[Closed] Anybody else a candidate and HATING the waiting today?

Well done for standing Rachel.

looking at the results of this election where for example the Greens have 3.7% of the vote giving 1 seat and the SNP have 4.8% of the vote and 55 seats

Spread out over how many seats contested? What % of the vote did they win the seats they contested by? Easy to make figures work you way, more detail needed. The Greens don't have a very good track record with figures recently!

I'm all for voting reform, but as the FT pointed out, be careful what you wish for:

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So how did you do, Rachel? Deposit saved at least I hope!

If you'd been local, I'd have voted for you Rachel - you always come across as a genuinely decent person.

Just don't ask for PR elections when the Kippers are about. And note that the SNP proportion is an anomaly. They got half the vote in the seats they stood in - we will never know how many votes they'd have got if they'd stood in seats in EW&NI (maybe no more but I suspect you'd be surprised in some seats)

I'm all for voting reform, but as the FT pointed out, be careful what you wish for:

Yep, slow hand clap up UK. More worried with self interest & blaming failings on others than the planet you'll be leaving for future generation. 😥

Deleted as someone else just said exactly the same thing!

(SNP = 50% of popular vote across all seats where they stood, not 4.5%).

But by the same token UKIP didn't have candidates standing in a lot of constituencies either, so their support may actually be higher too! 😯

I certainly personally know several who have stood. Some have been successful, others less so.

Funniest was a Tory guy I know whose missus was Libdem. They stood in different wards so didn't compete against each other, but must be strange not having your own partner as support.

Neither of them won that time. But full credit to anyone who stands (unless they're BNP/EDL/...). Loads of councillors will just be walking in unopposed.

I'm all for voting reform, but as the FT pointed out, be careful what you wish for:

😀 it's just a cautionary note KB. As I said in another thread I don't think that FT graph really tells us that much about what the results would look like under PR, because people would likely vote differently under PR.

Quite a lot would change if we adopted some sort of PR, not least the likely break up of the larger parties into smaller, more focussed, parties.

I see this as a good thing, anyway.

Rachel (trying to think of something else, anything else, until 5pm...)

Breaking up the large parties may not be a bad thing but PR tends to bring forward more marginal views as the FT chart shows with UKIP.

What I would prefer is the public placing a much higher priority on environmental concerns with a safety net in place to keep marginal views in check.

Well done for standing!

Iain

but PR tends to bring forward more marginal views

Hasn't done me any harm to be honest Rachel. Best wishes, 1hr 40 to go.

I would prefer PR. You only have to look at Scotland to see what's wrong with FPTP. Less than 50% of the votes yet 95% of the seats.

but PR tends to bring forward more marginal views
...because bland centre politics has done us so well?

Perhaps not but, how to put this delicately. I wouldn't want certain rather far right of centre parties to become any more marginal than they are and I'm rather a fan of anything that makes their voice have less gravity. In the case of [i]some[/i] marginal parties I think it would work well but I wouldn't want a blanket increase in [i]all[/i] marginal views.

Good luck by the way.

Iain

In the case of some marginal parties I think it would work well but I wouldn't want a blanket increase in all marginal views.

The only way to tackle extremist views is to challenge them head on. Trying to exclude or marginalise them just feeds them.

Any result yet Rachael ? my brother came a valiant 4th.

No result yet but generally in the area the Cons are taking lots of seats. Well, nearly all actually.

:-/

Rachel

One good bit of news. Richard Bird, he once of cycle shop Fat Birds Don't Fly, has just been elected to council as an independent. 🙂

Unfortunately, pretty much the rest of the council has swung to Conservative. Looks like I'll have to put the duck house order on hold until next time!!

Rachel

Oh well better luck for you and us all next time.

"Progress without change", the Norfolk motto although I always thought the motto was "What?".

Good for Mr Bird. I like his shop very much.

Looks like I'll have to put the duck house order on hold until next time!!

Sorry to hear that. I had 3 of my ducks on standby for a new home. Donald, Jemima and Daphne will be so dissapointed 😆

Well done for standing. Better luck next time.

GrahamS - Member
But by the same token UKIP didn't have candidates standing in a lot of constituencies either, so their support may actually be higher too!

They stood in 624 constituencies in the GE.

My sister stood on the local City council election and she had to wait till gone 6pm today with lots recounts thru the day first of all on the general election and then on multiple wards that she has been elected.

couple more quick questions if you dont mind from a political dimwit....

do you stand for local council with hopes of going further? once elected to local council, go for 'promotion' to a 'ward'(?), and the long term plan is to be a local MP?
putting it in some sort of context, is it like playing for local sunday league footy side, hoping to be good enough for non-league, and if you turn out to be a decent player then youll end up pro?

or do you stand just cos you want to improve your local area and thats it?

how much money does it cost to stand for council, and what is payment likely to be? peanuts? voluntary? thousands in expenses?

genuine interest.

I was standing for the Borough Council in a Ward. I'm not really interested in "promotion" as you put it to parliamentary elections.

As a Borough Councillor, you would get expenses of about £5k a year.

the only costs are in printing leaflets and shoe leather.

Rachel