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Sunak’s strategy is working – politicalbetting.com

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  • novanova Posts: 754

    Explain what that non MRP Polls are exaggerating the Lab lead?

    If anyone wants to bet SKS will get over 500 seats I am happy to oppose that in a charity bet!

    I reckon the 10pm Exit poll is going to be as big a shock to SKS fans as the 2017 one.

    But we will see.
    There were plenty of polls in the run up to the 2017 election that were close to the final result.

    YouGov did their first MRP I believe, and that was really close. I remember talking about it during the GOTV sessions during the day. The response on the doorstep in my own marginal was such that I doubt many Labour members who were knocking on doors were that shocked.

    This time round, I doubt many expect that it will really be 500+ seats. I think most will be happy with any kind of solid majority.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,533

    Some of this is because there’s been a big swing to Labour in those sorts of areas and therefore that will block Reform’s way to the seats.

    However, if Reform do manage to get themselves into the high teens on polling day, the chances are that they’ll do a bit better on seat count than expected, I suspect.

    I would more than mildly amused if Reform won half a dozen seats but NOT Clacton!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,266

    🚨 New polling with @ObserverUK

    The Labour lead is now 20 points
    •Labour 40% (n/c)
    •Conservatives 20% (-3)
    •Reform 16% (+2)
    •Lib Dems 12% (n/c)
    •Greens 9% (+2)
    •SNP 3% (+1)

    Fieldwork: 19 - 21 June. Changes from 12 - 14 June.

    Getting battered

    Lowest Opinium Tory score.

    Ever.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    edited June 2024

    Greens on 9 wow
    The Green support I find most difficult to explain. They are not a fringe political force, but they are not major either. I find it hard to believe all 'true' leftwing people are voting Green as Labour would not be at 40% with centre left and centre (and some centre right) alone. In the South the LDs poll better, and in most of the country the Greens are barely present even with some good local gains in the last few years.

    So how are they getting to 9%?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,080
    edited June 2024
    nova said:

    There were plenty of polls in the run up to the 2017 election that were close to the final result.

    YouGov did their first MRP I believe, and that was really close. I remember talking about it during the GOTV sessions during the day. The response on the doorstep in my own marginal was such that I doubt many Labour members who were knocking on doors were that shocked.

    This time round, I doubt many expect that it will really be 500+ seats. I think most will be happy with any kind of solid majority.
    Even the official exit poll is going to struggle to model the complexity of this election. Kudos to them if the seat projections are anywhere close, especially for the minor parties.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    🚨 New polling with @ObserverUK

    The Labour lead is now 20 points
    •Labour 40% (n/c)
    •Conservatives 20% (-3)
    •Reform 16% (+2)
    •Lib Dems 12% (n/c)
    •Greens 9% (+2)
    •SNP 3% (+1)

    Fieldwork: 19 - 21 June. Changes from 12 - 14 June.

    Getting battered

    @BigJohnOwls fans please explain.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    IanB2 said:

    Technically, there is no law stating that the Queen or members of the royal family cannot vote.

    However, Parliament guidelines state it is considered unconstitutional for the Monarch or their family to vote in an election.

    The official royal guidelines say the Head of State "has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters" and is unable to vote or stand for election.
    To be tested in 2029 as Prince William stands as head of the Royalist Party.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724

    I would more than mildly amused if Reform won half a dozen seats but NOT Clacton!
    That would be a bit of a banter result it has to be said.
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    Greens on 9 wow
    It'll be astonishing if they get anywhere close to that.

    Doesn't mean they're not in with a shout of holding their existing seat and winning all three targets though.

    I think one of our posters also suggested the possibility of a freak result in one of the IoW seats, based on the Tory vote splintering in several directions at once.

    Anyway, not beyond the realms of possibility that the Greens could win one quarter as many votes as Reform, but Reform could end up with one quarter as many seats as the Greens.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,447
    EPG said:

    It's hotting up in that one Reform/Green marginal.
    That's two poor polls from pollsters (Savanta, Opinium) which have been generous to the Conservatives in times past.

    I suspect that's a record low Conservative VI from Opinium (certainly under Sunak).
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,080
    kle4 said:

    The Green support I find most difficult to explain. They are not a fringe political force, but they are not major either. I find it hard to believe all 'true' leftwing people are voting Green as Labour would not be at 40% with centre left and centre (and some centre right) alone. In the South the LDs poll better, and in most of the country the Greens are barely present even with some good local gains in the last few years.

    So how are they getting to 9%?
    A lot of support from younger voters once they’re confident the Tories are on their way out?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724
    IanB2 said:

    Technically, there is no law stating that the Queen or members of the royal family cannot vote.

