The LDs could be worth a punt in North Shropshire – politicalbetting.com
This morning many households in North Shropshire received their first leaflet, see above, of the by-election from the LDs which is pretty fast work given the vacancy was created only a few days ago.
If this one comes home OGH will fully deserve his nice Christmas.
But we might as well all give up because there will be no seat where the result can be reliably predicted any more.
I would say the Liberal Democrats in this seat would be wiser to worry about finishing ahead of the Greens than trying to topple the Tories. But I will admit there are large parts of it I don't know well, so I have little idea of where this message might be 'hitting home.'
I cannot see the LDs winning it, Shropshire was 57% Leave and while some may vote LD locally they will not do so nationally.
Note too the LDs only got 10% in North Shropshire in 2019, which was even below their national voteshare of 11.6%.
The last time the LDs took second in the seat was in 2010, when they were polling far higher than they are now.
All the LDs campaigning hard in the by election will do is mean they will likely split the anti Tory vote given Labour were a clear second in 2019, thus ensuring the Tory candidate wins even if the Conservative vote falls below 50%
Has there ever been a time OGH doesn't think the lib dems are worth a punt?
Nice bar chart, by the way...
Yes. A all the by-elections this parliament apart from Chesham & Amersham which I tipped at 20/1
That was a reasonable tip and I might consider it at 20/1, but not at 9/1.
But in Chesham and Amersham the Conservatives led the Lib Dems by 16,223 votes and the Lib Dems were in second place in an area where 55% voted remain.
In North Shropshire the Conservatives lead the Lib Dems by 29801 votes and are in third place to Labour, who also secured over 12k votes to the Lib Dems 5643 (in an area that voted overwhelmingly to leave).
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
Most important news is that it looks like India is about to permit exports of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which will largely go to Africa. India produced more than 300 million vaccine doses in October, and those were almost entirely AZ, though I don't know what vaccine uptake is like in India, they may still want most of the doses for their domestic vaccine programme for a while.
That could significantly help Covax.
I do wonder if vaccines are about to suffer from BIS - Boris Inattention Syndrome, whilst we should be locking in the process to develop and build a vaccine capability worldwide, linked to the UK research base.
The approach of exporting vaccine factories, and the knowhow to create them, is far more preferable and beneficial developmentally to the alternative of building a huge factory and ex[exporting the expensive products thereof.
India does seem to have become a point of failure in all this - if they stop exports (and they did) that's a huge chunk off global capacity.
I’m not tempted by the bet, but this is a nice point. … a delay in the by-election date means that the challengers can circulate leaflets like this without the same constraints of the by-election spending limits.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
I was sure about LD for C and A, fairly sure about Labour for Batley and Spen but not sure at all about LDs for N Shropshire.
It is pretty much a seat where for the LDs to win it Lord Emsworth has to recommend that his staff and tenants vote for them. The timing is in Tory hands. Labour are unlikely to give it up but can't win it. I suggest a Tory hold for now until some data turns up! (ditto OB and S BTW). I would want longer odds than C and A - which was an LD banker.
But thank you Mr Smithson for your excellent and fair minded coverage of the matter. It is not true that you only/always tip LDs. Hartlepool comes to mind among many others!
I see that the LDs are pretending that the local election result is the relevant one to this Parliamentary Byelection, even before they engage the BIF - the Barchart Intumescence Factor.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
I just want to say to you I hope you win your bet, but as a father to a 55 year old son who has PTSD and very serious mental health issues that you should seek help from your GP or the many voluntary mental health charities
Please do not keep it all to yourself, be kind to yourself and help is there for you
All the very best
Indeed you may win your bet tomorrow as it looks like there will be two polls
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
With the current backlog in NHS psychiatric services it may be worth observing that you can get a private psychiatrists appointment for gbp 250 ish. I have no idea whether you can lay hands on that sort of money, and I know it sounds a lot, but it can be life saving.
