Elections on 5 May

[Alty]

So we've got about a zillion elections coming up next week: mayors; locals; Scottish; Welsh; Northern Irish; and PCCs. For whom are we all planning to vote?

I have now sussed out the voting system in the London Mayoral Elections and am finalising my choices. In terms of mayor, it really is slim pickings. I don't trust Khan at all and find him really smug/insincere. And while Goldsmith has always struck me as a pretty reasonable chap and decent local MP, I think the way he's fought his campaign (or perhaps the way the campaign has been fought for him) has been pretty shabby. Khan isn't my cup of tea but the man does not support ISIS for Christ's sake. Trying to draw a link with some nutter he's appeared at events with is poor stuff. And so Goldsmith has failed to convince me to vote Tory for the first time in my life.

Of the others on the ballot paper, I quite like what I've heard from Sophie Walker of the Women's Equality Party and Sian Berry of the Greens. So they'll be my 1st and 2nd choices. I considered Caroline Pidgeon from the Lib Dems but I can't quite convince myself to give them any help just yet. Clegg is still too fresh in the memory.

I went for Rachel Collinson of the Greens as my local candidate. Limited info available suggests she's a decent sort.

And then I'll probably go for Labour in the London-wide member list thingy. Gotta give Corbs a bit of encouragement while he finds his feet, haven't you?

 

[johnnytodd]

i have no idea what elections are coming up except the referendum.........i probably wont vote in any cos i don't care as my vote wont matter but if i did it certainly wouldn't be labour or tory as they both a bunch of lying twats........one is a cheating lying stuck up prick and the other a muslim sympathiser .....so stick your shite elections where the sun don't shine.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

For the first time since I've been an eligible voter I don't have a vote in the London elections* so that's a bit rubbish because there's bugger all going on around here. Oh, no wait, there are PCC elections No doubt it will be as fascinating and engaging a contest as it was last time around when about 15% of the electorate managed to find their way into to a polling station I mean, Lord, I don't even think I did and I'm the sort of loser who always shows up.

*not sure who I would have voted for but my take's pretty similar to yours

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

"Multiple votes are allowed"

hmmm

 

[Alty]

"Multiple votes are allowed"

hmmm

Well I'm going three different ways for starters.

I'm not making a sly comment about electoral fraud!

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

As I live in Buckhurst Hill (Epping Forest) I'm four roads away from Woodford (Redbridge) so I don't get a mayoral election vote (obviously), but if I did I would vote for Kahn.

My ward is up for election, it's currently Green. Before the coalition it was Lib Dem, then they plummeted. Labour don't bother standing. It'll probably be a two way fight between Green and Conservative again, not even sure Lib Dems are running here this year, only seen Conservative and Green literature. I will be voting Green. The rest of Epping Forest will be made up of Conservatives, a smidgeon of UKIP and a sprinkle of Loughton Residents Association. Improvement on the time we had six BNP...

 

[Lamby]

The Lib Dem one looks like a female Dracula

 

[Veggie Legs]

Nothing here except for a PCC election, I don't know who any of the candidates are and I don't really care enough to find out or vote.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Labour twice primarily to show confidence in Corbinho. Not too down and dirty with the candidates although I doubt there's less likely to be a latent socialist 'mongst the Lib Dem, Tory or English Democrat offerings. That plus I strongly dislike the council Tory candidate beyond mere politics...

Haven't considered the London mayoral thing as not being or ever intending to be from London, I'm naturally not arsed. However I'd like to be arsed with it, as from what I've seen it's a pretty juicy battle. Khan benefits from being partly line currently as otherwise he's incredibly uninspiring and his lack of interest with the housing crisis down there beggars belief. But even that's preferable to a Conservative candidate who has seen racial politics brought into his campaigning, and is sickeningly wealthy even for one of those lords of the realm. Berry sounds like a good egg.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

We're only having a PCC election here and I couldn't give two fucks about it tbh.

 

[Dr Mantis Toboggan]

greens are the best protest vote

 

[SALTIRE]

No SNP choice in the poll, tut tut.

 

[Tilbury]

Only Tory, UKIP and Labour on the ballot so will have to be the latter.

 

[Arkan]

I got to vote in the Welsh Assembly elections as I live here for uni. Ended up voting Green as I have done in previous years. Didn't know anything about the PCC election though and they didn't even have a Green candidate.

Was tempted to vote Plaid Cymru as I think they'd do a better job than Labour but decided against it.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Epping Forest Council, had a choice of Conservatives, UKIP or Green. I voted for Green. Quite funny Lib Dems have joined Labour in not running here.

Buckhurst Hill Parish Council, had a choice of five Conservatives or Green. I voted for Green.

Essex Police and Crime Commissioner, had a choice of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, UKIP and Zero Tolerance Policing. I spoilt my ballot.

 

[Alty]

For the first time since I've been an eligible voter I don't have a vote in the London elections* so that's a bit rubbish because there's bugger all going on around here. Oh, no wait, there are PCC elections No doubt it will be as fascinating and engaging a contest as it was last time around when about 15% of the electorate managed to find their way into to a polling station I mean, Lord, I don't even think I did and I'm the sort of loser who always shows up.

