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As, some of you know, my passion for politics extends ‘across the pond’ as they say. I didn’t think of writing anything until results started streaming in, and that for a subject I feel deserves more notice from us Yanks, my little O/T post was clearly not gonna cut it.

If you have absolutely no idea what this is all about (and even if you do), see The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Britain’s Elections. For questions about parties and what they represent, this is a decent overview from Political Compass.

Any articles, updates, post wrap-up analyses – heck, anything British, can be added in the comments section.

A few indispensable resources:

BBC’s Results Map and Data

The Guardian‘s Results Map and Data [English]

The Herald‘s Results Map and Data [Scottish]

The Western Mail Map Results and Data [Welsh]

The Belfast Telegraph Updates [Northern Irish]

These sites with some redundant constituency information also double as helpful sources for a particular country’s local focus so that you may navigate from there.

For more news sites across Britain, or, if you would like more information on the tilt of those listed above, simply ask.

And, as you see the results, you may compare them with this aggregate poll of the albeit short (by American standards) campaign stretch to see how the projections panned out.

I’m not accustomed to doing short articles, but felt that posting my links would be less cumbersome under its own article than in the “Off Topic” section.

I do also hope, if only for the next couple days and the forming of the new government, that I can open up a few of you to the exciting world of British politics!

But do please keep it down with the harrumphs, boos and hisses; we don’t need it to be like Prime Minister’s Questions in here.

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Pepe Lepew
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Khirad, how does this compare to Canada, where the “ruling party” in 2008 got 37 percent of the vote because there’s five major parties?

dildenusa
Member

Here in the US the mainstream media likes to say “politics makes strange bed fellows.” I’ll assume it’s like that in the UK also.

Here in Arizona there is a special election on may 18 to raise the state sales tax a penny to 6.5 cents. And many cities are already allowed to add to that. So I pay around 7.5 cents sales tax now on every dollar I spend but not for food. So if the sales tax increase passes I will pay around 8.5 cents sales tax on every dollar. I have already decided I will vote Yes.

What the legislature should really be doing is changing the sales tax laws to lower the sales tax but tax services like auto repair, hair and beauty salons, etc. which are not taxed now under the sales tax laws. The Chamber of Commerce doesn’t like taxing services. So the most conservative business organization is all for using consumers as a cash cow.

Notice at the bottom of the Yes on 100 web site that major funding was from the state Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.yeson100.com/

Questinia
Member

Thanks, Khirad! The Political Compass link was particularly helpful as a primer.

Marion
Member

It is officially a hung Parliament, which is bad all around. According to their (unwritten) constitution, this means that the sitting Prime Minister, if he chooses, can remain. Get that: NO CHANGE UNLESS BROWN RESIGNS. This man will NOT resign.

The big problem is that, even with a LibDem alliance, the LibDems did so poorly, that any coalition with Labour would still not give an overall majority. Of course, it would with the Conservatives, but David Cameron can do NOTHING unless Brown resigns.

This is NOW, as far as Labour goes, ALL ABOUT RETAINING POWER. (Sound like any party we know and loathe in the States?)

Also, the Brits crowed to high heaven in 2000 at our Election fiasco, saying shit like that could never happen in Britain.

Guess what?

It did.

People all over the country were turned away from voting stations. More people than expected turned up, the stations were understaffed, postal ballots were “lost”, thousands of people waited in line for hours, only to be turned away because of deadlines and voting stations ran out of ballots. It didn’t help matters any that a lot of students and first-time voters showed up without the voting cards they were sent in the post. You don’t need these to vote, but if you don’t have them, the officers have to troll through voting registers to find your name and all that takes time. Also, some stations allowed people to vote after 10pm, which is illegal, which means that entire voting district’s returns are invalidated.

This is going to be a holy mess, and the pound will tank.

Mightywoof
Member

The balls up at voting stations is, IMO, less serious than voter fraud that is suspected. I heard this reporter from The Independent being interviewed last night:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-first-punch-came-landing-on-my-nose-sending-blood-down-my-face-1961464.html