Henry G Manson on the impact of waiting till May 2015 I’m not a big fan of fixed terms, but what stuck me at the start of the Coalition was how little debate there was about the length of fixed term that was being proposed. The majority of fixed term governments are run on a 4 year cycle, yet the Coalition were determined to lock in 5 years of government. This in itself will pose challenges for all parties. From…
Liversedge and Gomersal on Kirklees (Con Defence) Last Local Elections (2012): Lab 32, Con 18, Lib Dem 10, Green 5, Others 4 (No Overall Control, Lab short by 3) Ward Results in current electoral cycle Local Elections  2010 Local Elections  2011 Local Elections  2012 Party Votes Cast % Share Votes Cast % Share Votes Cast % Share Conservatives 3,667 42% 2,467 47% 2,021 49% Labour 2,284 26% 2,189 42% 1,577 38% Liberal Democrats 1,548 18% 290 6%…
Walkergate on Newcastle upon Tyne (Lab Defence) Last Local Elections (2012): Lab 51, Lib Dem 26, Ind 1 (Lab majority of 24) Ward Results 2010 – 2012 Local Elections  2010 Local Elections  2011 Local Elections  2012 Party Votes Cast % Share Votes Cast % Share Votes Cast % Share Conservatives 346 8% 119 4% 149 5% Labour 2,009 46% 1,682 50% 1,912 68% Liberal Democrats 1,706 39% 1,580 47% 646 23% BNP 303 7% Communists 102 4%…
Fazeley on Lichfield (Con Defence) Last Local Election (2011): Conservative 46, Labour 10 (Conservative majority of 36) Last Ward Result (2011): Con 758, 595, 460 (60%) Lab 512 (40%) Fazeley, a small town (and not to mention, civil parish) is located on the outskirts of Tamworth and as such as been part of the electoral ding dong that has become the norm in the south of Staffordshire, north of Warwickshire and north west of Leicestershire. Back in the 1970’s,…
Why do we hear so little about Caroline Lucas? The election of Caroline Lucas in 2010 was in many ways quite extraordinary. In winning a three-way marginal seat she succeeded where UKIP have so far failed. Lucas is intelligent, thoughtful and charismatic. Yet the Greens simply have not capitalised. At a time when the Labour Party is saying as little as possible about its policy plans, you’d think there was a hole for the Green Party’s national no nonsense opposition…
Whitwell on Bolsover Last Local Election 2011: Lab 32, Ind 4, Green 1 (Labour majority of 25) To view the result in 2011 please visit http://s3.datawrapper.de/BIZMe/ Dennis Skinner MP (Lab, Bolsover) has become as much of the Parliamentary Estate as Black Rod and the Speaker. Famed for his comments at each State Opening, is it any wonder that he has been named the “Beast of Bolsover†and was even immortalised in the CBBC comedy drama “Maid Marian and Her Merry…
Harry Hayfield’s guide to the action Coker on Somerset (Deferred Election) Last Council Election (2013): Con 28, Lib Dem 18, Lab 3, UKIP 3, Ind 2 (Conservative majority of 2) Last Ward Election (2009): Lib Dem 1,454 (45%) Con 1,365 (43%) Green 249 (8%) Ind 131 (4%) Last Ward Election (2009 Notional): Lib Dem 1,687 (46%) Con 1,559 (43%) Green 271 (7%) Ind 151 (4%) Somerset has always been a Conservative / Liberal Democrat battleground going back as far as…
Harry Hayfield’s historical prespective The main news narrative over in recent days has been “Britain is a four party system country” following the success of UKIP in the county council elections, I, however would counter that by saying “Britain is in fact a thirteen party system” and hasn’t been a four party system for well over twenty years Parties that have scored more than 1% of the national vote at a UK general election since 1950 Great Britain only 1950:…