Elections continued
Well, waking up this morning, there still aren't any real results. The Lib Dems didn't manage their shiny brilliance - people lie to pundits, what a shocker. Disappointing for them though - and a particular shame that Dr Evan Harris didn't get back in. He was one of the few MPs to actually understand the Internet and why it matters.
Good news is that Dr Caroline Lucas *did* get elected. She was my MEP when I lived back in the UK, and it's great news that she's now an MP! No real surprise that it was Brighton that elected her, though!
ETA: Other good news: Nick Griffin was slammed in the constituency he was standing in, and the BNP did crap tonight. Also Philippa Stroud didn't win, although it was a very close vote looking at the results. Clearly the people in her constituency are deeply depraved. (Hi Jon!)
Those people whingeing about not being allowed to vote after 10pm, I have very little sympathy. They should have started queuing earlier - you can't claim to be massively dedicated to voting, generally speaking, if you don't turn up until just before the cut-off point. Polls opened at 7am, after all.
It looks to me like all the people talking on the telly about this have sort of missed the point - they think it's difficult to tell what people want; I think people have been really clear - they hate all the main parties. They don't want the kind of polarised politics that we've had for the last many years, they want people to have to actually negotiate and work things out, rather than push through rushed legislation on a 3-line whip. And I think that's an excellent idea - wonder if any of the parties will take the hint.
I suspect, though, we're going to end up with David Cameron as PM with a very small majority, and politics will go on the same as ever. Shame, really - this election had so much promise.
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|Its all a bit of a mess isn't it? I gave up trying to read the news sites this morning and as for watching the news, well. They bored me out of my brain.
Whilst some people may have a really valid reason for turning up late, others are just plain stupid and lack common sense to plan. Or, myabe they only went to vote late after succumbing to peer pressure telling them to vote? Hey ho, it takes all sorts to make a world.
Hopefully we'll know where we stand for sure soon...
It doesn't look hugely likely - there's officially a hung Parliament now. (So much for my prediction of a Cameron victory - this is why predictions are a silly idea!)
What will be fascinating is to see how things end up in terms of coalitions. Nick Clegg and his team will likely be getting a lot of phone calls today!
I wonder how long it will take to sort it out - in any event, I can't see a coalition or minority government managing to last long without calling another election. So we'll have to do the same thing all over again. Maybe I'll send in my registration form now, just in case.
Yes, it will certainly be interesting.
With regards to people not being able to vote I read that in some areas those that were in the queue before polls closed were allowed to go in and cast their vote, whereas in other areas they were turned away. Not exactly consistent or fair...
I think I'll be sending off my form as well!
One of my UK friends said when he heard that there would be a hung parliament: "I think most parliaments should be hung." :)
Given the posters for George Osbourne down the roads (he stood for the next constituency down the road from me) I think many people already have plans to hang/decapitate/shoot most of the politicians haha...
But in all the time I've been voting, I've never seen a queue and it was out the door last night whenn I went, as we were there even more turned up and everyone was turning out as we were walking home so there really was a large turn out
People undoubtedly do lie to pollsters and pundits, it's true. However, I think that there actually was an intention to "do something different" - until they actually had the paper in front of them and a pencil in hand. Then they got scared and decided to stick to what they knew. The next couple of days should be interesting, though! Still, I reckon it will all be sorted one way or the other by the time we get back to the UK (leaving on Monday for a week, in case anyone is interested).
No matter how many times Parliamentary government is explained to me, I just don't get it.
See next post, where I've attempted an explanation Heidemarie... http://expatinnice.blogspot.com/2010/05/quick-explanation-of-parliamentary.html