UK General Election 2010

[Kiyouta]

Yeah there really should be more Duney candidates in the Election. Golden Path? Wasn't that from the Wizard of Oz? No matter. Gordon's the man for me! Everyone hates him. I can really relate to that. And people are fucking morons. I completely understand why he hates talking to them!

[Dante]

[Edric O]

It's official: The UK has a hung Parliament. The vote count is not over yet, but, as of right now, it has become mathematically impossible for any one party to gain a majority of seats.

The Tories are the largest party. The Lib Dems had a disappointing result and may even end up with a net loss of seats - all this after the polls indicated they would get their best result in a century. Meanwhile, the Greens have won their first ever seat. And so has the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland.

[Dante]

There are worse things than a hung parliament. I do hope that this prompts a measure of cooperation, but chance would be a fine thing.

[Mahdi]

Won't ya'll just end up with a minority or coalition government?  I don't understand why this is such huge news - it happens in every parliamentary government.  I woke up this morning and every website I went to was "OMG BRITAIN HAS A HUNG GOVT!!!!!!"

[Andrew]

So if Labour and Liberal Democrat decide to join forces to make majority, can Conservative prorogue parliament like Stephen Harper did in Canada?

[Dante]

Britain has historically viewed hung parliaments as signs of an impending government that is indecisive, powerless and/or weak. Generally speaking, "we" hate coalitions.

Personally I don't see what the fuss is about. Scotland has been in coalition for years, as have most of the rest of the world. And, somehow, Germany has managed not to implode.

Edit: as far as I'm aware, a Lib-Lab pact would overrule the conservatives. At this point that's the best-case scenario for me. If the electoral system wasn't first-past-the-post then it might be a different story, and the conservatives would be at a definite advantage.

[Andrew]

Britain has historically viewed hung parliaments as signs of an impending government that is indecisive, powerless and/or weak. Generally speaking, "we" hate coalitions.

Same with Canada. But interestingly minority governments means the government can't go do as much stupid stuff. In Canada if Conservatives do something real stupid, the other parties won't necessarily support it, and Cons risk triggering an election (which at the moment they'd probably lose seats with all the scandals they've been having).

Based upon the introduction of 'Anti-consumer' copyright bill on way: expert it looks like there may be yet another Canadian election this fall.

[Dunenewt]

Knock knock ......

Who's there ? ......

David ......

David who ? ......

Gordon open the f****** door and get out of my house!

What's the difference between Nick Griffin and a bus?

A bus has got seats.

------------

Jokes aside, I expect we'll have another election within 2 years.  Con/Lib (anyone but Brown) election looks quite likely now!  Thank God for that!

[Dante]

It will be interesting to see if anyone acknowledges that the tories have any sort of basis for power up here, given that they won all of one seat.

[Dragoon Knight]

I'd rather have Gordon Brown, if the only alternative was that smug knob David Cameron.

I'm just happy that the UKIP and BNP got precisely zero seats.  The SNP, Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru did well, their constituencies obviously happy with them. :)

[Wolf]

Um, as far as I know, the balance here is extraordinary. A Lib/Lab pact would only have 315 seats, while the Tories, with 306 (or 307, as Thirsk & Malton seems likely to go Conservative) and their DUP allies would produce 314 (or 315). I dunno, I'd venture a guess that if Cameron promises electoral reform, the Libs will jump onto that boat in a second, and that would be a fairly stable and productive coalition.

EDIT: And I hasten to point out to the Scots that the Conservatives got twice as many votes as there are people in Scotland. Not that this actually means anything, but an interesting fact nonetheless.

[Dante]

Yeah, but there are more people in London that Scotland and we don't much care for anyone dictating from there either.

[Dunenewt]

I cannot wait for spending cuts in Scotland so that us down in England and Wales get a fairer deal.

UKIP got more votes than Plaid Cymru, the IRA (sorry, I meant Sinn Fein) and Scottish Numpty Party put together yet didn't get a seat!  It just shows how badly electoral reform is needed. 

Also, what the Tories should do, is take £300m from Scotland's budget, and give it to Wales, and they're guaranteed PC's votes!

[Dante]

*shrug* You treat us badly, we'll leave.

[Dunenewt]

Unfortunately for the English and Welsh taxpayers, the majority of you don't want that!

[Dante]

At the moment. Things might change if the tories start throwing their weight around. See the way the constituancies split? Scotland is a completely different colour. We're do things differently up here, and have never really forgiven the tories for... well, a lot of things.

[Dunenewt]

Just like I come from Tory heartlands where Thatcher is revered, indeed its hard to find someone that would speak ill of her round my way.

[Dragoon Knight]

If we end up with a Conservative-led government (which is looking inevitable at this point), then I can't say I'll be happy.  I hope they at least have the sense to handle Scotland with care, since they're obviously almost universally disliked up here.  Even in Moray, where the Conservatives are relatively popular by Scottish standards, we understand that they're bad news.

Depending on how this turns out, it could be really good news for SNP.  If the Conservatives do what they always do and break promises, grind the working class into the dirt and generally cock everything up, it will only make Alex Salmond's calls for us to distance ourselves from Westminster even more appealing.  What people think when they hear "Scottish Independence" is a great deal different than what is actually being proposed.  Same army, same currency, same monarch - a huge pile of same, but with the added bonus of us being able to decide things ourselves.

[Dunenewt]

HA!  The Scottish Numpty Party did well with their target of 20 seats.  As the time passes people will begin to hate Salmond and his vanity projects/ideas.

[Dragoon Knight]

That's right, you pompous git.  Reinforce every stereotype surrounding people with your sort of views.  It only makes you look worse and me look better. :)

The SNP are only getting more popular, as far as local opinion is concerned.  We'll see what happens come the next Scottish Elections.

[Dunenewt]

Scottish National Party 491,386  1.7% +0.1

UK Independence Party 917,832  3.1%  +0.9

[Dante]

Labour: Seats: 41, Votes: 1,035,528, %: 42.0

Liberal Democrat: Seats: 11, Votes: 465,471, %: 18.9

Scottish National Party: Seats: 6, Votes: 491,386, %: 19.9

Conservative: Seat: 1, Votes: 412,855, %: 16.7

UK Independence Party Seat: 0, Votes: 17,223, %: 0.7

Compare them where they're actually competing you twit.

[Dunenewt]

I'm comparing the UK wide election that took place on Thursday.  Are you suggesting SNP are an irrelevance within the UK?

[Dragoon Knight]

Not to mention the prevalence of tactical voting.  Lots of people who would normally have voted for their party of choice may have been convinced to vote for Labour, in the hope that it would keep the Conservatives out.