April 26Apr 26 51 minutes ago, Liam S said:Labour cannot rely on their history anymore. You have to separate timeframes. I donโt really care what a party did 100 years ago. Recent history Labour have been a non stop disappointment continually betraying the things and people theyโre supposed to represent. Some people will say Iโm going to be loyal or better than right wing alternatives and accept the betrayal but many will not and I certainly will not. Demand better or you wonโt get itDid you demand better from the last Tory government or were you happy to accept their efforts? Honestly, Iโm really interested to hear.
April 26Apr 26 4 hours ago, Liam S said:Labour cannot rely on their history anymore. You have to separate timeframes. I donโt really care what a party did 100 years ago. Recent history Labour have been a non stop disappointment continually betraying the things and people theyโre supposed to represent. Some people will say Iโm going to be loyal or better than right wing alternatives and accept the betrayal but many will not and I certainly will not. Demand better or you wonโt get itClock twice a day etc.I'm in England until the elections and my mum received literature from the Greens and Reform. The Green leaflet was classic local election material about specific local bugbears from the ward's candidate. The Reform leaflet was not the type of campaigning I've seen be posted for local elections - the only person on the leaflet was Farage rather than anyone local, and it was for Derbyshire as a whole. The message was even more generic than that - most likely the same being sent to other councils in England with the county name altered. It mentioned issues that county councils do have control over like potholes alongside mass immigration which anyone reading this will know is not these elections' remit. Fair enough if you want to stamp down your (racist) values I guess.While I'm not pushing the fetishisation of everything in politics having to be rooted in localism, I'll be very interested if we get councils turning Reform and how they are run by a party that's very centralised/national, and has no local governent history. Even competent administrations are having difficulty keeping councils afloat at the moment at the moment.Demographically, Derbyshire is not the most nativist or populist-inclined part of the country but it's a very swingy county with 9 flips from the Tories in 2024 to make all 11 MPs Labour (I think one of a handful of shire counties alongside South Yorkshire and Northumberland to have managed that?), whereas the 2021 election returned a huge Tory majority in the county council. Edited April 26Apr 26 by Harve
April 26Apr 26 12 hours ago, Iz ๐ said:Actually yeah mayoral, to go back to one of the more likely Reform victories that Rooney posted way up the thread, it's likely that Reform will win two mayors in Lincolnshire and Hull. Let's take a look at those candidates.In Lincolnshire, they've drafted Andrea Jenkyns (after a kerfuffle about her residency criteria), who you may remember for being one of the architects of Brexit, a low-level but enthusiastic one, and a key member of the Johnson (to the point she gave a middle finger to crowds as she went to his resignation) and Truss governments. Not exactly a break from the Tories and she lives outside the area, but then Lincolnshire is a pretty conservative area anyway. Sure.In Hull it's even worse, the Reform candidate is Luke Campbell, a local lad who's known for being a boxer and Olympic medalist primarily. Of course that means people from the area will vote for him because they know of him and like him. Does he have any political experience? No, so probably nothing wrong to put him in a devolved mayoral position at first asking, right? He seems to have missed all his hustings appointments, so that's not a good sign. Something Reform clearly have asked him to do, because him speaking would probably worsen his chances.Jenkyns also famously ousted Ed Balls in the 2015 election!
April 26Apr 26 6 hours ago, Liam S said:Labour cannot rely on their history anymore. You have to separate timeframes. I donโt really care what a party did 100 years ago. Recent history Labour have been a non stop disappointment continually betraying the things and people theyโre supposed to represent. Some people will say Iโm going to be loyal or better than right wing alternatives and accept the betrayal but many will not and I certainly will not. Demand better or you wonโt get itSo you arenโt thankful for free health care at the point of need? A cradle to grave welfare system, housing for all people who canโt help themselves? Pretty thankless of you ask me mate. The country is the way it is in the 21st century due to left wing movements trying with every fibre to take power away from the powerful and give it to the least powerful. Have some perspective!
May 1May 1 Author Anyone here voted? I feel like not too many people here live in areas with an election on given how it's all rural councils.PoliticsUKPolitics UK 2025 Local Election Predictions: Interactive...Explore ward-by-ward projections in Politics UK's 2025 local election mapInteresting estimated visualiser for the results.Nothing too interesting going on during the night, alongside the Westminster Runcorn results, just a few councils and mayorships, most of the results are announced during the day tomorrow. Not entirely sure on the methodology, but an expectation setter. Big story definitely the Conservatives likely getting destroyed, quite literally, left, right and centre. Any councils they hold on to will be a victory.
May 1May 1 Author also BritainElects. Rather more bearish on Reform's chances and way better comparatively for Labour - though the Politics UK one seems to have a few blindspots, like even at their worst I don't see Labour losing every single Doncaster Council seat, though as it's a metro council there are multiple councillors per ward which may be obscured on that map.
