2017 General Election thread

[Jai]

Thought this was quite a good read from Southend's very own Jack Munroe, given Diane Abbott's recent bad press and downright abuse.

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2017/06/07/we-need-to-talk-about-diane-abbott-now-explicit-content/

 

[Ricky Otto]

#Back on topic, I just popped down to my local polling station in Thurrock, there was 2 guys (almost acting like nightclub bouncers) standing outside.. (I wont tell you what colour ribbon they were wearing), but they demanded to know my polling number?... I blatantly refused to give it to them & then I was let straight in.

Obviously I have voted before, but I have never been questioned on the street like that before., prior to entering a polling station....Has anyone else experienced this so far today?

I had two Tories outside mine, they were perfectly pleasant so I obliged, they won't like the way I voted though.

I do predict a Tory Majority though, last time Labour were strong they had Scotland, they don't have that anymore. Also I can see all the UKIP votes flooding back to the tories. A big win I reckon, which is a shame given the contempt they have shown in their manifesto, I'd like to see them get a scare.

 

[Blueronron]

I had two Tories outside mine, they were perfectly pleasant so I obliged, they won't like the way I voted though.

I do predict a Tory Majority though, last time Labour were strong they had Scotland, they don't have that anymore. Also I can see all the UKIP votes flooding back to the tories. A big win I reckon, which is a shame given the contempt they have shown in their manifesto, I'd like to see them get a scare.

Agree Ricky, was out in Basildon and though lots of the newbies voters wanted Corbyn and said they would vote, I feel Metcalfe will get in and pretend he knows what the place needs, whilst ignoring the poorer areas in Basildon ,that will get worse and crime rates increase
JC should have been this positive in PM QT, and maybe just maybe he would have rattled TM enough and got the floating voter behind him

Also and its my belief and only my belief these terror attacks have boosted TM position as she can be forceful on her plans to combat it and sadly dodge those 101 questions she has been dodging on her false pledges on manifesto
JC you need to look very hard at your self in opposition bench if still leader come to morrow, I can see a split coming which will kill labour once and for all, especially if the 7 % polls are correct

UTS and JC

 

[southendkid]

should be done in a friendly way but it's standard procedure - if you are in a marginal (or anywhere really) they want to note down which of their canvassed votes have come out - then if it's tight you will get a visit, phone call, offer of a lift - to make sure you have voted. I'm 'knocking up' all afternoon in Croydon - 165 votes in it in 2015 so that process can turn a loss into a win. My least favourite part of the election but it's necessary.

I don't think it's right they get to wear a ribbon declaring their allegiance to a party though, they do come across as bouncers trying to scare off voters of other parties.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Quite busy at the polling station this morning, but I guess it was school run time.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Thought this was quite a good read from Southend's very own Jack Munroe, given Diane Abbott's recent bad press and downright abuse.

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2017/06/07/we-need-to-talk-about-diane-abbott-now-explicit-content/

I read that yesterday too.

Being an MP for 30 years, as Diane Abbott has, is certainly noteworthy. And she's definitely a trailblazer - one of the first three black MPs. But does that make her exempt from criticism? To be honest, I think they're all there to be lampooned, whether white or black, working class or posh, Conservative or Labour, etc.

Hope she gets better soon, but I still wouldn't want her as Home Secretary.

 

[RHB]

A steady flow at our polling station. And following Uncle Leo's lead above the RHB vote went to the bloke with the bestest sounding Christian names - Julian Augustus St John and finished off with a double barrelled surname - Ware-Lane. Yeah, cause it was Labour. Sir David Anthony Andrew Amess, someone's got flashier first names than you, you're going down!

 

[MK Shrimper]

Polling agents should adhere to a strict code of conduct. If anyone feels they're being aggressive or threatened, have a word inside the station - the Poll Clerks can demand that they leave.

All I ever got when I did it was some old dear who sat outside on a plastic chair and wouldn't say boo to a goose.

 

[dloman]

I had two Tories outside mine, they were perfectly pleasant so I obliged, they won't like the way I voted though.

I do predict a Tory Majority though, last time Labour were strong they had Scotland, they don't have that anymore. Also I can see all the UKIP votes flooding back to the tories. A big win I reckon, which is a shame given the contempt they have shown in their manifesto, I'd like to see them get a scare.

Think you're probably correct. The chances are you will see both major parties increase their vote share maybe by around the same amount (Will really screw BBC's swingometer). In Scotland the Tories do have a very good leader and I can see them picking up seats there maybe even Angus Robertson's constituency. The UKIP vote collapse is key as they polled extremely well in some Labour held marginals where they are not standing this time and if their supporters vote blue this time then you could see these seats being swept up by the Tories.

 

[londonblue]

#Back on topic, I just popped down to my local polling station in Thurrock, there was 2 guys (almost acting like nightclub bouncers) standing outside.. (I wont tell you what colour ribbon they were wearing), but they demanded to know my polling number?... I blatantly refused to give it to them & then I was let straight in.

Obviously I have voted before, but I have never been questioned on the street like that before., prior to entering a polling station....Has anyone else experienced this so far today?

