May 2016 Elections Thread

[Saintslass]

I always vote on local issues in council elections but whenever I'm living in St Helens that always means I never vote Labour because they are utterly useless here in St Helens.  Sadly though they have such a massive majority on the council that there is no opposition, which is not good for local democracy at all.  But hardly anyone turns out to vote and frankly I don't know why I still do as it's pointless but somehow I can't not vote given what women in a different age went through to secure me a right to cast my vote.

 

I only realised last week that PCCs are also being voted in this time around.  I have absolutely no idea who they are and so I won't be voting for any of them.

[ckn]

George Galloway is currently polling at 0% in the London Mayor elections

[WearyRhino]

George Galloway is currently polling at 0% in the London Mayor elections

 

 

More than he deserves.

[Dave T]

Can anybody help me? I have a few minutes spare at work and was interested in a) what constituency I live in and b ) who I am able to vote for, and nowhere online seems to be able to help me...

 

How on earth am I meant to know these things? I have been given a polling card which tells me where to vote, but that is nothing more than an address.

 

How am I meant to know how to vote, and who for?

[John Drake]

Can anybody help me? I have a few minutes spare at work and was interested in a) what constituency I live in and b ) who I am able to vote for, and nowhere online seems to be able to help me...

 

How on earth am I meant to know these things? I have been given a polling card which tells me where to vote, but that is nothing more than an address.

 

How am I meant to know how to vote, and who for?

 

Put your postcode in here, it'll reveal all...

 

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/newseatlookup.html

[John Drake]

I always vote on local issues in council elections but whenever I'm living in St Helens that always means I never vote Labour because they are utterly useless here in St Helens.  Sadly though they have such a massive majority on the council that there is no opposition, which is not good for local democracy at all.  But hardly anyone turns out to vote and frankly I don't know why I still do as it's pointless but somehow I can't not vote given what women in a different age went through to secure me a right to cast my vote.

 

I only realised last week that PCCs are also being voted in this time around.  I have absolutely no idea who they are and so I won't be voting for any of them.

 

You should support proportional representation, then your vote would count, it would make a difference to the overall result, and you would have some representation on your local council. First past the post produces the kind of result you're complaining about.

[Dave T]

Put your postcode in here, it'll reveal all...

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/newseatlookup.html

thanks John. Found a couple of similar sites but this was the best one.

Still difficult to find out about voting options and even what Im meant to do with my two votes.

[Methven Hornet]

thanks John. Found a couple of similar sites but this was the best one.

Still difficult to find out about voting options and even what Im meant to do with my two votes.

I'm assuming you're still in Scotland. You will be given two ballot papers. One will be for electing a constituency MSP, so you will place an X next to the candidate you want to see elected. This is a first-past-the-post election, so the candidate with the most votes wins.

The other ballot is to elect regional MSPs. Here you place an X next to the party or individual you want to see representing your region. This will most likely be the same party as you voted for in the constituency ballot. I think each region elects 6 or 7 MSPs, and these are allocated by a formula known as d'Hondt - this tries to make up for the lack of proportionality of fptp.

I'll try and find more info.

[Bob8]

I always vote on local issues in council elections but whenever I'm living in St Helens that always means I never vote Labour because they are utterly useless here in St Helens.  Sadly though they have such a massive majority on the council that there is no opposition, which is not good for local democracy at all.  But hardly anyone turns out to vote and frankly I don't know why I still do as it's pointless but somehow I can't not vote given what women in a different age went through to secure me a right to cast my vote.

 

I only realised last week that PCCs are also being voted in this time around.  I have absolutely no idea who they are and so I won't be voting for any of them.

As a Tory voter in St Helens South consider yourselves lucky.  Labour voters there end up supporting Marie Rimmer.

[Saintslass]

As a Tory voter in St Helens South consider yourselves lucky.  Labour voters there end up supporting Marie Rimmer.

She's not standing this time around now that she's an MP.  Her court date has been delayed again I believe.  Funny how that keeps getting delayed.

[Saintslass]

You should support proportional representation, then your vote would count, it would make a difference to the overall result, and you would have some representation on your local council. First past the post produces the kind of result you're complaining about.

PR wouldn't make any difference because the Labour majority here is so large that invariably I would end up having to choose between Labour and Labour, and Labour here really is clueless.

[Dave T]

I'm assuming you're still in Scotland. You will be given two ballot papers. One will be for electing a constituency MSP, so you will place an X next to the candidate you want to see elected. This is a first-past-the-post election, so the candidate with the most votes wins.

The other ballot is to elect regional MSPs. Here you place an X next to the party or individual you want to see representing your region. This will most likely be the same party as you voted for in the constituency ballot. I think each region elects 6 or 7 MSPs, and these are allocated by a formula known as d'Hondt - this tries to make up for the lack of proportionality of fptp.