Craig Broadbent @CraigBroadbent1 1h Replying to @PoliticsForAlI Take a guess at which people replying have only read the headline... doesn't once say that. It actually says ' The company will still hire white men but recruiters have to show they have interviewed women and ethnic minority candidates. '
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
This may be trite advice, but focusing on physical things that you can control can be an effective way to bring psychological things that seem beyond control into some kind of order. Eat healthily, get some exercise, regularise sleep patterns, etc.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
This may be trite advice, but focusing on physical things that you can control can be an effective way to bring psychological things that seem beyond control into some kind of order. Eat healthily, get some exercise, regularise sleep patterns, etc.
+1 for this.
Get outside and enjoy the outside world. I have found this, personally, very helpful in the past.
We have. The topic is now the Shropshire by-election, where the questions are imo:
Will Boris's ham-fisted attempt to abolish the independent scrutiny of parliamentary standards damage their defence of the seat?
If so, who will most benefit, Davey or Sir Keir?
1) Yes but not fatally, 2) Davey but he won't win. (Labour can't win)
In a sense, though, we may be asking the wrong question. There isn't a real chance of anyone other than the Tories winning. The Liberal Democrats have withered away, Labour are a very distant second, the Greens didn't even save their deposit.
But there is also only one occasion in the last forty years where they haven't got 48%+ of the vote - 1997, where it was just 40%.
So realistically anything that cuts the Tory voteshare to between 40-45% has to be seen as a successful campaign for the opposition parties.
At which point, we will then want to know who did better - Labour, or the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens? Because that might give a few pointers to value.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
Hey mate, hope you get the help you need, if you're in or around the square mile in the week happy to catch up over a drink/coffee if you just want someone to talk to.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
This may be trite advice, but focusing on physical things that you can control can be an effective way to bring psychological things that seem beyond control into some kind of order. Eat healthily, get some exercise, regularise sleep patterns, etc.
+1 for this.
Get outside and enjoy the outside world. I have found this, personally, very helpful in the past.
Fuck that - I think the best advice to give CHB is to ask for benzos from his phychiastrist. Benzos cheer everyone up.
No one is underestimating the challenge the LDs face in North Shropshire - they start 53 points behind the Conservatives or the thick end of 30,000 votes.
Does this mean they should give up or not try? Hardly very democratic.
The key will be to establish the Party as the "challengers" and to take that message across the constituency. The second part is, I'd have thought, the obvious one. People aren't voting to elect or change a Government so if you want to register a protest or your disenchantment with the current administration, this is an opportunity to do so "without risk".
The third point will be for the LDs to pick the right candidate That's the most important - I don't know who the "right" candidate for North Shropshire is or would be because I don't know the area.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well, if that is the explanation that would be very good news indeed.
Certainly it isn't easy to explain the near 50% drop in cases among teenagers just by half term.
We have. The topic is now the Shropshire by-election, where the questions are imo:
Will Boris's ham-fisted attempt to abolish the independent scrutiny of parliamentary standards damage their defence of the seat?
If so, who will most benefit, Davey or Sir Keir?
1) Yes but not fatally, 2) Davey but he won't win. (Labour can't win)
In a sense, though, we may be asking the wrong question. There isn't a real chance of anyone other than the Tories winning. The Liberal Democrats have withered away, Labour are a very distant second, the Greens didn't even save their deposit.
But there is also only one occasion in the last forty years where they haven't got 48%+ of the vote - 1997, where it was just 40%.
So realistically anything that cuts the Tory voteshare to between 40-45% has to be seen as a successful campaign for the opposition parties.
At which point, we will then want to know who did better - Labour, or the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens? Because that might give a few pointers to value.
The LDs are going nowhere. Davey is safe but poor.
The Greens might do something though. It's very hard to work out their plan, mainly because I doubt they have one worthy of comment, but they have a singular opportunity. (And they are better than they've ever been, which of course means little)
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well, if that is the explanation that would be very good news indeed.
Certainly it isn't easy to explain the near 50% drop in cases among teenagers just by half term.
"The precise balance of those effects on Covid in children remains uncertain - is it a school break or herd immunity? "That's the real question, I'm cautiously optimistic that it's that latter and it's a very significant moment if it is," said Prof John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine."
