The only seat change in Reading was Labour losing one seat to the Greens. So at least that's one nice result if I don't look outside my own local borders.

 

I voted Labour more out of habit than anything else (I wasn't feeling particularly engaged with this set of elections, I kind of forgot they were even happening until like a day or two before). Had forgotten that the incumbent in my ward was a Lib Dem (the only one in Reading) with the Tories being their competition and Labour in a distant third. If I'd remembered that I'd have voted Lib Dem purely for the fact it'd be the first time I have literally ever voted for the winning side in an election. Lol ~

 

The Hartlepool result is pretty shocking but honestly it feels like Labour weren't even trying to win it. They ran a former MP who already lost his old seat in 2019 and was a Remainer in a massively Leave voting seat. Galaxy brain.

Doesn’t mean much but here’s the seat predictions if today’s totals were a GE result:

 

BBC House of Commons projection based on local election results

CON: 327 (-38)

LAB: 226 (+23)

LDM: 24 (+13)

OTH: 73 (+2)

 

Quite the fall from the 80 seat majority!

 

See, this is reason to hope-ish. The Tory majority isn't that solid, and everything did kinda go right for this election for them, and apparently they can get away with anything, they'll be feeling invincible. Might be their downfall.

Probably doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things but my constituency voted out Conservatives in favour of Greens for the two council seats ! Quite impressive given it is always overwhelmingly Conservative come General Election season.

See, this is reason to hope-ish. The Tory majority isn't that solid, and everything did kinda go right for this election for them, and apparently they can get away with anything, they'll be feeling invincible. Might be their downfall.

 

I think people also need to take into account that local elections seldom reflect what happens during a general election. Usually due to turnout being a lot lower in local elections.

The problem with that analysis which is theoretically true is that they usually produce results which give the government a kick up the arse but they have shown the 2019 brexit effect solidifying at council level in England then the pandemic has effected things in terms of rewarding the incumbent.

 

Whereas Labour in England has fallen backward not shown their are close to government.

 

The results could mean a GE will be more likely in early 2024 when Boris feels he has the best chance of winning.

Burnham returned at 67% of first prefs. Up 4% vs his first term

Future PM!

Future PM!

 

I'd say so. Labour leader after the disastrous Starmer.

I'd say so. Labour leader after the disastrous Starmer.

 

It's not actually that bad a performance though. Seems they are making ground in some of the liberal territories and cities but really struggling to win back some key places in the North, especially in towns.

 

I do agree Burnham is a potential future leader of the Party. I think his general image would help, Starmer suffers a bit too much from middle-class Toff, which is ironic really when that's exactly what Boris is.

Thing is Burnham is fairly middle class to but not a toff!!

Thing is Burnham is fairly middle class to but not a toff!!

 

Of course he is, most politicians are. But at least he's got the experience both in Liverpool and Manchester. He's good at putting local issues to the forefront, which seems to be what a lot of the North really want rather than some generic Party line. So maybe he might push more avenues of devolution? Seems to be the way the country is going at the moment.

Yeh makes sense but it’ll just lead to tug of wars between Westminster and the mayoralty

The Tories have suffered heavy losses in many parts of Southern England. If these results had been declared first, the narrative would have been very different.

The loss of West of England mayoralty is as big a news story as Tees Valley and West Mids results but the Tory media will ensure it gets less attention than those 🙄

The Tories have suffered heavy losses in many parts of Southern England. If these results had been declared first, the narrative would have been very different.

 

It looks like there really is a great realignment. The north will fall to serfdom to the evil Tories and become their safe seats and the south will move into the progressive Labour movement.

My ward down here in Wiltshire was held by the Lib Dems but they did manage to take two more seats from the Conservatives in the surrounding area. Morley was, as usual, won by the Morley Independents.

The Tories have suffered heavy losses in many parts of Southern England. If these results had been declared first, the narrative would have been very different.

 

Indeed

It looks like there really is a great realignment. The north will fall to serfdom to the evil Tories and become their safe seats and the south will move into the progressive Labour movement.

 

Problem with that is there isn’t much stability in those voters, outside of London the south has small towns and middle class home owners who will shift Tory depending on the situation. The northern seats were culturally a part of the trade Union and heavy industry which is where the Labour movement began!

It looks like there really is a great realignment. The north will fall to serfdom to the evil Tories and become their safe seats and the south will move into the progressive Labour movement.

Erm, did I say all those losses were to Labour? Many of them were to the Lib Dems and Greens.

Perhaps Iz or Jacob could explain this one. The worst results for the Lib Dems (as far as I've seen) were in Cornwall where they suffered heavy losses. As fishing is important there and the fishing industry has been shafted in Johnson's deal, I might have expected tohe Tories to do badly but they haven't. Why?