UK Government disbanded! Parliament dissolved!

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Starchild
Nah. I like Bristol. How about somewhere up North? A fight to the death between savage god-beasts might cause millions of pounds worth of improvement in some areas.

That already takes place in late night Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow.


How about Thunder Bay ? Liven things up a little.

[KrazyHorse]

when you're flying above it at night in the dead of winter, Thunder Bay looks pretty happening compared to what's around it.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
when you're flying above it at night in the dead of winter, Thunder Bay looks pretty happening compared to what's around it.

Umm, and corn kernels in faeces are appetising to the famished. I'll pass....

[Clear Skies]

Yet another object lesson in not reading Apolyton whilst eating.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Clear Skies
Yet another object lesson in not reading Apolyton whilst eating.

All apologies.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Clear Skies


BBC - Defection boosts Lib Dems
Guardian - Labour defection mars poll launch

I find it immensely amusing because I used to live in that constituency and a victory for the Labour candidate would be about as likely as Nader winning the US Presidency. The Tory majority is unassailable (over 10,000), so the Lib Dems just accepted a defector who had no chance whatsoever.

I'm sure there's a good pun in there somewhere

Still, makes one wonder if Labour will contest the seat now. If not, the Libs just might stand a chance.

My constituency now has a 9000 labour majority on 58% turnout but it used to be a tory constituency pre Blair... doesn't that mean that 10000 swing is very possible?

[duke o' york]

Ted Striker () swings to 10001 baby!

[Clear Skies]

Originally posted by MikeH

My constituency now has a 9000 labour majority on 58% turnout but it used to be a tory constituency pre Blair... doesn't that mean that 10000 swing is very possible?

The Ribble Valley's not a likely swing seat - it's been solid Tory for all but two years since the 50s, and despite the Blair Factor their majority's gone up in the past two elections. Absent another poll tax revolt (the Libs narrowly captured the seat in the 1990 byelection on an anti-poll tax platform; the Tories promptly retook it at the 92 General), I very much doubt it. Looking at the numbers from last time around, even if Labour aren't fielding a candidate and their votes go wholesale for the Libs, if all the Tory voters turn out they'll still win comfortably.

[chequita guevara]

Monster Raving Looney Party!

[chequita guevara]

Why don't you folks redistrict once in a while?

[Starchild]

We do, every so often. We just get an independent commission to do it instead of having the parties fight over the issue like in the US:

United Kingdom

Boundary Commissions: The United Kingdom uses four independent non-partisan Boundary Commissions, one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The commissions are composed of four members, most of whom serve by virtue of their positions in the bureaucracy. For example, in England and Wales the registrar-general and the director general of the Ordnance Survey serve on the commissions.

Established criteria: The commissions draw up provisional maps based on criteria established in electoral law: population equality (although no tolerance limits are set), compactness, natural and administrative boundaries, community of interest and "special geographic considerations" such as size, shape and accessibility of a constituency. The importance is indicated by their hierarchical listing in the electoral law.

Public inquiry process: Once a provisional map is completed, it is published and a one-month comment period follows. If objections are raised, local inquiries are scheduled. There, an assistant commission (AC) invites those who made written submissions/objections to make oral presentations, where they may be questioned by the AC and cross-examined by others who have made submissions.

Electoral considerations cannot be discussed, but the proceedings are invariably dominated by political parties. They use the criteria in the rules, especially those concerning community ties, to influence the AC to recommend constituencies to the commission that are in their own electoral interest. On the basis of what has been presented, plus site visits when chosen, the AC's report summarizes local opinion on the provisional plan, discusses any counterproposals presented, evaluates the evidence and recommends whether the commission should change its provisional map.

The boundary commissioners usually -- but not always -- accept the AC's recommendations. The reports and the reasons for accepting or rejecting offered recommendations are made public.

If the commissioners redraw the boundaries, further inquiries may be required. The process can be long-winded and repetitive. For example, the commissioners started work on their Third Periodical Review in 1976 and did not produce their final report until late 1982.

Acceptance by Parliament: Once the final plan has been completed, the commissions present them to Parliament, which can accept or reject, but not modify, it. In the past 100 years, Parliament has never rejected the constituency boundaries prepared by the neutral boundary commissioners.

[Sandman]

Yes. Unlike the US, none of our constituencies look like Chinese dragons.

[Starchild]

For example, this election sees the number of Scottish MP's fall from around 72 to 59. Scotland's been over-represented in London and now the Scottish Parliament makes that excess difficult to justify. So in accordance with the act that created the Scottish Parliament, the commission was charged with redistricting Scotland. It's done that by enlarging or merging previous constituencies to bring the Scottish average of 50,000 people per MP to the English average of 70,000 per MP

[Atahualpa]

Why do the Tories have such a hard time or is Blair doing so well?

[RGBVideo]

Tories are not organised well enough and lack a clear, credible, accepted agenda and a proper leader.