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
This may be trite advice, but focusing on physical things that you can control can be an effective way to bring psychological things that seem beyond control into some kind of order. Eat healthily, get some exercise, regularise sleep patterns, etc.
+1 for this.
Get outside and enjoy the outside world. I have found this, personally, very helpful in the past.
Fuck that - I think the best advice to give CHB is to ask for benzos from his phychiastrist. Benzos cheer everyone up.
I would suggest his psychiatrist if he has one would assess the appropriate nature of benzodiazepines or other more suitable treatments
It is a subject I am well versed in through our family's mental health issues
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
With the current backlog in NHS psychiatric services it may be worth observing that you can get a private psychiatrists appointment for gbp 250 ish. I have no idea whether you can lay hands on that sort of money, and I know it sounds a lot, but it can be life saving.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant here, but having dealt with similar issues myself, and not having particularly great resources, I tried to educate myself on mental health.
My conclusion was that the field was full of bullshit and chancers. There are a few things that we know, help;
Eating a genuinely healthy, balanced diet, getting as much sleep as your body needs, lots of exercise and finding the right antidepressant at the right dose - is decent advice.
Oh, and stay away from anything that is addictive. That includes gambling.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
With the current backlog in NHS psychiatric services it may be worth observing that you can get a private psychiatrists appointment for gbp 250 ish. I have no idea whether you can lay hands on that sort of money, and I know it sounds a lot, but it can be life saving.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant here, but having dealt with similar issues myself, and not having particularly great resources, I tried to educate myself on mental health.
My conclusion was that the field was full of bullshit and chancers. There are a few things that we know, help;
Eating a genuinely healthy, balanced diet, getting as much sleep as your body needs, lots of exercise and finding the right antidepressant at the right dose - is decent advice.
Oh, and stay away from anything that is addictive. That includes gambling.
The right AD at the right dose is precisely what you need a psychiatrist for.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well, if that is the explanation that would be very good news indeed.
Certainly it isn't easy to explain the near 50% drop in cases among teenagers just by half term.
"The precise balance of those effects on Covid in children remains uncertain - is it a school break or herd immunity? "That's the real question, I'm cautiously optimistic that it's that latter and it's a very significant moment if it is," said Prof John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine."
Yes, I'd say I'm cautiously optimistic that it's herd immunity as well. If that's the case then COVID is actually done as a major cause for concern in the UK. It's hard to overstate just how significant it is for the nation that we're possibly finally at the stage where the virus has run out of viable hosts.
Once again, I have to credit the Saj, Boris and Rishi with this. The scientists would have locked us down a few weeks ago to bring cases back down and not implemented the full reopening in July. It's a shame that we didn't reopen fully in June because we'd be four more weeks up the road.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well, if that is the explanation that would be very good news indeed.
Certainly it isn't easy to explain the near 50% drop in cases among teenagers just by half term.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well quite. With zero npi really, and life pretty as normal, and into the depth of autumn, to see cases fall points to herd immunity being reached. And when you get there, cases can suddenly start to fall away, as in the kids right now.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
With the current backlog in NHS psychiatric services it may be worth observing that you can get a private psychiatrists appointment for gbp 250 ish. I have no idea whether you can lay hands on that sort of money, and I know it sounds a lot, but it can be life saving.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant here, but having dealt with similar issues myself, and not having particularly great resources, I tried to educate myself on mental health.
My conclusion was that the field was full of bullshit and chancers. There are a few things that we know, help;
Eating a genuinely healthy, balanced diet, getting as much sleep as your body needs, lots of exercise and finding the right antidepressant at the right dose - is decent advice.
Oh, and stay away from anything that is addictive. That includes gambling.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
This may be trite advice, but focusing on physical things that you can control can be an effective way to bring psychological things that seem beyond control into some kind of order. Eat healthily, get some exercise, regularise sleep patterns, etc.
+1 for this.
Get outside and enjoy the outside world. I have found this, personally, very helpful in the past.