    However, Parliament guidelines state it is considered unconstitutional for the Monarch or their family to vote in an election.

    The official royal guidelines say the Head of State "has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters" and is unable to vote or stand for election.
    How far down the tree does that go? Is Mike Tindall going to get criticised for popping in and voting Lib Dem? (he strikes me as a Lib Dem)
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    Nigel Farage would be more convincing in saying he is not Nigel Farage than saying he is not a Russian apologist.

    After all, he probably says his own name less often than he says apologies for Russian atrocities.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,569
    There is something definitely in the water at Telegraph towers.

    The media has led the country into an anti-Tory fervour

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/22/the-media-has-led-the-country-into-an-anti-tory-fervour/
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,771

    ...

    Not according to Laura Kuenssberg.

    She, and she says Labour do not believe the polls.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722eezx9n4o

    Neither do I. Shy Tories, Rishi's Labour tax bomb, don't knows, punish Nigel surge and don't let Labour get a landslide surgecould all happen.
    The BBC has a standard script - they always say the same thing every GE.

    I'm not joking. You watch a recording of the BBC1 10pm news the night before every GE in the last 30 to 40 years and they always say:

    - Politicians all feeling nervous
    - They don't think polls match what they're hearing on the ground
    - Reports of unusual movements in marginals
    - Seat totals are very unpredictable if marginals are moving differently

    Note they never ever say which way the movements are or which party is expecting to do better or worse than expected.

    It's basically a standard playbook to cover all possible eventualities.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    Swingbackback?
    I think their methodology accounts for swingback so possibly just unwind as we are now only eleven days out.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    DougSeal said:

    If you think that Labour is going to do worse in seats than it did when Corbyn humiliatingly lost the 2017 election to a dead duck like Theresa May I’m happy to offer real money. The party led by your boy failed to get as many votes as another party. That’s how politics fucking works. You still fail to grasp that even a good second place is the first loser don’t you?
    I have already got £100 at 8/1 with Sky Bet that SKS gets less than the 12.9m Jezza got in 2017 thanks.

    Current price with them is now 10/11 did you miss the 8/1?
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405
    felix said:

    Just stop being a total arsehole - there is no "us" here.
    And if it's not deliberately it's not dishonest. I am guessing (not having been here long enough to know) that G's mental journey has been like mine. Post partygate and Pincher I would have laid me voting Tory at 100/1. Given my fear of supermajorities and Reform and my useful interactions with my Tory MP in the last year I will probably now do so. Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis. Why is this hard to understand?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    edited June 2024

    There is something definitely in the water at Telegraph towers.

    The media has led the country into an anti-Tory fervour

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/22/the-media-has-led-the-country-into-an-anti-tory-fervour/

    The media can generally not make up its mind whether to believe the media has more influence than it does, -and thus think everything the media does is important - or whether to believe the media (usually the other side of it) no longer has the kind of influence people (mostly politicians) claim it has.

    I'll say the same thing when Corbynites moaned in the same way - it's the job of a politician to overcome a hostile media, if one is faced, not cry about it.

    But maybe they in particular are just realising than boosting Reform and Farage may have negative consequences.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,266

    There is something definitely in the water at Telegraph towers.

    The media has led the country into an anti-Tory fervour

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/22/the-media-has-led-the-country-into-an-anti-tory-fervour/

    They've been drinking their own piss.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,452

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gen-z-millennial-voting-election-b2566728.html
    Youth voter strike on the cards. Won't help the super majority

    Don't vote, can't moan.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    DougSeal said:

    How far down the tree does that go? Is Mike Tindall going to get criticised for popping in and voting Lib Dem? (he strikes me as a Lib Dem)
    Prince Harry outed himself as a Corbynite in his book
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 4,243
    Leon said:

    I’ve just noticed my ferry to St Malo - pedestrian - costs £400 - for ONE person

    Of course I’m not paying but who the heck would pay that when a flight is less than half and takes an hour rather than 10 hours? Keeps out the riff raff I guess

    This is also my first ever trip to Portsmouth. To my intense surprise I quite like it. Gritty and port-y but with a hint of the spectacular. The sun glints on grey metal

    Brittany Ferries do that sometimes on the Saint Malo route. They can fill the ship with motorists, who pay full whack for car+cabin. If you travel by foot/bike, you're taking up a cabin that would otherwise be used by a higher-paying motorist, so they're passing up revenue.

    So either they say "sorry, no foot/bike spaces available" or they charge you something not far off the car rate.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    Lowest Opinium Tory score.

    Ever.
    I don't believe that. The next one will probably be worse.

