Lewes Bridge result

[bigc]

Buzzer, I wouldn't say the local election result points to the national.

Sometimes as we have seen before, mid term elections have been used to give the existing admin a bloody nose, thats how that vile excuse of a man Bellotti won Lewes.

Tories did very well in 1999 Euro Elections after all..

I agree with certain LD comments, if Ming stays, I can see them losing 40 odd seats and maybe even saving Brown, due to the ex-dis satisified Labour voters feeling ashamed to vote for Ming. I know I would.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Yorkie
How does one get 22.8% of all available votes??

Total votes cast 6,138
Total votes for Ed 467
which I make as 7.608% of all available votes

Take the highest vote for each party. We only had one candidate standing in each ward. Many people will only vote for one candidate, which is partly why you so often get split votes in wards. If you have a name starting with a late letter in the alphabet and are one of three candidates for that party, you will nearly always get the lowest vote.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

...If you have a name starting with a late letter in the alphabet and are one of three candidates for that party, you will nearly always get the lowest vote.

Your whole political career is, potentially governed by the letter of your name? Who said the voting system is flawed!?

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Just a last bit of psephology from me.

At the August by-election in Ouse Valley & Ringmer ward (when there was just one candidate to be elected), the Lib Dems won with 43.7 per cent of the vote. The Tories came second with 31.8 per cent of the vote - a Lib Dem majority of 194.

The Lib Dems therefore had great expectations that they would win all three seats in this ward this time.

What happened? The Seagulls Party mounted a very strong, well-focused campaign targeting the Lib Dems.

And what effect did this have? The Lib Dems failed to get their three candidates elected. In fact, the Tories were in first place and only failed to take all three seats by a very narrow margin. 24 more votes for the Tories would have won them a second of the three seats. 63 more votes and they would have won all three seats.

I got 30 per cent MORE votes this time than I did in August. That was nice, but the real point is that we were able to campaign vigorously and make a real difference to the Lib Dems' performance. We nearly defeated all three Lib Dem candidates in a ward that they thought last August was safe.

The point of all this is the opportunity that we took to campaign in the political arena.

Well done to EVERYONE who joined in.

Exactly, well said, Ed. You managed to split the vote, which is exactly what we were intending to do. If the Lib Dems had lost 2 more seats to the Tories, they would have lost control of the council. It's just a shame that the voters of Seaford East didn't go far enough (one Tory was elected there, but the Lib Dems held the other two - I presume Bakesy did his duty, but not enough others wanted them out). Maybe Woodchip should have gone canvassing for the Tories in Seaford Central!! Anyway, extremely well done Mark, to have got over 500 votes in an area where the Lib Dems were clearly going to win with the incinerator affecting Denton so heavily. Well done also to Roz and Steve, especially in a town which has lost so much of its Sussex population and got so many Londoners. I really enjoyed playing my very small part in the campaign.

 

[dougdeep]

Aaron Aardvark for president.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Your whole political career is, potentially governed by the letter of your name? Who said the voting system is flawed!?

BoF, it's because people don't read the instructions. When it says vote for no more than three candidates, it means you can vote for three. Many people only vote for one. I think it's because you only vote for one MP, you only need to vote for one councillor. Be thankful you weren't in my shoes in 2004 in Battersea. We had to vote for the Mayor of London (first and second preferences), the London Assembly (constituency candidate and London-wide Party), and also for the European Parliament.

 

[Screaming J]

Sometimes as we have seen before, mid term elections have been used to give the existing admin a bloody nose, thats how that vile excuse of a man Bellotti won Lewes.

Eastbourne actually ( a pedant writes). And at the time he was extremely popular!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Eastbourne actually ( a pedant writes). And at the time he was extremely popular!

And the Lib Dems fought a dirty campaign.

 

[Screaming J]

And the Lib Dems fought a dirty campaign.

Did they? I'm not saying you're wrong but I must admit I don't remember that. But it wouldn't be the first (or last) time.

I just remember at the time being glad that the Tories lost what I seem to remember was regarded as a safe seat and it was one in the eye for Fatcha.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Did they? I'm not saying you're wrong but I must admit I don't remember that. But it wouldn't be the first (or last) time.

An example ...

Bellotti's Tory opponent was a former Conservative MP, called Richard Hickmet.

As you are no doubt aware, even in those days, there is an element of racism in our society that some 'natural' tory voters, especially the "old buffer" tendency in the party, keep just below the surface of their publicly expressed opinions. But if a politician can tap into this low-level racism, it can play to their advantage.

Why, I ask, did the Lib Dems choose the Eastbourne by-election as the one occasion when they felt it might be useful to use their opponent's MIDDLE name in their propaganda?

... Richard Saladin Hickmet.

 

[Lady Bracknell]

In the polling station at Malling, they'd put a nice illustrated poster up to demonstrate how you could vote for up to TWO candidates. And I remember being very pleased that the great big diagonal word SPECIMEN ran neatly over several other candidate's names leaving mine nice and clear. As it did for Jim "Deputy Dawg" Daly. Which is the only explanation I can come up with for a surprising number of ballot papers where voters had gone for a Lib Dem/Seagulls Party combo!!!

 

[Buzzer]

An example ...

Bellotti's Tory opponent was a former Conservative MP, called Richard Hickmet.

As you are no doubt aware, even in those days, there is an element of racism in our society that some 'natural' tory voters, especially the "old buffer" tendency in the party, keep just below the surface of their publicly expressed opinions. But if a politician can tap into this low-level racism, it can play to their advantage.

Why, I ask, did the Lib Dems choose the Eastbourne by-election as the one occasion when they felt it might be useful to use their opponent's MIDDLE name in their propaganda?

... Richard Saladin Hickmet.

very sad state of affairs.The Lib Dems really are unscrupulous and sneaky. I seem to recall in Private Eye, them running racist campaigns in the Isle of Dogs and other areas where disaffected white working class voters might be susceptible to that sort of tactic.

That's not to say that they are the only ones. The press (papers and telly) did the same to Sir Anthony Meyer when he stood against Thatcher. He pronounced his name (or did. He's dead now) as MAY-er whereas the press made a big thing of his European ancestry by making it the Germanic MY-er. I've also come across Labour doing it in Scotland and Wales bemoaning English invaders ruling the indigenous poulation.

 

[bigc]

Eastbourne actually ( a pedant writes). And at the time he was extremely popular!

I knew that....late night ramblings I'm afraid.

May 1990 or such wasn't it? Around the height of Thatcher Poll Tax madness.