Fuck that - I think the best advice to give CHB is to ask for benzos from his phychiastrist. Benzos cheer everyone up.
I would suggest his psychiatrist if he has one would assess the appropriate nature of benzodiazepines or other more suitable treatments
It is a subject I am well versed in through our family's mental health issues
There are a lot of quacks in the NHS (or SNHS anyaway)
At the moment I'm on a heavy dose of Olanzapine - it makes me sleepy so I can't be a nighthawk.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
With the current backlog in NHS psychiatric services it may be worth observing that you can get a private psychiatrists appointment for gbp 250 ish. I have no idea whether you can lay hands on that sort of money, and I know it sounds a lot, but it can be life saving.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant here, but having dealt with similar issues myself, and not having particularly great resources, I tried to educate myself on mental health.
My conclusion was that the field was full of bullshit and chancers. There are a few things that we know, help;
Eating a genuinely healthy, balanced diet, getting as much sleep as your body needs, lots of exercise and finding the right antidepressant at the right dose - is decent advice.
Oh, and stay away from anything that is addictive. That includes gambling.
The right AD at the right dose is precisely what you need a psychiatrist for.
We have. The topic is now the Shropshire by-election, where the questions are imo:
Will Boris's ham-fisted attempt to abolish the independent scrutiny of parliamentary standards damage their defence of the seat?
If so, who will most benefit, Davey or Sir Keir?
1) Yes but not fatally, 2) Davey but he won't win. (Labour can't win)
In a sense, though, we may be asking the wrong question. There isn't a real chance of anyone other than the Tories winning. The Liberal Democrats have withered away, Labour are a very distant second, the Greens didn't even save their deposit.
But there is also only one occasion in the last forty years where they haven't got 48%+ of the vote - 1997, where it was just 40%.
So realistically anything that cuts the Tory voteshare to between 40-45% has to be seen as a successful campaign for the opposition parties.
At which point, we will then want to know who did better - Labour, or the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens? Because that might give a few pointers to value.
The LDs are going nowhere. Davey is safe but poor.
The Greens might do something though. It's very hard to work out their plan, mainly because I doubt they have one worthy of comment, but they have a singular opportunity. (And they are better than they've ever been, which of course means little)
Um.... cough. Chesham and Amersham.
Its a by election and the Lib Dems have pretty good form with these. The Greens have never won one, and Tories will not generally vote Labour. I think OGH might be on to something. If the Lib Dems are first out of the trap like this, then they are clearly going to make a fight out of it. Its a long shot, but a lot of Conservative voters will want to send a message...
I was sure about LD for C and A, fairly sure about Labour for Batley and Spen but not sure at all about LDs for N Shropshire.
It is pretty much a seat where for the LDs to win it Lord Emsworth has to recommend that his staff and tenants vote for them. The timing is in Tory hands. Labour are unlikely to give it up but can't win it. I suggest a Tory hold for now until some data turns up! (ditto OB and S BTW). I would want longer odds than C and A - which was an LD banker.
But thank you Mr Smithson for your excellent and fair minded coverage of the matter. It is not true that you only/always tip LDs. Hartlepool comes to mind among many others!
In stable seats such as this, the results in the ‘80s can offer some sort of guide to LibDem prospects. They secured a string of solid second places there, but still 20% behind, and never managed to squeeze the Labour vote down below 20%, unlike in many other rural Tory seats. The resilience of the Labour vote even during their 80s low spots suggests this isn’t winnable for the LibDems; the realistic campaign objective may well be to resecure second place, which is quite possible given the negatives still swirling around Labour.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well quite. With zero npi really, and life pretty as normal, and into the depth of autumn, to see cases fall points to herd immunity being reached. And when you get there, cases can suddenly start to fall away, as in the kids right now.
Indeed, and what gives me the cautious optimism is the real time Google mobility data I saw on Friday which shows more people are travelling into city centres on public transport and spending more time indoors than they were three weeks ago when cases were at the autumn peak. There hasn't been any behavioural change driving this and anecdotally there are fewer people wearing masks indoors than I've ever noticed.
