Local Elections

[Xenocrates]

BNP leader Nick Griffin said it had benefited from "people wanting to kick the Labour Party really hard and we're the politically incorrect way to do it".

He added: "When you look at some our results elsewhere in the country where we've hammered the Conservatives as well, this is a revolt against the entire liberal political elite by the hardworking people of Britain who resent being taxed to have our country transformed."

Sounds like the BNP are being advised by the American posters here!

PS in my area, Labour made 3 gains and the LD's lost 3. Greens have 1 seat (unchanged). Man, we really need a revolution.

PS one seat was decided by drawing pencils! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/4974304.stm

 

[ComradeDavo]

With 173 out of 176 declared, things look a little better for the Lib Dems now, on +25 councillers at current....and also the Green party doing very well on +18.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2006/locals/html/region_99999.stm

I'd probably say the Conservatives came off by far the best in terms of how well teh party has done, with the Lib Dems and Greens sharing 2nd honours, going by results so far.

 

[ComradeDavo]

I typed too soon....*grumble +14 now*

 

[Xenocrates]

Don't worry, the third party has had more false dawns than I can remember. Everytime they seem to be getting it right, they chicken out (Iraq for example). I'm sure the LD's would rather not be in power. If they can't pick up a load of seats under these circumstances, there's really no hope. I mean what else can labour do wrong? If Blair publicly ate a baby they'd still fail to capitalise on it.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Oh man this just gets worse, net + of just 3 now councillers....

and the Nazi BNP making lots of gains

I don't know if I could take a Tory government....

 

[ComradeDavo]

Don't worry, the third party has had more false dawns than I can remember. Everytime they seem to be getting it right, they chicken out (Iraq for example). I'm sure the LD's would rather not be in power. If they can't pick up a load of seats under these circumstances, there's really no hope. I mean what else can labour do wrong? If Blair publicly ate a baby they'd still fail to capitalise on it.

Then again the Lib dems came under alot of fire during the whole leadership thing so this at least shows that they haven't lost any supporters because of that. Now time to focusing on gaining more.

Plus alot of loyal Labour voters in areas where it it between Lib Dem and Tories will being getting scared by these results...and not wanting a Tory government.....I predict alot of tatical voting in the next election....

 

[happy_Alex]

I was busy the whole of last night campaigning for Labour. Haringey is still Labour, by three councillors. I went out on a 'knock up' to get out the Labour vote in one of the key wards. Later it emerged that we won that ward by just one vote

Goes to show that individuals can make a difference in politics, if you are prepared to put your money where your mouth is.

Later I went to Alexandra Palace for the count, which was really exciting, to say the least. It was a really tough campaign, but be came through in the end, though it was sad to friends loose their seats ho had been working really hard for the people of Harringey.

It was really good to see many people with different opinions and backgrounds respecting the democratic sytem. I love democracy

Overall it was a badish night for Labour but I think people had some of the headlines in their minds when they went out and voted, and they did not remember the social progress that both the local council and national labour has made.

The story of foriegn criminals who had served ther time and been released without communication between the Home Office and the imigration service had been public knowledge some three months before the council elections, but the press chose to headline it when they did. That is either hostility to labour or chosing to place a story for maximum effectiveness or a combination of the two.

I canvassed many people in the borough and undertook alot of leafleting.

The LibDems had no plan for how they would run the borough if they were to win. They presented no alternative budget, which is absoloutly extraordinary for a party which assumed the were about to take power. So finance and tax plans never appeared on any of thier leaflets

This is because they know they will make cuts, as thy did in Islington, when the LibDem Council slashed budgets to voluntary groups, and commitments to libraries. In their Harringey manifesto the word Library never appears, because in Islington, librarys have been cut back.

Interestingly, last night the LibDems lost control of Islington (they lost 12 councillors) because the electorate can see that they are proxy Tories using peoples genuine concerns as a front for their own ambitions.

Their political material was obsurantist and played fast and loose with facts without offering people any real social or economic vision.

LibDem organisation behave in the manner of a franchise, offering anyone an oppertunty of power who can buy their way in. For example the Libdem MP, Lynne Featherstone, for Hornsey and Wood Green was able to use he family fortune to bankroll the LibDem general election campaign.

Before the last nights round of elections, the LibDems had 17 councillors one of whome was from an ethnic minority. Anyone who knows the area understands that there is a broad and rich ethnic diviersity and political representation should reflect the people it claims to represent.

Ethnic minorities are broadly represented in the Haringey Labour group, with the leader of the council originating from Nigeria.

I think that's all, sorry for such a long post and thanks for staying with me if you got this far!

You've been strangley quiet on the 'global capitalism is failing' thread ComradeDavo, but I guess if the LibDems don't have any ideas on how to run a council then they aren't goin to have any on how to solve world poverty and challenge the ravages of global capitalism.

 

[EdwardTking]

I voted, but only because the local network at work crashed, and
waiting for that to be fixed seemed worse than actually voting.

