The Poolie Bunker

A solid Labour seat since 1918, wiped out with Plaid Cymru winning with Reform biting at their ankles behind them …..I suppose after being solid Labour for over a century they’d find Plaid Cymru the closest thing to voting Labour.
Starmer is no charmer in Wales.

Just like that !Tommy Coopers birth place, according to reports Reform put much emphasis on immigration, just around 4000 majority isn’t exactly snapping at their heels ?

It’s a staunch Labour seat…so they’ll have opted for the Welsh Nationalists rather than what some ex Labour voters will class as right wingers in Reform.
In relative terms, Reform are snapping at their heels…given the circumstances….as the pundits said.
Yer clutching at straws Jamie.
Labour vote collapsed in a solid Labour seat after 14 months in office….that’s bad news.

party,s tight of centre are not popular in wales and scotlane for that matter. i,d say reform coming second can be seen as a success especially when pushing labour into third place. in england there will not be a nationalist party to vote for

Wales…population…3.2 m

Scotland..population …5.5m

England…population…56.5 m

Yorkshire…5.5 million……bigger than Wales and some size as Scotland population wise, yet they have pretendy Governments and Parliaments and call them selves country’s when realistically they’re just County Councils on turbo….and we have to in the illusion they really are country’s.
We know who’s paying the bills….the 56.5 m :

Hard cheese i say

I would imagine the words "We are in for a hammering next May" will be bandied about in labour Party circles. Will they stand head on and face the music or adopt any excuse they can muster to postpone as many parts of the May elections as they can.
There has got to be a point were country is put before Party and give us a chance to decide. I won't hold me breath though.
Starmer was very fond of using let the country decide, now it's your turn Mr two tier.

and we all know who gave our noisy neighbours the power they think they have. that other globalist shithouse blair. if they ever did get independance they,d still want the english money to prop em up.

Only 52% bothered to vote just goes to show how much apathy there is in U.K. politics, my prediction will be a hung Parliament at the next election as there will a lot of tactical voting.
Talk of Reeves putting a penny on income tax, the Tories say no need, a future Conservative government would save £23 billion of taxpayers’ money by cutting spending on welfare, aid and social housing, the shadow chancellor will claim on Monday, what do they mean by welfare cuts ?

Only 52%?, not sure what you mean by that, it's a high figure, in fact it's the biggest ever turnout for a by-election in that area.

If people don’t vote, they can’t complain.
You are given the choice, but decline to use it….you have no say, your fault.

General elections usually see the highest turnout. That has been on the decline overall with the 2024 election only 59.9%.
It has usually been over 70% historically.

Local elections usually hover around the 40%, so a 52% figure was actually quite a high one.

Snowy, you are also given the choice of not voting, if you so desire.
This could be that none of the candidates are worthy of your vote or you wish to spoil your vote intentionally as a protest against the system.

So saying if people don't vote, they can't complain is not a statement I buy into.
I would respect people's opinion whether they voted or not and if they did not vote, listen to why they did not vote.

I was one of those people who did not vote in the 2024 election, I told all the main 3 candidates who called to my house, I was not voting for any of them, as not one would stand up for what I wanted in this country. If a candidate is prepared to stand up for what I want, then they will get my vote. At the last election, the choices I was given, I was not happy with any of them!

Check the facts here from a government website,
https://members.parliament.uk/constitue ... ection/422

If no candidates are suitable look for the token loony candidate…if non voters did that out of no suitable candidate, the loony’s total would tell the story as it rose.

The figure was 52.6% …surely you’re not that petty you’d use it as a defence…

Remember, people fought for the "right to vote". Not for "have to vote", but the right to.

Unfortuately, none of the candidates, (looney candidate was not present) were worthy of my vote.

https://lginform.local.gov.uk/reports/l ... risonGroup

Jamie, 52% turnout is a big figure looking at the usual turnout figures.

Was there no Labour candidate…?…

You did mention a Labour candidate, so there was a Loony candidate available.

Petty, 47.4% didn’t vote, 34345 of the electorate couldn’t be bothered to vote, my case rests, obviously 34345 of the electorate aren’t interested who represents them.

When the election was basically a choice between Johnson and Corbyn I didn’t vote. Both are nutters IMO.

