June 18, 20214 yr Zero coverage of this on the homepage of bbc News. Hartlepool however was the lead story for like a week This only appears when you click into the UK. Unless of course the main page is configured differently for international viewers but they’ve never buried a Tory gain like this… It's the default biggest story when I open up the BBC News homepage. It is also the main story when I open the BBC Homepage as well.
June 18, 20214 yr I’ve got the Iranian election as the lead off story. It’s only when I hit the UK tab that I see this story at all. Wasn’t the case for Hartlepool
June 18, 20214 yr Yeah it's the lead story on the BBC News, disappointing there was a lack of coverage in the way Hartlepool generated or evern Batley is generating now. I guess people suspected it was a very safe seat and there was no chance of an upset, how wrong. This is great news though, reading between the lines it does appear once again as local issues have played a huge part in people's voting. Sounds like a lot of it is to do with the Housing Bill and HS2. Totally agree this is where the Tories are going to foot them in to foot big time.
June 18, 20214 yr Looks like the Lib Dems will have to upgrade their parliamentary offices from a phone box to a small caravan. Definitely got this prediction wrong, another one to add to the list. I imagine there were a lot of local factors in play here - The Great Realignment cuts both ways. Apparently labours 1.6% of the vote was the same as the number of people in their constituency party
June 18, 20214 yr Apparently labours 1.6% of the vote was the same as the number of people in their constituency party 600 members and 622 votes!
June 18, 20214 yr I used to live in suburban Chesham back in the mid-60's, went to Primary School there. When I last went back in the 90's or early 00's nothing had changed. So that'll be a lesson to the Tories about HS2 and Nimbyism in rural areas. It's also possible that a few people were bothered by the 140,000 Covid deaths, though granted large numbers of folk would rather huge numbers of people die rather than them having to wear a face mask while shopping, or have a jab, even if they work in care homes for the vulnerable.... All those UKIP votes were up for grabs, so....they were never going to vote Labour, and potential Labour voters saw the writing on the wall with LibDem local election successes and voted tactically now labour doesn't appear to do anything much except in-fight and the Tories literally get away with killing off a fair part of the population through incompetence and callousness. Based on D. Cummings viewpoint, of course. And facts.
June 18, 20214 yr I'd hope some of the swing was due to the naked ugly Tory populism in a Remain constituency.
June 18, 20214 yr Minister for propaganda Laura Kuenssberg tweeted last night that the Tories were not worried about the possibility of losing the seat. She clearly didn't get permission from her boss at Number Ten to speak to anyone from the Lib Dems who might have given a different view. God she needs to be axed. With thr BBTory in thr Tories' pockets, we are basically a one party, authoritarian state with a thin veneer of democracy.
June 18, 20214 yr Author Some of the comments from Tories on the BBC website and elsewhere are extraordinary. The Lib Dem candidate (now MP) is being criticised for opposing HS2 despite the fact that Lib Dem policy is in favour. They overlook the fact that the previous Tory MP also opposed HS2, as did the Tory byelection candidate, while national Tory policy is in favour. An MP's duty to their constituents should override loyalty to their party. That's what Cheryl Gillan did and that is what the two leading byelection candidates pledged to do.
June 18, 20214 yr Some of the comments from Tories on the BBC website and elsewhere are extraordinary. The Lib Dem candidate (now MP) is being criticised for opposing HS2 despite the fact that Lib Dem policy is in favour. They overlook the fact that the previous Tory MP also opposed HS2, as did the Tory byelection candidate, while national Tory policy is in favour. An MP's duty to their constituents should override loyalty to their party. That's what Cheryl Gillan did and that is what the two leading byelection candidates pledged to do. well who wouldnt want to dig up vast areas of rural England at huge expense so City workers (currently stuck home-working) who already have regular fast train routes can knock 10 minutes off travelling time to London to get to work :teresa: Now, for a fraction of the price maybe folk in the South West could get half an hour knocked off travelling time on upgraded existing routes. Pretty sure people would be in favour. This is in no way due to me pissed at how long it takes to get to London suburbs on the train from Poole, including travel time at either end to destinations when there is no free off-road parking anymore near stations :teresa: While I can get door to door in under 2 hours by car, and it remains 4 hours by public transport and at a third the cost more, there is zero chance of me using trains again. Plus, Covid...
June 18, 20214 yr Yeah it's the lead story on the BBC News, disappointing there was a lack of coverage in the way Hartlepool generated or evern Batley is generating now. I guess people suspected it was a very safe seat and there was no chance of an upset, how wrong. This is great news though, reading between the lines it does appear once again as local issues have played a huge part in people's voting. Sounds like a lot of it is to do with the Housing Bill and HS2. Totally agree this is where the Tories are going to foot them in to foot big time. I wonder also is it possible that the anti lockdown-ers may have helped the Lib Dems win it too perhaps....I dislike them of course but if they have helped the Lib Dems win thats one positive I suppose Edited June 19, 20214 yr by sn👠ke
June 19, 20214 yr @1406004486313844745 Hopefully the poll is way off for when the election happens. :(
June 19, 20214 yr Author @1405820277775290370 This is so Cringe 😬😬😬 It was incredibly naff but clearly taking the p1ss out of Johnson's similar stunt in the election. The Open Democracy website has one of the most bonkers assessments of a byelection result you will ever see, The writer claims that the Lib Dems' tactic of delivering lots of leaflets was a form of voter suppression. For some reason he fails to explain, it only worked on Tories as they showed their displeasure with the Lib Dems by staying at home :blink:
June 20, 20214 yr Author Part of the Tories' campaigning message in Hartlepool was that their town would get some much-needed funding if they elected a Tory MP. They made it pretty clear that any requests for funding would be ignored if they came from a Labour MP. Sunak wrote to voters in Chesham saying something very similar and now the (heavily defeated) Tory candidate has repeated the message. There used to be an assumption that this sort of thing just didn't happen in UK politics. Now, the Tories are not only doing it but also doing it out in the open yet still it gets ignored.
June 20, 20214 yr Part of the Tories' campaigning message in Hartlepool was that their town would get some much-needed funding if they elected a Tory MP. They made it pretty clear that any requests for funding would be ignored if they came from a Labour MP. Sunak wrote to voters in Chesham saying something very similar and now the (heavily defeated) Tory candidate has repeated the message. There used to be an assumption that this sort of thing just didn't happen in UK politics. Now, the Tories are not only doing it but also doing it out in the open yet still it gets ignored. They'll do it in Batley and Spen too, yet people who hate the Tories won't vote for Labour as they're too proud. Only way we're getting this Government out is by some form of Progressive Alliance.
June 21, 20214 yr The lesson for by-elections if anything from Chesham has got to be that when you take voters for granted, they might just find somewhere else to go. The same is going to happen in Batley and it'll come to an opportunistic and vote-chasing Labour Party who will deserve the loss - this time not because they chose the wrong candidate (they chose perhaps the best and that's why a loss will lie squarely as the fault of the national party), but because the party itself just has no vision. By-elections are the time to make this dissatisfaction known and it looks like the British Muslim community is poised to do just that. A progressive alliance sounds good on paper but there's a whole host of logistical issues, takes a lot of voters for granted just from its nature and an explicit anti-Tory message probably isn't the most effective.
June 21, 20214 yr For a Progressive Alliance to work Labour would need a hell lot more inspiring Leader than Starmer.
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