We have. The topic is now the Shropshire by-election, where the questions are imo:
Will Boris's ham-fisted attempt to abolish the independent scrutiny of parliamentary standards damage their defence of the seat?
If so, who will most benefit, Davey or Sir Keir?
1) Yes but not fatally, 2) Davey but he won't win. (Labour can't win)
In a sense, though, we may be asking the wrong question. There isn't a real chance of anyone other than the Tories winning. The Liberal Democrats have withered away, Labour are a very distant second, the Greens didn't even save their deposit.
But there is also only one occasion in the last forty years where they haven't got 48%+ of the vote - 1997, where it was just 40%.
So realistically anything that cuts the Tory voteshare to between 40-45% has to be seen as a successful campaign for the opposition parties.
At which point, we will then want to know who did better - Labour, or the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens? Because that might give a few pointers to value.
The LDs are going nowhere. Davey is safe but poor.
The Greens might do something though. It's very hard to work out their plan, mainly because I doubt they have one worthy of comment, but they have a singular opportunity. (And they are better than they've ever been, which of course means little)
Um.... cough. Chesham and Amersham.
Its a by election and the Lib Dems have pretty good form with these. The Greens have never won one, and Tories will not generally vote Labour. I think OGH might be on to something. If the Lib Dems are first out of the trap like this, then they are clearly going to make a fight out of it. Its a long shot, but a lot of Conservative voters will want to send a message...
Of course you're right to point at that. The LDs should be there, but they're clearly not.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well, if that is the explanation that would be very good news indeed.
Certainly it isn't easy to explain the near 50% drop in cases among teenagers just by half term.
"The precise balance of those effects on Covid in children remains uncertain - is it a school break or herd immunity? "That's the real question, I'm cautiously optimistic that it's that latter and it's a very significant moment if it is," said Prof John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine."
Yes, I'd say I'm cautiously optimistic that it's herd immunity as well. If that's the case then COVID is actually done as a major cause for concern in the UK. It's hard to overstate just how significant it is for the nation that we're possibly finally at the stage where the virus has run out of viable hosts.
Once again, I have to credit the Saj, Boris and Rishi with this. The scientists would have locked us down a few weeks ago to bring cases back down and not implemented the full reopening in July. It's a shame that we didn't reopen fully in June because we'd be four more weeks up the road.
I'm not sure that's totally clear (re: "all" the scientists). There were some indications that Whitty in particular agreed with the basic strategy, albeit he may have been very nervous about whether his instinctive judgement was right that caused him to hedge a little. There was a lot on the line and clearly he was happy to let the politicians actually take the decisions in the circumstances.
We have. The topic is now the Shropshire by-election, where the questions are imo:
Will Boris's ham-fisted attempt to abolish the independent scrutiny of parliamentary standards damage their defence of the seat?
If so, who will most benefit, Davey or Sir Keir?
1) Yes but not fatally, 2) Davey but he won't win. (Labour can't win)
In a sense, though, we may be asking the wrong question. There isn't a real chance of anyone other than the Tories winning. The Liberal Democrats have withered away, Labour are a very distant second, the Greens didn't even save their deposit.
But there is also only one occasion in the last forty years where they haven't got 48%+ of the vote - 1997, where it was just 40%.
So realistically anything that cuts the Tory voteshare to between 40-45% has to be seen as a successful campaign for the opposition parties.
At which point, we will then want to know who did better - Labour, or the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens? Because that might give a few pointers to value.
The LDs are going nowhere. Davey is safe but poor.
The Greens might do something though. It's very hard to work out their plan, mainly because I doubt they have one worthy of comment, but they have a singular opportunity. (And they are better than they've ever been, which of course means little)
Um.... cough. Chesham and Amersham.
Its a by election and the Lib Dems have pretty good form with these. The Greens have never won one, and Tories will not generally vote Labour. I think OGH might be on to something. If the Lib Dems are first out of the trap like this, then they are clearly going to make a fight out of it. Its a long shot, but a lot of Conservative voters will want to send a message...
