Not necessarily Reform but General Politics.
Yesterday they said they didn't know the cause of Ann Widdecombe's absolutely senseless death, but today they've figured out it was due to 21 hammer blows to the head. He's not been vilified by anyone in the press yet either.
Last week there was a race to denounce "far right" thugs that were stopped from carrying out a terror attack at a Muslim festival, but all of them (Incl. an 82 year old bloke) have surprise surprise now been found not guilty and it was just 1 person flying a drone.
Whenever there is an actual terror attack those in Government are always very quick to say "Don't jump to conclusion and wait for the facts", but when it's a potential attack on a different demographic they are very quick to jump to conclusions, before the facts.
More 2 tier pandering & it's wrong.
Polling day this coming Thursday to elect Burnham's successor, and the posters are up in my windows, suggesting that people don't vote Reform! 🤣
After giving 'em (or is it him?) a bloody nose in Makerfield, we now have a massive chance to do so again in Greater Manchester, and then...............
We'll have to see what happens in the Clacton Circus!
Spelly.
Green Party leader spotted in a t shirt advocating the hanging of Nigel Farage.
Reform, quite rightly, up in arms.
a disgrace.
To be accurate, he wasn't wearing it, he shared a social media post of someone else wearing it. And it was a guillotine, not a hanging. Still not right obvs.
@gpo1971 Correct. You can already imagine the outrage if the roles were reversed.
Absolutely stupid, and another on the list for Polanski. I think he is the most useless of the entire lot (Almost an achievement!).
Amazing what the reaction is depending on the side in trouble.
Still absolutely zero comments or apologies about the made up 'foiled far right terror plot' last week that they were so quick to preach about. If only their apologies and revoking their statements happened so quickly...
Totally out of order, and I would imagine Polanski is hugely embarrassed with what's happened.
As you know, I'm not by a million miles, Farage's biggest fan, but this is 101% wrong, and absolutely uncalled for!
Spelly.
I believe and hope that Reform have peaked, but may still win a large number of seats in the next General election, unless there is a split in the leadership as a result of the Party being under greater scrutiny.
I doubt whether Farage or Polanski will be leading their Parties into the next General election and Burnham may find himself under attack from the left of the Party, if he doesn't bow to their demands. As far as Reform is concerned, many supporters vote for Farage rather than the Party. In which case, there could be a rapid decline in Reform support.
I am hoping for a win for Count Binface next week, but likely Farage will get most votes. Farage is facing humiliation if he wins on a very low turnout or does not get an overall majority of votes cast in the by-election.
I know (and openly admit) that I'm biased, but just what is Farage trying to prove in Clacton?
Thirty-four candidates, including three separate guys standing for the Monster Raving Loony Party!
Just checked the odds, and depending which bookie you use, the odds on a Reform win, vary from from 1/18 to 1/100. You can get anywhere from 8/1 to 18/1 on Count Binface.
As I said earlier, it resembles more of a circus, than a by-election! Meanwhile.............
In the non-circus election, there's now less than an hour to go until the polls close. I was there at lunch-time. and didn't take the option of putting an X against a second choice.
Turnout predictions? 40% in Manchester, 25% (at the very best) in Circus-on-Sea.
Spelly.
I know (and openly admit) that I'm biased, but just what is Farage trying to prove in Clacton?
Thirty-four candidates, including three separate guys standing for the Monster Raving Loony Party!
Just checked the odds, and depending which bookie you use, the odds on a Reform win, vary from from 1/18 to 1/100. You can get anywhere from 8/1 to 18/1 on Count Binface.
As I said earlier, it resembles more of a circus, than a by-election! Meanwhile.............
In the non-circus election, there's now less than an hour to go until the polls close. I was there at lunch-time. and didn't take the option of putting an X against a second choice.
Turnout predictions? 40% in Manchester, 25% (at the very best) in Circus-on-Sea.
Spelly.
It's gone to counting the second choices, as no candidate has received 50% of the votes, with Reform, and Labour (unsurprisingly) the top two.
I was miles out with my turnout prediction, as the Beeb have just reported that it was only 25.1%.
Disappointed that we didn't win it outright first time, but still optimistic that after the result is declared, Farage and Co will only be polishing a silver medal.
Spelly.
@spelly It will be interesting to see how many votes were given to each candidate on the first round of voting. If the Reform candidate got more votes that the Labour candidate in the first round, but loses on the second round, Farage, will with some justification, be shouting "fix", which it is.
Labour knew that they were likely to lose to Reform on the "first past the post" system, but changed the voting system for this election to give themselves a better chance.
As for the low turnout. Could this be because people have little idea as to what Regional Mayors actually do?
@spelly It will be interesting to see how many votes were given to each candidate on the first round of voting. If the Reform candidate got more votes that the Labour candidate in the first round, but loses on the second round, Farage, will with some justification, be shouting "fix", which it is.
Labour knew that they were likely to lose to Reform on the "first past the post" system, but changed the voting system for this election to give themselves a better chance.
As for the low turnout. Could this be because people have little idea as to what Regional Mayors actually do?
It should've been a "normal" first past the post in my opinion, meaning the "fix" scenario would've been avoided. As I said earlier, I left the second option blank.
Regarding your question (suggestion?) on the low turnout, my reply is "More than possibly!"
Gone 9.00pm now, and we still don't know who Burnham's successor will be!
Spelly.
More than a full day after the polls closed before the announcement of the result, but..........
A comfortable victory in the end, where only a few weeks ago, we took a pounding in the locals.
Another bad result for Farage and Co, following our win in Makerfield, so.........
I ask again - Have they peaked?
Spelly.
25% turnout is piss poor. Basically, no-one gives a crunchie in this country apart from Reform voters and Labour voters who want to keep them out. What a sorry state we're in.
There was a report from Clacton on the BBC News this evening, and the word "farce" was mentioned more than once, about next week's by-election.
To include all the candidate's names, the voting paper is ONE METRE long!
As I've said many times, I wouldn't vote Reform to save my life, but the leader of that party, has (in my opinion) brought (dragged?) politics in this country to an all time low!
The story about the £5 million donation he received, isn't going away any time soon, but........
Even with all the adverse publicity there's been, and much as I'd love to be proved wrong, I reckon he'll still win comfortably.
Spelly.
Farage has made a mistake in calling this election. He has tried to position himself as the victim of an establishment stitch-up, but is seen as someone trying to avoid scrutiny of his finances.
In 2024, he won with a majority of 8,405 on a 58% turnout and got 46.2% of the votes. His plan to put himself forward as the victim of the establishment has back-fired.
He will probably win, but the turnout and his share of the votes will be interesting. I am looking to Count Binface to give him a run for his money. Filling potholes with copies of the 2024 Labour Manifesto and capping the price of 99 Flakes at 99p are themselves worth his support.
Farage will be humiliated if he wins on a low turnout and a much reduced majority.