General Election 2015 - Thoughts/Predictions/Results

[Busaholic]

Anyone good at anagrams? Grant Shapps (without the c) looks promising. Speaking of anagrams, anyone know whether Poke it Lemb is planning to make a comeback in May?

 

[Metrailway]

A Tory candidate has been suspended due to allegedly trying to concoct a plan with the EDL. Afzar Amin intended to deceive his electorate by presenting that he stopped an EDL march in Dudley through negotiation, while in reality the planned march was never intended to go ahead. The EDL leaked this plan to the press.

The seat, Dudley North, is marginal between Labour and the Tories. I suspect the Tories are not going to win this seat now...

In other news, Mr Farage, his wife and young children have been chased out of a pub by some protesters this afternoon. According to Farage, his children were so scared that they ran off into hiding.

I suspect this incident has increased UKIP's vote by a couple of thousand at the general election. Something these idiotic protesters don't realise... If they don't like his polices, debate (and vote) against him; don't threaten him and his family, particularly as his children haven't chosen their father.

 

[Busaholic]

A Tory candidate has been suspended due to allegedly trying to concoct a plan with the EDL. Afzar Amin intended to deceive his electorate by presenting that he stopped an EDL march in Dudley through negotiation, while in reality the planned march was never intended to go ahead. The EDL leaked this plan to the press.

The seat, Dudley North, is marginal between Labour and the Tories. I suspect the Tories are not going to win this seat now...

In other news, Mr Farage, his wife and young children have been chased out of a pub by some protesters this afternoon. According to Farage, his children were so scared that they ran off into hiding.

I suspect this incident has increased UKIP's vote by a couple of thousand at the general election. Something these idiotic protesters don't realise... If they don't like his polices, debate (and vote) against him; don't threaten him and his family, particularly as his children haven't chosen their father.

There's something about that Farage story smells fishy to me. How did these protesters know he was going to be at a pub in Downe, a very rural spot full of Farage-like characters (he grew up round there, I went to a school in Catford that was very popular with the Petts Wood/Downe/Farnborough crowd, so I know them all too well)? With all the bad publicity surrounding a few of his candidates over the last week a bit of stage management (rather like in Dudley, perhaps) might have been just what the (spin) doctor ordered.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

There's something about that Farage story smells fishy to me. How did these protesters know he was going to be at a pub in Downe, a very rural spot full of Farage-like characters (he grew up round there, I went to a school in Catford that was very popular with the Petts Wood/Downe/Farnborough crowd, so I know them all too well)? With all the bad publicity surrounding a few of his candidates over the last week a bit of stage management (rather like in Dudley, perhaps) might have been just what the (spin) doctor ordered.

He's been photographed a lot around there, I believe they actually went to the wrong pub first as that was where he was photographed quite recently but he wasn't present today. It's been planned quite a long time as far as I can tell - if my memory serves me then I certainly remember something of this ilk being advertised to start at Bromley South station, which this event did; so it's not a spontaneous distraction for what's happened in Ukip this past few days. Out of interest who exactly are you implying suggested / orchestrated this event?

 

[Kite159]

I've received my first "Party information" leaflet in the post today, the new tory candidate takes first place in the wheelie bin of recycling

 

[MidlandMainlie]

I've received my first "Party information" leaflet in the post today, the new tory candidate takes first place in the wheelie bin of recycling

You're lucky we have been being bombarded with Lib Dem leaflets for weeks (the Lib Dems came second to Labours Gloria De Piero in Ashfield by 192 votes in 2010), I don't think they have got a cat in hells chance of the wining here this time though, Gloria should increase her majority but I wouldn't be surprised if UKIP become the opposition here in Ashfield.

 

[Kite159]

North West Hampshire's MP is retiring this year so it will be interesting how much of the majority (something silly like 19K) will be lost with the new guy. (Kitt someone)

 

[Oswyntail]

I've received my first "Party information" leaflet in the post today, the new tory candidate takes first place in the wheelie bin of recycling

Reminds me of a time I went canvassing in St Albans. I introduced myself, and was greeted with "F***Off". I foolishly said "So you are interested in democracy then?", to which the reply was "F*** democracy, I vote labour".