*not sure who I would have voted for but my take's pretty similar to yours

I assume you'll be tuning in to the election night capers?

Predictions?

I think Khan is going to win with over 55% in London.

Tories to come very close to overhauling Labour in Scotland, but fall just short.

UKIP to win more council seats in England and to get some AMs into the Welsh Assembly. Likely to fall just short in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Labour to have a decent night overall, helping to cement Corbyn's position.

Minor recovery for the LDs in England. But nowt special.

 

[blade1889]

Tories will face a backlash all over.

Corbyn supporters will use it to shout about 'unelectable man elected'.

Labour will make gains on the SNP north of the border.

UKIP will also make some gains paving the way for comparisons between their gains and 'proxy' votes for Brexit.

There'll be about two week of pressure on the Tories following very poor local election results then everything will carry on as normal.

 

[Tivvyultras]

I voted for a PCC who wants to scrap the PCC in Devon and somewhere unimportant

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

I voted for a PCC who wants to scrap the PCC in Devon and somewhere unimportant

Fair, he'd get my vote as well.

 

[Dr Mantis Toboggan]

voted green for local then labour as first choice for the po-lice, then lib dems as second choice. less voted for lib dems than didn't vote for ukip and tories though

but we voted for the first time this year let's carry on pretending that makes us free and democratic

 

[slaphead]

Voted Labour for the ward councilor, only because he is a good bloke who gets shit done.

Voted for both the Indies in the PCC, both ex-coppers who want to non-politicize the police. Also as a small protest that the PCC shouldn't have an affiliation to a political party.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

I expect Khan to walk the London Mayor election to be honest.

I've just voted Labour in our local elections and Labour/Lib Dem for the police commissioner.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Also as a small protest that the PCC shouldn't have an affiliation to a political party

I agree in general. The only thing that stopped me going for the independent was he was under the banner of "Zero Tolerance".

 

[slaphead]

I agree in general. The only thing that stopped me going for the independent was he was under the banner of "Zero Tolerance".

Yeah, we had one of them too, I actually know the bloke, missus used to be in the same station as him, and he's a bit too hardcore for my taste.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

I think one of the top things I'd look for when it comes to policing is tolerance.

 

[Alty]

I think one of the top things I'd look for when it comes to policing is tolerance.

In fairness I suspect the thing he was unwilling to tolerate was criminal activity, not religious or political diversity!

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

I assume you'll be tuning in to the election night capers?

Predictions?

I think Khan is going to win with over 55% in London.

Tories to come very close to overhauling Labour in Scotland, but fall just short.

UKIP to win more council seats in England and to get some AMs into the Welsh Assembly. Likely to fall just short in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Labour to have a decent night overall, helping to cement Corbyn's position.

Minor recovery for the LDs in England. But nowt special.

For a limited time only sadly as I'm working tomorrow (with the EU referendum and the US Presidential election on the horizon I figured there would be other, potentially more interesting opportunities to stay up all night watching Dimbles and swingometres in 2016).

Pretty much agree with your predictions. Would expect to see Khan in the mid to high fifties when second preferences are reallocated in the mayoral vote and I anticipate it being close between Labour and the Tories in Scotland.

Mayoral contest aside, the elections taking place in England are altogether harder to call and it's difficult to know what would constitute a good showing for most of the parties. As they're not especially extensive (most places with local government elections today had a third of the council up for election) I don't imagine they'll tell us a great deal about the health of the parties or their long-term prospects. It's going to be a tricky one for Labour and Corbyn I think because the party did particularly well in the equivalent elections last time round - 38% was the best local government percentage for them in recent years which reflected the fact they were looking in general good health in May 2012, polling better nationally than they were at any other point in the last parliament (it was also post-omnishambles budget and pre-UKIP surge). I don't really expect them to make many gains but I think they need to hang on to some of the places in the South and Midlands that they gained control of last time round (some of those areas returned Tory MPs in 2015 so those battlegrounds will be interesting). The Conservatives, I imagine, will just be hoping to minimise losses, as is usually the case for governing parties. I expect the SNP (most obviously), UKIP, and perhaps the Greens to a lesser extent, to have a decent night and I'm not even sure what constitutes a reasonable performance for the Lib Dems anymore (clinging on in places where they still have a foothold, I guess).

 

[Dr Mantis Toboggan]

In fairness I suspect the thing he was unwilling to tolerate was criminal activity, not religious or political diversity!

i'm still a bit confused about all the cop stuff (awful considering i just voted for it), but it's basically the civilian oversight we voted for isn't it?

 

[slaphead]

I think one of the top things I'd look for when it comes to policing is tolerance.

Yeah I probably worded it wrong. He wants to put everyone before the courts, get caught with a bit of weed, instead of a street ticket he wants you up before the beak. He believes the only way to cut down on petty crime is to nick everyone. There is not enough officers to see his plans through, but hey ho.

 

[Gladders]

Labour will make gains on the SNP north of the border.

I see that went well