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The by-election betting as voting ends – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 11,688
edited October 2023 in General
imageThe by-election betting as voting ends – politicalbetting.com

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  • Options
    GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 20,826
    The wait begins... Tick Tock.
  • Options
    Second like....
  • Options
    FPT
    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
  • Options
    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,171

    Second like....

    Whereas the first post was seconds-like

  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    edited October 2023
    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811
  • Options
    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,171
    Huti rebels in Yemen firing missiles at Israel!
    (and shot down by US navy)
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,311

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    Let's face it, Crown Office doesn't even have working staplers.
  • Options
    carnforthcarnforth Posts: 3,219
    "it’s the question on all our lips - but it’s not an exact science.

    Our thinking is we may get a result around 01:30-02:00 for Mid Bedfordshire and around 03:30-04:00 in the Staffordshire seat of Tamworth.

    But that doesn't take into account the possibility of recounts if the results are close."

    The BBC's take on timing.
  • Options
    GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,081
    The banter result is 2 Lab gains I have to say
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,466
    After my prediction that the SNP would hold Rutherglen, I'm quitting whilst I'm behind.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,846
    edited October 2023

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    I know you mean "servants" or "assistants", but I do have this image of a rather distinguished lawyer being followed by small yellow blobs going "yippee!" thru Dundee station... 😀
  • Options
    DavidL said:

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    Let's face it, Crown Office doesn't even have working staplers.
    Bodes well for Nicola Sturgeon and her husband.
  • Options
    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,311

    The banter result is 2 Lab gains I have to say

    Tories third in Mid Beds would be hilarious.
  • Options
    carnforthcarnforth Posts: 3,219
    edited October 2023

    DavidL said:

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    Let's face it, Crown Office doesn't even have working staplers.
    Bodes well for Nicola Sturgeon and her husband.
    The more time goes on, the more I smell no charges. Hope I'm wrong.
  • Options
    viewcode said:

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    I know you mean "servants" or "assistants", but I do have this image of a rather distinguished lawyer being followed by small yellow blobs going "yippee!" thru Dundee station... 😀
    This me and my minions.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uywZ9z5FyZI
  • Options
    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,311
    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
  • Options
    carnforth said:

    DavidL said:

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    Let's face it, Crown Office doesn't even have working staplers.
    Bodes well for Nicola Sturgeon and her husband.
    The more time goes on, the more I smell no charges. Hope I'm wrong.
    I've always assumed that they wouldn't get charged on the premise that the money was raised for the SNP and the SNP spent it on legitimate election expenses.
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,466

    The banter result is 2 Lab gains I have to say

    Tories in third place in Mid Beds would be funny.
  • Options
    carnforthcarnforth Posts: 3,219
    edited October 2023

    carnforth said:

    DavidL said:

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    Let's face it, Crown Office doesn't even have working staplers.
    Bodes well for Nicola Sturgeon and her husband.
    The more time goes on, the more I smell no charges. Hope I'm wrong.
    I've always assumed that they wouldn't get charged on the premise that the money was raised for the SNP and the SNP spent it on legitimate election expenses.
    Not a lawyer, nor an accountant, but I think they can get away with the "ringfenced for independence" stuff. It's all very arguable.

    If there has been comingling of personal and party expenses - that may be another kettle of fish.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028
    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700

    The banter result is 2 Lab gains I have to say

    Tories in third place in Mid Beds would be funny.
    That could happen if Reform and the independent do better than expected.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,930

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Yes lol it'll be a proper going over if Lab is winning postals
  • Options
    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Yes lol it'll be a proper going over if Lab is winning postals
    Yup.

    🌳 Tamworth is the 55th Safest Conservative Seat (42.6% Margin over Labour in 2019)

    🌳 Mid Bedfordshire is the 98th Safest Conservative Seat (38.1% Margin over Labour in 2019)

    Even if these seats are narrow holds today, the fact they're both competitive is ominous for them.


    https://twitter.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1714941794520027515
  • Options
    maxhmaxh Posts: 826
    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    I was speaking to a pollster earlier and they reckon it is events like this which really batters the reputation of Sunak and the Tories.

    The voters see extreme weather like this as evidence of climate change and Rishi telling us he is abolishing non existent green crap looks bad.
    Right so he'll be stopping expansion of coal power stations in India or China. He might as well sit in front of the North and give orders to the waves like a Canute.

    We have the wrong green crap
    That's not how the voters see it.
    Even if there is polling to show that (I’ve not seen any but it might be there), politicians (I’m looking at Starmer) need to actually lead. A section of the public have become neo-religious nutters who think if they flagellate themselves they can reverse the apocalypse. And bizarrely, that is the right word because many of them seem to think climate change will destroy life on earth despite none of the models showing that even in the worst case 3/4 degree increase scenarios, where technology doesn’t advance and we all go back to burning coal.

    I despair. I’ve worked on some of the science here and I used to spend my days trying to convince people climate change was an issue and dispelling nonsense like the “hockey stick” graph. Now, because I will not get behind apocalyptic non-scientific forecasts or accept that whether the U.K. bans petrol in 2030 or 2035 will make the slightest difference, I get called the “denier”.

    The world has been infantilised. People need to understand that a mix of declared policies and technology change means we’ve more or less fixed the problem. We’ve won. The global temperature will rise by 2-2.5 degrees and some islands will need to be relocated while some agriculture changes. But we’ve done it.