Also where I live Conservatives always get in, they’d vote for a hamster if it were a Tory.

Snowy, so has my argument put forward convinced you that I can complain?

A broadly similar turn out to last year's GE and the Labour vote pretty much collapsed in a seat that has never been anything but Labour held in it's 100 plus year history. Tells a tale.
Jamie for someone who claims to be not a Labour supporter you're doing a better job than most Labour MPs in your defence of them!

The highest turnout in any constituency in the 2024 general election was 64.9%. So even in the highest area 35% of the electorate didn't vote.

I can’t make you vote and that’s your prerogative, but sometimes a little mischief enlivens the discussion

Don’t worry, it’s only Jamie clutching at straws that aren’t there, the tinker

Something you have said on other threads to cause mischief Snowy......

He keeps referring to Farage as a snake oil salesman, well Starmer must be selling sows ears the amount of silk purses he'd need to make to paint Labour in a better picture.

His political preferences tend make it clear he doesn’t like some politicians and gets a bit…er….’aroused’ by those politicians he doesn’t approve of….pedantic is the keyword.

Well said although the Jamie and the lefties are not keen to allow facts to get in the way of their propaganda.

Yes I lean to the left so what but not to the current Labour Party who are well not sure what they are but certainly not left wing.
Farage/Reform need to stop focusing on immigration and concentrate on how they would fix the economy and put their policies on the table how to do that, stopping immigration tomorrow wouldn’t fix the economy. I keep repeating Tice has admitted the Reform party cannot deliver the £90 billion tax cut pledge, one of which was no income tax if you earn less than £20000 in their last manifesto at the last election which attracted the electorate to vote for them.

Great post Stocksfield, agree it was a good turnout for a by election, it would be interesting to know why a large majority didn’t vote considering the publicity the by election attracted, Reform were hopeful of winning the seat, some views of the people of Caerphilly.
https://youtu.be/rwFZZ-m9yCY?si=cpugzkicdlKA7imk

I lean to the left yes but not a supporter of the current Labour Party, if an Election was announced tomorrow I wouldn’t go out of my way to vote if I possibly could.

Dear me it’s like pulling teeth, I am not disputing it’s the highest turnout from whenever but why did so many not bother to vote, can you answer that question ?

They don’t vote because they don’t want to.
Not everybody is interested in politics…or they’re disgusted by politicians.
It’s called choice.

The turn out for by elections is usually much lower for by elections than for GEs yet in this case it wasn't. But and here's the real point Jamie, nearly 15000 voted for Labour at the GE and just over a year later less than 5000 voted for Labour - ask yourself why such a huge fall from grace in such a short period of time?
This is not about 14 years of Tory rule, or the distant prospect of Reform gaining power in 4 years time, it's a reflection of the job that Labour and only Labour are governing.

Can you not read, the answer has already been touched upon by several posters...

talk about flogging a dead horse.

Jamie has a problem conceding he may have got something slightly wrong, so sets off a verbal smoke bomb and hopes his error is hidden in the confusion…then trips over in the smoke.

What did I get wrong, I simply quoted that around 47% of electorate didn’t vote and asked the question why.

A big kick back against the north London "intellectual" elite.
But the majority dont want Reform and Farage and will vote tactically.

Reform aren’t doing themselves any favours I thought they were the party who were going to sort council spending out, Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council is to spend £75,000 installing new flags.More than 150 union jack flags will be displayed in 82 locations in Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, Bassetlaw, Newark, Mansfield, Ashfield and Gedling. Initially, 164 union jack flags will be displayed at a cost of about £457 per flag including brackets, traffic management and cherry pickers.

About the same cost as keeping one illegal in a 4 star London hotel for a year then?

Why should Reform stop focussing on immigration when it is a major part of their success. What you mean to say is you and your fellow left wing zealots would love them to stop focussing on immigration simply because you can't handle that and have no answer to it.
If you want the economy to improve and the country to be better off and in a better place to live in why not campaign to rid us of the pestilence that descended upon us in July 2024.

None of this will mean feck all after your lot have shafted us..

Further proof that the public are fed up with the two major parties that have had their own way for far too long!

Maybe if i led a hippie lifestyle 6000 miles away maybe i would think different...I'll never know!

Economic foresight...You amaze me every day!!

You never Jamie and Biden in the same place