2021 Local elections

[Party04]

Its always Conservative or Lib Dems down here on the Sussex/Surrey border.

I voted Lib Dems because they were the only party to write to me and that effort goes a long way to deciding my vote - by post this year with the coronavirus pandemic still around and no jabs yet.

 

[JTG]

West of England (ie Bristol metro) mayor declaration starting to be made - former Wansdyke (ie the precursor of JRM's NE Somerset seat) MP Dan Norris has managed near parity with the Tory candidate in B&NES. Tory has a lead of 9.5k in S Glos and we await the result from the much higher turnout and significantly more left leaning Bristol before we conclude the first round.

If Norris gets through even slightly near the Tory then second prefs could see the mayoralty change hands for possibly Labour's most high profile success in England this election

 

[Cwmflame]

Ah, (apols for stating the obvious but) we have had a Welshman in this position, Cwmflame. First time I left the LP in disgust in the appalling Kinnock period. Don't really feel nationalism appropriate anywhere tbh.

No problem....i was joking about the shoeing i got on here for defending Owen Smith’s background

 

[Cwmflame]

Including in my Senedd constituency, Swansea East -- Mike Hedges re-elected with a bigger majority

I was expecting the worst six weeks ago, but as the campaign went on it became more obvious that Welsh Labour was going to be okay. To gain a seat is remarkable. Incumbancy but that old clear red water has meant the brand facepalm isn’t as toxic as in England

 

[campanula]

Heh, Cwmflame - I am a fervid East Anglian - a sort of drier, flatter Wales. Those liminal places on the edges. Always feel a vague kinship with Welshies.

 

[Cwmflame]

Heh, Cwmflame - I am a fervid East Anglian - a sort of drier, flatter Wales. Those liminal places on the edges. Always feel a vague kinship with Welshies.

You should get the t-shirt

 

[William of Walworth]

Concerning Labour successes in the Welsh Senedd elections :

Well done William. Great effort.

As you well know , I did bugger-all in these elections except vote -- my old Labour activist/membership days are pushing twenty years ago now.

 

[two sheds]

Having mostly lived across the south of the country I don't think I've ever voted for someone who's actually got in.

 

[JTG]

West of England (ie Bristol metro) mayor declaration starting to be made - former Wansdyke (ie the precursor of JRM's NE Somerset seat) MP Dan Norris has managed near parity with the Tory candidate in B&NES. Tory has a lead of 9.5k in S Glos and we await the result from the much higher turnout and significantly more left leaning Bristol before we conclude the first round.

If Norris gets through even slightly near the Tory then second prefs could see the mayoralty change hands for possibly Labour's most high profile success in England this election

Norris leads in Bristol by 22,000 votes meaning he'll head to the second round run off with a 12k vote advantage. It's a Labour gain folks

 

[Dogsauce]

BBC breaking news: Labour ‘hold on’ to power in Wales.

Insidious how they word this stuff, isn’t it?

 

[JTG]

Paul Dennett, socialist mayor of Salford has been re-elected in the first round with 59% of the vote, a ten point swing towards him from last time.

Expect this to be ignored by the party's ruling cabal

 

[JTG]

Steve Rotheram reelected mayor for the Liverpool City Region with 58% of the first round vote. He got 66% of the vote in Liverpool itself, way ahead of what Joanne Anderson got in her election.

 

[JTG]

Another Green gain from Labour with a big swing:

 

[JTG]

Burnham has been reelected with 67% of the vote, including 80% in Manchester city itself.

 

[TopCat]

They are for Tory plans but against the Tories carrying them out. I think.

That’s the vision.