    But I believe it is the lowest score to date.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    Prince Harry outed himself as a Corbynite in his book
    And, separately, a bit of a fool and an oversharer.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724
    edited June 2024

    I have already got £100 at 8/1 with Sky Bet that SKS gets less than the 12.9m Jezza got in 2017 thanks.

    Current price with them is now 10/11 did you miss the 8/1?
    You spectacularly miss the point I’m making. The 12m Corbyn got in 2017 was less than the 13.6m May’s Tories got. He lost. He fucked up. He’s a failure who condemned us to a whole series of Tory victories. This is about beating the Conservatives, not history. How much have you got on the result that matters, you strange Tory helper?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    MikeL said:

    The BBC has a standard script - they always say the same thing every GE.

    I'm not joking. You watch a recording of the BBC1 10pm news the night before every GE in the last 30 to 40 years and they always say:

    - Politicians all feeling nervous
    - They don't think polls match what they're hearing on the ground
    - Reports of unusual movements in marginals
    - Seat totals are very unpredictable if marginals are moving differently

    Note they never ever say which way the movements are or which party is expecting to do better or worse than expected.

    It's basically a standard playbook to cover all possible eventualities.
    Well now you've gone and spoiled all the fun, it's like revealing a magic trick.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,522

    Proposed electoral reform to modernise the nation:

    Adopt the Eurovision voting system with the Royal Family playing the role of the judges. The points awarded by the Royals would count for 50% of the total.

    Declarations would be made by videolink to a live venue where candidates would sit together in the green room.
    Can we make it like 1990s Eurovision, where the votes for some of the more distant members of the RF sound like they're being sent from Malta using paper cups connected with waxed string?

    Allo Prince Richard, Allo Prince Richard? Quels sont les votes du jury du Prince Richard?
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    pigeon said:

    It'll be astonishing if they get anywhere close to that.

    Doesn't mean they're not in with a shout of holding their existing seat and winning all three targets though.

    I think one of our posters also suggested the possibility of a freak result in one of the IoW seats, based on the Tory vote splintering in several directions at once.

    Anyway, not beyond the realms of possibility that the Greens could win one quarter as many votes as Reform, but Reform could end up with one quarter as many seats as the Greens.
    I think Birkenhead may be a surprise Green gain DYOR
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577

    There is something definitely in the water at Telegraph towers.

    The media has led the country into an anti-Tory fervour

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/22/the-media-has-led-the-country-into-an-anti-tory-fervour/

    You would have thought a conservative newspaper would insist on "the media have..."
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,452
    edited June 2024
    HYUFD said:

    Still Tories also remain clearly ahead of Reform with Opinium too (again largely taken pre Farage on Panorama).

    Not that brilliant for Labour either voteshare wise at least, only on Corbyn 2017 levels and 3% below Blair 1997 levels
    My Labour 39% the day the election was called looking very close.

    The 33% for the Tories? Not so much. But they will still be WELL above 20%. They have not lost north of half their vote since 2019. No way.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 29,789
    In case anyone wants a nosey, Sky News at 19:48

    https://www.youtube.com/live/oJUvTVdTMyY?si=HPFr0xOPMJb65inZ
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,906
    Asking for a friend. What's the magic number when majority becomes "super-majority"?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724

    Prince Harry outed himself as a Corbynite in his book
    Doesn’t surprise me. They both hate Britain.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,810

    I am not a voting expert (I'm not an expert about anything really) but the inefficiency of the Reform vote (and the UKIP vote before it) is something that has only really fully become apparent to me this election. I really would have thought that it would be more efficient - a lot more focussed geographically in Brexity type left-behind towns. They are not anywhere in Scotland, that is surely a help. Not anywhere in London either. So I just can't fathom why that 16% is spreading out so thinly.
    because reform (and UKIP before that) have no ground game. i.e. they don't know how to win a FPTP election.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924

    @BigJohnOwls fans please explain.
    Explain that Lab are going to get less votes than 2017.

    Massive win on my only decent size bet this GE
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,447


    Not according to Laura Kuenssberg.

    She, and she says Labour do not believe the polls.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722eezx9n4o

    Neither do I. Shy Tories, Rishi's Labour tax bomb, don't knows, punish Nigel surge and don't let Labour get a landslide surgecould all happen.

    Back to Stodge's Tenth Law of Politics - you may hope and believe something can't happen but that usually means it will.

    It was the same in 1997 - Labour didn't believe what was happening because nothing like it had happened before. The Conservatives were the same. Both were saying even on the cusp of polling day it was close etc, etc.

    Others knew but didn't believe what their eyes, ears and data were telling them.

    It's a similar position now - nobody believes Labour will get 500 seats and the Conservatives 100 seats and yet the data and anecdotal information they must be seeing at Labour and Conservative HQ will be telling them something they still refuse to accept.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,248

    I know but not voting to keep Dave in government is fucking anathema to me.

