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Post by RAF on May 4, 2024 19:11:09 GMT
Street ran out of road.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2024 19:13:16 GMT
Ridiculous that a Mayoral election should be affected by events in Palestine though obviously people are entitled to vote as they wish for whatever reason.
I guess "local" elections are very rarely about local events - which is rather sad.
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Post by peterbell on May 4, 2024 19:13:33 GMT
Ellie Reeves, Lab Coordinator & sister of Rachel, has tweeted congrats to Richard Parker. This must confirm the victory.
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Post by graham on May 4, 2024 19:16:23 GMT
I doubt that Galloway will be too pleased!
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on May 4, 2024 19:22:27 GMT
athena
I briefly considered posting that your choice of the goddess of wisdom and her owl was highly appropriate - but didn't get round to it.
Having seen domjg 's contemptuous dismissal of you, I decided to do it after all. Not sure hireton would agree with you.
Anyway, didn't you get the memo? I'm now "governing from the centre". 
Actually, I can well understand how a disempowered majority can see their hard won rights being threatened. For those of us wishing to see an equitable society, in which everyone's rights are respected, the challenge is to do that equitably! |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 4, 2024 19:26:46 GMT
domjg Ever the optimist, I got quite excited when I heard about a big Lab report on devolution - at the time I was looking for reasons to vote Lab and I thought it might offer one - but I have to admit that most of my enthusiasm died when I realised that Brown was in charge - he certainly hoarded power when he was in no. 11 Downing Street. I've spent most of my life in parts of the UK that are very ill-served by Westminster governments, which is perhaps part of why I don't think it's unreasonable to want real decentralisation. It's not as if federalism were an esoteric form of government. Apologies, it was a v childish comment on my part. Bit intoxicated by partisanship today I think. |
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Post by lefthanging on May 4, 2024 19:30:00 GMT
Poor old Andy - practically the only elected (until now) Conservative politician who appeared both decent and competent.
So where does he go from here?
I saw come Sky pundits suggest he might wish to play a key role in 'defining the soul of the Conservative party'. Personally I think this idea is for the birds. Street is no party political animal and in any case will probably feel that the party is sunk for a generation.
I could see him being offered a post as some kind of regional development (and/or regional devolution) 'tsar' by Starmer in future though.
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on May 4, 2024 19:35:47 GMT
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Danny
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Post by Danny on May 4, 2024 19:39:32 GMT
Curtice making the point that while it was a narrow result in the mayoral contest, It was an easy win for labour in the parallel police commissioner election. These police elections seem to be a much 'purer' measure of party support since no one has heard of the candidates and no one knows what they do. So Street had a strong personal positive vote, but isnt a result con can claim for themselves.
Its quite an irony that pundits are arguing labour lost the muslim vote, when british policy towards Israel is defined by the conservative government and labour has only followed in their wake. (or perhaps con lost votes for that too?)
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Post by peterbell on May 4, 2024 20:03:30 GMT
Richard Parker wins by 1508 votes
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 20:05:27 GMT
Thanks for all the commentary and coverage here. many gems. But the absence of ROC comment - with the stalwart exception of Mercian - is sad. Trevor could be interesting on actual polls, and I miss Colin a lot. I get bored reading comments from people I agree with. I almost hope Street wins. He was a decent mayor by all accounts, and we need occasionally to be reminded that not all Tories are like the present weird incompetents (Mostly!) No Surrender!  Seriously though, I think a number of them have been driven away by the sometimes toxic atmosphere that there is on this site. TOH of course is an honourable exception because he went to a better place. It's not so bad lately partly because colin and Trev have gone, as they were the usual targets. I usually just get piled on if one of my quips upsets someone or I use a word that is in this week's secret book of words that aren't allowed. This only seems to be circulated to lefties for some reason. I found out a new one last week. There's a young chap at the chess club who I get on with pretty well, and we were outside having a smoke and he was vaping. So I joked "What's the matter are you turning into a sissy?". He said you can't call people that any more even if you're joking. So naturally I said that that was a pretty sissy rule.  |
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 20:07:19 GMT
Beth Rigby reporting that Parker (lab) leads Street by 14,000 votes in Birmingham which is by far the biggest "constituency" in the West Midlands Mayoral area, That is actually rather a poor result for Labour there. In 2021 Labour was ahead in Birmingham by 22,700. Edit - Explained by Yakoob polling almost 43.000 - circa 20% there.
I thought he might do well. 11.7% overall. As I thought, he did much better than polling suggested. Does this indicate a lack of penetration into those communities by the polling companies? |
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Post by RAF on May 4, 2024 20:14:35 GMT
Reform UK win a seat on the London Assembly.
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Danny
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Post by Danny on May 4, 2024 20:16:07 GMT
Parker wins by 1500 over Street on 224,000.
