General Election May 2015

[3rdRock]

A great night for Rupert Murdoch and his cronies.

[UndercoverElephant]

Where does SNP fall regarding policies?

Left of labour.

[adam2]

A very narrow overall conservative victory now looks very likely.
At present conservatives are 12 seats short, but 24 results are awaited, and they should win half of those to be announced.

It may be observed that later results are more likely to be conservative wins, for the simple factual reason that conservative seats tend to be more spread out rural areas in which collecting and counting the votes tends to take longer than in labour seats which tend to be more compact urban areas.

There is also a little doubt as to the exact number of seats needed for an overall majority, since by tradition the irish nationalist MPs do not take their seats. In theory, 326 seats are needed for a majority, but in practice 323 would just suffice.

[snow hope]

Sad night.

Another 5 years of the Toffs and shifting money from the 99% to the 1%, I mean austerity - we are all in it together bullshit.

Disappointing result for the Greens - I had hoped for more.

[biffvernon]

Our count went through to half past seven this morning.
The results in our three constituencies were: http://biffvernon.blogspot.co.uk/

Best comment I've seen so far is from my friend Beth:

Labour, will you come to your senses now? THIS is what happens if you acquiesce in and reinforce so many f***ing right-wing frames - that we need on be "tough on immigration" as if immigrants are to blame instead of speculators, that we need to reward "hard-working families" as if the only people entitled to the benefits of citizenship are those working their fingers to the bone, that we need to "balance the books" as if the government budget functions in the same way as a business/household budget (LEARN SOME F***ING MACROECONOMICS!!). Don't you get it? Your wipe out in Scotland is not a f***ing "surge of nationalism" but a vote for a more humane and solidaristic society.

[Lord Beria3]

Wow - a fantastic performance by the Tories.

I gambled 2 years ago for a tory majority but I almost totally lost faith that it could be delivered.

Why did the Tories do so much better than expected?

- People trusted the Tory team far more than the Labour team in terms of running the economy.

- People feared the disruption of a weak Labour/Tory minority government and the implications of constantly needing support from the SNP.

- People simply did not see Ed Miliband as a PM. Love or loathe him, Cameron (and Brown as well) looked and acted like Prime Minister.

- dare I say it, but Cameron has made certain key decisions that have assisted his centrist/moderate image among the public. Gay marriage was one example which confirmed his socially liberal instincts with the British public.

- The failure of UKIP. Lets be honest, even centre-right voters like me thought that Nigel Farage campaign was distasteful and at worst vile. He put of voters and in particular the 'dinner-party' crowd. Middle class Tory voters who have flirted with UKIP but who returned to the Tory fold. UKIP did take significant chunks from Labour's working class base and to a less extent from the Tories but the UKIP bubble did partially deflate.

These are my conclusions, I sure you will disagree.

If it is any help, I know how you feel. It is tough to admit that maybe your party is wrong, not the electorate. Tories, like me, used to blame the electorate when we lost to Blair in the past. That's a mistake.

[3rdRock]

Our count went through to half past seven this morning.
The results in our three constituencies were: http://biffvernon.blogspot.co.uk/

Best comment I've seen so far is from my friend Beth:

Labour, will you come to your senses now? THIS is what happens if you acquiesce in and reinforce so many f***ing right-wing frames - that we need on be "tough on immigration" as if immigrants are to blame instead of speculators, that we need to reward "hard-working families" as if the only people entitled to the benefits of citizenship are those working their fingers to the bone, that we need to "balance the books" as if the government budget functions in the same way as a business/household budget (LEARN SOME F***ING MACROECONOMICS!!). Don't you get it? Your wipe out in Scotland is not a f***ing "surge of nationalism" but a vote for a more humane and solidaristic society.

Irrelevant.

From the start, this election was engineered by Murdoch & Co. to scare the $h1t out of an impressionable (some would say mindless) electorate using tried and trusted methods that Goebbels would have instantly recognised.

He once said:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.

It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

If you're young, old, unemployed or disabled in any way, I feel incredibly sorry for you.

Today's result will determine the future path of this country for not just the next five years, but probably the next fifteen to twenty.

A sad day for a so called democracy.

[AutomaticEarth]

+1 LB.

I was surprised that the Tories are looking at an overall majority. Farage overcooked everything and has now paid the price with moderate centre-right voters, who basically saw his party as just a step too far.

As for the pollsters, terrible performance, lots of P45s will be doing the rounds me thinks.

It'll be interesting to see how labour reacts. Milliband is certain to step down at the least since they've pretty much imploded in Scotland.

As for the LibDems? well........

[UndercoverElephant]

Our count went through to half past seven this morning.
The results in our three constituencies were: http://biffvernon.blogspot.co.uk/

Best comment I've seen so far is from my friend Beth:

Labour, will you come to your senses now? THIS is what happens if you acquiesce in and reinforce so many f***ing right-wing frames - that we need on be "tough on immigration" as if immigrants are to blame instead of speculators, that we need to reward "hard-working families" as if the only people entitled to the benefits of citizenship are those working their fingers to the bone, that we need to "balance the books" as if the government budget functions in the same way as a business/household budget (LEARN SOME F***ING MACROECONOMICS!!). Don't you get it? Your wipe out in Scotland is not a f***ing "surge of nationalism" but a vote for a more humane and solidaristic society.