    As my friends and colleagues observed recently, I am more loyal to Dave than I was to my wife which I know isn't a great reflection on me but sums up my adoration for Dave.
    Greensill.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,192

    Asking for a friend. What's the magic number when majority becomes "super-majority"?

    When the new PM shows up with his underpants on the outside of his trousers...
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,067

    @BigJohnOwls fans please explain.
    My suspicion is Opinium methodology harsh on Labour, generous for Greens. Certainly their recent methodology change week dropped Labour -4 or more same moment everyone else had them static or up. 61% LLG would not surprise me if TV gave us Lab 44 Lib Dem 15 in actual result. Don’t bet on Labour ending in 30s when poll of polls still has Labour in 40s before TV.
  • jamesdoylejamesdoyle Posts: 797
    Carnyx said:

    Been bombed to bits and not entirely recovered. My favourite bits are Old Pourtsmouth - the Point where this cartoon was drawn - and the view from the outside coffee tables at Priddy's Hard (the old ammunition depot oppposite). And Portchester Castle.

    https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/788317
    Portchester Castle is the distillation of English history.
    Saxon shore fort built.by the Romans 1600 years ago.
    Rebuilt by Henry Ii iirc.
    Part of Henry V's fleet set sail from here for France.
    Surrounded by Georgian houses.
    Used for Napoleonic prisoners of war who built a theatre in the keep.
    Victorian church in the bailey.
    Cricket ground in the bailey still in use.
    Stand atop the keep and see the whole of Portsmouth harbour.

    One of my favourite places in the world.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    Don't vote, can't moan.
    Huge numbers of younger people feel disenfranchised by the political parties and are not going to vote, exclusive polling for The Independent shows.

    According to research carried out by Techne UK, around four in 10 people – 41 per cent – aged 18 to 34 have either not registered to vote (24 per cent) or are registered but have decided not to go to the ballot box (17 per cent) next month.


    It's curious how some people will always vote no matter how disappointed, whilst others may not even start and it becomes a habit.

    I get feeling like the young are getting shafted - I'm only just out of that demographic band myself, and it is true - but without wanting to pin the blame on them, sitting things out strikes me as an ineffective way of changing that.

    Governments will continue to get elected, and if they can do so despite younger people not turning out, that will inevitably have an impact on what actions they take.

    Or already has.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577
    kle4 said:

    I'm not a believer in the axiom that you should 'ignore everything after the but'...but in this case I will make an exception.

    He could have avoided even this minor furore if he was not a true believer, but clearly he is - he genuinely thinks democratic organisational expansion is justification for Russian invasions.

    His protestations he is not an apologist are laughably insincere as he spews forth apologies over and over again.
    It might not bite. There are probably enough people who agree with him, or who think the Russian invasion is a bit shit but it's not our responsibility to get involved.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 5,661

    Brittany Ferries do that sometimes on the Saint Malo route. They can fill the ship with motorists, who pay full whack for car+cabin. If you travel by foot/bike, you're taking up a cabin that would otherwise be used by a higher-paying motorist, so they're passing up revenue.

    So either they say "sorry, no foot/bike spaces available" or they charge you something not far off the car rate.
    Is there a seat-only price? Sometimes, in warmer climes, a "deck space" is available, where you take a sleeping bag and sleep outside.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,192
    edited June 2024

    They've been drinking their own piss.
    Does Casino still boil his? Maybe he could get a contract to supply the Torygraph...
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,569
    rcs1000 said:

    Greensill.
    He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

    https://news.sky.com/story/david-cameron-cleared-of-breaking-lobbying-rules-after-allegedly-texting-sunak-over-greensill-12257682
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,279
    Carnyx said:

    Been bombed to bits and not entirely recovered. My favourite bits are Old Pourtsmouth - the Point where this cartoon was drawn - and the view from the outside coffee tables at Priddy's Hard (the old ammunition depot oppposite). And Portchester Castle.

    https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/788317
    There are many big and little gems in Portsmouth - and many areas of extreme shittiness. I was there a few weeks ago, and I think it's improved in the last fifteen years, since we got married there (not that there's a connection...). Like many urban areas, its problems are hard to solve. But the reduced role of the Royal Navy in the west of the city, and the increasing tourism, helps massively.

    They ought to make more of the Brunel connection though, and Dickens. Oh, and Arnie lived there for a period as well! I wonder if he'll be back?
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 10,022
    Has Johnny Mercer been vindicated? I noticed people were calling him all sorts yesterday.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,906
    kle4 said:

    Huge numbers of younger people feel disenfranchised by the political parties and are not going to vote, exclusive polling for The Independent shows.