    Starmer and his generation get to declare victory.
    It's peculiar.

    For all of the world's horrors, by any objective measure, there has actually never been a better time to be alive. But, what proportion of the world's population believe that? I'd be surprised if it was even as high as 5%.
    Yes. No one seems to want to understand that we’re doing ok.
    The telling statistic is that when I was born, in 1967, 55% of the world lived in absolute poverty (itself, a big improvement on 100 years previously). Now, the proportion is 8%.
    One of the issues is that if they accepted that improvement, they would also have to see that it was driven by democracy, open markets, and technology. The spreading of westernised civilisation, in fact. But that can’t be right as all those things are imperialist….
    FPT
    What about the rise of China? That had a huge impact on absolute poverty but doesn’t fit your narrative, particularly the democracy part.
  • Options
    TazTaz Posts: 11,201
    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    ‘Winning Here’
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,403
    I'm going to bed.
  • Options
    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,311
    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Recount to save the Lib Dem deposit?

    Tee-hee!
  • Options
    However mental it was, I can at least understand why some people voted Tory in Uxbridge to stop Grant Shapps’s ULEZ. But what is the mentality as to why they would vote Tory in Dorries or Pincher land?

    Hard to shat the brand any harder in these places. So Tories beaten in both, and coming 3rd in MidBeds (I’ve said that for a while). A toss up as to who wins that one but have this instinct that Labour is a step too far so another sensational Ed Davey win.
  • Options
    bigglesbiggles Posts: 4,347
    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Many of us conceded it for them months ago. The question is whether they did enough to secure a Tory win.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028
    maxh said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    I was speaking to a pollster earlier and they reckon it is events like this which really batters the reputation of Sunak and the Tories.

    The voters see extreme weather like this as evidence of climate change and Rishi telling us he is abolishing non existent green crap looks bad.
    Right so he'll be stopping expansion of coal power stations in India or China. He might as well sit in front of the North and give orders to the waves like a Canute.

    We have the wrong green crap
    That's not how the voters see it.
    Even if there is polling to show that (I’ve not seen any but it might be there), politicians (I’m looking at Starmer) need to actually lead. A section of the public have become neo-religious nutters who think if they flagellate themselves they can reverse the apocalypse. And bizarrely, that is the right word because many of them seem to think climate change will destroy life on earth despite none of the models showing that even in the worst case 3/4 degree increase scenarios, where technology doesn’t advance and we all go back to burning coal.

    I despair. I’ve worked on some of the science here and I used to spend my days trying to convince people climate change was an issue and dispelling nonsense like the “hockey stick” graph. Now, because I will not get behind apocalyptic non-scientific forecasts or accept that whether the U.K. bans petrol in 2030 or 2035 will make the slightest difference, I get called the “denier”.

    The world has been infantilised. People need to understand that a mix of declared policies and technology change means we’ve more or less fixed the problem. We’ve won. The global temperature will rise by 2-2.5 degrees and some islands will need to be relocated while some agriculture changes. But we’ve done it.

    Starmer and his generation get to declare victory.
    It's peculiar.

    For all of the world's horrors, by any objective measure, there has actually never been a better time to be alive. But, what proportion of the world's population believe that? I'd be surprised if it was even as high as 5%.
    Yes. No one seems to want to understand that we’re doing ok.
    The telling statistic is that when I was born, in 1967, 55% of the world lived in absolute poverty (itself, a big improvement on 100 years previously). Now, the proportion is 8%.
    One of the issues is that if they accepted that improvement, they would also have to see that it was driven by democracy, open markets, and technology. The spreading of westernised civilisation, in fact. But that can’t be right as all those things are imperialist….
    FPT
    What about the rise of China? That had a huge impact on absolute poverty but doesn’t fit your narrative, particularly the democracy part.
    China moving from Maoism to Communism had the biggest impact, however had it followed the Hong Kong model rather than the Beijing model rather than imposed the latter on the former it would have done even better
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Yes lol it'll be a proper going over if Lab is winning postals
    Tamworth may not be typical wrt postal votes. There are a lot of people in the "long-term ill" category in the town, who may be using postal votes because they can't vote at their local polling station, but still be Labour supporters.
  • Options
    TazTaz Posts: 11,201
    biggles said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Many of us conceded it for them months ago. The question is whether they did enough to secure a Tory win.
    Once Tory enablers always Tory enablers.
  • Options
    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,964
    edited October 2023

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Isn't it the case that either they don't know or they have somehow broken the law? Postal votes are not counted ahead of time. The covering envelope is opened and the check made that the vote is valid. But the votes themselves are not counted until after polls close.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028

    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Yes lol it'll be a proper going over if Lab is winning postals
    Yup.

    🌳 Tamworth is the 55th Safest Conservative Seat (42.6% Margin over Labour in 2019)

    🌳 Mid Bedfordshire is the 98th Safest Conservative Seat (38.1% Margin over Labour in 2019)

    Even if these seats are narrow holds today, the fact they're both competitive is ominous for them.


    https://twitter.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1714941794520027515
    New Labour won Tamworth in 1997 and held it until 2010, albeit Mid Bedfordshire stayed Tory even in the Blair years
  • Options
    maxhmaxh Posts: 826
    edited October 2023
    FPT
    boulay said:

    AlistairM said:

    MaxPB said:

    So it turns out that somewhere between 10 and 50 died or were injured during the hospital incident and independent European intelligence sources confirm that it was a rocket launched from within Gaza that failed and broke up near the hospital and then the debris which included the payload landed in the car park and exploded.

