The Official UK Election Thread! 6th May it is!

[andyandy]

The world's worst kept secret is finally out - the UK election will be on May 6th....

Gordon Brown will tomorrow take the fateful journey from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to trigger a 6 May general election to be fought on a Labour manifesto that promises a series of bold initiatives to reform public services in a programme of "national renewal".

A draft of the manifesto seen by the Guardian pledges that an unprecedented fourth-term Labour government would be "bolder about the role of state intervention in markets" and deliver sweeping constitutional change. Failing police forces could be taken over by their neighbours under one radical proposal.

Brown's trip to the palace will trigger four weeks of frenetic campaigning and comes as a shock Guardian ICM poll suggests Labour is clawing back support from the Tories. The poll gives the Conservatives a four-point lead – much smaller than in other recent surveys, reflecting the volatility of the electorate.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/05/gordon-brown-election-labour-manifesto

Now that all that American health care dross has been filted out of the forum let's discuss what really matters - does Chris Grayling hate gays? Does David Cameron look good as Gene Hunt? Should Samantha Cameron be wearing high heels when she's pregnant*?

These and other hot topics in the official UK election thread!

*courtesy of the Daily Wail

 

[andyandy]

As summed up on CiF, it's

Neoliberalism vs. neoliberalism vs. neoliberalism

decisions, decisions, decisions....

According to the granuiad, some of labour's core campaigning points will be

• Provisions for the management of inefficient police forces to be taken over by efficient forces. "Where service is not good enough, it will be taken over by the best", the draft says.

• Simultaneous referendums on a new voting system for the Commons and a 100% elected second chamber.

• A national youth service alongside votes at 16.

• Rights for football supporters to take over football clubs.

• A living wage of £7.60 in Whitehall, funded by a cap on the salaries of the most highly paid public sector employees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/05/gordon-brown-election-labour-manifesto

which seem pretty lame....is that the best they've got? Surely not....

And as for the New Tories, starting off by pledging to reverse the only tax increase that labour have announced (NI rise) doesn't bode well - if they're not prepared to raise taxes on business to help slash the moumental budget deficit then either it's going to be
1) taxes up for the rich (unlikely given the old boy's network)
2) taxes up for the middle class (unlikely given the play for the middle ground)
3) Benefits down for the poor (likely)
4) Slashing public sector spending and outsourcing to the private sector (slam dunk)

oh dear...

 

[geni]

3) Benefits down for the poor (likely)
4) Slashing public sector spending and outsourcing to the private sector (slam dunk)

Can't. Already committed to increaseing NHS spending because of the pensioner vote. Can't really cut school budgets very much. Can't cut the subsidies to the middle classes further than labour already have. Might be able to cut with regards to FE collages. The Navy won't get it's carriers. But beyond that it's hard to see how they will get more than £10 billion or so of cuts.

So at the moment we apear to have:

Labour already cutting while claiming not to be.
Tories claiming to be planning significant cuts while giving every indication that they are not serious about doing so
Lib dems with some documented cuts but not enough
SNP/PC looking for increased spending in their respective areas
NI mob? eh who knows.

 

[andyandy]

Can't. Already committed to increaseing NHS spending because of the pensioner vote. Can't really cut school budgets very much. Can't cut the subsidies to the middle classes further than labour already have. Might be able to cut with regards to FE collages. The Navy won't get it's carriers. But beyond that it's hard to see how they will get more than £10 billion or so of cuts.

So at the moment we apear to have:

Labour already cutting while claiming not to be.
Tories claiming to be planning significant cuts while giving every indication that they are not serious about doing so
Lib dems with some documented cuts but not enough
SNP/PC looking for increased spending in their respective areas
NI mob? eh who knows.

With them largely ring-fencing health and education there's going to have to be savage cuts in FE and local council provision (libraries, health centres, elderly care etc), but yes i agree - it's hard to see how you can get substancial savings (of the order needed). They can hardly have big cuts in defence whilst we're still at war, they can hardly have big cuts in police or prisons without working the tabloids into an apoplexy, they can hardly cut social services because it's been woefully underfunded for years, and there's only so much "efficiency savings" they can carry on claiming to be able to find....

So tax rises it is. Apart from it's hard to see the Tories doing that. Maybe the country can just take out some new credit cards and carry on spending....

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Let me be the first to mourn the loss of Old Labour.

I have high hopes for the PM debates. At first I they would be to much like what we have here, but after seeing Cameron in that Gay Times interview I am getting my popcorn ready. Also, they better have a worm.

 

[Mashuna]

there's only so much "efficiency savings" they can carry on claiming to be able to find....

