Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th May 2021

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 May, 2021 10:24 pm

@pf

“ I didn’t vote for Jeremy. I voted for Andy Burnham, I believe he is the best leader we never had and I’m thrilled he is the Mayor of Greater Manchester now as he deserves it.”

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 08 May, 2021 10:26 pm

Apparently the Common Sense Group (sic) have written a book...

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics ... parliament

Amongst the usual right wing stuff like breaking up the BBC there's this remarkable bit of dishonesty.

Sally-Ann Hart MP with Sir Edward Leigh MP
‘In a political act, the justices of the Supreme Court gambled in order to stop Brexit. The Prime Minister called a general election, put the case to the people, and won a strong majority. Parliamentary democracy won and the politicised justices lost, but in order to prevent a repeat the case for legislative reform of the Supreme Court is compelling.’

Eh?

Utter bullshit. They heard a case to try and restore rights to Parliament against the Executive!

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 08 May, 2021 10:33 pm

And now Tim Shipman has tweeted something scurrilous (before deleting it shortly afterwards)

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sat 08 May, 2021 10:40 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote: ↑Sat 08 May, 2021 9:58 pm I suspect both Nandy and Rayner are close to Burnham.

Ah of course, that makes depressing sense.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:08 pm

Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been reelected as London mayor following the counting of second preference votes.

Khan will serve a second term after winning a total of 1,206,034 votes, while the Conservative candidate, Shaun Bailey, came second with 977,601.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:08 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote: ↑Sat 08 May, 2021 10:26 pm Apparently the Common Sense Group (sic) have written a book...

I do love how 'common sense' miraculously matches up precisely with what they think. And what they think miraculously matches up precisely with what Trumpist Republicans think across the pond. Ranting and raving about the courts, subversive leftists, wokeism, free speech (in an article in a newspaper about a book they're publishing), it's like someone's vomited up an evening of Fox News. In fact if I were Republican commentator on Fox I'd be suing them for plagiarism.

It makes you wonder if they've noticed what's been happening to the Republican party since they took up the agenda these geniuses wish to emulate.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:10 pm

Sadiq Khan holds London Mayor slot with a 55.2% share of the vote.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:11 pm

@ak I added a PTO to your bottom of first page post hope that’s ok

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:12 pm

@gilsey

Whoops!

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:16 pm

Was worth a repeat

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:17 pm

@PaulfromYorkshire

It helped me, if that makes the (outside) possibility of incurring AnatolyKasparov's wrath worthwhile.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:21 pm

Confused, barmy line (there’s no money) loses W Midlands mayoral election (4,5).

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:24 pm

@PaulfromYorkshire

Thanks (for the quote).

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:25 pm

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:28 pm

As a general rule of thumb, the Labour candidates who aren't identified with Keir Starmer are having success. Why might that be, I wonder?

Edited - typos

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:34 pm

PorFavor wrote: ↑Sat 08 May, 2021 11:10 pm Sadiq Khan holds London Mayor slot with a 55.2% share of the vote.

Underwhelming on an objective level, never mind compared to what some polls were saying.

I do wonder if the absence of many younger voters due to the pandemic was a factor (turnout was clearly down overall)

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 May, 2021 11:34 pm

@PaulfromYorkshire
I do like an anagram.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 09 May, 2021 12:02 am

Good to see the Right are taking the result calmly...

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 09 May, 2021 12:02 am

Angela Rayner has indeed been sacked (Sky TV news). In case there was any lingering doubt.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 09 May, 2021 12:04 am

Muggins?

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 12:30 am

If I may break the habit of a lifetime and interject with a calm, sober opinion. I do think there's a bit of a hysterical, knee jerk overeaction going on in response to Labour's performance in England. They were facing a unique set of circumstances that have favoured each of the incumbent parties. In England there's the success of the vaccine rollout and the sad reality that a considerable minority of the population regard Boris Johnson as a hero for bringing them Brexit. They're not Tories, they support him and regard it as their patriotic duty to do so. They couldn't give a shit if he's a lying, corrupt buffoon, just as Trump's supporters didn't care either, and all we can do is hope his personality cult blows itself out sooner rather than later.

Remember, Johnson's never had to deal with normality, he went straight from Brexit to Covid, so perhaps when things begin to return to a semblance of the previous state of affairs without the Tories spunking money at millions of people and getting the credit for saving our lives despite killing thousands of our friends and relatives, we might get a clearer picture of the political landscape. Because as of now it's like trying to tell your stupid mates in the Nineties that Babylon Zoo were actually shit and not the future of music when they were getting played everywhere.

It's always tempting to get carried away after election defeats, especially when it comes to the Labour Party, but in this instance I really don't think it warrants some of the hysteria I'm reading and hearing, from both sides of the political divide.

(Not you lot, I hasten to add).

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 12:47 am

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 09 May, 2021 1:28 am

Night night.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 09 May, 2021 3:26 am

PaulfromYorkshire wrote: ↑Sat 08 May, 2021 11:11 pm @ak I added a PTO to your bottom of first page post hope that’s ok

Good job you did or I'd never have made it here.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 09 May, 2021 10:03 am

Sky'sGoneOut wrote: ↑Sun 09 May, 2021 12:30 am If I may break the habit of a lifetime and interject with a calm, sober opinion. I do think there's a bit of a hysterical, knee jerk overeaction going on in response to Labour's performance in England.

Good post.
Also, drawing wider lessons, about anything really, from what happens in Hartlepool is a mug's game.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 09 May, 2021 10:05 am

Johnson will vow to repair damaged NHS to lock in election gains

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 09 May, 2021 11:16 am

*hums tune of Hotel California*

On the same level as wanting all schools to be above average...

