Locally tje people staffing the poling station are really up themselves
At my polling station I asked if a picture of my face with the word "**** the Tories" written underneath was acceptable ID and she laughed. One of them said that they were asked to remain neutral about it but were all pretty cheesed off with having to ask for it.
Only person I've heard of unable to vote due to the ID requirement was a mate who couldn't find the folder they keep their ID docs in - seems his wife had moved it when getting her passport for her trip to India 🤣🤣
But it's an obvious way of making it harder for a certain demographic to vote.
If I'm reading it right, two of the biggest tory losses are in Stoke and NW Leics. With MPs Gullis and (until recently) Bridgen - two leading culture war a-holes. Is this a sign that the culture war crap is now just winding people up and they are finally realising what has been going on?
I do hope so.
assuming you mean doesn’t – early results say they’ve lost about 1/3 of their overall controls and councillors.
That's correct sorry. 1/3 today though, is that enough to lose a GE in 18 months or so? Can Starmer call for one earlier on the basis of lost confidence in the government?
two of the biggest tory losses are in Stoke and NW Leics
And Medway, a 20 year conservative haven.
Can Starmer call for one earlier on the basis of lost confidence in the government?
He can but the tories can just laugh at him and refuse
This is a disaster for the tories no matter the spin. They had lost a huge number of seats last time these were up for election. to lose another big number of seats from a low point is a disaster
Windsor and Maidenhead. Nice
My local council (Dudley) remains Tory, my local councillor is ex ukip 🙄
My local council (Dudley) remains Tory
Arse, I have a Sales opportunity with Dudley, always easier to sell to a Labour administration 😀
He can but the tories can just laugh at him and refuse
I thought this was the case 🙁
Off to my local count soon to see how I've done.
All very surreal so far. But it was pretty clear yesterday how demoralised the Tories are here, hardly seen any of them out and almost zero signs up.
Good, so they should be.
You standing?
Where? Post a link, we're nosey.
South Kesteven - my local council has gone from conservative to hung.
Lots of other areas around here stayed conservative though. Bah.
Beth Rigby reckons the Tories consider anything over 700 seats lost as a disaster. Not the 1000 they were bandying about. Potential for it being around 1100 losses!
https://twitter.com/BethRigby/status/1654377846414901248?t=LVNEssOPXyg90V-hCmnBWQ&s=19
But v difficult to translate locals to GE even this close in
Walked over 21 miles yesterday on Get out the Vote.
Big breakfast this morning - off to the count later
Locally tje people staffing the poling station are really up themselves
I've never encountered this. They're usually ordinary council staff on a paid day's leave from their regular job.
Anyway, whilst everything points to a proper kicking for the tories, I'm not so sure that Labour is doing as well as it could. Plenty of votes going to lib dems.
Voter ID in the UK isn’t there to discourage your age group from voting.
The fact that most of the list of acceptable forms of ID are variations on bus passes probably confirms this.
If a pensioners bus pass is acceptable, why not Student ID, young persons railcards, etc.
Plenty of votes going to lib dems.
Mine did.
And will remain that way until I actually see what actual Labour's plans are. So far it's still 'we're not Tories, but we'll keep a lot of what they've done'.
Lib Dems always do better in locals as tactical voting work much better. Harder for them in GE.
two of the biggest tory losses are in Stoke and NW Leics
Labour have taken Medway as well, which was a bit of bellwether council. Labour last took overall control in 1996.
https://twitter.com/BNHWalker/status/1654359303069872129?
Lib Dems always do better in locals as tactical voting work much better.
Or the fact that Lib Dems and Greens do actually work hard and have reasonable policies at local government level...
Lib Dems always do better in locals as tactical voting work much better. Harder for them in GE.
It's true of greens & lib Dems to labour
& Ukip/bxp/rfm to Tories
Also true to a limited extent in GE opinion polls, people would like to vote for smaller parties, but once they get in the polling booth they know it's a 2 horse race
I voted Lib Dem. Existing seat around here and they're dead good - visible in the community, monthly newsletters, quick responses to questions etc, able to give sensible answers to my grillings when they knock on the door etc. In the lead up to the elections they were the only party to even drop a leaflet through the door (and followed it up with the door knocking stuff). Not a sign of the Labour (as invisible/toothless as they are on a national level) or Tory (spit) or Green parties so voted Lib Dem (I think for the first time in my life).
