British General Elections Live Thread

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 05/07/10 | Daily Telegraph

[TonyInOhio]

The 2010 General Elections in the United Kingdom are underway, and the first results will trickle in in the next few hours. Post your observations here, and let's all root for the Tories!

[BCEagles]

And now they Tories have picked off the Lib Dems in Montgomeryshire. 13.2% swing!

I think we can forget about the Lib Dem surge.

[TNCMAXQ]

This system they have of announcing the winner from a stage with all the candidates present is so interesting, and completely unlike what we are used to. Are there no “projections?” Sounds like the winner is announced only after all the votes are counted and the result is official. Not a bad idea maybe.

[goldstategop]

It indicates a swing towards the Tories. They need at least 9% to get an absolute majority but even if they miss, they'll have enough seats to form a strong as opposed to a weak minority government.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[propertius]

Neither does anyone in the UK...

[goldstategop]

If that swing holds up nationwide, they will get a comfortable HOC majority though nowhere of the size Labour had for most of the past 13 years.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[GeronL]

great news. The Lib Dem surge is a myth

[BCEagles]

The Tory gains are starting to come in now. Montgomeryshire still blows me away — that was a safe Lib Dem seat.

[GeronL]

Basildon South is a Con gasin

[advance_copy]

I think we can forget about the Lib Dem surge.

Yep, and Gordon Brown can forget about forging a coalition to keep his job. Earlier they were saying he was going to present a Lib-Lab coaltion to the Queen tomorrow. Not gonna happen.

[Chet 99]

Cameron will have to attend to the issue of rebellious backbenchers if the majority is narrow, especially when it comes to implementing budget cuts.

[goldstategop]

I'm start to think the the exit polls are rubbish. Until all the votes are counted, we won't know whether the much-mooted "hung Parliament" scenario is even true.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[JackTom]

So far Cons picked 10 seats from Lab and 1 from Lib, also holding all their seats.

[GeronL]

The carbomb outside the vote counting centre in Londonderry WAS a viable explosive device.

[Clemenza]

Any news on Enoch Powell’s old constituency of Wolverhampton South West?

[goldstategop]

That's not likely with party discipline. On government bills, the government's MPs vote the way they're told. A "free vote" in the House Of Commons is a rare event.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[Vanders9]

Essentially the country is chopped up into 650 areas, called "constituencies". Some effort is put into making sure they are all approximately the same size (in terms of number of voters, geographically they vary wildly) and encompassing similar kinds of industry, economics etc. This is handled by a neutral body called the Electoral commission. In practice it's quite difficult to do because people move around a lot between counts. Anyhoo...each constituency is allowed one representative in Parliament. Anyone can stand, upon being formally entered and seconded, and payment of a deposit (currently set at, I believe, £500 (about $750)). This is refundable if you manage to get a certain percentage of the vote (its quite low - about 5% I think). This is meant to dissuade all but the most dedicated of loonies. The election runs from 7AM to 10PM and its always on a Thursday. Everyone registered in the constituency is allowed to vote, at an assigned polling station near to where they live. The ballot boxes are taken to a central location and counted, and whichever candidate gets the most votes in each constituency is in. An official called the "returning officer" makes a public announcement of the votes cast and announces the winner. Because some of the constituencies are much larger than others, they take longer to get all the votes together. Also the turnout may vary, and if the election is close candidates may call for recounts. You are currently seeing some of the 650 constituencies "declaring".

[propertius]

Not sure. We just don’t have a pattern yet.

[Chet 99]

There are also a lot of rotten boroughs in favor of Labour, which is why Tories need a much higher popular vote percentage to get a majority.

[GeronL]

huge turnouts, some places 75%

[goldstategop]

In the UK, they've always used paper ballots. Voters mark an x beside the candidate and although the ballot does not list the party the candidate belongs to, voters are well aware of the candidate in their constituency they intend to vote for well before polling day.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus