UK Election 2018

[Rum]

Today we are having our 'local' elections - just England today. For those of you who are not blessed enough to live in our fair land these are where council members for the various county and district councils are voted for.

They tend to be fiercely partisan and party focused, despite the fact that national governments of both colours have gradually over the last few decades made Councils more like management boards than political entities, which they once were.

Politics in the UK is in avery weird place at the moment. There is a lot of focus on Brexit and it seems to be proving to be a distraction. May is under no real threat because nobody really wants her job for the moment.

I suspect we will see a big vote away from the government. A 'protest' of sorts.

So there ya go.

I wish I hadn't bothered..

[Strontium Dog]

Actually it's looking like a pretty good night for the government, as the Tories benefit from a UKIP slump, and also for the Lib Dems, who are picking up votes. Labour already lost control of Nuneaton.

Whisper it, but I think we have passed peak Corbyn...

[JimC]

Labour already lost control of Nuneaton.

The end times are here!

[Brian Peacock]

I went and voted about an hour before the polling station close and the officers said that it had been very quiet all day. Probably the first time in 10 years that I wasn't canvassed on the way out as well

[cronus]

UKIP got wiped. Labour got a bloody nose, the commie tw@ts. And unfortunately the corrupt Tories walked it having excluded those who might vote otherwise from voting. Nationally that's the story. A mixed bag around here, though. Don't make it easy for the b@stards. It's a total swing seat, organised anarchy. People win or lose depending on the weather. And the weather was mixed.

[Rum]

Although the picture is 'mixed' I think it is fair to say that it is Labour who got a 'kicking'. The Tories have been in power for 8 years (including the coalition). Any government which has been around that long usually gets hammered at this point in the cycle. Clearly they have not been.

Corbyn won't be pleased - and the far (ish)Left will be crying in their cereal this morning I suspect.

[Rum]

Good to see UKIP (right wing nationalist xenophobic party) have lost 92 of their 94 seats. Can't be bad!

[PsychoSerenity]

Although the picture is 'mixed' I think it is fair to say that it is Labour who got a 'kicking'. The Tories have been in power for 8 years (including the coalition). Any government which has been around that long usually gets hammered at this point in the cycle. Clearly they have not been.

Corbyn won't be pleased - and the far (ish)Left will be crying in their cereal this morning I suspect.

What are you basing that on?

The headlines and stories in much of the media are claiming this as a failure for Labour by focusing on the seats they lost and the fact they didn't take over hard Tory councils they were targeting like Kensington and Westminster, even though they did make gains there.

But look at the actual results in so far, Labour have won over 50% of the seats i.e. more than all the others put together. They were already starting from a position of holding the by far the most seats and obviously it's a lot harder to gain more when you already have a high percentage, yet so far they've still gained more than any other party. These results the latest from the BBC:

[pErvinalia]

Yebbut Corbyn wears a cardigan!

[Scot Dutchy]

He feels the draught.

[Rum]

Although the picture is 'mixed' I think it is fair to say that it is Labour who got a 'kicking'. The Tories have been in power for 8 years (including the coalition). Any government which has been around that long usually gets hammered at this point in the cycle. Clearly they have not been.

Corbyn won't be pleased - and the far (ish)Left will be crying in their cereal this morning I suspect.

What are you basing that on?

The headlines and stories in much of the media are claiming this as a failure for Labour by focusing on the seats they lost and the fact they didn't take over hard Tory councils they were targeting like Kensington and Westminster, even though they did make gains there.

But look at the actual results in so far, Labour have won over 50% of the seats i.e. more than all the others put together. They were already starting from a position of holding the by far the most seats and obviously it's a lot harder to gain more when you already have a high percentage, yet so far they've still gained more than any other party. These results the latest from the BBC:

LE2018.(snip)ng

The Tories in power almost 8 years? Labour should be streets ahead. As of this afternoon - pretty much all the counts in:

Lab +58
Con -7
Lib Dem +444
Green +5
UKIP -121
Other +16

Hardly a landslide is it?

[PsychoSerenity]

Hardly a landslide is it?

In 2014 for the equivalent council elections Labour gained 300 seats and it was seen as a significant win as they pulled substantially ahead of the Tories, only held back slightly by the UKIP gains that year. This year Labour have comfortably held most of those previously won 300 seats and gained around 70 more over the Tories, larger gains than even the Lib Dems with their bounce back from their coalition lows and their pro-EU support. Labour have won over 50% of the seats up for election whereas the Tories have won about 30%.

[Rum]

Hardly a landslide is it?

In 2014 for the equivalent council elections Labour gained 300 seats and it was seen as a significant win as they pulled substantially ahead of the Tories, only held back slightly by the UKIP gains that year. This year Labour have comfortably held most of those previously won 300 seats and gained around 70 more over the Tories, larger gains than even the Lib Dems with their bounce back from their coalition lows and their pro-EU support. Labour have won over 50% of the seats up for election whereas the Tories have won about 30%.

You seem to be arguing that they have dome something impressive or that I'm wrong about it not being a landslide. As I've said twice now, historically the incumbent government usually suffers at local elections. Not so for this election. Here's a broader view of where they are.

[Brian Peacock]

Although the picture is 'mixed' I think it is fair to say that it is Labour who got a 'kicking'. The Tories have been in power for 8 years (including the coalition). Any government which has been around that long usually gets hammered at this point in the cycle. Clearly they have not been.

Corbyn won't be pleased - and the far (ish)Left will be crying in their cereal this morning I suspect.

The Tories' were saved by the swinging UKIP bigot vote, but the LibDems did best, increasing their councillors by 75, with Labour up by 56, and the Greens by 8. By contrast the Tories lost 31, and UKIP misplaced a whopping 123. I'm not sure how this means Labour got a kicking but their spin has been rather contrite and muted nonetheless.

[JimC]

I think Rum's point was that some people, at least, thought there might be a bit of a labour landslide, in the wake of disappointment in May's government, but that the increases were muted in comparison to that expectation. Is that about it, Rum?