You're wrong. Labour didn't lose seats in England because they weren't left wing enough. They lost seats in Scotland because they weren't left wing enough, but if they'd moved to the left then they'd have lost even more English seats to the Tories.

A combination of an unrepresentative voting system, a totally biased media and Nick Clegg's catastrophic decision to prop up a tory government has resulted in an unmitigated disaster for ordinary people in this country. It may also lead to the effective extinction of the liberal democrats and the breakup of the union.

Well done Nick Clegg, you stupid bastard.

[UndercoverElephant]

Why did the Tories do so much better than expected?

Because the libdems did so much worse than expected and because of the "SNP factor".

In terms of votes, the tories didn't actually do better than expected. They only did better in terms of seats. Why was this?

Because of our unfair voting system, people have spent the last 30 years, consituency by constituency, working out how to vote tactically to avoid a tory government. This included a lot of people voting libdem where that was the best option, and those people never thought for one second that the libdems would prop up a tory government. But that's what they did, and that meant that millions of libdem voters had no choice but to abandon them, and the tactical element shattered as that libdem vote spread across labour, green, tory, UKIP and SNP.

This result is Nick Clegg's fault and I hope he rots in hell.

[UndercoverElephant]

As for the LibDems? well........

They are finished. They have already been abandoned by everybody apart from their most loyal supporters, and I strongly suspect that even those loyal supporters are now considering whether time is up for the liberal democrat party. Their meltdown is not over. This is not the low point. They still have hundreds of councillors to lose, and they will lose them.

[3rdRock]

Why did the Tories do so much better than expected?

Because the libdems did so much worse than expected and because of the "SNP factor".

In terms of votes, the tories didn't actually do better than expected. They only did better in terms of seats. Why was this?

Because of our unfair voting system, people have spent the last 30 years, consituency by constituency, working out how to vote tactically to avoid a tory government. This included a lot of people voting libdem where that was the best option, and those people never thought for one second that the libdems would prop up a tory government. But that's what they did, and that meant that millions of libdem voters had no choice but to abandon them, and the tactical element shattered as that libdem vote spread across labour, green, tory, UKIP and SNP.

This result is Nick Clegg's fault and I hope he rots in hell.

Why worry? We're ALL facing a low energy future which is bound to impact on our long term economic outlook and social adhesion.

Wouldn't it be great if the Tories got ALL of the blame for the forthcoming $h1t storm?

[Tarrel]

This has brought clearly into focus the ideaological differences between Scotland and England. A quick glance at the coloured map of constituencies says it all.

David Cameron and Nicola Sturgeon have some tricky questions to ponder:

Nicola Sturgeon: How to balance the reassurance she gave of no immediate referendum with the stark political differences that now exist north and south of the border. Is the unexpected Tory majority government the "appreciable change" that she said would justify a further referendum?

David Cameron: How to reach out to Scotland and start building a case for the union from a political platform which is so roundly rejected by so many Scots (both Yes and No leaning). I believe Cameron is a patriot and does actually care about the union (as opposed to, say, just being interested in the oil revenue).

The easy thing would be to put Scotland on the back-burner and enjoy the fact that his majority can push through policies no matter how loudly the SNP and other parties shout. I think this would be a huge mistake. The political awareness and engagement that has built in Scotland during the referendum campaign has not gone away. Ignoring Scotland could, at best, prompt an early 2nd referendum and, at worst, start a simmering resentment within Scotland that could boil over into real divisions and even violence.

Of course, business in Westminster doesn't just happen in the Commons chamber. Once the initial euphoria has subsided, one could forgive the SNP for wondering what, if anything, they have achieved in terms of real influence. In actual fact they are now clearly the third largest party and have access to committee and debating time that they didn't have before.

Interesting times.

[frank_begbie]

Why did the Tories do so much better than expected?

Because the libdems did so much worse than expected and because of the "SNP factor".

In terms of votes, the tories didn't actually do better than expected. They only did better in terms of seats. Why was this?

Because of our unfair voting system, people have spent the last 30 years, consituency by constituency, working out how to vote tactically to avoid a tory government. This included a lot of people voting libdem where that was the best option, and those people never thought for one second that the libdems would prop up a tory government. But that's what they did, and that meant that millions of libdem voters had no choice but to abandon them, and the tactical element shattered as that libdem vote spread across labour, green, tory, UKIP and SNP.

This result is Nick Clegg's fault and I hope he rots in hell.

Why worry? We're ALL facing a low energy future which is bound to impact on our long term economic outlook and social adhesion.

Wouldn't it be great if the Tories got ALL of the blame for the forthcoming $h1t storm?

Exactly!

Doesn't really matter who had won the election; the same shit is going to happen.

[emordnilap]

Doesn't really matter who had won the election; the same shit is going to happen.

And guess who'll be the ones to pay the most...