    Every single media outlet that ran with the Hamas version of 500 dead in an Israeli air strike on a hospital needs to put out a front page retraction immediately. Israel should sue and force them into it so they learn their lesson and stop parroting Hamas.

    BBC sneaking out not quite an apology. No mention of their headlines or their Twitter post that still says hundreds killed by Israeli strike.

    Is this… is this the BBC apologising a little tiny bit for how it reported the hospital explosion?
    https://twitter.com/JakeWSimons/status/1715047356645720453
    I love the BBC. For most of my life I’ve loved their children’s programmes, comedy, drama, sports, news. The works. I would pay the licence fee purely for Radio 4. I listen to Today six mornings a week but I get so fucking angry with their de haut en bas decision making about what is partial and impartial and the bizarre ways they work out what “balance” really is.

    Jeremy Bowen just could not bring himself to say “we might have jumped the gun” this morning on Today after Tugendhat calmly pointed out the errors over the hospital reporting. It’s a mix of arrogance, confusion, not understanding that the world doesn’t think the way they do. There is a thing called “BBC diversity” which is that the BBC are full of people of every colour and creed so they think they have diverse input but it’s not because those people of diverse colour and creed are largely from a similar social viewpoint or background. The groupthink will kill the bbc. Moving bits to Salford doesn’t make it diverse because they fill it with key people from the bbc in London with the same views so it can never change.

    I just find it depressing that they consider themselves educated and superior but cannot also consider if the way they think might just be wrong occasionally.

    They aren’t the only ones and it is a symptom of “quick news”. Pretty much every news outlet needs to make it big that they got it wrong over the hospital attack as do Arab governments if they want to lance the boil that’s growing.
    This is very cogently argued and quite persuasive as to the reasons for the initial reporting, but I wonder if the BBC’s reluctance to admit fault today has another cause.

    It seems to be that over the last decade the government have successfully delegitimised the BBC such that the corporation is constantly second guessing itself. A strong, confident organisation would take responsibility for its mistakes regardless of its biases, in my view. Instead, I think the BBC is fearful of what might happen if it does admit fault.

    I think we are seeing the product of a concerted attack on the BBC over the past decade.
  • Options
    bigglesbiggles Posts: 4,347
    maxh said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    I was speaking to a pollster earlier and they reckon it is events like this which really batters the reputation of Sunak and the Tories.

    The voters see extreme weather like this as evidence of climate change and Rishi telling us he is abolishing non existent green crap looks bad.
    Right so he'll be stopping expansion of coal power stations in India or China. He might as well sit in front of the North and give orders to the waves like a Canute.

    We have the wrong green crap
    That's not how the voters see it.
    Even if there is polling to show that (I’ve not seen any but it might be there), politicians (I’m looking at Starmer) need to actually lead. A section of the public have become neo-religious nutters who think if they flagellate themselves they can reverse the apocalypse. And bizarrely, that is the right word because many of them seem to think climate change will destroy life on earth despite none of the models showing that even in the worst case 3/4 degree increase scenarios, where technology doesn’t advance and we all go back to burning coal.

    I despair. I’ve worked on some of the science here and I used to spend my days trying to convince people climate change was an issue and dispelling nonsense like the “hockey stick” graph. Now, because I will not get behind apocalyptic non-scientific forecasts or accept that whether the U.K. bans petrol in 2030 or 2035 will make the slightest difference, I get called the “denier”.

    The world has been infantilised. People need to understand that a mix of declared policies and technology change means we’ve more or less fixed the problem. We’ve won. The global temperature will rise by 2-2.5 degrees and some islands will need to be relocated while some agriculture changes. But we’ve done it.

    Starmer and his generation get to declare victory.
    It's peculiar.

    For all of the world's horrors, by any objective measure, there has actually never been a better time to be alive. But, what proportion of the world's population believe that? I'd be surprised if it was even as high as 5%.
    Yes. No one seems to want to understand that we’re doing ok.
    The telling statistic is that when I was born, in 1967, 55% of the world lived in absolute poverty (itself, a big improvement on 100 years previously). Now, the proportion is 8%.
    One of the issues is that if they accepted that improvement, they would also have to see that it was driven by democracy, open markets, and technology. The spreading of westernised civilisation, in fact. But that can’t be right as all those things are imperialist….
    FPT
    What about the rise of China? That had a huge impact on absolute poverty but doesn’t fit your narrative, particularly the democracy part.
    But the markets part does. They advanced by copying our model. I think time will tell on whether you can keep the gains if you reject the democracy bit.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798
    edited October 2023
    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    None of them have any clue, clearly. Say something positive yet caveated, and if you win you look like a prognosticator of great renown.

    But if the LDs are indeed conceding early, then they've wasted many months of effort. Can't fight momentum sometimes. But it would be odd to give up so soon.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,688
    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    “This post has been deleted”.

    Surprise, surprise.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    That tweet has mysteriously disappeared.
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,295
    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Deleted already
  • Options
    GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 20,826

    I'm going to bed.