Quite sad about Charles Clarke, my MP, but once people
started talking about him as a heavyweight and possible
successor to Tony Blair; I knew he was doomed and would
be dumped at the first convenient opportunity Tony Blair had.

 

[Sidhe]

Did anyone see the gains by the BNP, sad truly sad.

Although I'm not a labour supporter, this will not entirely reflect a general election as we know. Local elections are often protest votes, but as to who runs the country, they may decide that the memory of Maggie is not quite washed from their minds. Interesting times.

It was +18 for Lib dem counsellor wise in the end, not as good as they would of hoped.

 

[Suppersalmon]

Did anyone see the gains by the BNP, sad truly sad.

Although I'm not a labour supporter, this will not entirely reflect a general election as we know. Local elections are often protest votes, but as to who runs the country, they may decide that the memory of Maggie is not quite washed from their minds. Interesting times.

It was +18 for Lib dem counsellor wise in the end, not as good as they would of hoped.

I partley blame the leader I know its surpossed to be based on local issues but national stuff makes such an impact on these elections and to be honest i didnt hear or see anything of Ming till the day before the election, were as Cameron has been bobbing up and down all over the place.

 

[7ronin]

And I thought elections in this country were complicated. Would someone please care to explain "British Politics for Dummies" so the rest us can follow along.

 

[Xenocrates]

Local elections are for very low paid/unpaid council jobs. The people standing aren’t the brightest or the best by any means. Many of them are corrupt.

Tactical voting is common since there are several parties BNP (racist/nationalist), Labour (leaders of the Bush fan club), Conservative (bad memories of Mrs Thatcher), Liberal Democrats (never get their act together), Greens (sound except for liberal drug policies), respect (pro Muslim + against the war) a couple of communist parties, The Liberal party (rumoured to be set up by the Conservatives to confuse Liberal Democrat voters) and a Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties. Tactical voting means that frequently you need to vote for a party you don’t like to spite one that you despise. Big three parties in bold.

It’s a largely tribal affair with most supporters and candidates having no clue what their parties’ policies are. Frequently, local candidates disagree with the national party policy, especially in the Labour party which is slightly to the right of the Republicans at the moment and whose supporters are considerably to the left of the Democrats.

See it’s simple!

 

[EdwardTking]

Local elections are for very low paid/unpaid council jobs. The people standing aren’t the brightest or the best by any means. Many of them are corrupt.

Tactical voting is common since there are several parties BNP (racist/nationalist), Labour (leaders of the Bush fan club), Conservative (bad memories of Mrs Thatcher), Liberal Democrats (never get their act together), Greens (sound except for liberal drug policies), respect (pro Muslim + against the war) a couple of communist parties, The Liberal party (rumoured to be set up by the Conservatives to confuse Liberal Democrat voters) and a Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties. Tactical voting means that frequently you need to vote for a party you don’t like to spite one that you despise. Big three parties in bold.

It’s a largely tribal affair with most supporters and candidates having no clue what their parties’ policies are. Frequently, local candidates disagree with the national party policy, especially in the Labour party which is slightly to the right of the Republicans at the moment and whose supporters are considerably to the left of the Democrats.

See it’s simple!

Actually most local candidates are honest
and care about the communities they live in.

People know quite well what they stand for.

The national standing of the parties has an impact
but mainly where people can not otherwise identify
a differentiating factor in who they care to vote for.

 

[Mega Tsunami]

The story of foriegn criminals who had served ther time and been released without communication between the Home Office and the imigration service had been public knowledge some three months before the council elections, but the press chose to headline it when they did. That is either hostility to labour or chosing to place a story for maximum effectiveness or a combination of the two.

Good post, but I have to correct you on the above bit We didn’t know about the foreign criminal fiasco until about 2 weeks ago – not even Blair knew about it. The problem was not what happened up to that point 3 months ago when Clarke found out but rather the fact that the problem continued after he found out. Indeed it accelerated after he found out.

As for the BNP – Isn’t a lot of the blame for their patchy rise down to:
1. New Labour (at a govt. level at least) has moved so far away from its core voter – the ‘indigenous working class poor Brit’ - who now have begun to turn to someone who seems to care for them (and who conveniently skips round their racist elements).
2. Margaret Hodge giving them tremendous publicity in announcing a couple of weeks ago how many intended BNP voters she was meeting on the street. I am sure this gave many a voter the idea to vote BNP.

 

[happy_Alex]

Good post, but I have to correct you on the above bit We didn’t know about the foreign criminal fiasco until about 2 weeks ago – not even Blair knew about it. The problem was not what happened up to that point 3 months ago when Clarke found out but rather the fact that the problem continued after he found out. Indeed it accelerated after he found out.

As for the BNP – Isn’t a lot of the blame for their patchy rise down to:
1. New Labour (at a govt. level at least) has moved so far away from its core voter – the ‘indigenous working class poor Brit’ - who now have begun to turn to someone who seems to care for them (and who conveniently skips round their racist elements).
2. Margaret Hodge giving them tremendous publicity in announcing a couple of weeks ago how many intended BNP voters she was meeting on the street. I am sure this gave many a voter the idea to vote BNP.

