Labour Party WINS UK General Election

June 7, 2001 7:01 PM

Labour Party WINS UK General Election Tony Blair's Labour Party now officially wins the general election after getting the needed 330 constituencies. Not all the results are in yet, but it's not important. Labour are past the post. Well done Tony!
posted by wackybrit (23 comments total)

Most shockingly, the British National Party (think a nicer version of the 'KKK') has managed to get over 10,000 votes in the racially tense town of Oldham, the scene of recent race riots. I don't think we're going to see the problems dying away there anytime soon...
posted by wackybrit at 7:06 PM on June 7, 2001

If lived across the pond, this would have convinced me to go Labour.
posted by john at 7:09 PM on June 7, 2001

The quality of the BBC's coverage of the election results has been great.

Just now, they went to a camera at 10 Downing Street and there was a milk float outside. "Milk at 3.15am? The Prime Minister definitely gets his milk earlier than most of us!" stated the presenter.. (It was funny just because I couldn't imagine seeing watching the milk turn up at the White House on national TV)
posted by wackybrit at 7:27 PM on June 7, 2001

Ha Ha Ha, silly Brits! Your electoral system is charmingly quaint! Here in AMERICA, we have months of recounts to squeeze every last drop of democracy out of the ballots, ensuring that no voice goes unheard. Ha!
posted by MonkeyMeat at 8:16 PM on June 7, 2001

Anna Ford to Boris Johnson: "How can you serve a constituency when you can't even look after yourself?"

Priceless.

Number one: the turnout is shockingly bad.

Number two: the BNP in Oldham. Ugh.

Number three: the lobster in Kensington and Chelsea.
posted by holgate at 8:29 PM on June 7, 2001

Oh, and Mandelson's "me, me, me" speech in Hartlepool. Atrocious.
posted by holgate at 8:34 PM on June 7, 2001

How many seats did the Silly Party win? (Say, the lady who promised free breast enhancement surgery for all voters? Or the man who did all his campaigning in pubs?)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 8:39 PM on June 7, 2001

Alas, none, Steven. You have to be in Italy, with its particularly silly brand of PR, to be in a silly party and win. (Though the "Save Our Hospital" candidate won, which isn't silly.) Michael Portillo did shake the lobster's hand, though.

We miss Lord Sutch.
posted by holgate at 8:42 PM on June 7, 2001

Can any one from "across the pond" please explain the difference between the Labour Party and The Liberal Democrats? How far apart are they on policies?
posted by Rastafari at 8:47 PM on June 7, 2001

Liberal Democrats = misnomer
posted by palegirl at 10:44 PM on June 7, 2001

Porquoi?

They're quite Liberal, and they're quite keen on democracy.

Holgate? I think you're probably more up on Lab/Lib history than me.
posted by Grangousier at 11:55 PM on June 7, 2001

Lib want to tax + spend more than lab. They're also more openly pro-European. And they had a much more +ve campaign than the other two main parties (stuck largely to issues, rather than slagging off others). I suspect the swing to them is mainly people (like me) unhappy with lab's progress.

Hague just resigned, btw (won't be going for a month or two, though).
posted by andrew cooke at 12:29 AM on June 8, 2001

Oh god.

That means either Portillo or Widdecombe as Tory leader.

The horror.
posted by Grangousier at 12:47 AM on June 8, 2001

It was interesting last night to see the polls which showed if Ken Clarke was leader about half of the Tory deserters would consider voting for them again.

He'll never get it though. He is hated throughout the Tory rank and file. Unless the party moves centre right and gives away they're more rabidly right wing supporters to the UKIP he'll never get it. Labour would hate to see him Tory Leader, it means they'll have to do some actual work.

I can't see Portillo being stupid enough to take the reigns of a party slowly imploding.

This leaves...

Anne "chain 'em up" Widdecombe.
For comedic value alone this would be worth it. But if you think Bush is a laughing stock wait 'till you get a load of this one.

Ian Duncan- Smith
Who? Exactly. A nice seat warmer until Portillo is more experienced, or perhaps they've had it with bald candidates.

John "I love St Mellons" Redwood
Hey, it's a leadership contest, he's got to be there.
posted by fullerine at 1:22 AM on June 8, 2001

The Conservatives again did not win a single seat in Wales

Sorry to brag but I stayed up half the night to hear this.
posted by fullerine at 1:35 AM on June 8, 2001

I stayed up half the night to hear this
You and me both - although I did leave Monmouth in the hands of the Gods. Good old Gods.

Ironic that the party most against PR is the one that's gained the most where it's been implemented. If we'd just had first-past-the-post in the Assembly elections, there wouldn't be any Welsh Tories there, either.