    Gonna be that sort of night for Team Blue? :D
  • Options

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Isn't it the case that either they don't know or they have somehow broken the law? Postal votes are not counted ahead of time. Thecovering envelope is opend and the check made that the vote is valid. But the votes themselves are not counted until after polls close.
    The way you get around it is you canvass the people who have voted by post and then check to see if they have submitted it at the verification stage.

    It's not an exact science but gives you a rough idea.
  • Options
    maxhmaxh Posts: 826
    HYUFD said:

    maxh said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    I was speaking to a pollster earlier and they reckon it is events like this which really batters the reputation of Sunak and the Tories.

    The voters see extreme weather like this as evidence of climate change and Rishi telling us he is abolishing non existent green crap looks bad.
    Right so he'll be stopping expansion of coal power stations in India or China. He might as well sit in front of the North and give orders to the waves like a Canute.

    We have the wrong green crap
    That's not how the voters see it.
    Even if there is polling to show that (I’ve not seen any but it might be there), politicians (I’m looking at Starmer) need to actually lead. A section of the public have become neo-religious nutters who think if they flagellate themselves they can reverse the apocalypse. And bizarrely, that is the right word because many of them seem to think climate change will destroy life on earth despite none of the models showing that even in the worst case 3/4 degree increase scenarios, where technology doesn’t advance and we all go back to burning coal.

    I despair. I’ve worked on some of the science here and I used to spend my days trying to convince people climate change was an issue and dispelling nonsense like the “hockey stick” graph. Now, because I will not get behind apocalyptic non-scientific forecasts or accept that whether the U.K. bans petrol in 2030 or 2035 will make the slightest difference, I get called the “denier”.

    The world has been infantilised. People need to understand that a mix of declared policies and technology change means we’ve more or less fixed the problem. We’ve won. The global temperature will rise by 2-2.5 degrees and some islands will need to be relocated while some agriculture changes. But we’ve done it.

    Starmer and his generation get to declare victory.
    It's peculiar.

    For all of the world's horrors, by any objective measure, there has actually never been a better time to be alive. But, what proportion of the world's population believe that? I'd be surprised if it was even as high as 5%.
    Yes. No one seems to want to understand that we’re doing ok.
    The telling statistic is that when I was born, in 1967, 55% of the world lived in absolute poverty (itself, a big improvement on 100 years previously). Now, the proportion is 8%.
    One of the issues is that if they accepted that improvement, they would also have to see that it was driven by democracy, open markets, and technology. The spreading of westernised civilisation, in fact. But that can’t be right as all those things are imperialist….
    FPT
    What about the rise of China? That had a huge impact on absolute poverty but doesn’t fit your narrative, particularly the democracy part.
    China moving from Maoism to Communism had the biggest impact, however had it followed the Hong Kong model rather than the Beijing model rather than imposed the latter on the former it would have done even better
    Hard to assess that claim, but I think I agree with the wider supposition that the poverty reduction in China was probably baked in regardless of the particular nature of the government.

    Still, it is hard to argue that the poverty reduction that DID happen in reality was driven by either democracy or western values.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    HYUFD said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Yes lol it'll be a proper going over if Lab is winning postals
    Yup.

    🌳 Tamworth is the 55th Safest Conservative Seat (42.6% Margin over Labour in 2019)

    🌳 Mid Bedfordshire is the 98th Safest Conservative Seat (38.1% Margin over Labour in 2019)

    Even if these seats are narrow holds today, the fact they're both competitive is ominous for them.


    https://twitter.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1714941794520027515
    New Labour won Tamworth in 1997 and held it until 2010, albeit Mid Bedfordshire stayed Tory even in the Blair years
    Labour won the popular vote in Tamworth borough in this year's local elections by about 1,200 votes, which shows they're still pretty strong in the town, once people aren't voting on Brexit.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,010
    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
  • Options

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    “This post has been deleted”.

    Surprise, surprise.
    As if parties send internal memos 1 minute after the polls close.

    I mean really.
  • Options

    I'm going to bed.

    Slacker!
  • Options
    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Recount to save the Lib Dem deposit?

    Tee-hee!
    If that were to happen, it would suggest try hard or don't what matters is the indefinable mass of the local voters casually deciding the best option paying little attention to the conflicting views of what the parties put out.

    That is, you only get so far telling the voters who is the only one who can win here, they decide that regardless of who tells them.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    edited October 2023
    All the ballot boxes ought to be at the count in Tamworth by now, since it doesn't take more than 20 mins to drive from the furthest reaches of the constituency to the town. Mid Beds is a bit larger in area.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
  • Options
    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    He did indeed.
  • Options
    Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,009

    However mental it was, I can at least understand why some people voted Tory in Uxbridge to stop Grant Shapps’s ULEZ. But what is the mentality as to why they would vote Tory in Dorries or Pincher land?

    Whatever happened about ULEZ? Has anybody starved to death because they had to pay 12 quid or whatever to drive their shitbox to Croydon?
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798
    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.
  • Options
    maxhmaxh Posts: 826
    biggles said:

    maxh said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    I was speaking to a pollster earlier and they reckon it is events like this which really batters the reputation of Sunak and the Tories.

    The voters see extreme weather like this as evidence of climate change and Rishi telling us he is abolishing non existent green crap looks bad.
    Right so he'll be stopping expansion of coal power stations in India or China. He might as well sit in front of the North and give orders to the waves like a Canute.