I'll try and find more info.

Thanks - I did find something which explained similar to the above, but tbh, I have no clue who are the constituency MSP's or the regional MSP - are they the same people?

 

This is the first Scottish election I will have voted in, and it's not that easy to hear anything about it tbh. 

[John Drake]

I'm assuming you're still in Scotland. You will be given two ballot papers. One will be for electing a constituency MSP, so you will place an X next to the candidate you want to see elected. This is a first-past-the-post election, so the candidate with the most votes wins.

The other ballot is to elect regional MSPs. Here you place an X next to the party or individual you want to see representing your region. This will most likely be the same party as you voted for in the constituency ballot. I think each region elects 6 or 7 MSPs, and these are allocated by a formula known as d'Hondt - this tries to make up for the lack of proportionality of fptp.

I'll try and find more info.

 

I'm jealous. It's a massively preferable system to the one we're stuck with in England. At least it guarantees some form of opposition still exists even when one party is hoovering up over 50% of the vote. Under FPTP, the SNP would probably win 100% of the seats at Holyrood, as they almost did at Westminster in 2015. Denying other shades of political opinion a voice ain't healthy at all. I'm sure England will catch up eventually...

[John Drake]

PR wouldn't make any difference because the Labour majority here is so large that invariably I would end up having to choose between Labour and Labour, and Labour here really is clueless.

 

It may not result in a change of overall control, but it would have a significant impact in opening up debate and representation in areas where one party (whichever party that happens to be) is overly dominant due to the distorting effects of FPTP. 

 

Under FPTP, 50% of the vote can result in 100% of the seats. Under PR, it would result in roughly 50% of the seats. A far cry from the one-party fiefdoms that exist all over the place in this country at local level, which lead to rotten politicians, rotten governance and disinterested voters. 

 

Plus, if people knew their vote would make a difference to the outcome, it is highly likely more people would go out and vote.

[Jonty]

I'm jealous. It's a massively preferable system to the one we're stuck with in England. At least it guarantees some form of opposition still exists even when one party is hoovering up over 50% of the vote. Under FPTP, the SNP would probably win 100% of the seats at Holyrood, as they almost did at Westminster in 2015. Denying other shades of political opinion a voice ain't healthy at all. I'm sure England will catch up eventually...

 

Agreed, John. You only have to look at Manchester where Labour received 58% of the vote last year, but won 100% of the council, even though their vote share dropped. Likewise with Cornwall in the General Election last year, where the Tories won all six seats on just 43%.

[GeordieSaint]

As a Tory voter in St Helens South consider yourselves lucky.  Labour voters there end up supporting Marie Rimmer.

 

She's not standing this time around now that she's an MP.  Her court date has been delayed again I believe.  Funny how that keeps getting delayed.

 

I am related to her through my dad's side of the family... ouch! 

[Saint Toppy]

I am related to her through my dad's side of the family... ouch! 

You know there's some things you should just never admit to ! 

[Bob8]

She's not standing this time around now that she's an MP.  Her court date has been delayed again I believe.  Funny how that keeps getting delayed.

Well, she already lost one case (sort of).  A man sacked for not breaking the rules for her won his unfair dismissal case.

[Methven Hornet]

Thanks - I did find something which explained similar to the above, but tbh, I have no clue who are the constituency MSP's or the regional MSP - are they the same people?

 

This is the first Scottish election I will have voted in, and it's not that easy to hear anything about it tbh.

Which constituency are you?

[Dave T]

Which constituency are you?

Edinburgh Northern and Leith. Have found a list of candidates on the council site.

I realised that the regional you vote for the party rather than msp. I think!

[Saintslass]

Well, she already lost one case (sort of).  A man sacked for not breaking the rules for her won his unfair dismissal case.

During her rule as leader of the council, the council somehow managed not to pay all those staff on the same pay grade as the bin men the same handy pay rise as they paid the bin men and so now St Helens Council has to pay a few million in backdated pay to all those staff they did not favour with a pay rise when they should have done.

[Methven Hornet]

Edinburgh Northern and Leith. Have found a list of candidates on the council site.

I realised that the regional you vote for the party rather than msp. I think!

That's correct.

[Dave T]

That's correct.

thanks for the help, think i may be getting there! Just need to work out who to vote for now!

[Bob8]

During her rule as leader of the council, the council somehow managed not to pay all those staff on the same pay grade as the bin men the same handy pay rise as they paid the bin men and so now St Helens Council has to pay a few million in backdated pay to all those staff they did not favour with a pay rise when they should have done.

She is an illustration of corruption and the contempt the central  Labour party have for St Helens.

[Saintslass]

She is an illustration of corruption and the contempt the central  Labour party have for St Helens.

Unfortunately having such a massive majority means that there is little accountability in the local council.