Conservatives look to be winners in surprise UK election

[Basil B]

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she was "bursting with pride" as she joined her party's newly-elected MPs to mark its landslide election victory in Scotland.

The 56 new Westminster members posed for photographs with their party's leader in South Queensferry, overlooked by the Forth bridge.

Ms Sturgeon said ending austerity would be the first priority for SNP MPs.

The SNP celebrated unprecedented gains, virtually sweeping the board by taking all but three of the 59 seats.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-scotland-32672244

Well me lass... Celebrate now because from here on there is only one way and that is down.

I doubt she well still have 56 MP's going into the next election let alone when the votes are counted.

[Jay Sata]

The combination of her and Milliband does not bear thinking about.

They would have gone mad on a public funded spending spree.

The BBC had the Welsh windbag Kinnock claiming the closing polls were wrong.

Milliband now joins him as another Labour failure complete with his big tablet of stone.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Jay Sata

[JAG]

The BBC (!) had a great one liner on election night (day here).

" When Ed Milliband took the leadership Neil Kinnock said 'we've got our party back' - well it looks like you have Neil!"

[Chicog]

The combination of her and Milliband does not bear thinking about.

They would have gone mad on a public funded spending spree.

The BBC had the Welsh windbag Kinnock claiming the closing polls were wrong.

Milliband now joins him as another Labour failure complete with his big tablet of stone.

For Kinnock it was falling on his backside.

For Ted Milliband it was that bacon sandwich.

[dabhand]

Think you will find that SNP actually gained less than 50% of the votes cast in Scotland. So your comment about 'their winning 95% of the seats.....perfectly reflects the will of the majority of Scottish people' does not stack up with reality.

I think you will find that neither of us are correct. According to the BBC, the SNP took exactly 50% of all Scottish votes cast. Labour were second at 24% and the Nasty party took a paltry 14% (it saddens me that so many people in Scotland would support them) so my comments are correct - the SNP is perfectly mandated and Cameron has no moral legitimacy in Scotland.

No, I believe that I am correct. The BBC is using a rounded figure. the actual being 49.97%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_election,_2015_(Scotland)

So, your comments remain incorrect. A close result, but a miss is as good as a mile.....!

[emilymat]

So go and live in Glasgow?

If Wales and Scotland were separated from England the Labour Party would be finished.

Pretty much reflected in their Scottish results.

Well that is clearly nonsense, Labour have had majorities in the past which even if you strip out the Scottish and Welsh MPs would still have left them the governing party.

You have a long memory...

Not really Blair would have had a majority in parliament even with the Scottish and Welsh MP's discounted.

Correct, and the conservatives are going to do something about that immediately. Top of their agenda this first year is implementing the new electoral boundaries in England, a scheme designed to increase the number of Tory seats. Only stopped by the Lib/Dems in the coalition.

[emilymat]

The combination of her and Milliband does not bear thinking about.

They would have gone mad on a public funded spending spree.

The BBC had the Welsh windbag Kinnock claiming the closing polls were wrong.

Milliband now joins him as another Labour failure complete with his big tablet of stone.

For Kinnock it was falling on his backside.

For Ted Milliband it was that bacon sandwich.

What we haven't got is a photo of David Cameron at Villa Park yesterday. He is the only man on the planet who supports both teams. Trying to show he was 'man of the people' he thought they were the same, given the claret and blue in which they play. Surprised he didn't chuck in Burnley as well, but maybe that's because he knew they would be relegated and he didn't want to back a loser.

[jayboy]

So go and live in Glasgow?

If Wales and Scotland were separated from England the Labour Party would be finished.

Pretty much reflected in their Scottish results.

Well that is clearly nonsense, Labour have had majorities in the past which even if you strip out the Scottish and Welsh MPs would still have left them the governing party.

You have a long memory...

Not really Blair would have had a majority in parliament even with the Scottish and Welsh MP's discounted.

Correct, and the conservatives are going to do something about that immediately. Top of their agenda this first year is implementing the new electoral boundaries in England, a scheme designed to increase the number of Tory seats. Only stopped by the Lib/Dems in the coalition.

