Local elections, though you'd hardly know it..

[stripes4]

Ben Elton 'little bit o' politics'

[Pappa]

Little welsh guys were chained to little railings for you to waste that vote???

If there was someone worth voting for I'd do it in a shot.

Dammit, isn't the Monster Loony Raving Party in business anymore?

Are you blind? Look closely at the parties.

[Rum]

The results so far:

PARTY COUNCILS +/- COUNCILLORS +/-

CON 54 +1 1417 +34
LAB 29 +12 988 +333
LD 4 -4 331 -292
OTH 20 -9 180 -94

No surprises, except perhaps the slight increase in Conservative councils.

Nick Clegg better watch out though!

Actually it is a shame in some ways because people are voting about the national situation. Lib Dem local councils have done a pretty good job on the whole in my view.

[JimC]

Voting in council elections is compulsory here...

I vote randomly...

There is something attractive about the luck of the draw...

[Clinton Huxley]

A chap called Scooby stood for Wigan council.

[JimC]

A chap called Scooby stood for Wigan council.

Do tell...

[Clinton Huxley]

A chap called Scooby stood for Wigan council.

Do tell...

Local ghosthunter I believe.

[JimC]

I don't give a fuck about the local council as long as they pick up my garbage and keep the corruption to a manageable level...

[Hermit]

I don't give a fuck about the local council as long as they pick up my garbage and keep the corruption to a manageable level...

Don't watch Rats in the Rank. It's enough to make you want to walk into council chambers wearing an explosive belt.

[Pappa]

I don't give a fuck about the local council as long as they pick up my garbage and keep the corruption to a manageable level...

Don't watch Rats in the Rank. It's enough to make you want to walk into council chambers wearing an explosive belt.

I went to a couple of Council meetings. The biggest bunch of self-serving, corrupt bastards I ever saw.... and that was while they were on public view.

[Rum]

I don't give a fuck about the local council as long as they pick up my garbage and keep the corruption to a manageable level...

Don't watch Rats in the Rank. It's enough to make you want to walk into council chambers wearing an explosive belt.

I went to a couple of Council meetings. The biggest bunch of self-serving, corrupt bastards I ever saw.... and that was while they were on public view.

South Wales used to be notorious for councillors - particularly 'old labour' ones interfering and sticking their noses in and serving their own interests. When I worked as a social worker in Hereford many years ago a guy joined us from the Gwent, just over the border. He left there because when he had made a home visit to interview a lad to make a pre-sentence report for youth court (as we did back then) the parent handed him a note written by a councillor telling him to recommend a fine in court, when the offence warranted in law a short custodial sentence (it was a serious assault or some such). He didn't follow his 'orders' , his boss was contacted and he was unofficially reprimanded.

He started looking for a job after that.

[Pappa]

I don't give a fuck about the local council as long as they pick up my garbage and keep the corruption to a manageable level...

Don't watch Rats in the Rank. It's enough to make you want to walk into council chambers wearing an explosive belt.

I went to a couple of Council meetings. The biggest bunch of self-serving, corrupt bastards I ever saw.... and that was while they were on public view.

South Wales used to be notorious for councillors - particularly 'old labour' ones interfering and sticking their noses in and serving their own interests. When I worked as a social worker in Hereford many years ago a guy joined us from the Gwent, just over the border. He left there because when he had made a home visit to interview a lad to make a pre-sentence report for youth court (as we did back then) the parent handed him a note written by a councillor telling him to recommend a fine in court, when the offence warranted in law a short custodial sentence (it was a serious assault or some such). He didn't follow his 'orders' , his boss was contacted and he was unofficially reprimanded.

He started looking for a job after that.

Mostly I saw a lot a factional point scoring going on between the different parties, even when it was clearly not in the public interest. Plus, they all exude this nasty politico personality. You can see they just want to get to the top of the pile. I've met a couple of really decent, upstanding councilors that I trust are working hard for their voters and the community as a whole... the rest are bastards. One day I'd quite like to stand myself.

[Rum]

I don't give a fuck about the local council as long as they pick up my garbage and keep the corruption to a manageable level...

Don't watch Rats in the Rank. It's enough to make you want to walk into council chambers wearing an explosive belt.

I went to a couple of Council meetings. The biggest bunch of self-serving, corrupt bastards I ever saw.... and that was while they were on public view.

South Wales used to be notorious for councillors - particularly 'old labour' ones interfering and sticking their noses in and serving their own interests. When I worked as a social worker in Hereford many years ago a guy joined us from the Gwent, just over the border. He left there because when he had made a home visit to interview a lad to make a pre-sentence report for youth court (as we did back then) the parent handed him a note written by a councillor telling him to recommend a fine in court, when the offence warranted in law a short custodial sentence (it was a serious assault or some such). He didn't follow his 'orders' , his boss was contacted and he was unofficially reprimanded.

He started looking for a job after that.

Mostly I saw a lot a factional point scoring going on between the different parties, even when it was clearly not in the public interest. Plus, they all exude this nasty politico personality. You can see they just want to get to the top of the pile. I've met a couple of really decent, upstanding councilors that I trust are working hard for their voters and the community as a whole... the rest are bastards. One day I'd quite like to stand myself.

Well in the job I just left I had to take the most policy driven papers I produced to the so called 'scrutiny' council committee. Thankfully it was only maybe five times in the last three years. It was fucking nightmarish because the paper would usually be about some initiative started by central government which we had to implement locally with operational staff. Our council was 'no overall control' so they used to try to score points off each other and sometimes that would end up with them tearing into the paper I had produced - or rather the ideas in it, which were from central government in the first place!. These guys didn't have a clue what they were talking about either being local business people for the most part.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I didn't even know there was a local election going on. I went to the polling station to vote for AV, then wondered wtf the other slip of paper was about.

[Geoff]

I didn't even know there was a local election going on. I went to the polling station to vote for AV, then wondered wtf the other slip of paper was about.

Same here, though that's not unusual here - no parties bother canvassing because the result is always a foregone conclusion.