South Kesteven – my local council has gone from conservative to hung.
Having been brought up there, that's a bit of a loss for the Tories.
Beth Rigby reckons the Tories consider anything over 700 seats lost as a disaster.
These are the same seats that were contested in 2019 when May was in charge, and they lost heavily then as well. I think there was some hope amongst the Tories that it meant that what remained in this years vote were more robustly conservative areas, If they're looking at +700 seats loss then their support has continued to fall away more than they probably feared.
Anyway, whilst everything points to a proper kicking for the tories, I’m not so sure that Labour is doing as well as it could. Plenty of votes going to lib dems
Yep - don't think Tory fatigue has really kicked in despite Mad Max policies.
If this recession eventually turns up - (back end of the year) that could tip it. If not the Tories will be enjoying their own Coronation in 2024/25 because of Starmer has no clue about fixing stuff.
The whole thing is a snooze-fest currently with little hope either way.
A couple of months ago it was all about Labour getting this massive landslide in a GE and it was odds on - now it's chat about a hung Parliament.
there are plenty of people all to ready and willing to take advantage of people not having some sort of official ID.
Not around elections there aren't.
There is also the possibility that some Tory councillors are actually good at their jobs. We have one who is quite active on the local FB group and is well regarded. All he does is hear people's complaints and then take them to the council, but he reports back the outcomes on FB and it makes people like him.
He stood for election as an MP last time though and got very few votes so that worked out alright in the end.
Or the fact that Lib Dems and Greens do actually work hard and have reasonable policies at local government level…
Our local labour councilor is pretty visible
She must have some sort of alert on her phone, anything that goes on the local FB group, bin delays, kids kicking over gnomes, potholes - and she's all over it
Loads of people whinge , biggest being cost of repointing the local obelisk! - but tbf it looks loads better
I'd be surprised if they didn't get in again
We - that is Labour - need to get the proverbial finger out on our policy. Everyone knows the Tories are a shit-show and the country is tanking, so Labour needs to set out clearly how we will move the country out of this mess. There needs to be a clear statement of what we'd get under Labour that provides hope - we got elected in 1997 on a wave of positivity supported by some big but straightforward ideas.
I will be telling this to any handy Labour MPs in the pub after the count - with increasing force the more I drink!
Plenty of votes going to lib dems.
Mine did.
And will remain that way until I actually see what actual Labour’s plans are. So far it’s still ‘we’re not Tories, but we’ll keep a lot of what they’ve done’.
I am impressed that you know what LibDem plans are, that certainly doesn't appear to be the picture nationally - I imagine that most people haven't got a clue.
Which I guess helps to explain why despite all opinion polls showing unprecedented low levels of support for the Tories they also almost always show support for the LibDems even lower than last general election.
I am impressed that you know what LibDem plans are, that certainly doesn’t appear to be the picture nationally – I imagine that most people haven’t got a clue.
Same for Labour and the Tories, I have no idea what any of them really stand for at the moment....
I’m not so sure that Labour is doing as well as it could. Plenty of votes going to lib dems.
Which tells you something that many labour supporters don't like to hear, they are not that popular either. Lots of people don't want to vote for Tory's but also don't want to vote for Labour. I know lots of people vote only in a "against" manor (i.e. I vote labour means I vote against Tory) but but many will only vote for a party.
Is there any data on the turnout in comparison to other local elections?
I am impressed that you know what LibDem plans are, that certainly doesn’t appear to be the picture nationally – I imagine that most people haven’t got a clue.
No ruddy idea what they are - but I won't endorse Labour's lack of ambition by voting for them just now. They need a 'yeah, you've done well, but you need to do a lot more', rocket up their arse.
If there were a Monster Raving Looney candidate they'd have got my vote.
The problem is as soon as a Labour policy gets any popular traction the Tories steal it, they are simply about staying in power if that requires saying they'll nationalise the railways they say they will, then not do it once safely voted back into power.
Same for Labour and the Tories, I have no idea what any of them really stand for at the moment….
