Humiliating Performance By U K I P In The London Mayoral Race

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2016/london

With 13 out of 14 results now in, UKIP can only manage 3.7% of the vote.

[bazwillrun]

and this is all youve got to worry about ?...sheesh what a sad little person you really are....look at your own has been circus party

[-SharonA-]

Thank Christ!!!!

[Gromit]

To be fair, it was always a 2 horse race and UKIP were only there to make up the numbers. They were never expected to do well.

Talking of humilation, your fellow Welsh men and Women have elected Neil Hamilton. How dare you come on here, have you no shame?

[naomi24]

Gromit, Mikey doesn't understand 'fair'.

[Jackdaw33]

Neil Hamilton won because the votes were not placed in the ballot box but stuffed in brown envelopes.

[vulcan42]

If you don't talk about it, it didn't happen. :o)

[jim360]

It's been a mixed night for Labour but really they should have done better against a divided Tory party.

But on the subject of bad days... The Conservatives were soundly trashed four years ago and made further losses in this round. More than Labour, even. Their second place in Scotland only looks good because it's unexpected, but still only patches up the truth that at the moment Scotland is a one-party nation with a couple of also-rans; the SNP won more votes than Labour and the Tories put together (at the constituency level; in party lists Lab+ Tory just barely edge ahead).

In Wales the Conservatives came third behind Plaid Cymru overall -- losing to a nationalist party in a country where nationalism really doesn't matter to most people.

In London, the Tories tried their hardest to drag Sadiq Khan's name through the biggest pile of s*** they could find, and he's come out clean on the other side over their man Zac.

And, across England, Conservatives are obliged to hide behind the old mantra of local elections being votes against the incumbent government in order to hide their poor performance. Non-party Labour have lost 24 councillors and one council, it is true. The Tories lost 33 overall so far; and starting from a massively lower total already at that.

It's been a bad day for Labour, but while the Tories point and laugh, they might do well to look at their own messy house. Neither of the two main parties comes out of yesterday with anything to celebrate much. Labour didn't implode, which is in itself remarkable, but despite the "circus party" of Labour being the main opposition, the Tories went backwards.

The only two parties to do well out of Thursday are the Lib Dems, for some reason, and UKIP. The latest round of elections have seen just another shift away from mainstream politics in general.

[naomi24]

Jim, //The only two parties to do well out of Thursday are the Lib Dems...//

I thought we'd agreed earlier that they'd done well to hang on. Hardly a success story - but who notices the odd bit of spin?

[Gromit]

jim360

Spot on.

[Jackdaw33]

Am I right in thinking that before yesterday the SNP had an overall majority in Scotland? Id so then they have gone backwards.

[jno]

how do you mean, "mainstream politics", jim? Are you talking in terms of votes overall being down, or more votes for minority parties?

[jim360]

When I posted earlier the Lib Dems had won only an extra eight seats. Now it's up to over an extra 34 out of 300-odd. Still a lot of lost ground to make up but in comparison to the other parties it's a pretty decent performance.

[Jackdaw33]

The LDs tend to do much better in local elections as they tend to focus on 'pavement politics'.

[vulcan42]

Who can argue with this piece of logic, Diane Abbott this morning.
I think we have done well to have done as well as we've done overall.

[-Talbot-]

Humiliating Performance By U K I P In The London Mayoral Race



You mean they haven't won?
Damn and I thought my pony on them at 1 zillion to 1 was money in the bank.

[jno]

a side-effect of all this is a by-electoin as Sadiq will be stepping down as MP

[Gromit]

Khan had quite a small majority of only 2,842 in Tooting.
So a close by-election could be on the cards. No doubt another one which Farage will chicken out of standing in.

[jim360]

"The LDs tend to do much better in local elections as they tend to focus on 'pavement politics'."

Yes, that's true Jackdaw, although last time out they had a very rough ride, and last year they were (unfairly in my opinion) wiped out, so I think I can be forgiven for feeling a little pleased to see them surviving and then some. I had thought that they would slip further back, but apparently not.

* * *
jno
"how do you mean, "mainstream politics", jim? Are you talking in terms of votes overall being down, or more votes for minority parties?"

I'm still waiting to find overall figures for voter numbers in England, so harder to say there. But it wouldn't be too surprising, right? Corbyn himself is pretty anti-mainstream, which is why he won, but in recent years I think we've seen things skew against the bigger parties not just here but all over the place. The Conservative Party has enjoyed six years of government but has spent most of it stood still in terms of vote share, while Labour has fallen backwards.

[Jackdaw33]

Also, I think that voters have a closer relationship with their local councillor than they do with their MP. I voted Labour yesterday, which normally I would have to be forced at gunpoint to do, because my local councillor is very hard-working and the Tory candidate, who is known to me, commands no respect. I cannot say more for fear of the libel laws. My vote was in no way an endorsement of Labour policies or Corbyn but purely for a councillor who has done a good job.

[Svejk]

What a laugh. It's like the twilight zone.