    According to research carried out by Techne UK, around four in 10 people – 41 per cent – aged 18 to 34 have either not registered to vote (24 per cent) or are registered but have decided not to go to the ballot box (17 per cent) next month.


    It's curious how some people will always vote no matter how disappointed, whilst others may not even start and it becomes a habit.

    I get feeling like the young are getting shafted - I'm only just out of that demographic band myself, and it is true - but without wanting to pin the blame on them, sitting things out strikes me as an ineffective way of changing that.

    Governments will continue to get elected, and if they can do so despite younger people not turning out, that will inevitably have an impact on what actions they take.

    Or already has.
    Rishi not suggesting we should start adding points to their driving licences for not voting, or removing their access to bank accounts?
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405
    stodge said:

    Back to Stodge's Tenth Law of Politics - you may hope and believe something can't happen but that usually means it will.

    It was the same in 1997 - Labour didn't believe what was happening because nothing like it had happened before. The Conservatives were the same. Both were saying even on the cusp of polling day it was close etc, etc.

    Others knew but didn't believe what their eyes, ears and data were telling them.

    It's a similar position now - nobody believes Labour will get 500 seats and the Conservatives 100 seats and yet the data and anecdotal information they must be seeing at Labour and Conservative HQ will be telling them something they still refuse to accept.
    Starting from the numbers is just not the right way to do things

    Mayor of Hiroshima: no single bomb in history has ever caused 1% of the number of casualties you claim. Your report can safely be ignored

    Manchester CID: that would be 25 times as many murders as the previous record for a GP. Safe to close this file.

    Etc etc
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    In case anyone wants a nosey, Sky News at 19:48

    https://www.youtube.com/live/oJUvTVdTMyY?si=HPFr0xOPMJb65inZ

    It's that chap from YouTube who's always rambling on about his car!
  • LloydBanksLloydBanks Posts: 45
    Completely off topic, but the dominance of Flemish speakers in Belgium's national teams has always confused me. There's no cultural or demographic reason for it
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    It might not bite. There are probably enough people who agree with him, or who think the Russian invasion is a bit shit but it's not our responsibility to get involved.
    No might about it, I'm very sure it won't bite.

    But I hope the corpse of the Tories after the election tries to resist him a bit rather than just bends over.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,279

    Portchester Castle is the distillation of English history.
    Saxon shore fort built.by the Romans 1600 years ago.
    Rebuilt by Henry Ii iirc.
    Part of Henry V's fleet set sail from here for France.
    Surrounded by Georgian houses.
    Used for Napoleonic prisoners of war who built a theatre in the keep.
    Victorian church in the bailey.
    Cricket ground in the bailey still in use.
    Stand atop the keep and see the whole of Portsmouth harbour.

    One of my favourite places in the world.
    When I walked past it for the first time in late 2002, there were a pile of cannon dumped near the wall. I've never found them again - presumably they were moved.

    It's easy to stand on the keep's roof and look out, and wonder what the Romans would have seen from the lower walls, or the medieval knights from the top of the keep.

    It's a magnificent place.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577
    DougSeal said:

    You spectacularly miss the point I’m making. The 12m Corbyn got in 2017 was less than the 13.6m May’s Tories got. He lost. He fucked up. He’s a failure who condemned us to a whole series of Tory victories. This is about beating the Conservatives, not history. How much have you got on the result that matters, you strange Tory helper?
    Er this is a betting site. BJO should be betting on results that offer value, not on what he wants to happen
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 10,022

    Asking for a friend. What's the magic number when majority becomes "super-majority"?

    Reminds me of Alan Partridge talking to a super rich guy. Not that he was super rich, just a rich guy who happened to be super.
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405

    Has Johnny Mercer been vindicated? I noticed people were calling him all sorts yesterday.

    No. His opponent had been slightly overly bigged up by an incompetent journalist, but is basically in the clear. Mercer is a twat and very bad at social media polemics.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    kle4 said:

    And, separately, a bit of a fool and an oversharer.
    I enjoyed the read.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,248

    Er this is a betting site. BJO should be betting on results that offer value, not on what he wants to happen
    Also, if be bet on Starmer having an accident, the police might be round to visit.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,733
    Keith Vaz is pulling out all the stops to win in Leicester:

    https://x.com/ub1ub2/status/1804552866490659093
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,533
    AlsoLei said:

    Can we make it like 1990s Eurovision, where the votes for some of the more distant members of the RF sound like they're being sent from Malta using paper cups connected with waxed string?

    Allo Prince Richard, Allo Prince Richard? Quels sont les votes du jury du Prince Richard?
    There hasn’t been Prince Richard since Richard III, has there?
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    I was planning on campaigning for a few Tory MPs at the election even if I wasn't voting Tory sadly they either stood down and I ended up with the emergency surgery that has left me hors de combat.

