UK local by-elections 2013

[minionofmidas]

"Strontium Dog"?

[minionofmidas]

Leasowe? Yowza.

[minionofmidas]

Definitely the kind've place where UKIP will be seeing surges in support.

I'd frankly expected them to be polling higher, although I guess that too should be put down to Wirral Conservatives "doing a good job".

Also, lol at TUSC beating the LDs in Leasowe, I overlooked that the first time!

[minionofmidas]

I feel the UKIP surge.

[minionofmidas]

Speaking of parish councils, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition have won a seat on Maltby Town Council, in Rotherham borough, in a two horse race with an independent.  Apparently this is the first time TUSC have ever won an election.

*waves red flag*

[minionofmidas]

Quite the set of results.

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[minionofmidas]

Looks like the Tory Party on Holiday is morphing into the Tory Party in Retirement!

[minionofmidas]

I take it running a county councillor for district council is done because of the advantage in name recognition - what kind of turnouts are we talking in elections like that?

Still, it's exactly these kind of places where Labour need to improve if they want a chance at more than a narrow majority, and where they aren't doing so.

The Islington result just confirms what we already know - there's a gaggle of ~15 LD MPs who are as certainly out of Parliament on election day as the man in my signature, with the only difference being that he just about may be succeeded by the SNP rather than Labour. It doesn't really tell us anything about anywhere else.

UKIP - Uniting the Tories and BNPers!

[minionofmidas]

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WHAT!? NOOOOOOO!

[minionofmidas]

why three at once in Knowsley? scandal?

Elderly(ish) Labour councillors dropping off the perch.

Ritual Group Suicide being hushed up?

[minionofmidas]

Oldham, Alexandra

Lab 70.7 (+24.3)
UKIP 18.8 (+18.
Lib Dem 4.4 (-14.4)
Con 3.6 (-31.2)
Green 2.5 (+2.5)

Lol, I presume there's a story behind the Tories' performance though?

[minionofmidas]

It's probably a good thing I'm otherwise engaged and can't write previews at the moment

BLASPHEMY

I presume there is a white and more suburban - but probably still fairly working class - side to the ward... but the Tory vote there went over to UKIP?

[minionofmidas]

Excellent result in Spenborough though.

Including for the LDs!

[minionofmidas]

Excellent result in Spenborough though.

Including for the LDs!

Indeed, helped by the Green absence who've been standing each year since the ward's creation and got their best result last year (9%) only to not stand here.

Not to mention the UKIP absence... place sounds like strong kipper territory really.

[minionofmidas]

Hooray! The Holy Word is back in the best place for it!

[minionofmidas]

Further up on the Wirral is Parkgate

Further downstream, surely.

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Yeah, no village has 7000 people in my book. Anything over half that (and that's generous) will be either a town or a suburb. In this case, suburb.  

[minionofmidas]

Further up on the Wirral is Parkgate

Further downstream, surely.

This is the Parkgate seafront:


If you can find a stream there, I'll let you have downstream.

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Meh, it also bugs me when Germans use "up" in the sense of north in relation to Germany. Which they do a lot. In Germany south as by the Dee, up is obviously southwards.

[minionofmidas]

Nice result in Thetford.

For UKIP almost more so than for Labour, given circumstances.

[minionofmidas]

More of an explanation now than a preview, and the results have exposed some shocking lack of research, but here goes.

So who is this Steve Rush fellow you  failed to research?

[minionofmidas]

You see, these just as periodical reports also have been exaggerated since I was a boy. (The other type have been around since Clement Attlee was a boy, actually.)

The LDs will survive. This won't be immediately clear after the next elections, but it will be clear by the time they're back in opposition to a Tory government the next time.

[minionofmidas]

Long trip down memory lane here:

http://blog.englishelections.org.uk/2013/08/by-election-preview-15-august-2013.html

Happy Eater, eh?

5:20 to 7:15

[minionofmidas]

Lincoln has a rather strange topography, being divided into "uphill" and "downhill" halves.  The cathedral, castle and public buildings are "uphill", while the city centre lies in the "downhill" part - a low-lying area next to the River Witham.  One way in which this divide is enforced is through local television, with northern "uphill" Lincoln being part of the Yorkshire TV region and southern "downhill" Lincoln covered by the Central TV region.

Oh wow, lol.

[minionofmidas]

Why was Fenside once a safe Labour ward - or else why have they run into the ground so? (oh, and lol at Loughborough).

[minionofmidas]

Dunstable to sue Andrew for libel for telling the truth ("suburb of Luton") in 3, 2, 1... Also, everyone who didn't stop that name "Central Bedfordshire" for the Southern 60% of the county from being adopted needs to be deported to Tiree for the remainder of their natural life.

[minionofmidas]

I had to look up the inappropriate comment. The schoolgirl in question was 13, which is... um.