Sunday, May 11, 2008

How about this for a Labour meltdown

I stumbled across this whilst looking for something else but I feel it should be shared more widely with the world.

These were the voted cast on 1st May in Bywell ward of Northumberland:
  • Ind 599
  • Lib Dem 506
  • Con 463
  • Lab 94

At first sight, you would think this was a no hope ward for Labour. Actually, you would be wrong to think that. This was a ward Labour were defending. The independent who won was actually the former Labour councillor who went Independent when Labour imposed an all women shortlist on his ward. Since he had testicles rather than ovaries, he got the chop. Labour imported a female candidate from 23 miles away. The independent won and the Labour candidate, as you can see from the result, barely registered.

Labour got only 6% in a ward they were defending. Is that a record?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, Ian Proud got 3% in the ward in Newcastle he was defending (albeit for a different party).

Anonymous said...

Let's not forget the fact that Ian Proud was elected as a Lib Dem. Therefore, in real terms, the Lib Dems were "defending" the seat in Denton this year. So you can hardly count that and compare his result to that in Bywell.

Anonymous said...

Yes I can.

Just did!

Anonymous said...

well, ok, you can, you did, still makes no difference to the fact he was elected as a Lib Dem and there's no comparrison to the Bywell result.

Anonymous said...

Had Ian Proud been defending as a Lib Dem he would have perhaps held the record. But the fact that he didn't says it all.

Anonymous, I agree with you.
Kevin Scott, I disagree with you.

Full stop.

Anonymous said...

One record Ian Proud probably WILL hold is the number of political colours he wore in his last 4 year term. From LD to L to INDEPENDANT to UKIP.

Anonymous said...

Ian Proud defended the seat and lost polling 3% of the vote.

The Labour candidate defended the seat and lost polling 6% of the vote.

Anonymous said...

In Bywell, the Labour candidate defended a Labour elected seat.

In Denton, the LD elected defender of the seat stood as a UKIP.

Two totally different things.

Anonymous said...

And who got the lowest % of the vote?

Anonymous said...

You just don't get it do you ?
Why is that then ?
Is it ignorance ?
Or lack of a brain ?

Anonymous said...

The question was "is that a record"?

Well, the answer is no; Proud got less for the seat he was defending (3%), albeit for a different party.

The defending candidate in Northumberland (standing as an Independent) got more. In fact, the defending candidate won.

Now, jog on!!

Anonymous said...

You lot go easy on Scotty. He's got lots of other "important" things on his mind and doesn't see logic in anything other than his own agenda.

Anonymous said...

Come on! Come on! Let's not spoil things for everyone again like last time, when the blog owner had to suspend comments prior to his approval !!!

The way I see it is the Labour party, who were the official party defending the Bywell seat in Northumberland got 6% of the vote.
The Lib Dems, who won all three seats in Denton ward in 2004, and were the official and natural defenders got just over 50% of the vote in Denton this year.

Yes, Ian Proud got 3% of the vote in Denton as the sitting councillor, but not with the official defending party which he deserted in a 4 party journey eventually ending in UKIP.

I think Councillor Wallace's question to be: Is this a record low for the official defending party ? If so, Ian Proud and Denton don't apply in that equation.

Anonymous said...

Yes Paul from twafa is right. He is always right and should be obeyed (or else).


Thanks for your calming words Andrea.

However, Jonathan just asked whether it "was a record".

I just pointed out Ian Proud's contribution to the record books (first post made).

Anonymous said...

No problem Kevin.

I think this is an excellent and genuine news blog which I always enjoy reading. The comments I witnessed on one of the stories last year when I first discovered the blog (30 of them if I remember rightly) made a complete mockery of the blog, and I wasn't pleased to see that starting to happen again, hence my comments.

Anonymous said...

Yes, cranks posting anonymously are a pain.

It would be better if people used their own names when posting, particularly when making contentious points.

None of us have anything to hide.

Correct?

Anonymous said...

Oh I've jogged on alright. In Jonathan's own words : "Labour got only 6% in a ward they were defending. Is that a record?"

I see that as a possible record for an officially defending party.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more Kevin and a special mention for those who appear to want the last word on everything, they are also a pain. See how easy it is ? I'm getting drawn into the bickering as a result of the immediate comment above.