Voting Chaos

4 May 2007



Labour Beaten in British Local Elections

While the results continue to come in, the British electorate has made clear that the days of the Labour government are numbered. BBC research projects that the Conservatives got about 41% of the votes cast, Labour 27% and the Liberal Democrats 26%. The Scottish and Welsh Nationalists made inroads in the devolved assemblies. In Scotland, there appears to have been a voting meltdown of Floridian proportions, but Labour may be supplanted by the Nationalists as the largest party north of the Cheviots. Prime Minister Blair said, “these results provide a perfectly good springboard to win in the general election.” Indeed, they do, for the Tories.

With 220 of 312 local council results decided, the Conservatives have gained control of 21 additional councils, bringing the total to at least 106, including Birmingham, Plymouth and Chester. While most of these were councils that previously had no controlling party, Labour has lost 7 councils. Tory leader David Cameron was not far off the mark when he called the results “stunning.” He added, “We’re the one national party [Scotland aside] speaking up for all of Britain . . . I think we can really build from this point, really go forward . . . the Conservative Party is really where it should be at the moment and I’m very pleased about that.”

In Wales, Labour will remain the biggest party, but it will lose a few seats in the Welsh Assembly. With 56 of the 60 seats firmly decided, BBC analysts believe the final result will be Labour with 26 seats (down 3), nationalists Plaid Cymru on 14 (up 2), the Tories on 12 (up 1), and the Liberal Democrats will have 7 (up 1). There will be one independent. So Labour will need a coalition partner. The Tories can be ruled out, but Plaid and the Liberal Dems will want their pound of flesh for signing on. As a footnote, one of the new Welsh Assembly Members is Mohammed Asghar, not a traditional Welsh name, but proof that Wales is an open and welcoming place.

In Scotland, the election was marred by a confusing ballot paper, electronic voting that didn’t go as planned, and as many as 100,000 spoilt ballots. Part of the problem stems from having the regional list and the constituency vote on the same paper as well as the addition of the Single Transferable Vote (an extremely democratic system where voters were asked to rank candidates by order of preference using numbers). The Scottish Nationalists’ Angus Robertson said: “The Scotland Office, Scottish Executive and Electoral Commission have to answer for bringing Scotland's democratic process into disrepute.” A Scotland Office spokesman said, “The independent Electoral Commission will undertake a statutory review into the conduct of this election. Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for Scotland, has today spoken to Sir Neil McIntosh, the Scottish Commissioner on the Electoral Commission, and established that his review will cover the key issues of concern.” DRS, a for-profit company with vote counting technology, has some explaining to do.

In the Scottish Assembly, the Scottish Nationalists have picked up 19 seats, with 33 still to be determined, while Labour has lost five. Whether Labour stays as the biggest party is in doubt, yet what should raise eyebrows is the fact that the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives combined don’t have as many seats as the SNP. The SNP is, at least, the party of opposition in Scotland, and it could well be the party running the show in the coming days.

All of which means that Mr. Blair’s time has long passed. Ten years ago, he came into office as a breath of fresh air, an end to the long Tory nightmare of Mrs. Thatcher and Mr. Major. This morning, there is a similar feeling, but this time it is directed against Mr. Blair. The lecture circuit and book deals await, and it’s time for him to go.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.


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