Best news I've heard all week

[andrewducker]

At a by-election in London there's been a massive swing from Labour to the Lib-Dems.

2001 Results: Labour 63%, Conservatives 18%, Liberals 10%
2003 Results: Labour 33%, Conservatives 16%, Liberals 39%

I was expecting Labour's popularity to drop, but the fact that the Conservative's also dropped and people moved to the Liberals in massive quantities makes me rather happy. People have been avoiding voting Liberal because their seen as a wasted vote. This makes it quite clear that they're not.

More at the BBC.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Apologies for my ignorance, but what are the practical differences between Labour and the Liberal Democrats?

word

[josephgrossberg.livejournal.com]

Is there some general overview of British politics for non-Brits you could point us too?

IIRC, in Australia, the right-center part is the Liberals.

But in the UK, they're left of left-of-center, no?

[guyinahat.livejournal.com]

If I didn't know better, I'd think you put the spelling mistake in just to piss of Sana. Its just the type to piss her off. ;)

[allorin.livejournal.com]

It just makes me raise my eyebrows and sigh....

[gld199.livejournal.com]

Even more people stayed at home. It was a safe Labour seat, so many Labour supporters didn't bother to vote (stupid people). The percentages are skewed.

I've never seen a vote for the Lib-Dems as wasted, since I come from a Lib-Dem constituency. Go Matthew Taylor! Ahem.

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

It'll be interesting to see what happens come the general election.

I'm a lifelong Labour voter, but I've recently ripped up my card (no prizes for guessing which issue drove me to it ...) and I won't be returning to them come the next general election.

For the first time in my life, I float. :-)

Question is, how many Labour voters in Brent East are permanently estranged like me, and how many were registering a protest but will vote Labour again next time?

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

I was disgusted to see all the people who voted Labour in 1997 "to get the Conservatives out", in a way I think they deserve the shitty government they have now for being so short sighted.

I dont see why I have to suffer though. I voted sensibly

[andrewducker]

Who did you vote for?

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

The Lib Dems obviously

I pursued a novel strategy of voting for the party I would like to win

[allorin.livejournal.com]

That makes no sense. Labour were seen as the lesser of two evils. You'd rather the Tories were left in power? Would things have been better? Certainly, most people felt not, which is why Labour were voted in.

Sadly, Labour, or at least Tony Blair's Labour, are now almost a carbon-copy of the Tory government they replaced. It would have been difficult for anyone to see that coming. They have acheived soome good though.

Lib Dem wouldn't have gotten in in 1997. Next time round, they should do far better.

Now a vote for SNP - that's short-sighted.

[andrewducker]

I don't agree that they're a carbon copy. On many social issues they're miles ahead (the House of Lords, Gay issues, etc.)

Fiscally they seem to be Tory-like, but then they announced the end of Clause 4 long before they were elected and their new belief in market-driven solutions.

The war, on the other hand, was a shock for a lot of people...

[allorin.livejournal.com]

Fiscally is the most important thing, IMHO. OK, so they're not a fascist as the Tories, but poor people are barely better off, if at all, under 'New Labour'. There's minimum wage, yeah, but the benefits system is still a shambles, and the unemployment figures they keep touting have been massaged to the nth degree.

Carbon copy was perhaps a little strong, but after winning a second term, I really hoped for a return to more traditional Labour values - spreading the wealth, and so on - that never materialised. I genuinely think Tony Blair is far more interested in retaining power for himself than he is in doing some good with it, when push comes to shove.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, you're right, I think.

Which means he's having a nasty time of it at the moment, what with the latest polls...

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

There weren't the lesser of two evils because it wasnt a binary system. But you are right, the Lib Dems wouldnt have got in in 1997, but only because people didnt vote for them instead of the Tories