Rubbish.It is the recommendation of the completely independent Boundaries Commission to provide fairness in the population of parliamentary constituencies.Implementation as you suggest was delayed by the Liberal Democrats but the proposals will be implemented automatically in the next couple of years.The Tories have nothing to do with the recommendations and cannot influence them though it is believed because of population shifts they will be the main beneficiaries.As a government with a majority there will be no coalition party to press for another delay.

[JockPieandBeans]

Rubbish.It is the recommendation of the completely independent Boundaries Commission to provide fairness in the population of parliamentary constituencies.Implementation as you suggest was delayed by the Liberal Democrats but the proposals will be implemented automatically in the next couple of years.The Tories have nothing to do with the recommendations and cannot influence them though it is believed because of population shifts they will be the main beneficiaries.As a government with a majority there will be no coalition party to press for another delay.

Independent my @rse.

When a member of Parliament is chairman, regardless of capacity, it will never be independent.

Boundary Commissions in the UK are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the Westminster (UK) Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. There are four boundary commissions in the United Kingdom: one each for England, Scotland, Wales (Welsh: Comisiwn Ffiniau i Gymru), and Northern Ireland.

There are four members of each Commission, of which three actually take part in meetings. The Speaker of the House of Commons is the ex officio Chairman of each Boundary Commission, though he takes no part in the proceedings. The Deputy Chairman of a Commission, who presides over Commission meetings, is always a Justice in a British court.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Commissions_(United_Kingdom)

[pitrevie]

Not really Blair would have had a majority in parliament even with the Scottish and Welsh MP's discounted.

Correct, and the conservatives are going to do something about that immediately. Top of their agenda this first year is implementing the new electoral boundaries in England, a scheme designed to increase the number of Tory seats. Only stopped by the Lib/Dems in the coalition.

I somehow thought that that fixing the economy was top of their agenda, its appears not then, perhaps it wasn't in such a bad state after all. So at least they have their priorities right.

It matters not a jot that you strip out the Scottish and Welsh MPs or that you rig the constituencies in your favour. The time comes when the electorate get sick and tired of the governing party almost always because of a series of mishaps and they swing the other way. As Harold MacMillan observed the pendulum eventually swings back the other way.

[jayboy]

Rubbish.It is the recommendation of the completely independent Boundaries Commission to provide fairness in the population of parliamentary constituencies.Implementation as you suggest was delayed by the Liberal Democrats but the proposals will be implemented automatically in the next couple of years.The Tories have nothing to do with the recommendations and cannot influence them though it is believed because of population shifts they will be the main beneficiaries.As a government with a majority there will be no coalition party to press for another delay.

Independent my @rse.

When a member of Parliament is chairman, regardless of capacity, it will never be independent.

Boundary Commissions in the UK are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the Westminster (UK) Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. There are four boundary commissions in the United Kingdom: one each for England, Scotland, Wales (Welsh: Comisiwn Ffiniau i Gymru), and Northern Ireland.

There are four members of each Commission, of which three actually take part in meetings. The Speaker of the House of Commons is the ex officio Chairman of each Boundary Commission, though he takes no part in the proceedings. The Deputy Chairman of a Commission, who presides over Commission meetings, is always a Justice in a British court.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Commissions_(United_Kingdom)

Read your own quotes from Wiki before posting nonsense.They confirm my point about independence.

[Steely Dan]

But it is not all "fun and games" for Mr. Cameroun and his Tories.

He made an election promise to have a referendum in 2017 on renegotiating the terms of keeping the U.K in the Eurozone..... and now he's got to abide by that promise.

A lot of countries in the Eurozone are NOT happy with the idea of the U.K. renegotiating their contract with the Eurozone, and they may not be willing to give further concessions to the U.K.

And the right wing of the Tories..... those that seem to think Baggy Maggie was a saint is unwilling to make any compromise on what they believe is the holy word as issued by Baggy Maggie.

So the next two years may be rather troublesome.

As the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for, you may end up actually getting it:.

And not even to mention the "minor problem" of Scotland and the SNP controlling it.

All in all not a bad result at all for UKIP who forced Cameron to agree to a referendum on Europe in order to stop mass defections of Tory voters to UKIP. This was all achieved without a proportional representation system. I predict proportional representation may yet arrive because the Tories + UKIP + a few others could form a majority and the danger of a few points swing to Labour in future elections would otherwise bring the nightmare of the SNP putting Labour into power while holding the Country to ransom.

