Rishi! Sunak!

Labour have posted a “victory pic” of the candidate and a local MP cheering in W Midlands.

It’s looking good.

Results

No idea why this contradicts the previous link. Can anyone explain?

Edit: No need – I didn’t pay attention to the title! The previous link was just for the Borough of Walsall

The previous link was just Walsall’s results not the whole of the CA.

Yeah thanks. I realised that when I looked at it properly!

Could we see a lab/Lib coalition in the next general election?

I suspect probably not. Either Lab will have an outright majority, or they’ll form a minority government.

Not sure the LD membership are up for the fallout after a coalition again, and I don’t think Lab will be willing to pay the price of coalition ie. constitutional reform.

Overall, he (Richard Parker) wins by 1,508 votes.

going miss lil rishis photo op with Street saying how this result proves his plan is working, shucks! 😕

GBNews on X are having a frothers event it seems.

It’s a feeding frenzy online of people dining on sweet, sweet Far Right Racist Tears for they have the sweetest taste.

Fat free too.

Sadiq Khan re-elected. Andy Street out.

Fan-bloody-tastic.

Street massively downplayed his Torydom and the association still probably tainted him.

It really is quite marvellous.

Just toasting the Tory fails with a nice IPA.

Only note of concern about Street losing is that he’d promised £20/head funding for active travel (which is a lot) and Parker comes across as lukewarm at best https://betterstreetsforbirmingham.org/where-do-the-mayoral-hopefuls-stand-on-transport-and-road-safety

Street massively downplayed his Torydom and the association still probably tainted him.

Street, like Ben Houchen, was “Tory-lite”. And actually, in spite of being a Tory – or at least a fringe Tory, he was a pretty decent guy, pro-active travel at any rate.

I think the reason it was so close was precisely because he was Tory-lite. If he’d have been full-on Tory, it’d have been a done deal a long time ago, he’d have been trounced!

If he’d been a full on Tory, he wouldn’t have got a second term, and if it had been 1st/2nd prefs he might have been OK.

@ratherbeintobago

almost everyone who stood on an explicitly anti-LTN/anti-cycling infra didn’t benefit – either no rise in support or lost.

Which goes to show how much they’ve lost the plot (or are just desperate to hold onto their core voters), as apparently low traffic and pedestrian friendly measures are popular pretty much across the spectrum of voters outside of the headbangers.

There’s a small risk that the Tories will learn from this and adopt better policies in time for the GE. A small one, but still.

@Kramer Definitely. I don’t know whether Street proves that making AT a main plank of your platform doesn’t work either though, or whether he’s been doomed by association with Sunak’s government.

@molgrips Braverman has already been out saying they weren’t right wing enough, despite all the evidence. Still, the knives are apparently being sharpened and hopefully Sunak will call a GE rather than fight a leadership challenge.

I think that Street did comparatively well rather than badly because of his active travel policy.

That’s probably true, the problem is that it might not be interpreted that way. And as above, with the exception of five independents in Oxford (where there were apparently other factors in play eg Gaza protest vote) no-one won in the locals on an anti-AT platform.

Britain First not taking the loss to Khan and Binface well it seems.

Interesting and worrying to see the whole MAGA influence gaining ground. “Khan won due to voter fraud/postal votes.”

The far right racists only like democracy in one direction.

Bless their little cotton socks.

Binface has been quite funny on Twitter. 😂

Huge swings to the Lib-Dem’s, though….

This is not a victory for labour, it’s simply a defeat for exteme right wing parties.

..hopefully one of many.

Huge swings to the Lib-Dem’s, though….

Where was this?

@ mattyfez

I think it is a victory for Labour to be honest. These elections weren’t really in the areas Libdems do really well in by their own admission.

That doesn’t mean the rest of what you say isn’t correct though, as yes, this was a fight against the far right.

Id have no issues with a Labour/ Libdem government by the way. I just mean to say I’m not anti Libdem. Quite the opposite.

