UK Election

[Sean]

So it sounds like you folks have quite a tight race going on over there. I'm ashamed to admit that I've heard very little about it what with all of our oil spills, flooding, attempted terrorist attacks, etc going on over here. So who's who and what's what? Who do you like?

[Deckard]

Huge queues of voters being turned away unable to vote all over the country - running out of ballot papers, electoral officials misunderstanding the rules about when to turn people away, people turning up and finding the registration lists are out of date and don't include them.... all pretty damning stuff. Expect legal challenges in the days ahead.

And to think we observe other countrys' elections.

Overall the campaign has been an exciting one, with no clear winner, even now. Most extraordinary - and welcome - was the surge of the third party, the Liberal Democrats, who - thanks to their leader Nick Clegg being included in the first ever televised leaders debates in this country - turned what was a two-horse race into a three-horse one. At one point they polled first position.

However, exit polls conducted a little while ago tonight seem to suggest their success may have evaporated, and if anything, they may even end up with a lower number of seats than they achieved in 2005. It'll be hugely disappointing if that's the case, not least because they have been pushing for a system of proportional representation. (I should think the financial turmoil playing out in Greece and threatening the rest of Europe has played no small part in an apparent drop in support, as the Libs are known to be enthusiastic about ditching the pound and joining the Euro.

A poor performance by their leader in the third debate also didn't help.

As things stand, it looks like we're going to get our first hung Parliament since 1974. Impossible to predict whether the Liberals will join with Labour and govern as a majority, or if the Conservatives will scrap together support from the Ulster Unionists and lead the country. Or the Tories might yet still win outright. Either way, Gordon Brown will almost certainly not be PM in a couple of days time, and David Cameron will not achieve a resounding majority in a Conservative government.

EDIT: arse....scrap that last statement - seems the Conservatives are starting to come in strong...

[Deckard]

'Morning After' update for non-UK readers:

The Conservatives (led by David Cameron) have the largest number of votes and seats, but have - so far- fallen short of a full majority.

Labour's vote held up a lot better than expected, so there's still a possibility they could enter a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, forming a progressive majority. Reform of our first-past-the-post electoral system would be a pre-requisite to such a union. And ditching Gordon Brown as leader may be another price to pay.

The Liberal Democrats led by Nick Clegg suffered an astonishing comedown from the 'Cleggmania' of the first half of the campaign, ending up with fewer votes than 2005. But Clegg could yet be the man who holds the balance of power, as the other two parties will be eager to use the Lib Dems to gain their majority.

And we still don't currently know who is going to be our next prime minister.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Decks

I thought the LibDems got a 1% increase of the proportion of the vote but lost 4 seats?

Anyhoo, I had two "Portillo" moments during the night: Jacqui Smith losing her seat and Griffin getting his arse well and truly kicked out of sight in Barking.

Hopefully that will be the last we hear from the BNP numpties in a while....

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by BeautifulBurnout

Decks

I thought the LibDems got a 1% increase of the proportion of the vote but lost 4 seats?

Anyhoo, I had two "Portillo" moments during the night: Jacqui Smith losing her seat and Griffin getting his arse well and truly kicked out of sight in Barking.

Hopefully that will be the last we hear from the BNP numpties in a while....

You're absolutely right, I'm getting votes and seats mixed up. Net loss of 5: 13 losses, 8 gains. Still hugely disappointing, and Clegg is now in an almost impossible situation as kingmaker. Whatever decision he makes, there will be howls of protest. I don't envy him and his negotiating team.

I'm with you on the portillo moment for the Nazi bastards. Also losing all 12 London council seats was rather nice to hear.

Wonder how long Brown will cling on then?

[bryantm3]

i'm sorry to say i don't see the huge difference between the labour and conservative parties— they both seem pretty pro-government waste and pro-"patriot-act" style stuff in the UK. it seems to me that the liberal democrats are the only party that's really any different, and they seem to hold a more libertarian viewpoint, at least on social issues. anyone care to explain some key differences between the parties? (i'm a US citizen).

[//\/\/]

deckard - you forgot the best party of all - the monster raving loony party

[Deckard]

Haha, they are class!

Choice snippets from their manifesto:

1) To combat global warming and climate change all buildings should be fitted with air conditioning units on the outside.

28) It is proposed that we change the English symbol of three lions to 3 badgers. How often do you see lions running round the countryside, we should be proud of the lack of wild and interesting species on our fair isle.

40) School will be dismissed if three or more pigeons make it into the central corridor.

80) It is proposed that we should get rid of three colour traffic lights, and replace it with a much larger spectrum.

4) To help the Israel/Palestine problems, we should get rid of the old fashioned road map, and give them a sat nav instead.

20) Semicolons should be banned;

etc etc

[Deckard]

Well, there we go.

Conservative David Camera-on is our new PM in our first coalition government since WWII.

We should take comfort from the fact that:

• the Conservatives were denied their outright majority (haha! Take that, scum-sucking Tory press!)
• Labour weren't obliterated as many predicted they would be. Under a new leader they have every chance of coming back stronger
• We can look forward to fixed 4-year Parliaments
• Lib Dems have (apparently) been given cabinet posts
• We have been promised a referendum on electoral reform - AV is a start, and people are more likely to vote for that than full PR.
• By the sound of it, Lib Dems have managed to bag some key concessions on tax and education

And if all that fails to convince, we can take solace in the words of the Bank of England governor, that the budgetary measures necessary to deal with the deficit will end up keeping the governing party "out of power for a whole generation".

We live in hope...

EDIT: Oh no's.... George 'Gideon' Osborne is confirmed as Chancellor?!!! Fuck that shit!
I'm off to get drunk...

[Deckard]

I should elaborate on that last point.



It shouldda been Vince.