How do you think the GE will turn out?

ddraver

Radio 4 calling a Conservative majority of 6 (10 if you don't count the Sinn Fein seats that won't take their seats).

I thought they'd be the bigger party but i never saw that coming.

ballysmate

There's talk of Miliband resigning as leader. Please God, no! Please stay.

mamba80

Ballysmate wrote:

There's talk of Miliband resigning as leader. Please God, no! Please stay.

yes he lost it for me when he had that tombstone with his pledges on.

i bet Clegg wishes he could turn back time and not go into coalition with the Tories

sungod

ddraver wrote:

Radio 4 calling a Conservative majority of 6 (10 if you don't count the Sinn Fein seats that won't take their seats).

I thought they'd be the bigger party but i never saw that coming.

the alternatives were too awful to contemplate, even my mum's soppy fatcats voted tory

mfin

Ballysmate wrote:

There's talk of Miliband resigning as leader. Please God, no! Please stay.

Surely the fear of labour's economic plans have played a huge part in what's happened/happening. But, some people do unfortunately vote based on leader's personality and I haven't heard of anyone first hand that does not think Ed Miliband comes across as a bloody idiot, and that also must have played a huge part. Most people with an opinion seem to agree Labour had given themselves a huge handicap by choosing Ed over his brother, it was obvious at the time and at every moment since.

anthdci

Absolute disaster, time to start shopping round for private healthcare insurance and saving for my unborn children's education. People have been believe the tory's shit about the economy, and now with scotland voting for the SNP we will only have Tory's forever.

I really dont see how 10million people can look at them and think they have been doing a good job.

ballysmate

mamba80 wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

There's talk of Miliband resigning as leader. Please God, no! Please stay.

yes he lost it for me when he had that tombstone with his pledges on.

i bet Clegg wishes he could turn back time and not go into coalition with the Tories

I have a respect for Clegg for doing the right thing although he knew it would be unpopular.
As regards this result, I think people looked at Labour and in particular Miliband and Balls and realised that a vote for them would lead to the abyss.

sloppyschleckonds

Can Nicola Sturgeon still lock the Tories out of Downing Street?

Asking for a friend.

thegreatdivide

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Can Nicola Sturgeon still lock the Tories out of Downing Street?

Asking for a friend.

Not her fault. She did her bit and then some. Cameron's politics of fear won over that shower of sh*te Labour. We're just looking after our own now.

finchy

anthdci wrote:

People have been believe the tory's shoot about the economy

The problem is that Labour never really went on the attack over the economy. They had plenty of ammunition, not to establish themselves as the party of economic competence, but to neutralise that particular Tory weapon and then fight the election based on public services.

I get a bit tired of saying the same thing, but the Tories supported the same policies which landed us in this mess, George Osborne wanted us to be more like the Irish and when the Tories got into office in 2010, economic growth actually fell and didn't recover for more than a year. The fact that they can get away with claiming to be the party of economic competence is due to Labour's timidity and a media which is quite happy for a system which favours their owners and advertisers to be perpetuated.

Labour just did not do anything to win the election.

Diamant49

I think we are looking at the abyss now - an english only party with a majority of seats, but which the vast majority of the population (around 67%, I think) voted against. Ok, 69% voted against Labour, but what sort of crap electoral system do we have that calls a result like this democratic? I have never managed to vote for anyone who got elected to Westminster, and I can live with that - but I find it hard to stomach the overall result and the power that is vested in one party by such a small minority. This is a hangover from the 19th C ruling elite splitting things two ways - democracy only arrived when everyone could vote, but the system itself is rubbish.

I think Cameron might actually be happy enough to see the UK break up, after all he has no electoral mandate outside England - but we surely need urgent reform, with a proper federal system and separate English assembly or even regional assemblies - with Westminster as a UK parliment and NOT an English one that the others can attend when the English let them. Otherwise it will soon be goodbye UK (especially if we end up pulling out of the EU).

Have to say, I have never been more depressed by an election, even during the Tatcher era (which was much more middle-of-the-road than this shower).

secretsam

Diamant49 wrote:

Have to say, I have never been more depressed by an election, even during the Thatcher era (which was much more middle-of-the-road than this shower).

My feelings exactly. I could weep. Or move to Scotland.

Labour's spineless surrender and failure to go on the offensive over the economy sickens me.

This is even worse than 1987, when we were faced with 4 more years of that woman and her evil acolytes.

Diamant49

[/quote]

The problem is that Labour never really went on the attack over the economy. They had plenty of ammunition, not to establish themselves as the party of economic competence, but to neutralise that particular Tory weapon and then fight the election based on public services.