Local to Teeside (well 20 miles) and i can’t get my head around Ben Houchens win.  He has given away millions of public money to his mates, failed to turn Teeside Airport around, free ports are bollocks  real deprivation and child poverty at record levels, almost certainly created an ecological disater with dredging. I mean even North Yorkshire voted for a Labour mayor. Smoggies are a strange lot.

Worked with Andy Street at John Lewis on quite a few things from manufacturing to retail down the years. Nice guy.

Andy
Full Member
Worked with Andy Street at John Lewis on quite a few things from manufacturing to retail down the years. Nice guy.

It was nice to see him give Street a genuine thanks for his service to the area. Politics doesn’t have to be the shit fest it now is.

Where was this?

All over England..the tories are now 3rd party status.

They have no mandate to be in government, and a G£E should be called.

It was nice to see him give Street a genuine thanks for his service to the area. Politics doesn’t have to be the shit fest it now is.

Agreed. ^^
Andy Street is actually a decent politician and a good man. I think he’s done alright for the West Midlands and he at least conducted his campaign in a proper manner (unlike Susan Hall for example).

I’m not even going to bother trying to correct my typo.

Politics doesn’t have to be the shit fest it now is.

Exactly.

It doesn’t but it is.

It doesn’t but it is.

And yet West Mids showed it doesn’t have to be. Andy Street gave a gracious speech. Richard Parker genuinely praised the former Mayor, recognising his efforts and successes.

It was politics put aside for the benefit of the West Midlands. I think Andy’s only downfall was his (fairly arms length) association with the Tories because in all other respects, he is a genuinely good person, the sort that actually goes into politics for the right reasons. I think Andy and Richard would make a good team – they both care deeply about their area and want the best for West Midlands.

Compare and contrast with the vile little witch in London who gave a rude, patronising and graceless speech.

All over England

Well I guess it depends what you call “a huge swing”. The LibDems did increase their vote slightly in the London Mayoral election but it was still less than 6%

In Liverpool the LibDem vote fell, and in the Manchester mayoral election the LibDems came in 6th, behind the Greens.

Overall across England the LibDem vote was I think up no more than 1% up from the comparable 2021 local elections. I wouldn’t really call that a huge swing.

The LibDems need the votes in the right seats to gain councillors (and soon hopefully MPs). National vote share not really key for them right now.

You can torture the stats all you like…

The numbers speak for themselves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

Andy Street is actually a decent politician and a good man. I think he’s done alright for the West Midlands and he at least conducted his campaign in a proper manner (unlike Susan Hall for example).

I mean hes better than Hall, but .  ….

No regrets on backing Liz Truss by Mayor Andy Street

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/it-didnt-need-like-this-2531387

The numbers speak for themselves.

It doesn’t mention a swing at all, never mind a “huge swing”.

I am perfectly willing to accept that the LibDems did well on Thursday, they got about 17% of the vote, but that is very similar to what they got in the 2021 local elections, there is no evidence of a huge swing.

It widely accepted that the LibDems will probably at least double their number of MPs at the next general election even if their vote stays about the same as it was at the last general election, so it won’t necessarily represent a huge swing.

A point worth remembering if you want to talk about ‘torturing stats’

  It doesn’t mention a swing at all, never mind a “huge swing”.

The conservatives are now pretty much the 3rd party.

It would be quite refreshing to see labour in power, with the lib dems as the formal opposition.

Yes the Tories did very badly on Thursday compared to the 2021 local elections when they came first. But the LibDems did about the same – they got 17% in 2021

This doesn’t however mean that the LibDems will get 17% in the coming general election, I don’t think any general election opinion poll in the last ten years has put the LibDems on that level of support.

They are therefore very unlikely to become the official opposition in parliament.

I don’t know how you can talk about the Tories so badly in the next general election that they will come third whilst further up this page you are suggesting that Labour might need to form a coalition with the LibDems. Make your mind up!

Remember kids, when in a hole, keep digging until you get out.

This is sensational. pic.twitter.com/EVU6Wnt7uu

— alexmassie (@alexmassie) May 4, 2024