    We have the wrong green crap
    That's not how the voters see it.
    Even if there is polling to show that (I’ve not seen any but it might be there), politicians (I’m looking at Starmer) need to actually lead. A section of the public have become neo-religious nutters who think if they flagellate themselves they can reverse the apocalypse. And bizarrely, that is the right word because many of them seem to think climate change will destroy life on earth despite none of the models showing that even in the worst case 3/4 degree increase scenarios, where technology doesn’t advance and we all go back to burning coal.

    I despair. I’ve worked on some of the science here and I used to spend my days trying to convince people climate change was an issue and dispelling nonsense like the “hockey stick” graph. Now, because I will not get behind apocalyptic non-scientific forecasts or accept that whether the U.K. bans petrol in 2030 or 2035 will make the slightest difference, I get called the “denier”.

    The world has been infantilised. People need to understand that a mix of declared policies and technology change means we’ve more or less fixed the problem. We’ve won. The global temperature will rise by 2-2.5 degrees and some islands will need to be relocated while some agriculture changes. But we’ve done it.

    Starmer and his generation get to declare victory.
    It's peculiar.

    For all of the world's horrors, by any objective measure, there has actually never been a better time to be alive. But, what proportion of the world's population believe that? I'd be surprised if it was even as high as 5%.
    Yes. No one seems to want to understand that we’re doing ok.
    The telling statistic is that when I was born, in 1967, 55% of the world lived in absolute poverty (itself, a big improvement on 100 years previously). Now, the proportion is 8%.
    One of the issues is that if they accepted that improvement, they would also have to see that it was driven by democracy, open markets, and technology. The spreading of westernised civilisation, in fact. But that can’t be right as all those things are imperialist….
    FPT
    What about the rise of China? That had a huge impact on absolute poverty but doesn’t fit your narrative, particularly the democracy part.
    But the markets part does. They advanced by copying our model. I think time will tell on whether you can keep the gains if you reject the democracy bit.
    Agreed, in the round. Especially about whether the gains are sustainable-I remember back in 2007 it felt as though the whole system there was a house of cards built on 8% growth rates. I’m amazed it hasn’t collapsed yet.

    Though it is notable that they copied some parts of our economic model, but not all.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028
    edited October 2023
    maxh said:

    HYUFD said:

    maxh said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    biggles said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    I was speaking to a pollster earlier and they reckon it is events like this which really batters the reputation of Sunak and the Tories.

    The voters see extreme weather like this as evidence of climate change and Rishi telling us he is abolishing non existent green crap looks bad.
    Right so he'll be stopping expansion of coal power stations in India or China. He might as well sit in front of the North and give orders to the waves like a Canute.

    We have the wrong green crap
    That's not how the voters see it.
    Even if there is polling to show that (I’ve not seen any but it might be there), politicians (I’m looking at Starmer) need to actually lead. A section of the public have become neo-religious nutters who think if they flagellate themselves they can reverse the apocalypse. And bizarrely, that is the right word because many of them seem to think climate change will destroy life on earth despite none of the models showing that even in the worst case 3/4 degree increase scenarios, where technology doesn’t advance and we all go back to burning coal.

    I despair. I’ve worked on some of the science here and I used to spend my days trying to convince people climate change was an issue and dispelling nonsense like the “hockey stick” graph. Now, because I will not get behind apocalyptic non-scientific forecasts or accept that whether the U.K. bans petrol in 2030 or 2035 will make the slightest difference, I get called the “denier”.

    The world has been infantilised. People need to understand that a mix of declared policies and technology change means we’ve more or less fixed the problem. We’ve won. The global temperature will rise by 2-2.5 degrees and some islands will need to be relocated while some agriculture changes. But we’ve done it.

    Starmer and his generation get to declare victory.
    It's peculiar.

    For all of the world's horrors, by any objective measure, there has actually never been a better time to be alive. But, what proportion of the world's population believe that? I'd be surprised if it was even as high as 5%.
    Yes. No one seems to want to understand that we’re doing ok.
    The telling statistic is that when I was born, in 1967, 55% of the world lived in absolute poverty (itself, a big improvement on 100 years previously). Now, the proportion is 8%.
    One of the issues is that if they accepted that improvement, they would also have to see that it was driven by democracy, open markets, and technology. The spreading of westernised civilisation, in fact. But that can’t be right as all those things are imperialist….
    FPT
    What about the rise of China? That had a huge impact on absolute poverty but doesn’t fit your narrative, particularly the democracy part.
    China moving from Maoism to Communism had the biggest impact, however had it followed the Hong Kong model rather than the Beijing model rather than imposed the latter on the former it would have done even better
    Hard to assess that claim, but I think I agree with the wider supposition that the poverty reduction in China was probably baked in regardless of the particular nature of the government.

    Still, it is hard to argue that the poverty reduction that DID happen in reality was driven by either democracy or western values.
    It was certainly driven by a move towards capitalism and more mixed private and public industry and away from Maoist communism.