    I love campaigning and knocking up the voters on election day.

    Sorry you are indisposed at this exciting electoral moment.

    But nevertheless MUST deplore your characterization of your no-doubt devoted care staff as "hors de combat".

    Get well soon - or at least better sooner - and am sure you'll shortly be back to knocking up carefully-targeted voters in your accustomed style.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,248

    He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

    https://news.sky.com/story/david-cameron-cleared-of-breaking-lobbying-rules-after-allegedly-texting-sunak-over-greensill-12257682
    Oh come on.

    Irrespective, he got into bed with a total crook.
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 10,022

    He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

    https://news.sky.com/story/david-cameron-cleared-of-breaking-lobbying-rules-after-allegedly-texting-sunak-over-greensill-12257682
    Stand by your man.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577

    Completely off topic, but the dominance of Flemish speakers in Belgium's national teams has always confused me. There's no cultural or demographic reason for it

    59% of Belgians are Dutch speakers.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    Keith Vaz is pulling out all the stops to win in Leicester:

    https://x.com/ub1ub2/status/1804552866490659093

    Any chance the recall petition he avoided by resigning from Parliament in 2019 could be started up?

    A cursory glance at his political history reveals him to be too corrupt and scummy even for the British Parliament.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577

    No. His opponent had been slightly overly bigged up by an incompetent journalist, but is basically in the clear. Mercer is a twat and very bad at social media polemics.
    And I don't think he has explained how he apparently knows the other guy hasn't been in combat
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405

    He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

    https://news.sky.com/story/david-cameron-cleared-of-breaking-lobbying-rules-after-allegedly-texting-sunak-over-greensill-12257682
    As were Blair and Campbell over Kelly's suicide. Huzzah.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,525

    He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

    https://news.sky.com/story/david-cameron-cleared-of-breaking-lobbying-rules-after-allegedly-texting-sunak-over-greensill-12257682
    Whitewash?
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    There hasn’t been Prince Richard since Richard III, has there?
    HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, cousin of the late Queen
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    rcs1000 said:

    Oh come on.

    Irrespective, he got into bed with a total crook.
    Last refuge of a scoundrel is to act as though failure to break the law means nothing could have been done that was wrong.

    Most normal people know that not being a criminal is a baseline expectation, expecially for those in public life.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,533

    59% of Belgians are Dutch speakers.
    Isn’t that usually described as Flemish?
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,280

    Portchester Castle is the distillation of English history.
    Saxon shore fort built.by the Romans 1600 years ago.
    Rebuilt by Henry Ii iirc.
    Part of Henry V's fleet set sail from here for France.
    Surrounded by Georgian houses.
    Used for Napoleonic prisoners of war who built a theatre in the keep.
    Victorian church in the bailey.
    Cricket ground in the bailey still in use.
    Stand atop the keep and see the whole of Portsmouth harbour.

    One of my favourite places in the world.
    Also, the site of the now sadly defunct "Mighty Fine" pub. Once voted Britain's roughest pub where the stripper would gob in your mouth for a fiver on "Forces Only" nights. At one point the bouncer was a dwarf who would regularly get hung on a coat hook from which eyrie he would lash out in impotent rage at anybody within range with a pool cue. The landlord was trans years before JK Rowling started going on about them.
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405

    59% of Belgians are Dutch speakers.
    Also it's bonkers that Walloon means French speaking. Least French looking word I can imagine.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423

    I enjoyed the read.
    I would hope so, looking foolish and ovresharing should make something a good read.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,753

    He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

    https://news.sky.com/story/david-cameron-cleared-of-breaking-lobbying-rules-after-allegedly-texting-sunak-over-greensill-12257682
    "Wrongdoing" Being a shiny man in a shiny suit and lobbying for a complete shit is certainly below what is expected for an ex-PM.

    He sent:

    > Nine WhatsApps to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak

    > Two WhatsApp messages to Richard Sharp, adviser to Rishi Sunak

    > 12 texts to Sir Tom Scholar, the permanent secretary at the Treasury.

    A dozen texts/emails/phone calls and other messages were sent to: the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove; the health secretary, Matt Hancock; the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi; the economic secretary, John Glen; and the financial secretary, Jesse Norman.

    Four emails and one text went to Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor of the Bank of England.

    Seven messages and calls went to Sheridan Westlake, a senior adviser to Boris Johnson.