John "I love St Mellons" Redwood
ITV showed that classic clip of Redwood miming his way through Hen Wlad fy Nhadau last night. Beautiful.
posted by ceiriog at 6:24 AM on June 8, 2001

The Lib Dems are also big on constitutional reform (they were pro-devolution before Labour, want PR, an elected second chamber, and regional assemblies in England, as well as a proper freedom of information act.) They're something of a regional party, with a stronghold in the SW of England (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset) and growing influence on the south coast, where Labour has no traditional support. They also form part of the coalition with Labour in the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly.

Ironic that the party most against PR is the one that's gained the most where it's been implemented.

And that they suffer most from tactical voting in first-past-the-post seats, where people are introducing PR through the back door by voting for their second preferences.
posted by holgate at 6:30 AM on June 8, 2001

I will miss Hague. Infact, I can't see much reason to tune into Primeminister's Questions anymore.

Even though I did not vote for him or support him in the election, Hague is a great man. He was picked on for his appearance, his accent, and to a lesser extent, his execution. But, he was excellent at debate, flooring Blair on many an occasion.

He has dedicated his entire life to politics, but I hope he can now accept that he did his best, the country wasn't ready for his style of politics, and enjoy life out of the commons. He truly made Westminster a better place.
posted by wackybrit at 7:33 AM on June 8, 2001

Comparing Hague and Chucky Kennedy shows the transformation of British politics over the past decade. No one can forget those pictures of a 16-year-old Hague addressing the Tory conference, all tweeded up, the quintessential Young Fart. He was built for the Oxford Union, that traditional breeding ground of parliamentary debate. Fifty years ago, he might have been a natural choice for PM, even with his Yorkshire vowels. So I don't think it's that Britain wasn't ready for Hague; rather that he wasn't ready for Britain. He's only 40; he ought to follow Portillo's example in 1997 and take a few long weekends away from the Commons.

As for Kennedy? He's a veteran of Have I Got News For You? and The News Quiz, the panel games and the chatty phone-ins. He knows that declamation doesn't work well on the evening news. And people have been charmed by him.
posted by holgate at 7:43 AM on June 8, 2001

I might be charmed by him if he didn't want to pursue the French ideal of 'raising taxes'. They are high enough.

However, we don't need to worry about him too much since when we finally become a state in the United States of Europe, taxes will be harmonised anyway.
posted by wackybrit at 8:21 AM on June 8, 2001

It's funny, but I only realised recently that France has a larger GDP than the UK. It's odd, because every so often (especially during the election) I hear someone on the radio say how we're the 4th biggest economic power (after, presumably, the USA, Japan and Germany).

So France, with its strange socialist ideas, doesn't seem to be suffering too badly...
posted by andrew cooke at 8:49 AM on June 8, 2001

I might be charmed by him if he didn't want to pursue the French ideal of 'raising taxes'. They are high enough.

Can I be a little facetious and ask: high enough for what...? High enough for the existing health service, or a subsidised, functional public transport system? And so on. I don't have any problem with people who say that taxes are too high, as long as they can enumerate precisely the things they want their taxes to pay for.

After all, taxes aren't some kind of punishment for wealth; they're a membership fee that entitles you to the benefits of a particular society, which includes both public services and the opportunity to acquire that wealth. Yes, the French taxpayers will be paying off the cost of the TGV-Med link for the next 50 years, but chances are it will rejuvenate the economy of Marseilles by making it a manageable commute. Unlike Railtrack, which currently behaves like an incontinent baby, converting public subsidy into shareholder dividend.
posted by holgate at 9:04 AM on June 8, 2001

Meanwhile on a more regional note, the more extreme of the right and left in Northern Ireland do well....

I think the DUP and Sinn Fein could now be at it hammer and tongs more than before....SDLP lost seats and are neck and neck with Sinn Fein....so there'll be a fight amongst the Nationalist camp...wonder if it will go through the same conflict as Unionism has these last few years?

And the UUP are still the largest party in the North...although the DUP will be piling the pressure on....

As an aside - the Republic of Ireland has rejected the Nice treaty. As a yes voter, I am disappointed.

The International Criminal Court was approved, with 64.1% voting yes and 35.9% voting no. I voted yes.

The vote on removing all references to the death penalty from the Irish consitution, and not allowing it to be used again, is not yet known - that will come tomrrow.

A low turnout was the order of the day yesterday, and the government are rather embarassed, and trying to understand just why so many people didn't cast a vote....
posted by tomcosgrave at 2:09 PM on June 8, 2001