But what seems interesting is the other 145,000 votes going to other parties. 69,000 to Yakoob protesting against policy on Gaza. 34,000 for reform Uk, 1,000 for Green and a mere 12,000 for libs. In particular Yakoob got about 1/3 the vote of either main party on a single issue campaign protesting against the Israeli invasion of the Gaza strip. Wherever he got those votes from, thats a big chunk looking for a home in a mainstream party if they get their policy correct.
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Post by moby on May 4, 2024 20:19:22 GMT
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Danny
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Post by Danny on May 4, 2024 20:20:56 GMT
I usually just get piled on if one of my quips upsets someone or I use a word that is in this week's secret book of words that aren't allowed. This only seems to be circulated to lefties for some reason. I found out a new one last week. There's a young chap at the chess club who I get on with pretty well, and we were outside having a smoke and he was vaping. So I joked "What's the matter are you turning into a sissy?". He said you can't call people that any more even if you're joking. So naturally I said that that was a pretty sissy rule. The other day Woman's hour on R4 was continuing its series on young people and sex. They were interviewing a head teacher and she said something about young males being called 'pussies'. The interviewer immediately jumped in and said we cannot use that word. Well apparently that head teacher does. That could be a generational thing, or it might mean the message has not got through to the kids either. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on May 4, 2024 20:26:54 GMT
The spin from the Conservatives prior to the results was that Houchen and Street being re-elected and running Khan close in London would represent success regardless of what happened elsewhere. So that's 1 out of 3 on their own self-selected measure.
And yet I agree with Mr Hill from Conservative Home - Sunak is safe in his job because everyone knows the game is up.
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on May 4, 2024 20:29:39 GMT
No Surrender! Seriously though, I think a number of them have been driven away by the sometimes toxic atmosphere that there is on this site. TOH of course is an honourable exception because he went to a better place. It's not so bad lately partly because colin and Trev have gone, as they were the usual targets. I usually just get piled on if one of my quips upsets someone or I use a word that is in this week's secret book of words that aren't allowed. This only seems to be circulated to lefties for some reason. I found out a new one last week. There's a young chap at the chess club who I get on with pretty well, and we were outside having a smoke and he was vaping. So I joked "What's the matter are you turning into a sissy?". He said you can't call people that any more even if you're joking. So naturally I said that that was a pretty sissy rule. I'm more worried about you encouraging someone to smoke. You would be well advised to take up vaping yourself; much less dangerous  |
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 20:30:56 GMT
Is it possible boundary changes make them more strongly labour? You'd assume the Conservatives wouldn't have demanded a recount unless it was close... But there have also been reports that spurious police complaints have been lodged against Labour candidates by Conservative party officials. Trying to muddy the waters and discredit the results? I don't know about spurious, but the gist of what I heard was that the rules say that a mayoral candidate must have been resident within the West Midlands boundaries for 12 months. Apparently the Labour candidate rents a flat in Birmingham (not sure for how long) but actually lives in Worcestershire. That is why he was reported to the police. How much truth is in it I have no idea. |
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 20:34:17 GMT
Why the delay from Sandwell? No recount there! Yam-yams can't count. |
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neilj
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Post by neilj on May 4, 2024 20:38:12 GMT
Andy Street makes a good point
"The thing everyone should take from the West Midlands tonight is it's this brand of moderate, inclusive, tolerant Conservatism that gets on and delivers, & has come within an inch of beating the Labour Party in what they consider to be their backyard."
Unfortunately I don't think anyone in the tory high command is listening
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Post by birdseye on May 4, 2024 20:42:31 GMT
In less class than an upturned dustbin news. Losing Tory candidate in her losers whine made a number of allegations about Khan this was my favourite "He owes it to the families of those thousands of people who have lost lives to knife crime under his mayoralty." Where shall we start with that: London actually has a lower knife crime rate than most UK cities it's also lower than it was in 2015 when Spaffer was mayor. During Khan's 8 year mayoralty around 900 Londoners in total have sadly been the victims of homicide,around 500 were killed by sharp implements including knives. So Susan where the fuck are the other "thousands of victims" you assert ? Lying about the deaths of people , making up murder statistics. Classy stuff. * Sky news very kindly edited their report of her comments which they described as " pretty punchy" by replacing the words thousand that she said with hundreds which she didn't say , the guardian report said thousands which wasn't accurate either the rest of their transcript is verbatim. I've checked the speech and included a link around 28 minutes in if you want to take a look. www.youtube.com/live/uP4wFP0I6m0?si=uAxFDipqtlp68Pm2some 101448 knife crimes have been reported my the Met Police in Khan's time. There were 997 murders of which over 80 % involve "sharp instruments" . And the Met police area is either the first or second police area in the country in terms of knife crime. |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 4, 2024 20:45:12 GMT
Andy Street makes a good point "The thing everyone should take from the West Midlands tonight is it's this brand of moderate, inclusive, tolerant Conservatism that gets on and delivers, & has come within an inch of beating the Labour Party in what they consider to be their backyard." Unfortunately I don't think anyone in the tory high command is listening Exactly. Will the wider tory party draw the lesson that tories who win or nearly win elections currently are those who sound nothing like the noisy culture warriors who seem destined to be in even greater control of the party following GE defeat? It would be good for our society if they did heed that but i won't hold my breath. |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 4, 2024 20:54:58 GMT
On a far less positive note an SPD European election candidate has been hospitalised with 'serious injuries' in Dresden after he and his companions were set upon by a group of far right thugs while putting up posters in broad daylight.