I get a bit tired of saying the same thing, but the Tories supported the same policies which landed us in this mess, George Osborne wanted us to be more like the Irish and when the Tories got into office in 2010, economic growth actually fell and didn't recover for more than a year. The fact that they can get away with claiming to be the party of economic competence is due to Labour's timidity and a media which is quite happy for a system which favours their owners and advertisers to be perpetuated.

Labour just did not do anything to win the election.[/quote]

Have to agree with this, was listening to a commentator saying that Labour had been rejected in England as the anti-austerity party, in reference I think to the view that SNP won a lot of votes on an anti-austerity ticket. Have to say I must have slept through that one, all Labour presented was austerity, but a little bit slower than the Tories. They spent too much time on the defensive, I think - but I am glad to see Ed Balls go, really couldn't stomach him at all.

laurentian

Here are some interesting things I have learned this morning:

1) Even if all the seats won by SNP were still Labour, the Conservatives would still have the majority.

2) Tories have had their best result in Wales in 30 years

3) In a PR situation, UKIP would have twice as many seats as the SNP.

Strange days . . .

Pross

UKIP - the biggest argument for not switching to proportional representation. If 10% of the electorate are imbeciles do we really want them represented?

mamba80

Labour did badly because they had a v poor leader, he just did not inspire confidence and neither did Balls, like it or not, people vote for the personal and leadership qualities of the political parties, if you dont agree, how many people do you know who read each parties manifesto's before voting?

Thatcher and Blair, both very successful party leaders, had the personalities that inspired their followers and even their opponents - Nicola Surgeon has the same qualities, were she the labour leader, labour would have had a landslide.

ddraver

I think Rick and I are the only people that voted for them in the end but this did make me giggle

With 23 consituencies still to be counted, we calculate that the Lib Dems have lost 334 deposits - or £167,000.

In fact, with all that money, they could have put 36 students through university for a year (on the current fees), or 110 under the one before they came to power.

mfin

Farage doesn't get his seat

ddraver

Farage loses Mwa ha!

(Al Murray gets 318 :P )

sungod

mfin wrote:

Farage doesn't get his seat

champagne time!

mr_goo

Fantastic to see Ed Balls 'Up' lose his seat. But this tempered with fact that his wife could end up being leader of Labour and she will appoint him to shadow chancellor on back of him standing in Doncaster by-election when Ed Miliband resigns.

crispybug2

Bye bye Nigel !!

dabber

Bye bye Clegg

dabber

Bye bye Miliband.....

The night of the long knives!

cc78

Clegg's resignation speech was a well-delivered and noble call for his party to retain its core liberal values... pity he completely abandoned those principles 5 years ago, and he's now paying the price for that crass stupidity.

secretsam

cc78 wrote:

Clegg's resignation speech was a well-delivered and noble call for his party to retain its core liberal values... pity he completely abandoned those principles 5 years ago, and he's now paying the price for that crass stupidity.

+1 - but I'd add ego to the stupidity comment.

slowmart

The lib dems have paid harsh price for their alliance with the Tories but the responsibility sits squarely on their own shoulders. Why did their electoral support disappear? No doubt the following inquests will find various trigger points for their diminishing electoral currency.


Good riddance to the two inept Ed's. To call Miliband a leader should have invoked an investigation under the trade descriptions act and past soundbites he had no substantive policies to deliver the various pledges.


Farage is off into the wilderness but he's a survivor so unfortunately we haven't seen the last of him or his policies driven by fear and loathing.


As for Nick, best of a bad bunch and a sad indictment of British politics today as is Farage who found a resonance within the electorate........


Guido Fawkes had the right idea....

mr_goo

I wouldn't feel sorry for Nick 'The Gimp' Clegg if I were you. His game plan I am sure was to always return to Brussels in some high powered un-elected position. I am sure that his past 5 years and previous will ensure he is a 'shoe in'.

mr_goo

Best image of the election by far is Al Murray's reaction to the Tory win.

mfin

Farage and Ukip should have sold their immigration muck as 'all we want to do is adopt the Australian points system'. Not that I agree with it but that should have been the rough sound bite because a lot more people can digest that (because Australia is a country we largely respect) instead of banging the drum with empty and hugely debatable crap and false reasoning. ...It doesn't matter anyway as they would not get anywhere.

The Ukip 4 million votes I find more concerning and attention drawing than the scale of the Lib Dem hammering.

The labour party are out of touch, they chose an unelectable berk to head their party, unbelievable. It goes to show how out of touch politicians are...