Don't forget the Electorial Reform Vote 5th May

[Argonought]

The 2nd preference of BNP voters would likely still count and I don't have an issue with that (most likely go to UKIP I'd guess). They have a right to a vote like anyone else.

May i ask, why it is that you/everyone always chose the bnp, when it comes to picking on an 'extreme' party? I can think of some even more extreme parties than bnp?
out of curiosity Argonaught, could you describe the 'sort of person that would vote bnp'?

The BNP always seems to be described as such - such as in some moronic NO2AV material which suggested AV would let them in (morons :tosser: the truth is actually the opposite) which is why I used the phrase.

It's a general rule of politics that far right wing views tend to be highly polarized and that's what I meant by "type of person" but as you can see I take the view a BNP supporter has as much right to vote as anyone (not everyone takes that view though)

Mind you, I did hear tonight that a Lid-Dem voter was changing to BNP as a protest (heard it all now )

I also managed to change the view of an elderly lady conservative voter intent on voting NO in the referendum right outside the polling station. If she was able to grasp the merits of AV within just 10 minutes then I'm damned if I can see why anyone else can't

Too late now though

 

[RuSZ]

Turnout and Voting figures have started coming through for my local council wards. nothing interesting, we've always been labour, (12 Lab, 6 Con, 2 Ind, 1 LD at 2010) and by the looks will be again this year.

but this caught my eye.

2010 Election - Ward XYZ Votes.
Labour - 2484
Conservative - 1684
British National - 318
Lib Democrats - 285
TOTAL - 4771

2011 Election - Ward XYZ Votes
Labour - 2797
Conservative - 1944
British National - 353
Lib Democrats - 2
TOTAL - 5096

That was interesting, Voter turnout was up by 325voters. Labour gained 313. Con gained 260, BNP gained 35.

LIB DEM LOST 283 VOTERS. only 2 people voted lib dem

More importantly. the referendum turn out was a mere 36%. not the lowest ive seen yet.

 

[Focus Owner]

AZIZ Jahangir 1047 Liberal Democrats
DAVEY Patrick Gerard 3230 ELECTED Labour Party [The]
WHARTON Matthew Peter 877 Conservative Party [The]
not a bad margin.

shame about people voteing lib / con
2010
AZIZ Jahangir 2717 Liberal Democrats
IQBAL Mohammed 3879 ELECTED Labour Party [The]
MEESON Laura Marie 638 British National Party
ROSEN Nina 1621 Conservative Party [The]
WELSH Melanie Scarlett 493 Green Party [The]

 

[Argonought]

LIB DEM LOST 283 VOTERS. only 2 people voted lib dem

Did only his wife vote for him then

I must admit I find that hard to believe and have never seen the like of it

Also the fact the conservative vote is up - not responsible for any cuts then

 

[RuSZ]

AZIZ Jahangir 1047 Liberal Democrats
DAVEY Patrick Gerard 3230 ELECTED Labour Party [The]
WHARTON Matthew Peter 877 Conservative Party [The]
not a bad margin.

shame about people voteing lib / con
2010
AZIZ Jahangir 2717 Liberal Democrats
IQBAL Mohammed 3879 ELECTED Labour Party [The]
MEESON Laura Marie 638 British National Party
ROSEN Nina 1621 Conservative Party [The]
WELSH Melanie Scarlett 493 Green Party [The]

Bit hard to read, but is that saying ALL partys lost voters?

 

[Freebo]

Turnout and Voting figures have started coming through for my local council wards. nothing interesting, we've always been labour, (12 Lab, 6 Con, 2 Ind, 1 LD at 2010) and by the looks will be again this year.

but this caught my eye.

2010 Election - Ward XYZ Votes.
Labour - 2484
Conservative - 1684
British National - 318
Lib Democrats - 285
TOTAL - 4771

2011 Election - Ward XYZ Votes
Labour - 2797
Conservative - 1944
British National - 353
Lib Democrats - 2
TOTAL - 5096

That was interesting, Voter turnout was up by 325voters. Labour gained 313. Con gained 260, BNP gained 35.

LIB DEM LOST 283 VOTERS. only 2 people voted lib dem

More importantly. the referendum turn out was a mere 36%. not the lowest ive seen yet.

But surely under AV Lib Dem could have still won... XD (this was ment as a joke do not take anything i say to heart)

 

[Argonought]

But surely under AV Lib Dem could have still won... XD (this was ment as a joke do not take anything i say to heart)

Might need expensive voting machine to count those 2 votes too

 

[RuSZ]

Did only his wife vote for him then

I must admit I find that hard to believe and have never seen the like of it

Also the fact the conservative vote is up - not responsible for any cuts then

Ive never seen the likes of a loss like that. but its a student orientated area. so i presume the University fees have something to do with it.

Lab still hold the majority, the fact there majority went up is a good thing.

