Yesterdays elections
 

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

The count doesn't start until 9.30 this morning.

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

Cheers for that Bernard

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According to HBC twitter, Tony Dobson held his seat. Some Labour gains elsewhere and apparently a bit of agro at the count :rolleyes:

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

Accrington Observer | Accrington Observer - menmedia.co.uk
Looks like labour gained four

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

And one of those was my Ward. Glad i made the effort.:)

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Seems like having party politics at the local level does have the advantage of revealing the mood of the voters. I don't know if I'm correct, but I see them acting in the same way that the US mid term elections do ... as a comment on how well the ruling party (current administration) is doing. I was bored last nite, and a little stoned; so I followed the elections on the "Guardian" web site. Some things I found significant, foremost among them the size of the vote for the UKIP, even tho' it didn't translate into many seats. This seems to have goaded some tories in proposing that the party move further to the right.:rolleyes: This will probably not sit well with their coalition partners. Labour did well; however, it does appear that lots of voters voiced their displeasure by voting for a move to the right, rather than to (slightly) left of centre. The low voter turn out is also surprising, given the economic mess the country is in.

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

I think most people are just fed-up and that translates into apathy, Eric.

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Eric, voter turnout is falling all the time I would say - terminal apathy rules. Folks don't seem to understand that they need to get out there and make their voice heard. By the way I didn't vote - there was no election in my ward!

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Well it doesn't give the turnout but looking at the figures it seems to have been very low, lower than usual less than 1000 voting in St Andrews ward, its usually 50%+ in that ward

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It's becoming more and more apparent, even at local level, that it no longer matters who is elected, as Europe are pulling all the strings when it comes to the governing of this once great country. Sad . . . but so very true.

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Ya but I bet there would be a great turnout if it was for a referendum on whether we stayed in the European Union or pulled out, but our elected member stabbed us in the back in that issue

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I looked at the twitter feed earlier in the day and recall reading 'the police have allowed a conservative councillor to re-enter the hall'. That entry is no longer there but there appears to have been some hassle.

EV Tel -
"10:56
Twitter
StuartPike78:
Drama at the #hyndburn count as pushing and shoving near a big group of men at front of hall. Disgraceful scenes. [via Twitter]"

and

"1:09
Twitter
StuartPike78:
Temperatures seem to have calmed down now after scuffle at the #hyndburn [via Twitter]"

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

I think the apathy is down to people feeling that whatever they vote won't influence what the political parties do(or perhap more relevently, don't do).
People feel that their vote makes no difference at all.

Their is very little difference between the three main parties. The electorate needs to be able to shake them up, out of their complacency...but I won't hold my breath waiting.

Re: Yesterdays elections
 

No. I can't accept that. All generalizations are flawed;) Let's say we are talking about 70% of eligible voters who did not show up at the polls. To say that apathy ... terminal apathy ... is the sole cause just doesn't make sense to me. Assigning one, single cause is to ignore what might be a complex of reasons. One can counter that single generalization with a set of them. And come to a different conclusion which may or may not, in the opinion of a few, or maybe more than a few, explain the low turnout. The wealthy tend to vote, they have lots to protect; so, they vote for the party of the right which will best serve their interests. The educated tend to vote because they are aware not only of the issues, but also of the importance of voting. The middle classes will quite often vote because, although not as secure as the wealthy, they still have something to protect. The ones that don't vote are the ill- or under-educated, and the poor who are too busy struggling to get by to have any time to inform themselves about what is going on in politics. It seems that this large ... and becoming ever larger ... non-voting underclass may form, along with the truly apathetic and lazy, the non-voting mass. The policies of right-wing governments tend to push more and more people into this class. I'm not about to argue whether this is by accident or by design; but I do see that poverty and ignorance can combine with, perhaps even create, what seems to be an apathetic bloc.