There is clearly a big difference between pro-remain and pro-leave seats. Clearly the former are far more likely to be fertile ground for obvious reasons.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well quite. With zero npi really, and life pretty as normal, and into the depth of autumn, to see cases fall points to herd immunity being reached. And when you get there, cases can suddenly start to fall away, as in the kids right now.
Indeed, and what gives me the cautious optimism is the real time Google mobility data I saw on Friday which shows more people are travelling into city centres on public transport and spending more time indoors than they were three weeks ago when cases were at the autumn peak. There hasn't been any behavioural change driving this and anecdotally there are fewer people wearing masks indoors than I've ever noticed.
I still find it interesting though that London is such an outlier. It could of course be HIT being met earlier, but there is still a hell of a lot WfH going on, particularly in the Public Sector. At least two days a week i'm regularly the only person in an office of 70 odd. And anecdotally i've heard there are increasing concerns about levels of productivity (that held up pretty well in the first year of the pandemic) such that there is increasing urgency to get people back in greater numbers.
To make it entirely clear, I am not down because Labour isn't in Government, I am down because of other mental health issues and the bet I had placed I was just hoping might give me some temporary happiness. I am seeking help
Sorry to hear you're not ok. But its good that you can say so - its ok not to be ok.
I know debate on here and national politics generally can get fraught - but it doesn't really compare to debates about fireworks on local FB groups !
What is the preferred method of capital punishment?
Catherine wheel, obviously
My advice to those whose "rescue" dog is cowering in the bath is, have it put down and get a more resilient one. No shortage now the lockdown purchases are hitting the rehoming market.
I know debate on here and national politics generally can get fraught - but it doesn't really compare to debates about fireworks on local FB groups !
Actually ours hasn't been to bad. There have been a couple of people calling they should be banned but mostly it seems to be justifiable complaints about them being set off way before and after bonfire night. We had our bonfire party last night and timed it to coincide with the local organised event so all the disturbance was over at the same time. Lots of people in the village did the same so it was a nice and short display.
On the by-election one question is what Labour are doing?
Even if they don't think they have much of a chance of winning the seat, it's an opportunity to get out there and talk to voters, test out campaign messages, and see whether Leave/north of London voters can be won over.
If they decide they can't be asked because the local organisation is weak, and they've never won the seat before, then it would make it easier for the Lib Dems to build up a head of steam.
I know debate on here and national politics generally can get fraught - but it doesn't really compare to debates about fireworks on local FB groups !
What is the preferred method of capital punishment?
Catherine wheel, obviously
My advice to those whose "rescue" dog is cowering in the bath is, have it put down and get a more resilient one. No shortage now the lockdown purchases are hitting the rehoming market.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well quite. With zero npi really, and life pretty as normal, and into the depth of autumn, to see cases fall points to herd immunity being reached. And when you get there, cases can suddenly start to fall away, as in the kids right now.
Indeed, and what gives me the cautious optimism is the real time Google mobility data I saw on Friday which shows more people are travelling into city centres on public transport and spending more time indoors than they were three weeks ago when cases were at the autumn peak. There hasn't been any behavioural change driving this and anecdotally there are fewer people wearing masks indoors than I've ever noticed.
I still find it interesting though that London is such an outlier. It could of course be HIT being met earlier, but there is still a hell of a lot WfH going on, particularly in the Public Sector. At least two days a week i'm regularly the only person in an office of 70 odd. And anecdotally i've heard there are increasing concerns about levels of productivity (that held up pretty well in the first year of the pandemic) such that there is increasing urgency to get people back in greater numbers.
It's almost certainly herd immunity in London, the first wave in London was absolutely devastating, just mostly unrecorded. The vaccination level is also a lot higher than the dashboard implies, maybe even higher than using the ONS as a denominator.
Very good COVID stats again today. England cases down significantly compared to last week, R value of around 0.7 and falling.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
Well quite. With zero npi really, and life pretty as normal, and into the depth of autumn, to see cases fall points to herd immunity being reached. And when you get there, cases can suddenly start to fall away, as in the kids right now.