 

[DarloRich]

Reminds me of a time I went canvassing in St Albans. I introduced myself, and was greeted with "F***Off". I foolishly said "So you are interested in democracy then?", to which the reply was "F*** democracy, I vote labour".

The only candidate who visited us during the last election when i lived in Darlington was the prospective Conservative candidate.

He asked: "Can I count on your vote at the general election?"

My response: I wouldn’t ****** on you if you were on fire you Tory twonk

His response (quick as a flash!): I will put you down as an undecided then!

We had a decent chat about Tory policy and agreed to disagree. He seemed quite personable really. For a Tory

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's the UKIP lot who are harrassing people on the Marlowes this time, and I really really really wish they'd leave me alone.

Otherwise it's as I expected: Labour can't be chewed as they expect to lose, and our incumbent MP is barely any more dedicated.

 

[Butts]

Strange to see Jeremy Paxman on Channel 4 / Sky for the first "big" Election Programme with David Cameron and Ed Milliband.

 

[me123]

I thought Cameron was relatively poor earlier on this evening, but Mr Millibean is in a new league of awful with Paxman.

EDIT: although having just typed this, he's coming out fighting now.

 

[Butts]

I thought Cameron was relatively poor earlier on this evening, but Mr Millibean is in a new league of awful with Paxman.

Cameron certainly struggled a bit with the "living on zero hours" line of questioning. He was given an easy time by the Audience as was Milliband.
Paxman was in fine fettle, sadly missed from the Political Arena.

I feel a bit sorry for Milliband - his bacon sandwich jokes went down like a lead balloon. He seems a nice guy, just not very telegenic.

 

[Mojo]

Even though I don't wan't to see the Labour party win, I thought that Paxman was a bit harsh at the end of the Miliband interview there.

 

[jon0844]

Katie Hopkins has just tweeted that she'll leave the UK if Ed Miliband becomes PM.

So that's a landslide victory for Labour then.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

As previously noted on here a few times, I'm a Labour voter and also a party member but Ed Milliband just gets on my wick. As I'm looking at it from a Scottish perspective, I can only hope that the polls are wrong in saying that the SNP are looking to gain a massive seat increase because god help you all down south if the unthinkable happens.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Jeremy Paxman was pathetic. He tried to make out he asked different questions, he constantly interupted so I couldn't hear what was being said and he appeared to make figures and comments up out of thin air.
Also I think Miliband's time was less and he was repeatedly asked unimportant questions about his brother and when he answered the EU referendum question the Sky news woman said he answered it politically when he did it strait.
The format looked biased as Miliband got told off for talking about the current coalition which is relevent yet Paxman could talk of imaginary SNP coalition without cause other than Tory scaremongering.
And why does Cameron have the power to alter the TV debate format anyway?
Is the media under his puppet strings? If not why wasn't it head to head like planned??

Anyway, Ed Miliband got some of the message across and Cameron's slippery comments caused concern for me with his NHS, Equality and Economy comments not being definative in any good way.

 

[Oswyntail]

....
Anyway, Ed Miliband got some of the message across and Cameron's slippery comments caused concern for me with his NHS, Equality and Economy comments not being definative in any good way.

I was unable to watch all of this, and just popped in to where my family was for two moments. I saw Cameron giving a confident (and accurate) answer about the NHS, and I saw the "Hell Yes" moment from Milliband. I'm sorry, but the latter looked like a bullying victim being asked if he thought he could stand up to them in future. The rest of the evening may have been totally different.

