Major Clanger's Election Roundup

[major_clanger]

Overall: What a mess. Not just a hung Parliament, but one where there isn't even an obvious solid coalition. My own bet now is that Labour and the LibDems stand back to allow Cameron to form a minority government, wait as he introduces austerity measures that in all honesty any incoming government would have had to adopt, then force a vote of no confidence and a fresh election once the Tories' popularity rating falls through the floor. That may be a cynical view but I think it's also a realistic one.

Worst news: Dr Evan Harris losing Oxford West and Abingdon by a sliver. Dr Harris - informally dubbed the Member for Scientific Evidence-based Policy Making within the UK Skeptic movement - was a tower of support during the Simon Singh libel trial and one of the most trenchant Parliamentary critics of the growing influence of pseudoscience into public policy.

Best News: George Galloway not only not winning in my constituency but actually getting fewer votes than the previous (and far less well-known) Respect candidate did in 2005. I'll leave you to form your own views on why he decided to stand in a different constituency this time around instead of fighting Bethnal Green and Bow again. I know there are people who read this who have time for him, but personally I find him one of the most odious individuals in British politics, and I hope he now departs into well-deserved obscurity.

What Clangers think of elections.

Comments

[dorispossum.livejournal.com]

am inclined to agree with your analysis of what Labour and Libdem stragegy OUGHT to be - though the desire to cling to/get a taste of power is heady stuff. will be exciting to see what transpires.

Am also delighted to see Galloway and his totalitarian ilk resoundingly rejected. Likewise to see Griffin soundly humiliated in Barking and Dagenham in an INCREASED Labour majority - which implies the constituents wanted to make a point. (Family honour at stake in that one, so particularly relieved!). Also happy to see the Greens get a seat at last.

Sad to find the Libdems (who i voted for nationally, but despise locally) have increased their grip on our city council. :(

[quercus.livejournal.com]

Griffin humiliated?

Apart from the seeming physiological impossibility of him ever reacting as "humiliated", that result scared the bejeesus out of me. That's not the drubbing he deserves, it's far too much like him getting onto the first rung in a PR system.

[dorispossum.livejournal.com]

14% in an area they'd marketed as their perfectly receptive constituency looks pretty humiliating to me. :)

i saw their previous alias (ational front) poll bigger in the 70s in more places, and still disappear into deserved obscurity. not to mention council seats in 80s and even now. I don't doubt PR will enable the election of some villains and nutters - but a token presence doesn't mean power.