Saxony and Dresden especially have long been a 'Hochburg' of the AfD and the far right in general (this was the birthplace of the racist Pegida demonstrations) but this is a level of political violence that is very troubling even for the East and even for Saxony.
The AfD is on the backfoot at the moment following the uncovering of several of it's prominent members as Russian spies and a campaign plan that appears to have been drawn up directly by the Kremlin. I wonder if this is a kind of kickback.
Imagine what it does to democracy if people don't feel they can do normal street campaigning in safety.
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 20:55:07 GMT
Reform UK win a seat on the London Assembly. Reform also beat both Greens and LibDems in the West Midlands mayoral election, as they did in most wards in Sandwell. It was one of the strongest areas in the country for Leave in the referendum. |
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 21:00:24 GMT
No Surrender! Seriously though, I think a number of them have been driven away by the sometimes toxic atmosphere that there is on this site. TOH of course is an honourable exception because he went to a better place. It's not so bad lately partly because colin and Trev have gone, as they were the usual targets. I usually just get piled on if one of my quips upsets someone or I use a word that is in this week's secret book of words that aren't allowed. This only seems to be circulated to lefties for some reason. I found out a new one last week. There's a young chap at the chess club who I get on with pretty well, and we were outside having a smoke and he was vaping. So I joked "What's the matter are you turning into a sissy?". He said you can't call people that any more even if you're joking. So naturally I said that that was a pretty sissy rule. I'm more worried about you encouraging someone to smoke. You would be well advised to take up vaping yourself; much less dangerous He smoked before, and still does though he's trying to cut down. I've got a vape thing myself but don't use it much because you don't get the rasp at the back of your throat. I was only pulling his leg. You guys are so earnest. |
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 21:03:42 GMT
Poor old Andy - practically the only elected (until now) Conservative politician who appeared both decent and competent. So where does he go from here? I saw come Sky pundits suggest he might wish to play a key role in 'defining the soul of the Conservative party'. Personally I think this idea is for the birds. Street is no party political animal and in any case will probably feel that the party is sunk for a generation.I could see him being offered a post as some kind of regional development (and/or regional devolution) 'tsar' by Starmer in future though. 'Only' 13 years according to my theory. A generation would be what - 20-30 years? Anyway who knows? Boris's 80-seat majority didn't seem likely to be overturned in one parliament. |
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oldnat
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Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
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Post by oldnat on May 4, 2024 21:09:08 GMT
Andy Street makes a good point "The thing everyone should take from the West Midlands tonight is it's this brand of moderate, inclusive, tolerant Conservatism that gets on and delivers, & has come within an inch of beating the Labour Party in what they consider to be their backyard." Unfortunately I don't think anyone in the tory high command is listening
Surely, Starmer will be encouraged to go, even a little, further in offering some prospect of the incoming government acting to make some moves towards fairness in society? |
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Post by mercian on May 4, 2024 21:10:45 GMT
Andy Street makes a good point "The thing everyone should take from the West Midlands tonight is it's this brand of moderate, inclusive, tolerant Conservatism that gets on and delivers, & has come within an inch of beating the Labour Party in what they consider to be their backyard." Unfortunately I don't think anyone in the tory high command is listening Exactly. Will the wider tory party draw the lesson that tories who win or nearly win elections currently are those who sound nothing like the noisy culture warriors who seem destined to be in even greater control of the party following GE defeat? It would be good for our society if they did heed that but i won't hold my breath. The Tories have always been nothing but pragmatic. They have far fewer ideologues than does Labour and are very adaptable. Look at the difference between Heath and Thatcher for instance. Or Thatcher and Major. It's much more difficult (for me anyway) to judge the more recent bunch as they've been so blown about by events that not much has happened apart from firefighting. Let's hope that they haven't lost that adaptability. |
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Post by alec on May 4, 2024 21:13:20 GMT
Rather nice to see the speeches from both Parker and Street in the West Mids. Respect shown by Parker for his predecessor and the defeated Street displayed decency and humility. Compare and contrast with the ill judged whinge from Hall in London. CCHQ really picked a duff candidate there, and ran a foul tempered, ignorant campaign. They got the result they deserved.
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