we have a large contingent of Labour Party members/supporters on here, but that is not necessarily the same throughout the country. The voters don’t want another Conservative government at this time and will therefore give Labour a majority. The mood in the country is anyone but Conservatives at this time.

We do need a change, but Labour aren’t particularly inspiring.

I think they’re totally uninspiring, but I think that about the Conservatives too. In fact, I’m uninspired by any of the parties or politicians who are standing.
I don’t think there’ll be any immediate changes because there’s no money available, and so taxes will rise at the next budget, but they’d rise under any other government too. I would love for improvements to the NHS but I’m not actually expecting any time soon. Covid and the cost of living payments to families and the energy payments we all had, and we pensioners had more in energy payments than most other people, anyway it all has to be paid for whoever is in government, and that’s why I’m not expecting any big changes yet.

Hope for the best, expect the worst, as my old Grandad used to say.

Returning to the OP, yes, I'm worried about the implications of a Labour win of the size predicted in today's papers because I don't know how KS will hold such a large party together. I fear it will split into factions, as the Tories did after 2019. Meanwhile the reduced Tory party will inevitably move to the right.
I therefore hope for a decent increase in the number of Lib Dem MPs to help anchor the Labour Party.

In most of the polling stations across our constituency there are usually tellers outside, collecting polling card numbers on behalf of two parties - Conservatives and LibDems.

Today many of the polling stations only have LibDem tellers - no Cons. Apparently they have very few supporters willing to volunteer.

They seem to have given up, in spite of returning a Conservative MP with a majority of over 19,000 at the 2019 general election.

winterwhite

Returning to the OP, yes, I'm worried about the implications of a Labour win of the size predicted in today's papers because I don't know how KS will hold such a large party together. I fear it will split into factions, as the Tories did after 2019. Meanwhile the reduced Tory party will inevitably move to the right.
I therefore hope for a decent increase in the number of Lib Dem MPs to help anchor the Labour Party.

Lib Dems have a terrible record of holding the balance of power though. I understand the implications of any party having a huge majority, but knowing that Lib Dems have power they don't need to justify wouldn't reassure me at all.

Those saying that when Labour win it will be a vote against the Tories sound very sour. Many people (me included) would like to see a more inspiring choice of leaders, but people vote for their own MP, not for the PM. We can only vote for who is there, and the reality is that (like him or not) Starmer is leading the party which is offering people more of what they want than is Sunak.

varian

In most of the polling stations across our constituency there are usually tellers outside, collecting polling card numbers on behalf of two parties - Conservatives and LibDems.

Today many of the polling stations only have LibDem tellers - no Cons. Apparently they have very few supporters willing to volunteer.

They seem to have given up, in spite of returning a Conservative MP with a majority of over 19,000 at the 2019 general election.

Today the only teller outside my polling station was from Labour.

I was at a hustings earlier in the week. The only candidate who had put any real effort into preparing answers to questions she might be asked was the Labour candidate. Kemi Badenoch was dreadful, but she was dreadful at the last two hustings too and people still voted for her.

My understanding is that tellers are there to check that their party’s voters have voted, so they can chase up those who said they would vote for them but haven’t yet been ticked off their list. I don’t think that was what the lady outside Joseann’s polling station was doing though?

That's right Casdon. Telling is all about getting out the vote. The parties want to know which of their supporters have already voted so that they don't bother them later in the day by calling or phoning to remind them or offers lifts to the polling station.

When I have been telling for the LibDems alongside a Conservative teller we have co-operated by repeating numbers that one did not get, especially when we were busy, but I would be very surprised if any party handed over their list to another party.

It's definitely time for Proportional Representation, then labour and conservative wouldn't get a look in, you can't hold a cigaretter paper between them, neither have any decent British values of the silent majority!

We don’t have tellers outside our polling station. We used to, but maybe they got tired of being told that voters didn’t have to say.

Back in the day when there were no postal votes it was worth having tellers out in order to chase votes. I also (having a car) got sent out to collect people.

Yes, my understanding was that the blue rosette lady outside was putting in a few hours, followed maybe by a red rosette person, then a yellow? At 6 pm or so they would share the list, out of courtesy, if anyone could be bothered to chase up non shows. We are in a very close run Conservative/Lib Dem constituency. The Labour candidate, 21 years old, is a non starter, just a child!
We didn't hand her our voting cards, that was done inside.

We've been in our current home for 30 years now. Since then I have voted 1997, 200?, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019 and today. I have never yet seen a teller of any colour.

I fact, I've voted in every GE since at least 1971 in various places and I have never seen a teller..

Not that I'd be much use to them if they were there. No-one has ever canvassed me for my vote and I never take my polling card, so wouldn't know the number..

Tellers aren't allowed to canvas or ask who people have voted for. What they do is keep a record of people who have voted. These can be compared by local activists with lists of people who have said they will vote one way or the other. They can then contact those people and ask if they would like a lift to the polling station. If there aren't enough local activists to follow up, there's no point in having tellers.

Sorry, just seen your post Joseann - that's exactly what tellers do.

Not in the least worried. We have just endured the worst government of my lifetime. Dishonest, no integrity, no humanity, and incompetent ... think Liz Truss. Labour can be no worse for sure. Bring it on ....

Tellers aren't allowed to canvas or ask who people have voted for

In case you misunderstood me. growstuff, I was talking about people canvassing before election day. No canvasser has ever asked me how I was going to vote.

MaizieD

^Tellers aren't allowed to canvas or ask who people have voted for^

In case you misunderstood me. growstuff, I was talking about people canvassing before election day. No canvasser has ever asked me how I was going to vote.

That's what I thought. Just ignore me - I'm trying to do about a zillion things at once and not reading (or checking) posts properly.

kittylester

Is no one else worried about the implications?

Whatever happens, there is not a darned thing we can do about it. People are voting for who they think will be the best government for the country so all we can do is hope they are right. If not, we will have to live with the consequences.

I’m surprised by Joseann’s experience. Round here any party in with a chance has shifts of tellers all day if they can manage it, and yes re cameraderie about sharing numbers. The system depends on the local party HQs having the software programmes to input the polling numbers and print out the remainder.

Luckygirl3

Not in the least worried. We have just endured the worst government of my lifetime. Dishonest, no integrity, no humanity, and incompetent ... think Liz Truss. Labour can be no worse for sure. Bring it on ....

Have you forgotten the winter of discontent under Labour? Bins not emptied, rubbish in the streets? Or the inflation of 25%? Or the inability to get a mortgage to move house after Healey went to the IMF to borrow money?
Or the electricity cuts in the early seventies under the Conservatives? And the three day week?
Or the miners strikes in the eighties? And the terrible riots outside the mines, under the Conservatives?
Have you forgotten the body bags coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan? The devastated families with their dead sons, husbands, and fathers? Have you forgotten the amputees coming home from those wars?