Sunak was on 5 Live this morning acknowledging a bad night, bigging up the handful of wins they've had and saying he's going to carry on with halving inflation, growing the economy and stopping the boats, so essentially trying to fix all the things they've broken in the last 13 years.
So labour winning in very brexit supporting seats. Seems like their brexit stance is the main/only thing they've got right. They'll probably win the next election based on that alone, which is quite depressing for those of us who want to see some change in the way the economy and country are run.
There is a strong correlation between people with no photo ID, the lower socio-economic groups, and traditional democrat voters. I’m not sure the same correlation exists in the UK
I rather suspect that the correlation here is age.
It wasn’t a ‘clutching of pearls’ about carrying ID, as it happens I’m OK with this although I understand why others have objections.
The possibility of being arrested for not having your papers with you likely doesn't sit well with a lot of people. And whilst the 'slippery slope' argument is often a logical fallacy I believe that it would be the case here.
It's also all a bit Revelations if you believe in that sort of thing.
Labour needs to set out clearly how we will move the country out of this mess
pretty sure I read Kier is pulling back on lots of previous statements, such as nationilising energy, I can only assume because there is now a real chance they will get voted in, and they haven't a scooby of how you would actually make it happen
very easy to make lots of statements about what you would do when you are in opposition with no hope of getting in.
though, I prefer his approach to the tories, which is just plain lie to the public.
My local council has been labour for most of the time I can remember, I think one small stint as a try council. There is currently talk of the council going bankrupt through mismanagement, which is obviously not good, but it may mean labour don't hold on here (southamtpon)
We – that is Labour – need to get the proverbial finger out on our policy. Everyone knows the Tories are a shit-show and the country is tanking, so Labour needs to set out clearly how we will move the country out of this mess. There needs to be a clear statement of what we’d get under Labour that provides hope – we got elected in 1997 on a wave of positivity supported by some big but straightforward ideas.
That's not how opposition politics works though.
It's 4.5 years of holding the government to account, debating, etc. But fundamentally doing nothing because there's nothing you can do. If the government makes a whipped vote out of the issue then you lose however good your argument is. Then 6 months of proposing an alternative plan. Because on the economy at least there's not much point being more long sighted at the moment as it's lurching from one crisis to the next. Having a plan now just gives you a 50/50 chance of being wrong.
Non-economic policies are different, but when you're that far ahead in opinion polls, why chip away at that? Proposing anything that the Mail, Express, Sun etc could portray as "WOKE!" is only going to lose them votes now.
No ruddy idea what they are
Ah, I thought they might have had a very effective local campaign. Yeah nationally most people have no idea what LibDem plans are. I'm not sure the LibDem leader even knows. Or that most people know who the LibDem leader is.
But I get your point about refusing to vote Labour until they come up with a better offer than just "we're not Tories".
Where UKIP is no longer standing Labour seems to be doing well. Be interested to see whether it's a direct UKIP to Labour switch or more movement below the surface
Maybe the UKIP voters are hit hardest by cost of living crisis so voting Labour on that basis?
Interesting listening to BBC coverage this morning. Labour are hitting the Tories in many areas, LibDems in others... and that's being presented as a "problem" for Labour. In my view it's the electorate getting smart and voting for their preferred candidate that's in the running to get rid of Tories in their area... rather than worrying that they're not their perfect candidate. People voting in LibDem councellers in Bath, Somerset, Gloucestershire is great news, even if you're a Labour supporter there. There are plenty of Tory MPs around there that we could do with being rid off... and if people turn out to vote them out at the next General Election... that's not a problem for anyone but the Tory party.
There needs to be a clear statement of what we’d get under Labour that provides hope
While you're wedded to Brexit that's not likely.
I mean, I'll read the manifesto with an open mind, but the signs are hardly encouraging.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens there, all the evidence is that active travel isn’t the wedge issue the antis think it is and doesn’t bring electoral success.
Picking up on this ^^ from Page 1.
Bath & North East Somerset Council (Lib Dem majority control) had a contingent of vocal Tories standing on an anti-LTN, anti-CAZ platform and they got the lowest vote share of all.
Tories lost 8 seats, the council went further to the Lib Dems and also gained a (very pro-active travel) Green Party member.
