Oldham and Saddleworth by-election

[longfingernails]

Just putting down a thread to discuss the by-election.

Labour will walk it, of course - the result itself is a formality - but the majority will be interesting. Will many Tory voters really bring themselves to vote for pro-Euro, anti-business, votes-for-prisoners Lib Dems?

Also, what majority does Red Ed need to start beginning to win the confidence of his Parliamentary Party?

Not sure what time the results are out or even if they are counting tonight.

Also I wonder if any party's voters are really happy in Oldham East and Saddleworth.

Phil Woolas caught whipping up racial hatred, and Ed Miliband, in full knowledge of that, appointing him shadow immigration minister.

The Lib Dem candidate being a sore loser, not to mention the stupendous Lib Dem u-turn on tuition fees.

And the Tory candidate who David Cameron obviously wants to lose so he can help out Clegg.

I reckon turnout will be really low, and there will be more votes than usual for minor parties.

I think you'll see Labour romp home. Conservatives have absolutely no chance.

Lib Dems will be the worst affected. You'll probably see some panic from them over the next few days & weeks as the electorate give them a well deserved pummelling for the fees fiasco.

The sad thing is, the Tories did have a chance.

Their poll ratings have actually improved since the election, unlike the Lib Dems, and they weren't that far behind - only a couple of thousand votes.

It really was a three-way marginal at the General Election, though of course it is Labour heartland territory.

Cameron deliberately sacrificed Tory chances in order to prop up the Lib Dems. He won't get them over the finishing line, but it will be interesting to see if true-blue Tories can really bring themselves to hold their noses and vote yellow.

Although I might vote Lib Dem over Tory for a local councillor, if I felt they were genuinely more capable, I would never ever vote for a pro-EU party in any national election.

Labour win - majority increased to over 3000. Can't say it wasn't expected but I'm still happy about it none the less

It's more or less as I expected.

Still disappointed that Cameron sold the Tory out for no reason whatsoever.

It seems that Tory voters really did vote for the Lib Dem - the Tory voters of Oldham are obviously far more loyal to the leadership than the cause.

I don't think the result will have rattled anyone in the coalition. As a side-issue.... nice to see the BNP vote almost halve. :)

The result is pretty much as expected. This election was really Labour's to lose.

Noone in their right mind would expect the lib dems to win this seat given all the cuts going on.

The coalition realise this, which is why one of the first steps they did was make parliament fixed 5 year terms. They're praying that in 5 years time, the economy recovers enough so that they can say "Look, the pain was worth it!"

Bit premature of Ed Prefect to say it was Labour's first step back to power... Still, like a banjo player with a message service, you've gotta admire his optimism :)

Chil1234 'I don't think the result will have rattled anyone in the coalition. As a side-issue.... nice to see the BNP vote almost halve.'

Conservative
2011 - 4,481 12.8% vote share
2010 - 11,773 26.4 vote share

British National Party
2011 - 1,560 4.5% vote share
2010 - 2,546 5.7% vote share

As we can see from the above, the BNP was nowhere near losing half their vote from last year.

HOWEVER

We can see that the Tories MORE than halved their vote share. A typical example of how the media, libe lab con and their idiot supporters try and twist everything to show how BNP is in terminal decline. BULL!!!!!!

If the BNP should be mortified by this result and give up, then Cameron should pack his Louis Vuitton Cases and take a run and jump of Brighton pier.

"the BNP should be mortified by this result and give up,"

I quite agree - they should give up. For a single-issue minority protest party to do that badly when there is such a swing away from the main government party, they must be wondering what exactly the point is.

They're in it for the long run. True Brits don't just give up when things are looking bleak. If they did we would have been beat after Dunkirk in 1940. On a limited budget and having survived infiltrators and a govt attempt to ruin their party via the courts, they have survived to fight another day, which they did last Thursday, and will be contesting the Welsh and Scottish elections in May as well as scores of local council seats. Every vote they get is another 2 fingered salute to the LibLabCon who are doing a good job of ruining this fine country.

(Anyone else feel like pointing out the tragic irony of someone who thinks a fine country can be made great again by getting rid of outsiders referencing WWII?)

Chili1234. I think compfan was saying that WW11 was a classic example of British people not giving up. This is true, I don't think this country would have let the Germans in without a fight!

I think minor parties may be down, but not out. How did UKIP do? I must google this and find out!

UKIP polled 2,209. Only 2000 less than the Tories and came fourth! The Tories are useless on the EU! so good for UKIP.