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Voting in the 2024 General Election
No comments on Voting in the 2024 General ElectionOff to the polling station to vote in one of the more significant elections of my lifetime. Given first-past-the-post and local circumstances I am fully aware that my vote is one of the many “wasted” votes. But I have done my part in the democratic process.
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Voting in the 2019 General Election
The weather rather matched my mood as I went to do my duty and voted in Luton North in the 2019 General Election today.
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Random Thoughts for 2nd February 2013
This is the latest in my series of Random Thoughts posts with links, things found on the web and other stuff that has occurred to me between 28th January 2013 and 2nd February 2013. This is largely catching up on the political news in January. David Laws announced as chair of manifesto working group I don’t have as much problem with Laws in this role as I know some will have — However, it does…
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Luton is “riven with factions” says Esther Rantzen
My attention was drawn (hat tip Richard Stay’s blog) to a piece in the Independent on Sunday diary column which tells us that former TV presenter and independent candidate for Luton South at the last General Election, Esther Rantzen, may still have political ambitions. Although next time it might be by standing for Labour. But sadly for us it won’t be in Luton; ‘”I would try somewhere else next time,” she says. “I have to…
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Last year’s astroturfing of Luton South
I’m catching up on various bits of unfinished business. One of which is to look back at a little incident from the campaign in Luton South during last year’s general election. Just before polling day for I asked on this blog the question “Is someone using Twitter for dirty tricks in Luton South?“. This referred to the use of a Twitter account named ‘lutonliberal‘, by someone we in the local party had never heard of,…
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Margaret Moran may be charged over expenses
I am coming a bit late to this story but for completeness I thought I ought to record here the latest in saga of the expenses misdemeanours of former Luton South MP Margaret Moran. Earlier this month the Telegraph reported that Moran was likely to face criminal charges over false expense claims; “MPs’ expenses: Margaret Moran may be fifth MP to face court“. The list of allegations makes for depressing reading. Source: This content was…
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Luton man jailed for throwing egg at Tory peer
I am attempting to return to more regular blogging and will start with the news that the man who threw an egg at Tory peer Baroness Warsi when she visited Luton back in November last year has been jailed for six weeks. The man, a 23 year old Luton resident named Gavin Reid, was sentenced by City of Westminster magistrates court today. Details on the BBC website; ‘Luton man who threw egg at Baroness Warsi…
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Luton South is now Lib Dem target 56
Luton South would be Liberal Democrat target seat number 56 at the next General Election. Paul Walter has pulled together the list of the new target seats for the Liberal Democrats ranked by the percentage point difference between the party’s percentage of the vote, and that of the winner. http://liberalburblings.co.uk/2010/05/the-new-liberal-democrats-target-seat-list/ According to this list the constituencies in Bedfordshire come in the following order: Luton South is 56 Bedford is 135 Bedfordshire Mid 300 Bedfordshire South…
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The effect of incumbency in Luton
A while back I noticed this interesting article on the effect of incumbency on the general election result on politicalbetting.com. It highlights the results of the two Luton seats as strong examples of where it believes this played out: “Striking differences can be seen in the same towns, between incumbents and non-incumbents. For example, in Milton Keynes North, where the incumbent was a Conservative, the swing to the Tories was 9.2%; in Milton Keynes South,…
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My, rather bewildered, reaction to the result in Luton South
I’ve been struggling to understand the reasons for the eventual result of the election in Luton South and still haven’t arrived at a clear conclusion. I said yesterday that the voters had the good sense to see through the celebrity candidature of Esther Rantzen. Yet were they displaying good sense in rejecting a change to the Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates and instead electing Labour candidate Gavin Shuker? I am of course desperately disappointed. The…
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Luton South result: Video of the declaration
Here is a video of the declaration of the election result in Luton South courtesy of ITN News: Source: This content was originally posted on my old Strange Thoughts blog.
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Luton South result: Media reports
Here is how the media reported the result in Luton South: Luton Today: ‘VIDEO: That’s Life! Rantzen loses deposit as Shuker triumphs‘ BBC News: ‘Labour hold Luton South against Esther challenge‘ Sky News: ‘TV Star Rantzen Swept Aside In Luton South‘ Guardian: ‘UK election results: Esther Rantzen’s campaign ends in lost deposit‘ London Evening Standard: ‘Esther Rantzen loses deposit as she is trounced in bid to become MP‘ Telegraph: ‘General Election 2010: Esther Rantzen fails…
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That’s life!
So Esther Rantzen’s bid to become the Member of Parliament for Luton South ended in 1,872 votes and a lost deposit. I said all along that she had no chance of winning. Yet, I am surprised at how badly she did. I was expecting her to get a slightly higher vote than the one she ended up with. The way media reported on her involvement in this election, the amount of attention they lavished on…
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Results
The results for both Luton seats and the South Ward council by-election can be found here on the Council’s website. My reaction to the result in Luton South is naturally one of deep disapointment, but also a genuine confusion at why the Labour vote would have held up so well. My response to the national picture is a general sense of bewilderment and some real heartache over some specific results. Very pleased about Simon Wright…
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Is someone using Twitter for dirty tricks in Luton South?
In the last few weeks someone has started using the messaging service Twitter under the identity of ‘lutonliberal’. This person goes by the name of Terry Spencer and describes themselves in their bio in the following terms: “ex lib-dem town councillor now living in Luton firmly behind Qurban Hussain” So you might think that a Liberal Democrat activist has decided to use Twitter to promote Qurban Hussain’s campaign in Luton South. Yet I think that…
