Elections!

[Sheilbh]

I don't see that with Mogg. This is him as a 10 year old:


He's married an heiress (the daughter of Somerset Struben de Chair) and he has a nanny for his children.

I think he's a hard-core Brideshead Catholic conservative, who behaves and dresses and speaks like a hard-core Brideshead Catholic conservative.

Edit: He sent his first letter to the FT aged 12 for God's sake

Edit: Also UKIP have won all five seats in Rotherham that have reported, which was one of their targets.

Edit: Incidentally Jeremy Vine looking at wards so far, mostly in Labour areas - Labour 40% (-), UKIP 28% (+27), Tories 21%(-8), Lib Dems 8% (-15). On last local elections Labour are down 14%, UKIP's up 20%, Tories and Lib Dems down 3%. I think it is possible UKIP could become the anti-Labour party in the North.

For example Labour's apparently lost Hartlepool. The Tories have lost two Essex councils because of UKIP and Labour will keep Rotherham (they've had it for 80 years) but there'll be a proper opposition now. So far 9 Labour councillors, 8 UKIP (5-6 won from Labour - including the Leader and Deputy Leader of the council ).

[Sheilbh]

According to the Bagehot it'll be a good night for Labour and UKIP if they win 300 and 150 councillors respectively and for the Lib Dems and Tories if they lose fewer than 200 and 150. The Greens are also hoping for a breakthrough.

We've had about 1/8 of the total seats in, so it's still very early. But so far Labour have gained 14, the Tories have lost 64, the Lib Dems have lost 21. UKIP have gained 68 - which is more councillors than they had about 5 years ago.

Alarmingly for Labour in addition to the rest of the trouble in Rotherham, apparently UKIP won the popular vote in Rotherham. There's a new Labour MP there after the previous one resigned in 2012 after being convicted over expenses. It's definitely a major target for them in 2015.

Edit: Yep. Popular vote in Rotherham:
UKIP: 30,084 (44.3%)
Labour: 27,793 (40.9%)
Conservative: 6,482 (9.5%)
Other: 3,611

[Maladict]

By the way Sheilbh, did you see Jacob Rees-Mogg's performance on Have I Got News For You? I thought it was quite good, even if he did seem to come over as almost a caricature of the urbane aristocrat.

It was pretty good. 

[Syt]

OMG, it's the young Niles Crane! 

[Duque de Bragança]

Part of that's surely a function of the system though. The UK's got first past the post, I think the French system favours big parties too. But these nutty parties are present in national parliaments in, for example, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Greece, Ireland etc.

It's true, except for European elections, where it's full proportional representation.
I'll vote twice, Portugal is not far away, while in Paris that is (2 metro stations to the Consulate) and of course in the election that the FN is poised to win.

[Maladict]

Part of that's surely a function of the system though. The UK's got first past the post, I think the French system favours big parties too. But these nutty parties are present in national parliaments in, for example, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Greece, Ireland etc.

For the Netherlands, it's part of a long-established system, rooted in religious affiliation.
Traditionally, every tiny religious splinter group had its own newspaper, radio station, school, union, and political party.
Most of these have disappeared, only the political fracturing remains, even though it's no longer based on religious grounds.

[Siege]

Fuck shelf.
I'm still crying about Bailout Bevin losing to Mitch Macullun,
Fuck Kentucky.
How the fuck can you vote for a big government republican when you know that big government is the problem?
Fuck Kentucky.

[Maladict]

 

[Siege]

What?

[Siege]

I say again , FUCK KENTUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111111111111

[Siege]

You have to be a fucking retarf to vote for big gov and high txes.
You know is the fucking end

[Viking]

You have to be a fucking retarf to vote for big gov and high txes.
You know is the fucking end

Well given a choice between "big government advocate who is sane" and "small government advocate who is insane" I'm not surprised people prioritized the sanity issue over the government issue.

[Eddie Teach]

I say again , FUCK KENTUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111111111111

Ok.

[Tamas]

It is such a farce to have radically anti-EU parties run on EU elections. Can the people be (successfully) taken for bigger fools than that? Some aholes spit out popular negative BS and with that they grab the golden egg laid by the very thing they are spitting on. It is a disgrace.

[Eddie Teach]

It is such a farce to have radically anti-EU parties run on EU elections.

Like anti-communist parties running in elections in communist states.