As for the E.U referendum I predict things will go so pear shaped in Europe over the next two years that exit will be very likely indeed.

[Basil B]

UKIP is probably finished, turned out to be just another National Front/BNP party in disguise having to expel so many candidates who unguardedly expressed their racist and sexist views...

There will almost certainly be no referendum on PR in the next 5 years, those who supported it accept the result of the referendum unlike the supporters of the other referendum.

As for the referendum on the EU, although the UK has been told there is no chance of renegotiations I am hure that the EU has a full sugar lumps in their pocket to influence the outcome of the referendum.

[nontabury]

I promised a poster I would eat humble pie if the Tories were returned with a majority. So be it, and I do.

Just a couple of comments.

1. We are hearing a lot about why the polls prior to the election and the exit poll were so different. There is a new phrase 'shy Tories'. I think I understand that. They mean that many people prior to the election tell pollsters they are a 'don't know' but in reality, whilst they perhaps recognise that they should consider the problems of the poor and less well-off, when they enter the ballot box that is cast aside. They always intended to vote Tory. I guess it's human nature. So, pre-election polls get it wrong.

2. To my simple mind, the Scottish referendum changed everything. A vast majority of the 45% who voted 'yes' were always going to vote SNP at this. election. Add to that the 'no' voters who still wanted increased influence at Westminster and you have an unstoppable bandwagon. I'm not a Scot, but understand many of the frustrations they feel after living there for many years. One of my regrets is that someone like Douglas Alexander - a politician I felt could have been an excellent leader of the Labour Party - has lost his seat to a 20 year old student, who is not going to attend parliament but go back to university.

I genuinely wish the young lady well, she is clearly very 'savvy' for her age. However, the voters are supposed to be electing a constituency MP to represent them locally and in Parliament. In a sense, that is what is now wrong with a flawed voting system. How many times have we heard that politicians should have 'experience of working in the real world' before they enter parliament?.

I actually think the best prime minister we never had was John Smith. Had he lived there would have been no Blair/Brown demons, which have been the source of so much ridicule and hatred, by the press and some of the public.

I think it's obvious I didn't vote for the Conservatives, I voted Labour. I fear we are in for a difficult time for the less well off over the next five years. We will now see the 'infighting' between the Euro sceptics and supporters of the EC in the Tory party in the run up to the referendum. I suspect that independence for Scotland is not far away, and good luck to them.

This result of a Conservative majority ironically suits the SNP in their quest for independence - whatever might be said by the leaders at the moment.

As for the Lib/Dems. I told my daughter 5 years ago that the lure of ministerial cars and power was too much for them to refuse. (33% of their MPs in 2010 became government ministers - many of course in a junior capacity). They were always going to try and move away from the Tories in the run up to the election and regain an identity - but it was too late, They were tainted and had angered so many of their 2010 voters by going into coalition, destruction was certain. It was the Tories who swept them aside in the SW of England particularly.

As JFK said. 'Those who ride the tiger, end up inside'

Oh yes. I bet you Nigel Farage is back as UK leader by the autumn. Any takers?

Bit of a rant all this, but I had to get it off my chest and I can't do that with my Thai neighbour who wondered why I had been glued to the TV yesterday from 5am Thai time, until the evening.

Many people think that the Conservatives gained votes or din't loose as many as expected, due to the electorate being afraid of a Labour/SNP coalition which would have implemented many Strange policies. Therefore it could be argued that the SNP are responsible for Cameron still being in office.

Regarding Nigel Farage, let's hope he does return,as he was the only party leader who spoke for the people,while taking a lot of flake from the lying media.

[emilymat]

Nontabury.

Good points and I'm sure there is an large element of truth in your post. As I said, I don't think the SNP will be too unhappy with this outcome.

On the other point of 'shy' Tory voters, I am fascinated by the polls prior to the election which showed a dead heat.

This was almost identical to the pre-Scotland referendum polls, which gave a very slender lead for the "no' vote and one opinion poll actually gave the 'yes' vote the lead just prior to the vote.

When the result came out it was pretty decisive for the 'no's'. So, I have to conclude there were 'shy' no voters, who told the pollsters one thing and did another.

I will now be very sceptical of any polls in the future.