Thanks.

Point taken RE Clarke...

 

[ComradeDavo]

I was busy the whole of last night campaigning for Labour. Haringey is still Labour, by three councillors. I went out on a 'knock up' to get out the Labour vote in one of the key wards. Later it emerged that we won that ward by just one vote

Goes to show that individuals can make a difference in politics, if you are prepared to put your money where your mouth is.

Later I went to Alexandra Palace for the count, which was really exciting, to say the least. It was a really tough campaign, but be came through in the end, though it was sad to friends loose their seats ho had been working really hard for the people of Harringey.

It was really good to see many people with different opinions and backgrounds respecting the democratic sytem. I love democracy

Overall it was a badish night for Labour but I think people had some of the headlines in their minds when they went out and voted, and they did not remember the social progress that both the local council and national labour has made.

The story of foriegn criminals who had served ther time and been released without communication between the Home Office and the imigration service had been public knowledge some three months before the council elections, but the press chose to headline it when they did. That is either hostility to labour or chosing to place a story for maximum effectiveness or a combination of the two.

I canvassed many people in the borough and undertook alot of leafleting.

The LibDems had no plan for how they would run the borough if they were to win. They presented no alternative budget, which is absoloutly extraordinary for a party which assumed the were about to take power. So finance and tax plans never appeared on any of thier leaflets

This is because they know they will make cuts, as thy did in Islington, when the LibDem Council slashed budgets to voluntary groups, and commitments to libraries. In their Harringey manifesto the word Library never appears, because in Islington, librarys have been cut back.

Interestingly, last night the LibDems lost control of Islington (they lost 12 councillors) because the electorate can see that they are proxy Tories using peoples genuine concerns as a front for their own ambitions.

Their political material was obsurantist and played fast and loose with facts without offering people any real social or economic vision.

LibDem organisation behave in the manner of a franchise, offering anyone an oppertunty of power who can buy their way in. For example the Libdem MP, Lynne Featherstone, for Hornsey and Wood Green was able to use he family fortune to bankroll the LibDem general election campaign.

Before the last nights round of elections, the LibDems had 17 councillors one of whome was from an ethnic minority. Anyone who knows the area understands that there is a broad and rich ethnic diviersity and political representation should reflect the people it claims to represent.

Ethnic minorities are broadly represented in the Haringey Labour group, with the leader of the council originating from Nigeria.

I think that's all, sorry for such a long post and thanks for staying with me if you got this far!

You've been strangley quiet on the 'global capitalism is failing' thread ComradeDavo, but I guess if the LibDems don't have any ideas on how to run a council then they aren't goin to have any on how to solve world poverty and challenge the ravages of global capitalism.

Why lay into the Lib Dems so much? It's the Tories who we mutually hate!

All your criticisms of Lib Dems in specific local areas can easily be applied to Labour or Tories or even the Greens elsewhere.

I haven't looked at that thread much because I took one look at the poll and thought it was very narrow....and no poll option for me (as in 'sometimes it can')
But i'll look now, and maybe comment.

At any rate, the current Labour leadership is far from Socialist

 

[ComradeDavo]

Greens (sound except for liberal drug policies),

The Liberal Drug policies are my fave thing about the Greens! Well that and the environmental stuff obviosuly...

The Greens did pretty well on thursday, which I think is good, because I like to see more Green minded politicians at local level and I know that every council that has a Green sitting on it is going to be constantly reminded about the environment!

 

[happy_Alex]

Why lay into the Lib Dems so much? It's the Tories who we mutually hate!

All your criticisms of Lib Dems in specific local areas can easily be applied to Labour or Tories or even the Greens elsewhere.

I haven't looked at that thread much because I took one look at the poll and thought it was very narrow....and no poll option for me (as in 'sometimes it can')
But i'll look now, and maybe comment.

At any rate, the current Labour leadership is far from Socialist

I don't hate them personally, one even shook my hand (he was a bit of a toff )

They're just poor, misguided fools. Whats all the 'go blue vote green' crap ? If people want to go green they can vote green (and many did).

As for leadership, you could be right, it's still highly debatable. I will say, though, that to protect socialist achievements and continue to advocate them makes them socialist, even though the means have changed.

 

[ComradeDavo]

I don't hate them personally, one even shook my hand (he was a bit of a toff )

They're just poor, misguided fools. Whats all the 'go blue vote green' crap ? If people want to go green they can vote green (and many did).

As for leadership, you could be right, it's still highly debatable. I will say, though, that to protect socialist achievements and continue to advocate them makes them socialist, even though the means have changed.

Yeh agreed on your comments on the Tories.

As for leadership, I would definetely say Blair has lost any socialist elements he might have once had. What remaisn to be seen however is how the new adminstration will shape up, and by the looks of things we will find out soon.

BTW - i'm trying to read that international socialism thread, it's a bit of a mission going through every post though so thought i'd take a break already

 

[7ronin]

@Xenorates and Edwardtking

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this to your American "cousin."