I think that the LIB DEMS are getting a bad press over everything, so losing votes doesn't surprise me. but 283 voters is stupid, unless they were deflecting Labour votes from the elections last year.

I also pressume that a high majority of AV Ref votes will be NO aswel. why vote against LIB DEM and For AV.

 

[Argonought]

I also pressume that a high majority of AV Ref votes will be NO aswel. why vote against LIB DEM and For AV.

A YES vote for AV is basically a no brainer since there aren't any merits for FPTP worth mentioning when you get down to it (a weak argument about minority governments getting landslide victories and being able to do basically whatever they like - such as starting wars, invoking poll-tax and scrapping railways etc )

But I think you're right, many must have voted NO as they associate the referendum with Nick Clegg and then of course you had all the lies from the NO camp. Many simply vote how the gutter press (Daily Mail :yuck tell them to but what shocked me was that many, far less intellectually stretched, simply didn't understand AV at all but once shown became quite keen on it.

There has to be something mega wrong if it only takes 10 mins to change someone's view on an important decision like this

 

[sludgeguts]

Did only his wife vote for him then

I must admit I find that hard to believe and have never seen the like of it

Also the fact the conservative vote is up - not responsible for any cuts then

Like I said at #56, people seem to be venting their spleen at the lib dems - they were only invited along to make up the numbers, they have to do what their tory masters tell them.
Strange how people seem to forget recent history

 

[RuSZ]

Ive just seen a few results on the AV. so far 18councils out of 440 have submitted.
Yes 30.8% NO 69.16% :doh:

Been talking to a few Yes supporters. and we have come up with the general concensus that its shouldnt have been Who wants AV, but who doesnt Want FPTP, then we could have chosen PR, AV, AV+1 and so on

 

[Shadeyman]

Just took my boys to the pub for a meal. Spoke to a few of my mates and most reckon it will be an overwelming NO.

 

[RuSZ]

Like I said at #56, people seem to be venting their spleen at the lib dems - they were only invited along to make up the numbers, they have to do what their tory masters tell them.
Strange how people seem to forget recent history

I agree, i WAS a Lib Dem supporter...

I still like them, but after the Tuition Fees debarcle couldnt bring myself to vote for them this time out.

Im a Student and supported the Lim Dems at the last 2 elections, but when Nick Clegg blatantly lied to all university students then he lost my vote.

I agree that the LD are getting a bad press in the coalition, but there are other reasons they have lost votes.

 

[RuSZ]

‎50/440 districts - Yes: 29.67% No: 70.33%

 

[DaveMcT]

I suspect the YES camp assumed people would appreciate the value of a 2nd preference vote over crude & clunky FPTP.

They basically fought a rubbish campaign and didnt account for the other side telling lies. As if they wouldnt do that - too much to lose.

Its also been a referendum on Nick Clegg. Who TBH isnt doing a bad job - someone had to pull us out of the poo that Gordon Brown's Labour has got us into. Unfortunately I'm not sure we ever can get ourselves out. The 1970's mess was fixed with rampant inflation - value of money & therefore debt went down.

Inflation is now public enemy #1 so we dont have that option.

 

[Argonought]

Been talking to a few Yes supporters. and we have come up with the general concensus that its shouldnt have been Who wants AV, but who doesnt Want FPTP, then we could have chosen PR, AV, AV+1 and so on

It struck me that the question itself was badly worded.

If someone asks you a question about changing something and you haven't got the fog-est idea what they're talking about then it's fairly natural to say NO. You would only say YES if you understood what AV is and approved of it.

So we have:

AV sounds like a good idea = 30%
Don't understand the question anyway and been told saying NO will hurt Nick Clegg = 65%
I do understand the question and prefer FPTP = 5% (say)

I think the give away is that turnout was still reasonable where there was no local elections. Since no one would bother to vote if they didn't understand what they were voting for then I think it's safe to assume it was predominately an anti Lib Dem vote more than anything.

Would have done better with 50 million monkeys voting

 

[Shadeyman]

Wolverhampton

YES 28%

NO 72%

Turnout 38%

 

[RuSZ]

Haringey YES
Camden YES
Cambridge YES
Islington YES

 

[Argonought]

Haringey YES
Camden YES
Cambridge YES
Islington YES

Blimey, you must live in an intellectual hot spot

 

[Eklipze3k]

It struck me that the question itself was badly worded.

If someone asks you a question about changing something and you haven't got the fog-est idea what they're talking about then it's fairly natural to say NO. You would only say YES if you understood what AV is and approved of it.

Quite, tbh PR would have been a much simpler concept for the 'great unwashed' to grasp, and may have won the YES vote that was needed to take this country out of the dark ages, but I'm still of the opinion that the Cons allowed the Lib Dems to push for AV as it (if it had succeeded) would likely be the lesser of 2 evils for them (compared to PR), given that it - as has been said before - can basically be treated as FPTP if people only make a single choice.