Not today, but I used to do that on behalf of my dad when he stood as a local councilor. They're just ticking off numbers. The reason is that, after their canvassing, they know who should be voting for them. If those people don't appear/aren't ticked off they'll go and give them a bit of encouragement, and even offer to drive them to the polling station. It's pretty standard practice.

 

[londonblue]

Quite busy at the polling station this morning, but I guess it was school run time.

Amazingly my sons' school has been closed today because it's a polling station and they're expecting a big turnout.

My wife has taken them to Kidzania. She was going to take them to Legoland because it will be empty, but changed her mind.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Amazingly my sons' school has been closed today because it's a polling station and they're expecting a big turnout.

My wife has taken them to Kidzania. She was going to take them to Legoland because it will be empty, but changed her mind.

Yer, our usual polling station used to be a school - it was still open however, they just nabbed a room. Now it's in a "Christian Centre". :stunned:

 

[Jai]

I read that yesterday too.

Being an MP for 30 years, as Diane Abbott has, is certainly noteworthy. And she's definitely a trailblazer - one of the first three black MPs. But does that make her exempt from criticism? To be honest, I think they're all there to be lampooned, whether white or black, working class or posh, Conservative or Labour, etc.

Hope she gets better soon, but I still wouldn't want her as Home Secretary.

Not exempt from criticism at all - you'd have to be a pretty fervent Labour supporter to defend some of her on-air performances this campaign - but I found it useful for balance as really she has been absolutely torn to shreds when IMO there have been just as many Tory interview gaffes.

 

[londonblue]

Yer, our usual polling station used to be a school - it was still open however, they just nabbed a room. Now it's in a "Christian Centre". :stunned:

The school is always a polling station, but this is the first time it has been closed. They must be expecting a really big turnout.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Polling agents should adhere to a strict code of conduct. If anyone feels they're being aggressive or threatened, have a word inside the station - the Poll Clerks can demand that they leave.

All I ever got when I did it was some old dear who sat outside on a plastic chair and wouldn't say boo to a goose.

Yes - that's exactly who we had sitting outside our polling station. When she asked if I had my polling card and I said I didn't she seemed genuinely upset.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Not exempt from criticism at all - you'd have to be a pretty fervent Labour supporter to defend some of her on-air performances this campaign - but I found it useful for balance as really she has been absolutely torn to shreds when IMO there have been just as many Tory interview gaffes.

There was plenty of coverage of Fallon making a **** of himself on C4 News.

I'm willing to accept that Abbott gets a tougher time of it than some - that'll be our good pals at The Daily Mail and The Sun in particular (with the former defining her as "Corbyn's ex" when news of her taking a break emerged) - but her illness notwithstanding, she's had a rough campaign.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

There was plenty of coverage of Fallon making a **** of himself on C4 News.

I'm willing to accept that Abbott gets a tougher time of it than some - that'll be our good pals at The Daily Mail and The Sun in particular (with the former defining her as "Corbyn's ex" when news of her taking a break emerged) - but her illness notwithstanding, she's had a rough campaign.

Barry Gardiner (who is a real find as an MP - straight talking and honest) says that Dianne's illness is long term and that it has been hampering her for at least a couple of weeks. The Jack Monroe info was posted as linked tweets and it does bring it home a bit that as a working class black female who got a first from Cambridge at a time when racism was commonplace and open - she has achieved a lot against the odds. Very much not one of my favourite MPs but I respect what she has achieved.

Plenty of gaffs from Fallon, Johnson, Hammond, May get passed around on social media and to an extent shown on TV but nowhere near as big news as Abbott's car crash, the Tory print media - which is most of them have really gone for her and barely mentioned the others

 

[londonblue]

Barry Gardiner (who is a real find as an MP - straight talking and honest) says that Dianne's illness is long term and that it has been hampering her for at least a couple of weeks. The Jack Monroe info was posted as linked tweets and it does bring it home a bit that as a working class black female who got a first from Cambridge at a time when racism was commonplace and open - she has achieved a lot against the odds. Very much not one of my favourite MPs but I respect what she has achieved.

Plenty of gaffs from Fallon, Johnson, Hammond, May get passed around on social media and to an extent shown on TV but nowhere near as big news as Abbott's car crash, the Tory print media - which is most of them have really gone for her and barely mentioned the others

Still is in the labour party.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

Still is in the labour party.

do you save that one post then just copy and paste every time? Theresa says thanks for that by the way.

 

[maninasuitcase]

A friend on FB wrote this, but I think it sums up the whole election in my view:

Despite a great campaign by Labour and that May very nearly fell apart entirely, the Conservatives will win today, it's just a question of the size of the majority. The public gets what the public wants and in choosing May, perhaps we're right, as she is in many ways our perfect representative, embodying as she does so many of the qualities of Britain - stilted, awkward, mean, snippy, unwelcoming of challenge, deeply mediocre (but bafflingly sure of her abilities), sneering, frightened and always, always valuing position above achievement, rank above contribution. There's another Britain, of course, and we saw the best of it on Saturday night and its aftermath and before that in the response to the Manchester bomb. But it is May's Britain that is dominant and it will assert itself today.