 

[JTG]

Labour GAIN WECA Mayor (Bristol metro) from Con

Second round:
Dan Norris Second pref votes: 41,048 Total: 125,482
Samuel Williams Second pref votes: 12,974 Total: 85,389

A rare of example of Bristol getting to impose its choice on the assorted suburban racists and village idiots who usually dictate our rulers in anything larger than the city itself

 

[Dogsauce]

Labour GAIN WECA Mayor (Bristol metro) from Con

Second round:
Dan Norris Second pref votes: 41,048 Total: 125,482
Samuel Williams Second pref votes: 12,974 Total: 85,389

A rare of example of Bristol getting to impose its choice on the assorted suburban racists and village idiots who usually dictate our rulers in anything larger than the city itself

Didn‘t think Labour were in with a shout on that one given the blue sea that Bristol sits in. Hopefully it’ll mean some joined-up thinking on stuff like transport which has been a wretched mess ever since Avon was abolished, and why there isn’t anything like a metro. Of course, central government will starve the area of funding now it’s not their team, shameless in playing that sort of game.

 

[JTG]

Didn‘t think Labour were in with a shout on that one given the blue sea that Bristol sits in. Hopefully it’ll mean some joined-up thinking on stuff like transport which has been a wretched mess ever since Avon was abolished, and why there isn’t anything like a metro. Of course, central government will starve the area of funding now it’s not their team, shameless in playing that sort of game.

Norris in charge of a billion quid budget apparently, which makes you wonder what Tim "who?" Bowles was doing with it all.

I think two factors at play here for Norris' election. First, he was only 150 votes behind the Tory in B&NES which was remarkable, even as an ex-MP for the area. Outstripping the Lib Dems by 2:1 in a council area they control was no mean feat, as was going toe to toe with the Tory in what is now Jacob Rees-Mogg country. Imagine that Labour must have worked very hard to turn out their supporters in Paulton/Norton/Radstock as well as parts of Bath that are more left leaning than you may think.

The other thing in their favour was the luck of having the Bristol mayorals and council elections on the same day thanks to Covid. Bristol turnout raced well ahead of the other areas to the extent that the Bristol vote outweighed the combined rest of the region by more than 2:1 with the obvious effect on suppressing the Tory vote and running up the Labour score. Even a hefty Green vote will have contributed a sizeable number of Labour second prefs.

Anyway, fuck that guy, the Iraq apologist and expenses fiddling scumbag. All the best Dan.

 

[JimW]

Our old MP David Drew is back in politics, on the county council after taking the Stroud Central ward off the greens. Labour regained Dursley off the Tories too but comfortable retain of control for the scummers overall.

 

[JTG]

Our old MP David Drew is back in politics, on the county council after taking the Stroud Central ward off the greens. Labour regained Dursley off the Tories too but comfortable retain of control for the scummers overall.

Oh I am pleased! He's a good guy and I guess that's some small measure of retribution for the Greens part in his defeat in 2019

 

[JimW]

Oh I am pleased! He's a good guy and I guess that's some small measure of retribution for the Greens part in his defeat in 2019

Yeah, often used to see him up the football and say hi and he tried to help me with an immigration issue for my family when we were considering moving back.

 

[JTG]

Yeah, often used to see him up the football and say hi and he tried to help me with an immigration issue for my family when we were considering moving back.

Genuinely one of the best Labour had. Losing Stroud by such a small margin was very very sad

 

[The39thStep]

Another Green gain from Labour with a big swing:

What is it with Burnley , if it’s not the BNP getting elected it’s the Greens

 

[JimW]

Genuinely one of the best Labour had. Losing Stroud by such a small margin was very very sad

A rare real person in the party who actually belongs in the community he serves. Loads of differences of course but if politics was people of his stripe we'd be a vastly different country.

 

[JTG]

What is it with Burnley , if it’s not the BNP getting elected it’s the Greens

Town's voted Labour, Lib Dem and Tory in recent memory as well as returning a load of BNP to the council for a while

 

[The39thStep]

Town's voted Labour, Lib Dem and Tory in recent memory as well as returning a load of BNP to the council for a while

Eclectic

 

[JTG]

Eclectic

The true bohemians

 

[JimW]

The true bohemians

Czechs and balances.

 

[JTG]

 

[JTG]

Labour have gained the Cambridge & Peterborough metro mayoralty by a couple of percentage points from the Tories