Zac Loses Richmond By-Election

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38178486

Massive loss for the Tory Party. Well done LibDems. Good result for the STAY campaign as well.

I'm off back to bed now !

[New Judge]

I won't get too involved with this because it is somewhat of a non-event. However, bear this in mind; Richmond Park (it is said, though nobody knows for sure because constituency results were not published) voted to Remain. It is estimated (though nobody knows for sure because constituency results were not published) that more than 400 constituencies voted to Leave.

The good people of Richmond clearly saw a chance to stuff it to the Tories because they don't like the idea of Brexit. The price they have paid for this is electing an MP from a party who will have no say whatsoever in any aspect of Brexit, whose principles will doubtless be poles apart from many of the Richmond electorate, and whose MPs could meet in a phone box. I doubt many voters in the 400 constituencies who voted to Leave will be so foolish.

[237SJ]

Richmond has been Lib Dem for years. It`s not really a surprise that they have reverted back.

[Peter Pedant]

// Look at the arithmetic involved......the Libdems have overturned a 23k majority....almost unheard of. //

1962 By election at Orpington won by eric lubbock ( later hereditary Lord Avebury) - majority only about 8000

yeah OK it was fifty five years ago and 3T and YMF are only little

[Gromit]

// electing an MP from a party who will have no say whatsoever in any aspect of Brexit //

Which is the same for ALL parliamentarians except for a couple of cabinet ministers apparently. If Goldsmith had been elected, he wouldn't have had any say either.

[Jackdaw33]

This was not an anti-Tory vote, it was an anti-Goldsmith vote.

[jim360]

NJ, you may be right that this is a non-event, but hey, we've had precious little to celebrate in 2016 if we were anti-Trump and anti Brexit, so you may as well allow us this one thing...

It could be a herald of things to come -- it probably won't be, though, in part because the election timetable probably means that we'll be out of the EU before a pro-EU party can be voted in.

[ichkeria]

"a party who will have no say whatsoever in any aspect of Brexit, whose principles will doubtless be poles apart from many of the Richmond electorate, and whose MPs could meet in a phone box."

Oh come on NJ, have you had a hard week?
Thanks to the courts, of course, MPs WILL have a say in aspects of Brexit, the Lib Dems as much as anyone else. Despite the PM's attempts to keep everything behind closed doors. As for the principles of the party not being those of the people of Richmond Park, I think that is precisely what they are, in fact and, more than Brexit even, that is the key behind the result.

[Jackdaw33]

Good point, jimbo!

[New Judge]

"...we've had precious little to celebrate in 2016 if we were anti-Trump and anti Brexit, so you may as well allow us this one thing..."

Fair enough, Jim. I'm out :-)

[mikey4444]

There is another by-election coming up next Thursday, the 8th, in Sleaford and North Hykeham.

Funnily enough, this one is also caused by the resignation of the sitting Tory MP, a Mr Stephen Phillips. This will be the 3rd resignation from the Tory Party this year.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, To lose one MP may be regarded as a misfortune;
To lose three looks like carelessness"

[anneasquith]

It's always good news to keep politicians on their toes, don't get too comfy in your position. :-)

[Jackdaw33]

As I have said above, next week's by-election will be a truer test of public opinion. The Tories have a new candidate.

[jim360]

I think the Lib Dems specifically targeted Richmond, whereas I've seen little from them about the Sleaford election, so I suspect it was heavily tactical to go for a seat with a Leave-voting candidate in a Remain-voting constituency. Not sure they care enough about Sleaford to stand a chance there -- so it's likely to be a fight between Tory and UKIP. I suppose, in turn, this hammers home the "it's only a by-election, not the beginning of the end of Brexit" message.

[ichkeria]

Next week is a fight between UKIP and Labour for second place.
Probably.

[Togo]

Perhaps the result for the Warwick by-election yesterday are a better yardstick to judge our threatened grip on democracy by.

[Jackdaw33]

Got a link for that, Togo?

[webbo3]

https://www.facebook.com/fawkespage/videos/791599077644766/

[Hopkirk]

Massive loss for the Tory party? How come, since they didn't field a candidate?
Massive loss for Labour though, losing their deposit.

[ichkeria]

Erm, big loss actually. Lib Dem gain from Conservative. And majority down by 2...

[Togo]

http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/results-are-in-for-warwick-by-election-1-7709003

Here you go Jackdaw. Another thought after this weekend's votes in Italy and Austria perhaps there will be no need to conduct Brexit "negotiations". Perhaps we started a landslide and there will eventually no one to negotiate with from the pyramid scheme. We may even better served to deliberately cause delays. Haha what a delicious thought.