May 1May 1 4 hours ago, Iz ๐ said:also BritainElects. Rather more bearish on Reform's chances and way better comparatively for Labour - though the Politics UK one seems to have a few blindspots, like even at their worst I don't see Labour losing every single Doncaster Council seat, though as it's a metro council there are multiple councillors per ward which may be obscured on that map.If that happens, I expect the broadcasters to devote roughly 23 seconds to Lib Dem gains and the whole of the rest of the programme to Farage's fascists.
May 1May 1 Author I do find it impossible to watch any political correspondents in the media talk about 'and let's turn to the biggest question of the night, will Reform be winning real power' without adding on at the end 'we're certainly doing our best to make sure that's the case'. Complete self-fulfilling prophecy given how bullshit their rhetoric is.
May 1May 1 On 26/04/2025 at 22:49, Steve201 said:So you arenโt thankful for free health care at the point of need? A cradle to grave welfare system, housing for all people who canโt help themselves? Pretty thankless of you ask me mate. The country is the way it is in the 21st century due to left wing movements trying with every fibre to take power away from the powerful and give it to the least powerful. Have some perspective!But that would involve having some perspective and not being a faux-centrist who only ever criticises non-rightwing parties.16 minutes ago, Iz ๐ said:I do find it impossible to watch any political correspondents in the media talk about 'and let's turn to the biggest question of the night, will Reform be winning real power' without adding on at the end 'we're certainly doing our best to make sure that's the case'. Complete self-fulfilling prophecy given how bullshit their rhetoric is.Honestly, it's absolute bullshit. Nobody seems to realise that YOU ARE THE ADULTS IN THE ROOM AND YOU SET THE AGENDA.
May 1May 1 I'll give this to Reform, they have good branding and know how to play the game. They give the media what they want, and you bet your bottom dollar behind the scenes Farage is throwing his money about and lobbying to get favourable coverage. That's the one thing they have bang on, that the old rules of engagement don't exist any more.Most of the other parties are playing to represent themselves the best and use their policies and candidates to try and sway voters their way; Reform (and other Farage outfits) have always played to win by hook or by crook, in the full knowledge that this is rewarded by the media and there's no strict rules against it in the country or in Parliament.
May 1May 1 The record of the parties that preceded Reform is not good, The BNP and UKIP both won council seats. Almost all of those councillors lost their seats four years later because they proved themselves to be clueless loons. Unfortunately for some people, Reform might get the chance to show their incompetence by running councils or holding mayoralties.
May 1May 1 Learning a lot from the bbc results coverage so far. That the English Democrats rep are the mayor in Doncaster (think I may have heard @Brett-Butler mention that in one of these threads previously!!Also, Laura Keunsberg asking Labour to stop using the 14 Years arguement as theyโve been in power 10 months now without any hint of irony that they let the tories talk like this for 6 years after the 2010 election. Edited May 2May 2 by Steve201
May 2May 2 Author Overnight results... Reform leading in councillors won, including some good performances in Northumberland, but as previously discussed all the councils that were due to declare overnight were expected to be good for them. We'll see other councils come through in the rest of the day.Andrea Jenkyns is the new mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, lol good luck all the people living under her now. Labour hold 3 other mayorships including the closely contested West Of England, though their vote share has dropped and Reform is snapping at their heels in all three - the sooner the government returns mayoral elections to the supplementary vote system the better, they should never have been made FPTP.
May 2May 2 Who knew after three to six months of the media saying "wow, looks like Reform are making waves as a great new option to vote for! Let's talk lots about reasons people like them and never question their leaders in detail on their policies and how they're going to make them happen!" a large group of people took away the message 'you may as well vote for Reform, they're a good alternative and there's nothing alarming in their policies otherwise the news would've talked about it'Just like how a plurality of the public oppose(d) gay people being treated with respect and dignity while the media monopoly treated them as perverts and paedophiles trying to corrupt society and harm your children, and then switched over to a live & let live attitude as soon as they dropped that angle. People believe what they're told by authority.
May 2May 2 Thank god we didnโt elect Reform in our Mayor election.I work very near a Reform bait housing estate where a LOT my regulars are thick enough to be drawn in. Someone I used to work with genuinely thought that she was voting for Nigel Farage to be Prime Minister, which says it all about the average Reform voter.
May 2May 2 I thought it would be worse in Runcorn to be honest. Hopefully this is a wake up for Labour. As much as I think it was the right move, the WFH policy has been a disaster for them in the short term.Like everyone says though, really looking forward to everyone experiencing Reform who want to give everything but have no way to fund or pay it as well as slashing the NHS. Turkeys voting for Christmas springs to mind.
May 2May 2 From the early results, looks like Nottinghamshire will be Reform with a majority, if not very close. Destroying the Ashfield Independents on the three seats declared there.
Create an account or sign in to comment