 

[ExRes]

Jeremy Paxman was pathetic. He tried to make out he asked different questions, he constantly interupted so I couldn't hear what was being said and he appeared to make figures and comments up out of thin air.
Also I think Miliband's time was less and he was repeatedly asked unimportant questions about his brother and when he answered the EU referendum question the Sky news woman said he answered it politically when he did it strait.
The format looked biased as Miliband got told off for talking about the current coalition which is relevent yet Paxman could talk of imaginary SNP coalition without cause other than Tory scaremongering.
And why does Cameron have the power to alter the TV debate format anyway?
Is the media under his puppet strings? If not why wasn't it head to head like planned??

Anyway, Ed Miliband got some of the message across and Cameron's slippery comments caused concern for me with his NHS, Equality and Economy comments not being definative in any good way.

I would have thought it was the BBC you should be complaining about rather than Paxman, the man is a self confessed Tory who has been tapped up as a potential London Mayor and to stand as an MP in Kensington & Chelsea, if this was supposed to be an unbiased programme then the BBC have a lot of questions to answer

Personally I would have thought that Cameron can try to alter the format in any way he chooses, in exactly the same way as the other participants if they don't like said format. As for Cameron being 'slippery', are you trying to say that other politicians are different ?

 

[infobleep]

I would have thought it was the BBC you should be complaining about rather than Paxman, the man is a self confessed Tory who has been tapped up as a potential London Mayor and to stand as an MP in Kensington & Chelsea, if this was supposed to be an unbiased programme then the BBC have a lot of questions to answer

Personally I would have thought that Cameron can try to alter the format in any way he chooses, in exactly the same way as the other participants if they don't like said format. As for Cameron being 'slippery', are you trying to say that other politicians are different ?

Clearly you didn't watch the debate as it was in Sky/Channel 4. Whether it was syndicated to BBC News I do t k ow but they would have had no input.

But like saying it's LBCs fault, as they rebroadcast the event, even though they didn't take part directly.

I personally think Paxman won the debate.

 

[Johnuk123]

I hadn't seen Paxman on the tv for many many years I thought he looked ready to drop off at any minute.

 

[ExRes]

Clearly you didn't watch the debate as it was in Sky/Channel 4. Whether it was syndicated to BBC News I do t k ow but they would have had no input.

But like saying it's LBCs fault, as they rebroadcast the event, even though they didn't take part directly.

I personally think Paxman won the debate.

My apologies, I certainly did not waste my time watching it but assumed, wrongly, that as Paxman was involved then it was a BBC programme

I see no gain in watching something which will only involve politicians saying things that they think people want to hear, rather like a party conference or party political broadcast, as for Paxman, i'll just about put up with him on University Challenge but that's my limit

 

[DarloRich]

Kay Burley was terrible. Absolutely sycophantic to the PM yet much more combative towards Milliband. Both participants should have had the same treatment. To my mind the treatment Milliband received was much more appropriate than the treatment received by Cameron. Paxman, as usual, assumed people were there to watch him rather than the interviewee! If only they would use the time to really grill the participants on issues and let them answer the question THEN challenge thier politicians answer

As for the Milliband tough enough stuff it is worth remembering that he did his brother in to get the top job so that suggests a certain toughness to me!

My apologies, I certainly did not waste my time watching it but assumed, wrongly, that as Paxman was involved then it was a BBC programme

I see no gain in watching something which will only involve politicians saying things that they think people want to hear, rather like a party conference or party political broadcast, as for Paxman, i'll just about put up with him on University Challenge but that's my limit

Paxman left the BBC last year. I asusme he is now externally contracted to University Challenge.

 

[radamfi]

BBC News Channel showed the whole thing, with commentary and highlights when Sky News and Channel 4 were having a commercial break.

 

[me123]

I wonder if the continuing personality attack on Ed Milliband will backfire on the media.

Last night was a classic example. Ed struggled with questions about policy at first. He took an admirable stance admitting that Labour got things wrong at the end of the last parliament, but from here he let Paxman run the show. Whilst it is admirable to admit wrongdoing in politics (I noted Cameron's biggest regret was not doing all the wonderful things he's done earlier), if you're going to do it you have to move on from there and say what you're going to do differently. He didn't really get that far.

