Thread: Is labour party suffering its worst spanking in 40 years?

Labour is on course to suffer its worst performance in at least 40 years in the local elections in England and Wales.

BBC research suggests the party has fallen into third place nationally with 24% of votes, with the Conservatives on 44% and Lib Dems on 25%.

So far Labour has lost more than 160 seats with the Tories gaining 147.

Conservative leader David Cameron called it a "big moment". Labour's chief whip Geoff Hoon insisted there was "no crisis" for Gordon Brown.

Elections expert John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said: "It looks quite possible that by the time all the results are declared some time on Friday afternoon, Labour will have suffered at least 200 net losses, widely regarded before polling day as the worst possible outcome that could befall the party."

So far the Tories have a net increase of more than 140 councillors and a 4% higher share of the national vote than at last year's local polls.
Such a share in a general election would have the potential to give the party a Commons majority of 138.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: "These are exceptional results and this could be the lowest Labour share of the vote in the modern history of local elections¿ This is a big step forward."

BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Labour suffers big council losses

The last time Labour did this badly in a local election, the Beatles were in the charts and Flower Power was all the rage.

Right now, love is not all Gordon Brown needs.
Clocking up Labour's lowest share of the vote since the late 1960s has turned what were always going to be a difficult set of mid-term elections into a serious problem for the prime minister, and set the tone for the politics of the coming months.

Tory joy
Treat this statistic with a slight pinch of salt - general elections are very different from council elections - but if this result were to be repeated next time the country goes to the polls, Labour would be left with 169 MPs and the Tories would have a majority of 138.

BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | How bad are local polls for Brown?

"New Labour" or whatever it is called these days has turned out to be an over-regulating, authoritarian regime, I am surprised it was so popular in the first place. Well, I suppose they would have voted Mickey Mouse in just to get the Tories out when Bliar first became PM.

Originally Posted by stroller

Well, I suppose they would have voted Mickey Mouse in just to get the Tories out when Bliar first became PM.

Some of us tried that but it didn't work.

Labour Loses London

London's new Conservative Party mayor, Boris Johnson, once told Britons that "voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts, and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3." It's unlikely, though, that this extravagant promise framed the expectations of the voters who queued on May 1 to cast their ballots in elections for London's City Hall. London followed the rest of England and Wales in handing the conservatives a remarkable victory in nationwide local elections, adding 256 new council seats and winning control of 12 additional councils.

When the results were announced just before midnight on Friday, the rumpled victor looked momentarily stunned by a victory over Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone that few, even among his most ardent supporters, imagined possible at the start of the campaign. "I do not believe London changed into a Conservative city overnight," he said in his acceptance speech, "but the Conservatives have changed again into a party that can be trusted."

In 1986 the Conservatives suffered eye-watering losses in local elections; a year later their leader Margaret Thatcher won her third term as prime minister. Tony Blair presided over a rout for Labour at municipal polls in 2004, but secured his third term in Downing Street the following year. Labour has now been in power since 1997 without interruption. No wonder the electorate is restive.

Labour Loses London - Yahoo! News

WTF is going on in London? Does this mean more incentives for business and investment? heck, I'm in.

^wouldn't get too excited yet, wait and see.

Why's this been moved from Issues?

^Because most of the English people on here are afraid of looking in Issues, and we tried to get populist support for one single English issue.

"English", eh?
That remark should get a fair bit of attention from the Brits on this board.

^UK pussies. Jeez. Why are they so timid?

I can understand the public school boys. But crap, the private school boys should have some balls at least. pussies.

It's quite funny noting the difference between the UK and US threads on these kinds of Issues.

As for the subject, they can vote in who they like as it wont make much difference any more, rules rules and more rules. You can't do anything in England anymore without breaking several laws, filling in several forms and handing out several large bank notes.

^So, all of you have resigned yourself to accepting a failure position? Jesus, no wonder the Americans have kicked your asses into oblivion. Losers.

Don't know about the people who live there but I generally don't care anymore. If there was a party which was radically different but towards my way of thinking then I might care. At the moment they are all the same.

Originally Posted by chinthee

^UK pussies. Jeez. Why are they so timid?

I can understand the public school boys. But crap, the private school boys should have some balls at least. pussies.

How have you come to this conclusion Chin? Check out post 4, but as no one wanted to discuss it further, I left it alone. If you`d like a personal discussion between the two of us, over the sate of British politics, then im sure we can have an interesting debate. Although I think it might be pretty boring, as Id probably end up agreeing with you.

Originally Posted by chinthee

^So, all of you have resigned yourself to accepting a failure position? Jesus, no wonder the Americans have kicked your asses into oblivion. Losers.

Kicked arses about what?

All we can do is wait for the next election, and hope a better mob take over. Or would you suggest we rioted and broke the law? Just so Texpat can wave his banners about how unlawful we all are, and what a bunch of losers for protesting in such a way. Or why not have another civil war, now that would be interesting.

I would assume that the fact that British posters are posting on a Thai Forum would tend suggest that they have largely given up on the pathetic state of the UK. I.E they have lost interest and a far more interested in Thailand.

I am equally sure that each and every one of the Brit posters could go on a rant that would outdo any septic on matters politic, but are far too tired of the state of affaris in Blighty to bother...