    Democracy maybe not but as I said Hong Kong was certainly much richer than the rest of China when a fully democratic British colony and still is today, despite Beijing's attempts to restrict democracy there
  • Options
    bigglesbiggles Posts: 4,347
    edited October 2023
    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    Those were the days. 2015, Trump, and Brexit all generated 10/1 profits at near zero risk due to analysis on this site (yes I’ve donated to running costs, when asked, to reflect that).
  • Options
    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    Tories want to copy the republicans. So simply claim victory now and say it is Fake News when the so-called returning officer announces they lost
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028
    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    I am not staying up that late this evening, will find out in the morning
  • Options
    HeathenerHeathener Posts: 5,265
    Pretty happy to have entered the Mid-Beds betting last night. Came in on a Labour win at 13/4 (Ladbrokes boosted).

    Even if they don't make it, that was value.
  • Options
    JSpringJSpring Posts: 97
    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    He pointed the blame for Leave's 'defeat' on the government's last-minute drive to get young voters on the electoral rolls. I've always suspected that he was trying to set up a scenario with UKIP similar to that which the SNP enjoyed in the aftermath of IndyRef (the effects of which continue even to this day). I doubt UKIP would have surged to 50% but I could have seen them getting into the 30s.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,688
    Dura_Ace said:

    However mental it was, I can at least understand why some people voted Tory in Uxbridge to stop Grant Shapps’s ULEZ. But what is the mentality as to why they would vote Tory in Dorries or Pincher land?

    Whatever happened about ULEZ? Has anybody starved to death because they had to pay 12 quid or whatever to drive their shitbox to Croydon?
    Have you not seen the riots in West London, marches on City Hall etc?

    No, me neither.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    "Amy Holmes
    @AmyHolmesMedia

    Spoken to Labour and Lib Dems here this evening and both agree this is too close to call.

    It feels like a three horse race, which in Mid Beds is something we've not often been able to say as it's been a Conservative seat for over 90 years."

    https://twitter.com/AmyHolmesMedia/status/1715118037181857928
  • Options
    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    I stayed up for Rutherglen one as I was working but as you get older you wake up in the middle of the night to pee so normally have an alert on my phone telling me the result.
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    I am not staying up that late this evening, will find out in the morning
    Another slacker! :lol:
  • Options
    carnforthcarnforth Posts: 3,219
    Heathener said:

    Pretty happy to have entered the Mid-Beds betting last night. Came in on a Labour win at 13/4 (Ladbrokes boosted).

    Even if they don't make it, that was value.

    That's good. I have the tories at evens which isn't looking so good. I have them at 23/10 for Tamworth, which I feel is better.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Surely if Labour are ahead on postal votes they will have won the overall vote by a country mile. But I don't trust any reports on postal vote counts.
    Isn't it the case that either they don't know or they have somehow broken the law? Postal votes are not counted ahead of time. The covering envelope is opened and the check made that the vote is valid. But the votes themselves are not counted until after polls close.
    Like LostPassword says never trust reports about postal votes.

    Any observers to verification who think they could glean enough to tell something meaningful are bullshitting.

    I don't think there is consistency on whether they count them first up at the count process, but with a by-election with decent turnout you'd still not see an obvious outcome so quickly unless it was like 90/10.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,688
    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    Did HY make a prediction for Mid-Beds?
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028

    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    Did HY make a prediction for Mid-Beds?
    Cons to hold narrowly, Tamworth Labour gain
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798
    JSpring said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    He pointed the blame for Leave's 'defeat' on the government's last-minute drive to get young voters on the electoral rolls. I've always suspected that he was trying to set up a scenario with UKIP similar to that which the SNP enjoyed in the aftermath of IndyRef (the effects of which continue even to this day). I doubt UKIP would have surged to 50% but I could have seen them getting into the 30s.
    They might have lost because more people voted? The horror!
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    Atm cautiously optimistic that my predictions for both seats will be right.
  • Options
    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.
  • Options

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    Wa-hey! "Knocking up" - that sounds INCREDIBLY rude!
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798

    kle4 said:

    Last time I went to bed at a by-election the Tories surprised by holding Uxbridge. But I'm older, fatter and more tired than I used to be so I'll still go to bed, but only when the seer of Uxbridge, HYUFD, commits to whether the Tories have indeed held either seat.

    Tories want to copy the republicans. So simply claim victory now and say it is Fake News when the so-called returning officer announces they lost
    I'm sure they do want to copy in some ways, but have we ever actually had an example of an MP denying a non-close outcome?

    We do have them make up all sorts of rules, like it not being proper to remove a PM, as both Nadine and JRM claimed, but that's just weirdness (they could simply have stuck to saying it was a really bad idea).
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,028
    edited October 2023

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    I don't miss knocking up for IDS in Chingford in the freezing cold and pouring rain in Dec 2019
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    If Mid Beds declares at 1:30am I'll eat my hat.
  • Options

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    Knocking them out. If you are busy knocking them up then not only are they not voting, you’re also not knocking on other doors.

    Unless you’re saying there were a lot of babies born with flamboyant shoes after your efforts.…
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    “This post has been deleted”.

    Surprise, surprise.
    Postal vote fraud identified!
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798
    HYUFD said:

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    I don't miss knocking up for IDS in Chingford in the freezing cold and pouring rain in Dec 2019
    At least you had the satisfaction of ensuring the electoral survival for one more term for Iain Duncan Smith. Congratulations?
  • Options
    EabhalEabhal Posts: 5,906
    edited October 2023
    Dura_Ace said:

    However mental it was, I can at least understand why some people voted Tory in Uxbridge to stop Grant Shapps’s ULEZ. But what is the mentality as to why they would vote Tory in Dorries or Pincher land?