Indeed, and what gives me the cautious optimism is the real time Google mobility data I saw on Friday which shows more people are travelling into city centres on public transport and spending more time indoors than they were three weeks ago when cases were at the autumn peak. There hasn't been any behavioural change driving this and anecdotally there are fewer people wearing masks indoors than I've ever noticed.
I still find it interesting though that London is such an outlier. It could of course be HIT being met earlier, but there is still a hell of a lot WfH going on, particularly in the Public Sector. At least two days a week i'm regularly the only person in an office of 70 odd. And anecdotally i've heard there are increasing concerns about levels of productivity (that held up pretty well in the first year of the pandemic) such that there is increasing urgency to get people back in greater numbers.
It's almost certainly herd immunity in London, the first wave in London was absolutely devastating, just mostly unrecorded. The vaccination level is also a lot higher than the dashboard implies, maybe even higher than using the ONS as a denominator.
If it’s anything like what happened out here, the point at which herd immunity is reached is like hitting the proverbial brick wall.
Today, 70 cases from 250k tests of a 10m population. It’s as good as over.
This is a great game, even if we are 3-2 down. Come on, would love a comeback here.
As a West Ham fan I am of course delighted.
Following on from that I just looked at the schedule for West Ham for December. 9 Games!! 7 Premier League, 1 Europa Cup and 1 League Cup game. And that is even with Christmas in there. Bloody hell that's a full schedule.
Comments
Nice bar chart, by the way...
But we might as well all give up because there will be no seat where the result can be reliably predicted any more.
I would say the Liberal Democrats in this seat would be wiser to worry about finishing ahead of the Greens than trying to topple the Tories. But I will admit there are large parts of it I don't know well, so I have little idea of where this message might be 'hitting home.'
But apparently Celtic FC fans can be a bit naughty as well:
Grant
@Grantmckay01
IRA songs belting out the Celtic end today, nothing to see here eh?
@GrahamSpiers
@HumzaYousaf
@Call_It_Out_
@mstewart_23
So accurate historically.
Note too the LDs only got 10% in North Shropshire in 2019, which was even below their national voteshare of 11.6%.
The last time the LDs took second in the seat was in 2010, when they were polling far higher than they are now.
All the LDs campaigning hard in the by election will do is mean they will likely split the anti Tory vote given Labour were a clear second in 2019, thus ensuring the Tory candidate wins even if the Conservative vote falls below 50%
But in Chesham and Amersham the Conservatives led the Lib Dems by 16,223 votes and the Lib Dems were in second place in an area where 55% voted remain.
In North Shropshire the Conservatives lead the Lib Dems by 29801 votes and are in third place to Labour, who also secured over 12k votes to the Lib Dems 5643 (in an area that voted overwhelmingly to leave).
That is quite the mountain to climb.
… a delay in the by-election date means that the challengers can circulate leaflets like this without the same constraints of the by-election spending limits.
Pecker
Wang
Willie
Will Boris's ham-fisted attempt to abolish the independent scrutiny of parliamentary standards damage their defence of the seat?
If so, who will most benefit, Davey or Sir Keir?
It is pretty much a seat where for the LDs to win it Lord Emsworth has to recommend that his staff and tenants vote for them. The timing is in Tory hands. Labour are unlikely to give it up but can't win it. I suggest a Tory hold for now until some data turns up! (ditto OB and S BTW). I would want longer odds than C and A - which was an LD banker.
But thank you Mr Smithson for your excellent and fair minded coverage of the matter. It is not true that you only/always tip LDs. Hartlepool comes to mind among many others!
I see that the LDs are pretending that the local election result is the relevant one to this Parliamentary Byelection, even before they engage the BIF - the Barchart Intumescence Factor.
Davey also has something of the Knight about him.
I can't afford to bet on this one so I'll just keep quiet for a bit.