It's ok - once the "efficiency savings" have been made, there's still the "elimination of wasteful procedures" and "best practice improvement plans" to come.

 

[Darat]

I was really hoping he'd delay it until tomorrow just to p'off all the journalists.

 

[Darat]

...snip...

And as for the New Tories, starting off by pledging to reverse the only tax increase that labour have announced (NI rise) doesn't bode well - if they're not prepared to raise taxes on business to help slash the moumental budget deficit then either it's going to be
1) taxes up for the rich (unlikely given the old boy's network)
2) taxes up for the middle class (unlikely given the play for the middle ground)
3) Benefits down for the poor (likely)
4) Slashing public sector spending and outsourcing to the private sector (slam dunk)

oh dear...

You missed out "cash for being married", I wonder will that include "cash for being in a civil partnership"?

 

[DC]

they elect a new queen?

 

[ddt]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but how do you Brits manage to organize elections on such a short notice - only a month?

Over here, that costs at least 2 months. Parties that aren't represented in Parliament have to gather signatures of supporters. All parties have to register in the election office. Parties have to draw up a list of candidates. Then that list has to be approved by the party congress. Ballots must be printed and distributed. The election office sends all voters a leaflet with the list of candidates, and a voter card.

Now, I fully understand the British voting system is different, but it seems that many of the issues are still the same. So where does the British system take a shortcut?

Are the candidates approved by the party leadership or by a party congress?

Does the election office send you a list of your local candidates?

 

[andyandy]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but how do you Brits manage to organize elections on such a short notice - only a month?

I presume it's because we have a million civil servants to mobilise -
"Stop pushing those pens lads, we've got some work to do!"*

*this may not be true

Are the candidates approved by the party leadership or by a party congress?

i think it works with the party HQ approving a shortlist, which then gets sent to the local party activists to vote on which they want.....pretty undemocratic really. The parties like to use the system to parachute their chums into safe seats where they're guaranteed a place in the commons....

Does the election office send you a list of your local candidates?

Don't think so, all the various candidates do however push about a million flyers through your letterbox to remind you of their existence....

 

[Darat]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but how do you Brits manage to organize elections on such a short notice - only a month?

...snip...

Socialism....


To stand as a candidate MP all you need is to be eligible to become an MP (the requirements are not very stringent) fill in a form, make a £500 deposit (which you will lose if you don't get above a certain percentage of votes) and the signature of 10 people in the constituency you want to represent.

To become the candidate for a political party is usually handled handled at a local level with sometimes pressure or an imposed list of candidates from the central office of the party. And the major parties will have had (most) of their prospective candidates chosen for sometime (knowing that there would be a general election some time in the first half of this year).

One of the major differences I think in our systems is that our political parties are true organisations that exist all the time, so each major party will have local activists slogging away all the time, it's just the pressure and level of activity increases when there is an election due.

 

[DC]

Socialism....


To stand as a candidate MP all you need is to be eligible to become an MP (the requirements are not very stringent) fill in a form, make a £500 deposit (which you will lose if you don't get above a certain percentage of votes) and the signature of 10 people in the constituency you want to represent.

To become the candidate for a political party is usually handled handled at a local level with sometimes pressure or an imposed list of candidates from the central office of the party. And the major parties will have had (most) of their prospective candidates chosen for sometime (knowing that there would be a general election some time in the first half of this year).

One of the major differences I think in our systems is that our political parties are true organisations that exist all the time, so each major party will have local activists slogging away all the time, it's just the pressure and level of activity increases when there is an election due.

no Bithcertificate needed????

 

[Darat]

no Bithcertificate needed????

You don't even need to be British citizen.

http://british-house-of-commons.suite101.com/article.cfm/electoral_candidates

...snip...

In basic terms, anybody who is a British, Commonwealth or Irish Republic citizen can stand as a candidate in a British general election provided that they are aged 21 or over.

...snip...

 

[DC]

You don't even need to be British citizen.

http://british-house-of-commons.suite101.com/article.cfm/electoral_candidates

but Commonwealth.

 

[Darat]

BBC election site now live: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/default.stm

 

[Darat]

Might seem to be a trivial question but how will this effect "Have I got News For You"?

 

[Darat]

I see the BBC has already dropped any pretence of being unbiased:

 

[KDLarsen]

"Have I got News For You"?

Ian Hislop will be over the moon once the gaffes start flowing.

Or are there rules regarding 'If you mock x party this much, you must also mock y, z and w parties this much'?

 

[Debaser]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but how do you Brits manage to organize elections on such a short notice - only a month?

By the way, is this the shortest period allowed. Personally, calling an election for a week next Thursday would suit me just as well, given the phony war we've had pretty much since GB took over from Smiler.