    Whatever happened about ULEZ? Has anybody starved to death because they had to pay 12 quid or whatever to drive their shitbox to Croydon?
    The 5G-vaxxers are conducting pre-emptive strikes on bus lane cameras in Edinburgh at the moment.

    The Greens have responded with a mooted ban on SUVs in the city centre. Highly entertaining tit-for-tat.
  • Options
    bigglesbiggles Posts: 4,347
    rcs1000 said:

    biggles said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    Those were the days. 2015, Trump, and Brexit all generated 10/1 profits at near zero risk due to analysis on this site (yes I’ve donated to running costs, when asked, to reflect that).
    I remember the EU referendum evening, when it was absolutely obvious that Leave had won, and yet being able to keep putting money on at odds of evens or better. It was absolute madness; the freest of free money.
    My only regret was my inherent caution stopping me sticking on all available liquid cash. It was free money. But one day that caution will save my shirt.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798
    Dura_Ace said:

    However mental it was, I can at least understand why some people voted Tory in Uxbridge to stop Grant Shapps’s ULEZ. But what is the mentality as to why they would vote Tory in Dorries or Pincher land?

    Whatever happened about ULEZ? Has anybody starved to death because they had to pay 12 quid or whatever to drive their shitbox to Croydon?
    I'm waiting for the BBC to verify the extent of the carnage.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,700
    rcs1000 said:

    biggles said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    Those were the days. 2015, Trump, and Brexit all generated 10/1 profits at near zero risk due to analysis on this site (yes I’ve donated to running costs, when asked, to reflect that).
    I remember the EU referendum evening, when it was absolutely obvious that Leave had won, and yet being able to keep putting money on at odds of evens or better. It was absolute madness; the freest of free money.
    Wasn't it the same at GE2015 after the Nuneaton declaration?
  • Options
    rcs1000 said:

    biggles said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    Those were the days. 2015, Trump, and Brexit all generated 10/1 profits at near zero risk due to analysis on this site (yes I’ve donated to running costs, when asked, to reflect that).
    I remember the EU referendum evening, when it was absolutely obvious that Leave had won, and yet being able to keep putting money on at odds of evens or better. It was absolute madness; the freest of free money.
    And just over 4 months later there was even freer money for days on Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote.
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,489
    edited October 2023

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    Knocking them out. If you are busy knocking them up then not only are they not voting, you’re also not knocking on other doors.

    Unless you’re saying there were a lot of babies born with flamboyant shoes after your efforts.…
    At some point during Election Day, usually dependent on the availability of volunteers, the committee room organiser will send people out to ‘Knock-Up’ your supporters who have not yet voted. It is usual practice to leave this until at least lunchtime as most people who don’t vote early tend to vote after work. If you know your area as you should you will know who is likely to be in and who is not. The simplest method of doing this is to equip the volunteers with a version of the Out Card which has a message on it reminding voters that this is Polling Day. These can be popped through letterboxes and can remind anyone who goes straight home after work that they really should visit the polling station. Just because it is your most important day does not mean it is theirs and some people do genuinely forget.

    Don’t expect people to drop everything and run to the polls. Even in households where one partner is at home all day, a significant number will wait until the other partner returns from work before voting, which they most likely will do together. If someone tells you they will vote at 6 pm make a note that getas passed on each time that road is knocked-up and do NOT visit that person again until after 6pm.

    UK elections usually occur on Thursdays, which for most of is a working day. In most areas there is a rush to the polls in the early morning and early evening so the evening knock-ups are vital. If you are short of volunteers and they can only help for a part of the day ask them if they help in the evening.

    Keep your Knock-Up sheets as up to date as possible so that you send your knockers-up to the area with the largest number of supporters who have not yet voted but at the same time try to ensure that every area is visited during the course of the day.


    http://www.howtowinelections.co.uk/knocking-up.shtml
  • Options
    AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 20,016
    Sticking by my prediction.

    Tories to win Beds on a split opposition vote, thanks to the sluggishness of Labour and the hubris of the Libs. Collect my winnings on blue at 2.5.

    Labour to win Tamworth (just, I have no bet on).
  • Options
    El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 3,870
    edited October 2023
    Reading the BBC’s full list of Mid Beds candidates.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-65988395

    The “Mainstream” Party has an amazingly 90s website. I was half expecting an “Under Construction” gif and a “Best viewed in Netscape 2.0”.

    https://www.mainstream.org.uk/povr.htm

    And their catchy slogan:

    “ Smack the Left Smack the Right ... all the Establishment are SH*TE”
  • Options
    HeathenerHeathener Posts: 5,265
    I won well on Leave and predicted 52-48.

    But my happiness at a swollen purse was overshadowed by the disaster of the result.
  • Options
    AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 20,016
    biggles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    biggles said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    @predictorelect
    7m
    BREAKING: the Liberal Democrats appear to be conceding defeat in Mid Bedfordshire already in thinly veiled internal memos
    https://x.com/predictorelect/status/1715113735105159226?s=20

    Nigel Farage conceded defeat in 2016 didn't he?
    Indeed, and pushed the Leave price out to 14 at 10.20pm.
    Always said he was a good chap, helped quite a few of us out there.