Then Paxman's attempt to assassinate Ed's character (you're a geek, Putin is going to beat you up) brought him back fighting. I think after a while people are going to want to support Ed, the victim, in spite of his political acumen.

I think neither party won me over with their policies last night. I admired Ed for standing up to Paxman (eventually) but he will need to deliver a lot more in the way of good policies to win my vote.

I agree that Paxman won the debate. He would get my vote if he was standing. For the meantime, I'll be sticking with the SNP.

 

[Oswyntail]

....As for the Milliband tough enough stuff it is worth remembering that he did his brother in to get the top job so that suggests a certain toughness to me! ....

I think of that slightly differently - that he was chosen as the front man of the Brownites to rile the (equally weak) brother, and it was his backers that drove him through. And anyone with siblings will know that their rivalry can spark quite unsuspected tenacity.

 

[MidlandMainlie]

You're lucky we have been being bombarded with Lib Dem leaflets for weeks (the Lib Dems came second to Labours Gloria De Piero in Ashfield by 192 votes in 2010), I don't think they have got a cat in hells chance of the wining here this time though, Gloria should increase her majority but I wouldn't be surprised if UKIP become the opposition here in Ashfield.

Breakiing News! The Lib Dem candidate in Ashfield has had to stand down after being arrested over allegations of child sex abuse.

A Liberal Democrat candidate in a very close marginal seat has been arrested over allegations of child abuse.

Jason Zadrozny was fighting to win Ashfield against Labour shadow minister Gloria de Piero, who won by only 192 votes in 2010.

However, Zadrozny, who denies the allegations, has now withdrawn his candidacy, leaving the Liberal Democrats without a contender in a key seat with just weeks to go before the election.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics...d-suspicion-child-sexual-abuse-jason-zadrozny

Lib Dems sure know how to pick them.

 

[St Rollox]

As previously noted on here a few times, I'm a Labour voter and also a party member but Ed Milliband just gets on my wick. As I'm looking at it from a Scottish perspective, I can only hope that the polls are wrong in saying that the SNP are looking to gain a massive seat increase because god help you all down south if the unthinkable happens.

Wouldn't get too worried Gary for those "down south", they can always go for a Tory/Labour government to keep the SNP at bay.
See 1931 election, national unity government formed by Tories and Labour.
Voters in places like Glasgow Gorbals and Glasgow Bridgeton kept the red flag flying by voting ILP against the Jim Murphy right-wing labour types of the 1930s.
The voters never left Labour, labour left them.

 

[507021]

Kay Burley was terrible. Absolutely sycophantic to the PM yet much more combative towards Milliband. Both participants should have had the same treatment. To my mind the treatment Milliband received was much more appropriate than the treatment received by Cameron. Paxman, as usual, assumed people were there to watch him rather than the interviewee! If only they would use the time to really grill the participants on issues and let them answer the question THEN challenge thier politicians answer

I fully agree with you here. Having watched the debate I thought a fair few of the questions that Miliband was asked were unfair, irrelevant and borderline patronising - even after all of that I think that he was very composed throughout the length of the programme. At times I thought Cameron looked nervous even with the sympathetic treatment he received. Despite that I think he was extremely poor and very unconvincing

Prior to the programme I was already planning to vote Labour but the way Miliband performed on the evening has cemented my position further

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Wouldn't get too worried Gary for those "down south", they can always go for a Tory/Labour government to keep the SNP at bay.
See 1931 election, national unity government formed by Tories and Labour.
Voters in places like Glasgow Gorbals and Glasgow Bridgeton kept the red flag flying by voting ILP against the Jim Murphy right-wing labour types of the 1930s.
The voters never left Labour, labour left them.

Oh I'm worrying, have you seen the way their 'supporters' and councillors have been behaving recently? Remind me, who is leader of the SNP? Is it Wee Nippy or Alex Salmond? He seems to be running amok at the moment and no one seems to be stopping him...