UK - England, Wales, N.Ireland, Scotland

[Frater I*I]

We're leaving for England today and I soooo hate flying but London is fun and so is Devon and we're going to both! I'm gonna get some REAL fish & chips in Devon along with a good pint or two

Just remember what I posted to you earlier in another thread, it's the safest way to travel, and there are multiple redundancies to make you safe

And make sure the pints are Guinness

[Ben-Prime]

My old team and former peers at the Embassy in London are going to keep a private 'live updates' thing going for me, I hope. Some of them agreed to, I'm hoping they follow through.

[Reality Check]

Do we need a new thread to follow the UK election tomorrow? I hope the polls are correct and the Tories get their butts kicked out of power.

Edit: I have been impressed with Keir Starmer. I think he will make a good PM. Maybe Labour will undo some of the damage Brexit has wrought.

I like the way the UK has a short campaign and when the election is over the change of power is almost instantaneous. They do it right.

[raison de arizona]

C'mon Brits! Do it! Also, Happy Fourth!

[raison de arizona]

Word on the street is that the Labour party cleaned up and the Conservatives are taking a heavy beating.

[bob]

CNN: Labour Party set to end 14 years of Conservative rule in UK general election landslide, exit poll projects:

The center-left Labour Party will win Britain’s general election by a landslide, according to a major exit poll, ending a 14-year era of Conservative rule in decisive fashion and putting its leader Keir Starmer on course to become prime minister in the coming hours.

Labour was forecast to win 410 seats, while the Conservatives will drop to just 131 seats, according to the exit poll, a rejection of the ruling party by Britain’s electorate that had been anticipated for months.

The exit poll was conducted by Ipsos for the BBC, ITV and Sky, and has historically been an accurate barometer of how the country has voted. Votes will be counted throughout the night, with Starmer likely to replace Rishi Sunak as prime minister on Friday.

* * *

The Liberal Democrats were forecast to win 61 seats, according to the exit poll, and will return as Britain’s third-strongest party in Westminster. Reform UK, a right-wing populist group, were forecast 13 seats and the Green Party were forecast two.

Elsewhere, SNP predicted to have 10 seats.

[raison de arizona]

Independence Day!

Labour manage the biggest gain in seats since 1945 with a majority of 170 predicted in the exit poll

[bob]

Labor Party leader Keir Starmer is presumed to be the next prime minister.

[MsDaisy 2]

MAN! Y'all should have heard the roaring crowds in the streets of Islington North London tonight, and you can be sure every pub is busting at the seams with people. Hopefully it's a good sign for us this fall.

[p0rtia]

Listening to UK Channel 4 live on youtube.

The amount of Labour-bashing going on is impressive. I gather that although the party is (okay, "are" if you're British) having a record year, it won't last long; Conservatives are just moving over to Reform, and they'll be back in charge in a jiffy.

Would have expected this from Sky, which leans so Right.

Anyway, they had a buncha party operatives on, and it was delightful devoid of contact. I gather that the People need a Streamlined Gov't that provies Jobs and Wages. Too also, immigration is a problem (no unanimity on what the problem is: could be too much, too little, or too much red tape).

God save the king!

[Reality Check]

The UK is often held up as a model in counting votes quickly vs. the US. The facts are it is after 1 AM there and 7 of 650 seats have been declared.

[bob]

The UK is often held up as a model in counting votes quickly vs. the US. The facts are it is after 1 AM there and 7 of 650 seats have been declared.

Too also: It is easier to project who will have a majority because it is one contest, not 51.

Ob. Thanks, Obama Framers.

[raison de arizona]

don't worry @RishiSunak we've got a seat for you

[Reality Check]

Too also: It is easier to project who will have a majority because it is one 650contests, not 51.

Ob. Thanks, Obama Framers.

FIFY

[bob]

Too also: It is easier to project who will have a majority because it is one 650contests, not 51.

Ob. Thanks, Obama Framers.

FIFY

I was referring to the prime ministership, not the races for each MP.

[Reality Check]

I was referring to the prime ministership, not the races for each MP.

It is those 650 individual elections for MP that determine the PM.

[Dave from down under]

But… the prime minister is determined by the party and confirmed by the King..

The party can replace the Prime Minister at any time, and parliament can via a no confidence motion.

While the Prime minister at then end of the day he/she is just a member of parliament.

[raison de arizona]

Yeahbut each ballot doesn't have 650 races on it? Or does it? Maricopa county here in AZ had 78 races to count on the last ballot.

[keith]

I was referring to the prime ministership, not the races for each MP.

It is those 650 individual elections for MP that determine the PM.
[/quote]

So that's STILL 650 individual elections for PM. Those 650 elections determine who gets to choose the PM.

What is different is that they are not also voting for dog catcher - so each constituency only has one contest to count.

You would think that each constituency could get them counted fairly quickly.

[Dave from down under]

No sure if they have preferential voting in the UK, but that can take a bit more time.

[much ado]

Sample ballot from gov.uk...



https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/201 ... 656_en_001

[bob]

So that's STILL 650 individual elections for PM. Those 650 elections determine who gets to choose the PM.

What is different is that they are not also voting for dog catcher - so each constituency only has one contest to count.

You would think that each constituency could get them counted fairly quickly.

Yup. Declaring smaller, single-issue elections is quicker. And, from that, it is relatively easy to forecast which party will achieve a majority of those contests.

And the UK has a long tradition of its monarch selecting as prime minister the person with the most with most confidence to lead, i.e., the leader of the majority party.

[Reality Check]

So that's STILL 650 individual elections for PM. Those 650 elections determine who gets to choose the PM.

What is different is that they are not also voting for dog catcher - so each constituency only has one contest to count.

You would think that each constituency could get them counted fairly quickly.

You make my point. I think Trump floated the idea of declaring the person ahead on election day the winner. Even in the UK where there are at most a half dozen candidates for a single office at 4 am the following morning fewer than half the races have been decided. Running elections is not an easy task and in general we do a good job at it.

[Reality Check]

Something going under the radar is the SNP has lost 20 seats mostly to Labour. I am not quite sure what to make of that.

[bob]

So that's STILL 650 individual elections for PM. Those 650 elections determine who gets to choose the PM.

What is different is that they are not also voting for dog catcher - so each constituency only has one contest to count.

You would think that each constituency could get them counted fairly quickly.

You make my point. I think Trump floated the idea of declaring the person ahead on election day the winner.

He was impressed because France (IIRC) had quickly declared a winner in its national election. France was relatively quick because there was only one race to predict, not 51.

The UK could similarly quickly predict who had achieved a majority in parliament.