    IIRC he started to spin the need for a second referendum?
    Those were the days. 2015, Trump, and Brexit all generated 10/1 profits at near zero risk due to analysis on this site (yes I’ve donated to running costs, when asked, to reflect that).
    I remember the EU referendum evening, when it was absolutely obvious that Leave had won, and yet being able to keep putting money on at odds of evens or better. It was absolute madness; the freest of free money.
    My only regret was my inherent caution stopping me sticking on all available liquid cash. It was free money. But one day that caution will save my shirt.
    Spare a thought for me, who, having drunk several whiskies in despair, piled in on what I thought was Leave knowing it was free money, only to realise I’d actually backed Remain - and had to spend an agonising 20 minutes trying to lay it off.

    Not my finest hour.
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,264
    HYUFD said:

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    I don't miss knocking up for IDS in Chingford in the freezing cold and pouring rain in Dec 2019
    Try Jan 2025.
  • Options
    HeathenerHeathener Posts: 5,265
    And for the record, I'm pretty sure Labour will win a convincing majority and probably a landslide. It will be another 'truly terrible night for the Conservatives.'
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,846
    Andy_JS said:

    "Rachel Wearmouth
    @REWearmouth

    Hearing Labour's ahead on postal votes in Tamworth. Today's weather means that could be significant

    Labour's Mid Beds campaign also apparently v positive about their chance of snatching a win... however, a Lib Dem source says they have been working smaller villages hard

    10:00 PM · Oct 19, 2023"

    https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1715110778322165811

    Isn't disclosing postal votes illegal?
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,798
    edited October 2023

    Reading the BBC’s full list of Mid Beds candidates.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-65988395

    The “Mainstream” Party has an amazingly 90s website. I was half expecting an “Under Construction” gif and a “Best viewed in Netscape 2.0”.

    https://www.mainstream.org.uk/povr.htm

    And their catchy slogan:

    “ Smack the Left Smack the Right ... all the Establishment are SH*TE”

    Feels like it would be quite difficult to create a website that dated looking in this day and age. I've seen parish council websites with better design and usability.

    It's like how the LDs must work harder to create misleading bar charts than accurate ones.

    I am fascinated to discover the English Democrats are still a thing. I assumed they'd disappeared about the same time UKIP collapsed into permanent chaos.
  • Options

    One thing I do miss about being an activist.

    Knocking up the voters on election day.

    Knocking them out. If you are busy knocking them up then not only are they not voting, you’re also not knocking on other doors.

    Unless you’re saying there were a lot of babies born with flamboyant shoes after your efforts.…
    At some point during Election Day, usually dependent on the availability of volunteers, the committee room organiser will send people out to ‘Knock-Up’ your supporters who have not yet voted. It is usual practice to leave this until at least lunchtime as most people who don’t vote early tend to vote after work. If you know your area as you should you will know who is likely to be in and who is not. The simplest method of doing this is to equip the volunteers with a version of the Out Card which has a message on it reminding voters that this is Polling Day. These can be popped through letterboxes and can remind anyone who goes straight home after work that they really should visit the polling station. Just because it is your most important day does not mean it is theirs and some people do genuinely forget.

    Don’t expect people to drop everything and run to the polls. Even in households where one partner is at home all day, a significant number will wait until the other partner returns from work before voting, which they most likely will do together. If someone tells you they will vote at 6 pm make a note that getas passed on each time that road is knocked-up and do NOT visit that person again until after 6pm.

    UK elections usually occur on Thursdays, which for most of is a working day. In most areas there is a rush to the polls in the early morning and early evening so the evening knock-ups are vital. If you are short of volunteers and they can only help for a part of the day ask them if they help in the evening.

    Keep your Knock-Up sheets as up to date as possible so that you send your knockers-up to the area with the largest number of supporters who have not yet voted but at the same time try to ensure that every area is visited during the course of the day.


    http://www.howtowinelections.co.uk/knocking-up.shtml
    The honourable tradition of knocker-uppers in many cities pre WW2.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocker-up
  • Options
    StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 7,061
    DavidL said:

    FPT

    DavidL said:

    viewcode said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I normally don't get very excited by weather but we are now getting a clearer impression of what a red warning feels like. And its not very nice.

    Hope you are keeping safe.

    We have some friends near Inverarity so in the Red area.
    I've got to do a trip from Dundee to Stirling tomorrow for a deferred sentence and a jury decision. Not looking forward to it especially.
    It's a direct train and only about a hour long. It's got WiFi. If you avoid rush hour should be OK?
    Not sure there will be any trains tomorrow. Weren't many today. Plus I have 3 bags to carry.
    Don't you have any minions for that?
    Let's face it, Crown Office doesn't even have working staplers.
    They are all on strike?
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,264
    John Rentoul
    @JohnRentoul
    Record Con➝Lab by-election swings

    Dudley W 1994 29% gain
    Selby & A 2023 24% gain
    Dagenham 1994 23% hold
    SE Staffs 1996 22% gain
    Barking 1994 22% hold
    Mid Staffs 1990 21% gain
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,986
    Don't get this "they don't count postal votes first" business.
    Haven't they already had the signatures verified?
    Since they are there at 10 pm, and no other votes are, then why wouldn't they be counted first?
    Or am I missing something?
This discussion has been closed.