    Cameron often signed off the messages “Dc” or with a simple “👍”

    In a text message to Scholar on 6 March 2020, when the financial markets were in freefall at the start of the pandemic:

    “I am riding to the rescue with supply chain finance with my new friend Lex Greensill”


    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/11/greensill-the-scale-of-david-camerons-lobbying-texts-revealed
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,281
    Election news.

    https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/06/21/green-party-suspends-chingford-and-woodford-green-candidate/

    "Green Party suspends Chingford and Woodford Green candidate

    Chris Brody was suspended after the party found a personal blog post where he confessed to a sexual assault while on a secure mental health ward, reports Marco Marcelline"
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    DougSeal said:

    You spectacularly miss the point I’m making. The 12m Corbyn got in 2017 was less than the 13.6m May’s Tories got. He lost. He fucked up. He’s a failure who condemned us to a whole series of Tory victories. This is about beating the Conservatives, not history. How much have you got on the result that matters, you strange Tory helper?
    12.9m is the bet not 12m.

    I think the art of political betting is spotting a ridiculous price for something to happen.

    Remember GE 2017 was a very profitable night after all and sundry had written Corbyns Labour off in many seats they won.

    Calling me a Tory helper is a bit pathetic given SKS is welcoming vile Tories on a daily basis.

    A vote for SKS is a vote for continuation Tory. Wake up.
  • EPGEPG Posts: 6,729

    Also it's bonkers that Walloon means French speaking. Least French looking word I can imagine.
    Same etymological origin as Wales, Wallachia, Gaul.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,280

    Also it's bonkers that Walloon means French speaking. Least French looking word I can imagine.
    The community languages of Wallonie are French AND German.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    Explain that Lab are going to get less votes than 2017.

    Massive win on my only decent size bet this GE
    Fewer votes
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,583

    Portchester Castle is the distillation of English history.
    Saxon shore fort built.by the Romans 1600 years ago.
    Rebuilt by Henry Ii iirc.
    Part of Henry V's fleet set sail from here for France.
    Surrounded by Georgian houses.
    Used for Napoleonic prisoners of war who built a theatre in the keep.
    Victorian church in the bailey.
    Cricket ground in the bailey still in use.
    Stand atop the keep and see the whole of Portsmouth harbour.

    One of my favourite places in the world.
    Extremely noomy, Portchester castle

    Also I once had sex in a car near there

    In unrelated news that has nothing to do with my fading virility the fuckers at ******* ferries have just stolen my favourite old knife: a spyderco tenacious

    Ferries are shit. And expensive. Fuck em
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,525

    Also it's bonkers that Walloon means French speaking. Least French looking word I can imagine.
    Walloon is actually a seperate language, but little-spoken these days.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walloon_language
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,447

    Starting from the numbers is just not the right way to do things

    Mayor of Hiroshima: no single bomb in history has ever caused 1% of the number of casualties you claim. Your report can safely be ignored

    Manchester CID: that would be 25 times as many murders as the previous record for a GP. Safe to close this file.

    Etc etc
    I really don't understand your answer.

    All sorts of information is being fed back to the various Party headquarters from both the so-called air war and the so-called ground war. The question is whether those looking at the information understand what they are seeing and accept it and will act on it.

    Will, for example, Labour activists be diverted into seats which they had never considered as prospects? The Conservatives seem to be falling back to an inner ring of seats with 20,000 majorities or more and are defending those frantically? Will the LDs move their limited resources beyond the obvious targets into areas which have become promising following local success?

    The last 10-11 days of any election are critical - decisions taken this weekend on the data available will have huge impact and significance.

    Tonight's polls continue to slow Conservative support sliding to 20% or below - that's uncharted water for the Party in terms of any election.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,192

    Er this is a betting site. BJO should be betting on results that offer value, not on what he wants to happen
    TBF, 2017 was the highest Labour votes ever. I am surprised he got 8/1 on it since Starmer would need to get the highest Labour vote count in history.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,569

    NEW THREAD

  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577

    Also it's bonkers that Walloon means French speaking. Least French looking word I can imagine.
    That's because it's Wallon in French and Walloon is a different langue d'oïl to French (although hardly anyone speaks it any more)
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,281

    Asking for a friend. What's the magic number when majority becomes "super-majority"?

    Probably 200 seat majority or more. So Blair just missed out in 1997.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,423
    Andy_JS said:

    Election news.

    https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/06/21/green-party-suspends-chingford-and-woodford-green-candidate/

    "Green Party suspends Chingford and Woodford Green candidate

    Chris Brody was suspended after the party found a personal blog post where he confessed to a sexual assault while on a secure mental health ward, reports Marco Marcelline"

    I see the wikipedia page now lists him as an Independent, which is a bit dodgy, it should show him as the Green but include a note about support being withdrawn, as is the case with Labour in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chingford_and_Woodford_Green_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeenshire_North_and_Moray_East_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

    Fewer votes
    Sigh.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,085

    59% of Belgians are Dutch speakers.
    I used to look after the ill gotten Congolese gains of the larger number of the wealthiest Belgian families and there was a very clear differentiation between them in person.

