UK Election!

@binners hopefully he’s toast, Andy, the Labour candidate is a good bloke, was chair of PMBA for a long time and a proper local unlike Anglsey Jake.

Also was it you who stole a James Daly board, cut in half and wrote on it the Tories have destroyed your NHS before hanging it on a bridge over the M66?

My wife and son went and voted earlier and the polling station staff and queue gave him a big round of applause, as an 18.3 year old voting for his first time.

My daughter and I have just been and it’s the busiest I can remember, queue out of the door. Tactical vote to GTTO for me, I think they did the same.

We came out of the polling station, we saw a cool spaniel, and then my daughter tripped up a kerbstone and fell over on the grass because she wears ridiculous platform trainers. No-one clapped that.

It’s a tricky one where I am, normally a Tory seat but where this time it could easily go Tory, Lib Dem or Labour. The tactical sites are an even split between labour and LD.

But the Labour is pretty close to a paper candidate while the LD one lives in the constituency and is the current leader of the council.

So normally a Labour, but went LD in the hope of a useful MP and an LD opposition.

Snake Berry is our most recent MP. I expect he’ll be out of a job soon, hope so anyway.
I voted green party as did my wife, they stand closer to my preference of life than any other party.

My wife’s work colleague voted Tory to help his bosses business (very small business). Because Labour will put the min wage up to £15 and his boss can’t afford it. This from a man who is on minimum wage and has worked for said boss, on min wage, for 30+ years. He’s a bit simple.

FB jnr is narked- he’s 18 in October. When there was talk of an autumn election he thought he might be voting in it.

One of my Nans lives to 86 and always voted Labour, probably due to living in a Rhondda mining village and witnessing the soldiers being sent to quell the Tonypandy Riots

Starmers latest pro brexit announcement

Reality isn’t the same thing as pro-brexit. He ruled out a number of things the EU ruled out without full membership of the EU again, and right now, at this moment in time with Reform on the rise it seems like that’s the reality we’re living with.

Starmer might make 10 years, in that time frame there’s realistically no chance of a reuniting, after he’s gone? Then whatever he said this week will be irrelevant.

Sounds a bit like my wife’s old boss (also a mate of the snake) who could not afford a pay rise for staff when the workplace pension came in. However his current wife (ex secretary) can drive around in a Porsche leased by the business

Just got back from voting for our excellent Tory candidate, unlikely to win but should be encouraged to stand again.

I am sad to do this but I see no option

Stop wallowing in self pity, get off your arse and go and vote. There are many countries where people can’t vote, use your vote even if you don’t like the options on offer.

benpinnick – its not reality.  He has lied about brexit repeatedly.  He is now pro brexit and is lying and gaslighting

Just got back from voting for our excellent Tory candidate, unlikely to win but should be encouraged to stand again.

Well it’s a dirty business but someone has to do it, so good for you!

Just out of the polling station after voting. Never ever seen so many voting. People were slowing down in cars wondering what’s going on!

I hope the high turn out (here) is a good sign.

“Also was it you who stole a James Daly board, cut in half and wrote on it the Tories have destroyed your NHS before hanging it on a bridge over the M66?”

Not guilty yr, honour, but I can think of a variety of suspects who more than likely did it

Why? Leave them to make their own decisions, they are grown-ups.

Over 160 pages in, you’re saying we shouldn’t be debating it with people?

I just don’t understand why anyone would vote Tory/reform, I don’t know of anyone who’d vote that way either.

I understand people voting for Reform. If you’re completely disengaged and know nothing about politics, reforming sounds like a good idea. Again, we saw this with Brexit, a vote for Leave to a lot of people was seen as opposing “do nothing,” a rejection of the status quo.

I cannot comprehend how any ‘normal’ people, politics aside, would look at where we are now and go “yup, more of the same please, it’s been great” before voting Tory. It genuinely baffles me.

queue out of the door

We went about 6pm, 6:30? There was one other voter there.

Just arrived at my venue for the Election Count. Got an hour or so to check in, get everything set up then at 10pm, the postal vote verification and counting begins.

Ballot boxes as and when they arrive from the polling stations. Estimate is that we’re likely to be here til about 4am.

Secrecy rules forbid me from having a phone in the count hall but if I see any entertaining spoilt papers I’ll try and remember them for later publication.

Stop wallowing in self pity, get off your arse and go and vote. There are many countries where people can’t vote, use your vote.

Agreed. The correct thing to do, if you’re so disheartened, is to spoil your ballot. Not voting when you have the ability to means you can’t rightfully be annoyed about anything that happens under the next parliament.

Get out there TJ and make your voice heard.

benpinnick – its not reality. He has lied about brexit repeatedly. He is now pro brexit and is lying and gaslighting

That’s just reminded me TJ, didn’t you claim that Starmer’s alledged pro-brexit stance would cost Labour votes because the electorate are now pro-rejoin and the rejoin parties would benefit?

Are you still sticking to that prediction?

“A friend is working the polling station, said its the busiest she can remember
People queuing out the door at our little village voting station.
Stuck in a huge huge great queue to vote at the moment
My daughter and I have just been and it’s the busiest I can remember, queue out of the door.
Just out of the polling station after voting. Never ever seen so many voting”

I left it late to go and vote, still a queue. LibDem teller outside said it had been really busy.

Elshalimo who?  the brexiteers?  The candidate who lied to my face?  the party of the liar Carmicheal?  there is not even a decent independent to vote for.

