Just checked the odds on the Runcorn by-election tomorrow, and they're...................
Reform 1/3, Labour 5/2, Tories 33/1, so............
It looks like Farage will have another MP to sit with in the Chamber come Friday eh?
Are any of you in the constituency, and if so, who's getting your X?
Spelly.
Closer than expected in the end, but...................
I'm sure Nigel will be sipping his morning coffee, smiling and saying "A win's a win!" And...........
Yes, we took a caning, but................
The 43.5% turnout shows the apathy Joe Public has at present for British politics in my opinion, but......
Are Reform the "real" opposition now?
Spelly.
It also shows the regard that Reform and Farage has for the voting public, realising that lies and promises can win the day.
The British public will have to realise that in simple terms 'everybody' cannot have 'everything', in terms of benefits, at the same time. We are very close to bankruptcy and it will take time to correct that.
The Labour party has made mistakes, it is true, but Reform is not the answer!
At last a bit of bad news for Farage, as Zia Yusuf has resigned as chairman, quoting that it's " ------ not a good use of my time."
I doubt it'll have much of an effect on Reform's current popularity, but at least it's a bit of a hiccup for Clacton's MP.
Spelly.
Can't have been an easy job for him anyway. A British Asian bloke being Chairman of an inherently racist political party? Knowing their supporters, I bet this resignation suits all round.
First act of the new Runcorn MP was to raise 'banning the burqa' in Parliament. What a waste of everyone's time. Probably see her in Runcorn as often as Farage is in Clacton.
Biggest defector yet from Kemi's Crew?
Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has now jumped ship and joined Farage's Followers.
Spelly.
Only because they wouldn't put him forward for a peerage. That bloke has been lining his pocket his whole political career.
And so it looks like Robert Jenrick is gonna be the latest Tory to jump ship, and join the ever growing band in the Clacton Charmer's party.
According to a report I've just read, Badenoch has sacked him for " ---- planning to defect -----"
A massive coup for Farage, so I repeat my question of when I started this thread "How big can / will they become?"
The May locals are not that far off, and I fear that we're gonna get destroyed, with Reform taking seat after seat.
Spelly.
So now he's (officially) joined Reform, but.......
Surprise, surprise, he's not gonna resign his seat, and call a by-election!
I've said it many times, but to allow this to (not?) happen, means the constitution of this nation of ours is wrong!
Spelly.
So now he's (officially) joined Reform, but.......
Surprise, surprise, he's not gonna resign his seat, and call a by-election!
I've said it many times, but to allow this to (not?) happen, means the constitution of this nation of ours is wrong!
Spelly.
Not really, in the context of party politics you could say it is but in its simplest terms the local people elect a person to represent them at Westminster, over time this evolved into party politics but even then this wasnt so much of an issue
Im sure you can remember when not too long ago your local Labour party selected the person, usually a local, to stand for and represent them in an election but this has been overtaken by the central party parachuting clones and guaranteed "yes" voting zombies into safe seats so they can push through their minority ideological legislations.
(both parties of Government)
There is nothing more undemocratic than the whip so if crossing the floor should initiate a by-election then so should the whip being withdrawn
@anotherposter I agree, with the growing tendency for political parties to parachute party candidates into Constituencies, rather than candidates appointed locally, it is perhaps time for a review of the law to allow local electors to call a by-election in circumstances where an MP changes political parties.
Whilst there may be a few MPs who have local support with an area, there are few cases where an independent candidate is elected. Most people will vote on Party lines.
Currently, local electors have the right to call a by-election in circumstances where an MP has been convicted of a criminal offence and receives a custodial sentence or where there are specific breaches of Parliamentary Standards. The threshold for the recall petition to be implemented is 10% of the parliamentary constituency electorate.
Maybe it is time for this to be extended to circumstances where an MP changes parties mid-term.
Agree with most of those points. It should be up to the locals as to whether a by-election is required, I would imagine it would be triggered in most cases.
I too hate the whip, it's undemocratic. We may as well have a presidential system if we're going to allow that.
It's a shame that MPs invariably aren't local these days. Seeing as this is a Reform thread, a perfect example would be the MP for Runcorn and Helsby who, for some reason and despite the clues being there, didn't realise that Runcorn was part of her remit when she was appointed; she'd never heard of it. Now that she's been there, described it as a "shithole" to reporters, invented some fictitious immigrant-related crime stats despite the protestations of local residents to the contrary, hopefully she's fully aware of what she's responsible for.
As regards the whip, I totally agree. Nothing would make me vote against my beliefs / feelings, even if I was an MP, and was advised (told?) to otherwise. As has been stated, it's undemocratic!
As I mentioned earlier, I fear we're in for a caning come the locals in May, and that could well be the beginning of the end for Starmer, but.................
Going back to the start of the thread, how big a threat is / can be / will be Farage and his followers come May, and beyond?
Spelly.
As regards the whip, I totally agree. Nothing would make me vote against my beliefs / feelings, even if I was an MP, and was advised (told?) to otherwise. As has been stated, it's undemocratic!
As I mentioned earlier, I fear we're in for a caning come the locals in May, and that could well be the beginning of the end for Starmer, but.................
Going back to the start of the thread, how big a threat is / can be / will be Farage and his followers come May, and beyond?
Spelly.
Depends on how many elections they actually allow to take place! The most undemocratic thing of the whole thread (& there have been a few good points) is not letting them happen again, some for the 2nd time I believe.
The other thing that needs changing quickly is the insults. Politicians should not be throwing around the term 'N*zi's' amongst other things, when they disagree with someone.
It's inciteful, unnecessary & usually the people throwing the accusation around are closer aligned in political beliefs than those they're accusing.
People are getting jailed for tweets, but these people in politics are immune.
I was most amused by the leader of the Green party stating the exact opposite for Greenland to what he's been preaching here for years.
Going slightly off topic, but it looks like Andy Burnham, could possibly be heading back to the Palace of Westminster, and....
If he gets there, could it be bad news for the PM?
Spelly.