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Category: UK Elections – others

Unpopular government… unpopular councils?

Unpopular government… unpopular councils?

One feature of yesterday’s local election results was the electoral peril of controlling a council. Labour lost a string of councils whilst being able to gain Lambeth after four years of a Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition. The Conservatives, despite an excellent night in general, lost their sizable majority in Richmond to the Lib Dems, who in turn lost their stronghold in Islington. This may not be much new. Councils have always risked making unpopular local decisions which affect them in a…

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11 hours down, 7 to go

11 hours down, 7 to go

With four hours to go until the polls close, readers will be looking forward to following the results as they come in. The Press Association expects the first result to come in from Tamworth around 11.30pm, with the last of the night’s results from Richmond at 6am.

Turnout – how low can it go?

Turnout – how low can it go?

Unrepresentative bunch as we are here, we can get an inflated idea of the prominence elections have among the public in general. Quite a few posters here will have spent an intense month focusing on today’s local elections — but that puts us in quite a minority.

Sean Fear’s local election commentary

Sean Fear’s local election commentary

What would be a good result for the Tories on May 4th? Traditionally, winning more than 40% of the vote nationwide has been regarded as the benchmark for a successful opposition party. However, that seems too high a hurdle now that the Lib Dems typically win 25% + of the vote in national elections, and an increasing share of the vote goes to a variety of minor parties. I would suggest that the Conservatives have to obtain at least 38%…

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Sean Fear’s local election round-up

Sean Fear’s local election round-up

Our first “guest” contribution by Sean Fear Local by-elections might be thought to be of interest only to political trainspotters. However, they matter because they have, historically, been a very good indicator of the standing of the three parties in local contests. The share of the vote won by each of the three main parties in local elections each May will always be much closer to the vote share won in the preceding few months’ by elections than to the…

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Will the next by-election be decided on Betfair?

Will the next by-election be decided on Betfair?

Could a “favourite” be artificially created on the betting markets? The strange goings-on with the Huhne betting price during the final weeks of the Lib Dem race raise the question of whether party supporters with deep pockets could influence the course of a Westminster by-election. For in these contests a party has to establish itself as the undisputed challenger – an area of activity where the Lib Dems reign supreme. Any information, however tenuous, is used to get over that…

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Will activists still be “processing” postal votes this May?

Will activists still be “processing” postal votes this May?

Who’ll lose most if “vote farming” is banned? With the outcome of this May’s local elections taking on an increasing importance a key factor could be whether there is a clamp-down on party workers getting involved in the postal vote process. For when turnout drops to 30% or below winning the postal vote battle becomes even more crucial. Now, according to a Guardian report, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives are pressing the government to put a “national concordat”…

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Will Gordon take the rap for the May locals?

Will Gordon take the rap for the May locals?

Has Tony handed him a poison chalice? With the attention being on the new “soft focus” Gordon Brown’s wider role few people seem to have picked up on a couple of paragraphs in the Observer at the weekend about Labour’s campaign for the May local elections. For with a “a bloodbath of councillors across the country” expected the plan, apparently, is that Gordon Brown should have a role that means that he takes the rap for any failures. According to…

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