I read every candidates bio.  I read every manifesto ( well the main points)  I have wrestled with my conscience.  I just cannot do it.

I’m with binners here…

No vote no voice.

No ones perfect but you’ve got to pic the least worse option.

Also calling out people for not believing in what you believe is a dangerous slope. Balanced arguments fine. But sweeping generalisations against folk not so much.

We’re due a change. Any party whos been in power for a certain time needs a change

Well it’s a dirty business but someone has to do it so good for you!

Mefty is just on a wind up, there is no sane person alive in the country who is so **** stupid/pig ignorant/thick as shit/complete cunterwomble bat shit mad that would vote for yet more tory **** ups

Voted after work, the polling booth is in the local Tesco so hard to tell how busy it is!  They did say they’d had a good turnout so far and we’re waiting on the rush after 5pm.  About to go to bed so I can be up around 3am to watch the results unfold.

For TJ

https://x.com/emergencybod/status/1808783887541170436?s=46&t=njByqyPtCqHCMxnrGGj-uQ

Mefty is just on a wind up, there is no sane person alive in the country who is so **** stupid/pig ignorant/thick as shit/complete cunterwomble bat shit mad that would vote for yet tory **** ups

You see this is the difference between Conservative voters and Labour voters……..no Conservative voter would be so impolite towards their political adversary.

It reminds me why I shop in Waitrose and not Tesco.

Don’t you tactical voters feel a bit eurghh afterwards?

No. I’m not aiming for perfect here, just better.

That’s just reminded me TJ, didn’t you claim that Starmer’s alledged pro-brexit stance would cost Labour votes because the electorate are now pro-rejoin and the rejoin parties would benefit?

Yes -.  Obviously other factrors are more important and will have a bigger effect .  You yourself pointed out the lack of enthusiasm for labour with them getting no more votes than Corbyn did – perhaps even less.  Its the divided right and the tiredness of the SNP that will give him the majority.  here there is no enthusiasm for labour at all.  I have not seen a single labour sign in a window.

Lib dems are going to do well and they are more pro eu but have been quiet about it

I know several life long labour voters like me ( until a decade ago) who are not voting labour because of their brexiteer stance.

Yes -. Obviously other factrors are more important and will have a bigger effect .

So not quite the effect that you had predicted. Although if you still believe that a pro-brexit stance is going to have a negative effect on support for a political party Nigel Farage will be worried.

Houns – its a FPTP election and there is zero chance of the tories winning in my seat – if there was the slightest chance I would have to hold my nose and vote labour

Ai, fair, and I do respect your choice to abstain.

(And in a none serious way, I’m looking forward to all the red card posts!)

You yourself pointed out the lack of enthusiasm for labour with them getting no more votes than Corbyn did – perhaps even less.

You can’t compare a 3 horse and a 4 horse race in absolute % or # terms.

Christ my half a beer is kicking in, I’m getting excited for the exit poll?

No ones perfect but you’ve got to pic the least worse option.

I tried to find one.  I really did.  there isn’t one.  I have the luxury of knowing the tories have no chance here

My children’s school had mock elections this morning – Reform got 47% of the votes with Labour the other 53% and no other party getting any votes. The Reform voters, when asked why, in general said ‘so they could send all the “insert non white demographic here” home’. I was truly shocked when I heard this.

“Well it’s a dirty business but someone has to do it, so good for you!”

I used the provided pencil, not a leaky fountain pen, so nice and clean.

“It reminds me why I shop in Waitrose and not Tesco.”

I can’t believe you turned your back on Tesco

You yourself pointed out the lack of enthusiasm for labour with them getting no more votes than Corbyn did – perhaps even less.

For the record I never made that claim.

I simply pointed out that recent opinion polls have put Labour on no more than they received in the 2017 general election, despite a predicted huge Labour majority.

The purpose was not to emphasise a lack of enthusiasm for Labour but to emphasise how first-past-the-post can massively distort general election results.

“He is now pro brexit”

That is an absolutely bloody ridiculous interpretation of the situation. He doesn’t love Brexit any more than you do. However he’s (hopefully) going to be in charge of a country that doesn’t want to go back over it, so he can’t. That does not make him bloody pro Brexit.

He can’t do whatever he wants. He has to be pragmatic. End of story. Stop extrapolating to absurd extremes.

Aspirational Marxism?

“My children’s school had mock elections this morning – Reform got 47%”

Read an article online today where the journalist spent a day with Farage. They referenced the number of teens/early 20year olds that were drawn to Reform.

Anyone else getting the once in a generation vibe from this GE?

I sure am.

@tjagain I respect your stance mate, so this isn’t aimed at you. Genuinely. ?

With what’s going on in Ukraine and the terrible price they are paying in order to have self determination and a leader they want rather than one Putin wants… Well, it’s kind of given this GE a new dimension for me.

This GE feels historic, whether it turns out to be for good or bad reasons and I had to be a part of it.

Having read the earlier posts I thought I would take a wander to the polling station to see how busy it was – pretty quiet – most of the people there were those running it

I’ve voted Green for the first time ever – it’s an issue which needs to be bumped right up the agenda

Managed to persuade a few (younger) friends to go vote – several didn’t have much of an idea what the parties stood for so I put together a quick bullet point summary (well ChatGPT did) for them and pointed them towards the website where you’re asked questions about policies and it suggests who your views align with most

From what I can tell seems like Lib Dem was the consensus – Ed Davey’s campaign has been great – seems to have raised the profile of the party and been fun at the same time