Please do not keep it all to yourself, be kind to yourself and help is there for you
All the very best
Indeed you may win your bet tomorrow as it looks like there will be two polls
2) Davey but he won't win. (Labour can't win)
Can't do a good pun back though. And you know what they say, no pun is better than a bad pun.
https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1457337470337617924?s=20
But why the red arrow on the chart?
Are the LDs after a subliminal Pavlovian response from lefty voters?
@CraigBroadbent1
1h
Replying to
@PoliticsForAlI
Take a guess at which people replying have only read the headline... doesn't once say that. It actually says ' The company will still hire white men but recruiters have to show they have interviewed women and ethnic minority candidates. '
West Ham 2-1
Get outside and enjoy the outside world. I have found this, personally, very helpful in the past.
But there is also only one occasion in the last forty years where they haven't got 48%+ of the vote - 1997, where it was just 40%.
So realistically anything that cuts the Tory voteshare to between 40-45% has to be seen as a successful campaign for the opposition parties.
At which point, we will then want to know who did better - Labour, or the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens? Because that might give a few pointers to value.
As with yesterday, I'm at a loss to explain why cases are dropping so fast other than the nation crossing the herd immunity threshold for all age groups.
No one is underestimating the challenge the LDs face in North Shropshire - they start 53 points behind the Conservatives or the thick end of 30,000 votes.
Does this mean they should give up or not try? Hardly very democratic.
The key will be to establish the Party as the "challengers" and to take that message across the constituency. The second part is, I'd have thought, the obvious one. People aren't voting to elect or change a Government so if you want to register a protest or your disenchantment with the current administration, this is an opportunity to do so "without risk".
The third point will be for the LDs to pick the right candidate That's the most important - I don't know who the "right" candidate for North Shropshire is or would be because I don't know the area.
Certainly it isn't easy to explain the near 50% drop in cases among teenagers just by half term.
The Greens might do something though. It's very hard to work out their plan, mainly because I doubt they have one worthy of comment, but they have a singular opportunity. (And they are better than they've ever been, which of course means little)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59179219
"The precise balance of those effects on Covid in children remains uncertain - is it a school break or herd immunity?
"That's the real question, I'm cautiously optimistic that it's that latter and it's a very significant moment if it is," said Prof John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine."
It is a subject I am well versed in through our family's mental health issues
My conclusion was that the field was full of bullshit and chancers. There are a few things that we know, help;
Eating a genuinely healthy, balanced diet, getting as much sleep as your body needs, lots of exercise and finding the right antidepressant at the right dose - is decent advice.
Oh, and stay away from anything that is addictive. That includes gambling.
Once again, I have to credit the Saj, Boris and Rishi with this. The scientists would have locked us down a few weeks ago to bring cases back down and not implemented the full reopening in July. It's a shame that we didn't reopen fully in June because we'd be four more weeks up the road.
This is a great game, even if we are 3-2 down. Come on, would love a comeback here.
At the moment I'm on a heavy dose of Olanzapine - it makes me sleepy so I can't be a nighthawk.
And benzos are very addictive admittedly...
Its a by election and the Lib Dems have pretty good form with these. The Greens have never won one, and Tories will not generally vote Labour. I think OGH might be on to something. If the Lib Dems are first out of the trap like this, then they are clearly going to make a fight out of it. Its a long shot, but a lot of Conservative voters will want to send a message...
Before I go-
Does anyone know Mr Dancer's tip/s for the race?
My advice to those whose "rescue" dog is cowering in the bath is, have it put down and get a more resilient one. No shortage now the lockdown purchases are hitting the rehoming market.
Even if they don't think they have much of a chance of winning the seat, it's an opportunity to get out there and talk to voters, test out campaign messages, and see whether Leave/north of London voters can be won over.
If they decide they can't be asked because the local organisation is weak, and they've never won the seat before, then it would make it easier for the Lib Dems to build up a head of steam.
Is a 5 year old vote most important? Or a corrupt party taking money from the pockets of North Shropshire voters and handing it to their mates?
Remember folks - if the Tories win these by-elections, the corruption continues.
Today, 70 cases from 250k tests of a 10m population. It’s as good as over.