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 09 May, 2021 11:19 am

I see that Dan Hannan wants the UK to have a digital currency which probably makes it the worst idea ever.

I'm not actually sure I get why a digital currency is any different to normal.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 12:54 pm

I wonder how Laurence Fox is feeling today after being beaten by this magnificent, piss taking genius who wants all racists to have their teeth removed.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 1:16 pm

According to my calculations Laurence Fox spent (according to the media) £5 million of other people's money on his campaign and if we factor in the £10,000 deposit he lost then divide it by the 47,634 votes he got that equals £104.96 per vote.

Khan got 1,013,721 votes to win the election so to emulate that next time Laurence will have to spend £106,400,156 to gain victory.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 09 May, 2021 2:16 pm

Good morfternoon.

From today's Andrew Rawnsley article -

In the latter stages of these contests, Labour seized on “Tory sleaze” as its campaign theme. There is nothing wrong with the opposition calling out corruption in the government – it is absolutely vital that they do so – yet it left the impression that Labour concentrated all its energy on one line of attack for lack of any other things it wanted to say.

“We didn’t have a big message,” confirms one member of the shadow cabinet. “We didn’t really know what we were campaigning on. God knows what we would have talked about had the wallpaper not come along.” (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... rom-plight

I think that just about sums things up.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 09 May, 2021 2:54 pm

Some interesting numbers in the 2nd pref in the London Mayoral election.

Like Tory voters preferring Green than Fox...

Good to see the anti-woke candidates largely flopped. Tories and their cheerleaders in the press love the culture war stuff but it doesn't seem to have made an impact outside.

Post by **refitman** » Sun 09 May, 2021 2:55 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote: ↑Sat 08 May, 2021 10:33 pm And now Tim Shipman has tweeted something scurrilous (before deleting it shortly afterwards)

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 09 May, 2021 2:56 pm

Basing all your appeal on "competence" (quiet now in the cheap seats) runs into problems if your adversary is seen to be handling something important in a reasonably "competent" way. The galaxy brains about Starmer might have at least considered this, or maybe not.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:11 pm

On a brighter note.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:33 pm

It must be said, Labour's performance in the South East isn't garnering the attention it deserves and paints an interesting picture for a possible future in which the Tories consolidate their gains in the North while Labour eat away at their support in the South.

Then again, Elvis could return tomorrow in a giant spaceship declaring himself King of the Universe making all further elections redundant.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:35 pm

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:39 pm

Significant swing from Tory to Labour since the 2019 GE in the first round mayoral figures.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:39 pm

Those numbers look a bit off. According to Leeds Live.

West Yorkshire result first round:

Wajid Ali -14,943
Tracy Brabin - 261,170
Bob Buxton - 58,851
Andrew Cooper - 55,833
Stewart Golton -30,162
Therese Hirst - 8,969
Matt Robinson - 176,167

Total no of ballots - 617,782

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:41 pm

That tweet was Leeds numbers only!

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 4:47 pm

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 09 May, 2021 5:06 pm

Oh yeah, sorry should have noticed that myself.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 6:15 pm

This illustrates Labour's problems in the upcoming Batley and Spen by-election.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 6:20 pm

What complicates things is Ukip hasn't vanished in Batley as that Britain Elects tweet suggests, they transformed themselves into this lot...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Woo ... dependents

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 6:43 pm

From Leeds Live.

Leeds second preference results

The second preference votes for Leeds have just been revealed.

Tracy Brabin took 20,312 second preference votes, bringing her total for Leeds to 112,624.

Matt Robinson's second preference vote count was 11,579, meaning his total number of votes for Leeds was 72,248.

The overall results are expected in the next half an hour.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 7:09 pm

FINAL RESULT - Tracy Brabin wins

Tracy Brabin is the new Mayor of West Yorkshire

She's won 310,923 votes to Matt Robinson's 209,137

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sun 09 May, 2021 7:17 pm

http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=87966

... In essence, the Tory showing is actually quite mediocre, on which basis, rather than suggest that there had been a swing to the Tories, it would be more appropriate to point to that collapse of the Labour vote: the Tories didn't win the seat in any real sense. Labour lost it.

This cannot be said to be any great endorsement for the Tories and, in many respects it paints a picture of party politics in decline. In round figures, just four out of ten bothered to cast a vote and, of those, only two voted for Johnson's party – a mere 22 percent of the electorate.

Yet, for all that, this result is being painted as a great victory for the Conservatives. In her analysis, the incomparably stupid Laura Kuenssberg gushes that the "rickety folding tables" [in the counting centre] "looked like they could hardly cope with the weight of votes for the Tory candidate, and now elected MP, Jill Mortimer, in Hartlepool". With only just over 15K votes to record, one wonders how the clerks would have coped in 1974.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 8:51 pm

Unless you're in Bristol.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-57048306

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sun 09 May, 2021 9:07 pm

Keir Starmer’s sacking of Angela Rayner is self-destructive, stupid and wrong

What is there to be said about Keir Starmer’s mystifyingly stupid, self-discrediting and self-destructive decision to sack Angela Rayner as Labour Party chair? Other than the obvious, which is that unless it emerges in relatively short order that Rayner has been quietly defrauding Labour Party funds or running an illicit drug ring, it is mystifyingly stupid, self-discrediting and self-destructive. (Though I suppose given that, we cannot rule out the possibility that someone close to the Labour leader is running an illicit drug ring.)

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 09 May, 2021 9:27 pm

I have to say I'm happy the Yorkshire Party didn't win. I'd have to move away if I was forced to wear a flat cap, keep a whippet, have 'ee bah gum' tattooed on my forehead and slide down hills in a bathtub.