    The frenchies were very sophisticated, artful, maybe just “sly”. Very money driven and materialist, the Flemish ones were delightfully simple.

    The frenchies would turn up looking like royalty and behave in a cod noble way and their richer Flemish equivalents would turn up dressed straight from the farm with dirty fingernails and shabby clothing.

    This doesn’t add anything to anything but just an observation.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 33,243
    DougSeal said:

    If they are not sitting members of the House of Lords yes they do. Previously most of them were disenfranchised because their various titles gave them a seat in he upper house but that’s not been the case since 1999. Technically even the King can vote but the monarch does not do so in keeping with the no politics tradition.
    Cheers sir
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,577

    Isn’t that usually described as Flemish?
    The official language is Dutch. Belgian Dutch differs very little from Netherlands Dutch. There are a variety of dialects, but not all Dutch-speaking Belgians are Flemings: some are Brabantians or Limburgers
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 33,243

    Proposed electoral reform to modernise the nation:

    Adopt the Eurovision voting system with the Royal Family playing the role of the judges. The points awarded by the Royals would count for 50% of the total.

    Declarations would be made by videolink to a live venue where candidates would sit together in the green room.
    Do they all have to wear spangly leotards?
  • kle4 said:

    The Green support I find most difficult to explain. They are not a fringe political force, but they are not major either. I find it hard to believe all 'true' leftwing people are voting Green as Labour would not be at 40% with centre left and centre (and some centre right) alone. In the South the LDs poll better, and in most of the country the Greens are barely present even with some good local gains in the last few years.

    So how are they getting to 9%?
    I’ve been knocking. Heartened by the number of small c conservatives being positive. I like wildlife and clean rivers. They nod and talk about renationalise the rail and water. Insulate. I nod.

    I would feel bad if I didn’t think I’m sucking up more Cons and Lib Dem, than Labour left.

    I’m getting 1/2 Labour, more Green than Con, but then I smile, listen, and sympathise. I think they may be quite polite.

    Not a bit surprised by 9%.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,654
    EPG said:

    It's hotting up in that one Reform/Green marginal.
    Funny you should say that. Today I overheard someone saying that they were going to vote Reform to keep the Green out.

    Goodness knows which seat.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,303
    stodge said:

    Back to Stodge's Tenth Law of Politics - you may hope and believe something can't happen but that usually means it will.

    It was the same in 1997 - Labour didn't believe what was happening because nothing like it had happened before. The Conservatives were the same. Both were saying even on the cusp of polling day it was close etc, etc.

    Others knew but didn't believe what their eyes, ears and data were telling them.

    It's a similar position now - nobody believes Labour will get 500 seats and the Conservatives 100 seats and yet the data and anecdotal information they must be seeing at Labour and Conservative HQ will be telling them something they still refuse to accept.
    And OK... Of the 400 or so Conservative candidates who were thinking in 2021/2, "next stop Westminster", most (250? 300?) must know, cognitively, that it ain't happening. They, and their opposition counterparts, and their campaign teams, have a pretty clear sense of where the front line is.

    But the only way to endure the next fortnight is to shut those thoughts out, because to give up is to definitely lose.

    We're in the "point of no return" phase of the election. A bit like the ten days after the start of a COVID lockdown. The numbers are happening, we can be pretty sure what will happen next. But it won't show up in the figures yet.
  • jamesdoylejamesdoyle Posts: 797
    Dura_Ace said:

    Also, the site of the now sadly defunct "Mighty Fine" pub. Once voted Britain's roughest pub where the stripper would gob in your mouth for a fiver on "Forces Only" nights. At one point the bouncer was a dwarf who would regularly get hung on a coat hook from which eyrie he would lash out in impotent rage at anybody within range with a pool cue. The landlord was trans years before JK Rowling started going on about them.
    I believe I know people who know that stripper.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,810

    Isn’t that usually described as Flemish?
    flemish is just a dialect of Dutch
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,087

    That is a shocking anecdote. And yet I’m not full of doubt. Any organisation with that little trust must go.

    It is time to end the Met.
    Why is it shocking? Because it happened to a nice middle class chap?

    During the Rotherham comedy, a step-dad (IIRC) made repeated complaints to the police. In response, a policeman warned him that if the complaints continued, they would write him up as a racist. And then under the legislation for dealing with “unacceptable” neighbours, have the family thrown out of their council house.

    I can tell you another fun one about a friend, a watch, a policeman, £1.21 and another policeman.
This discussion has been closed.