UK General Election **June 8th**

[ShaunWhite]

I really hope this thread will stay on topic rather than descending into moral turpitude.

[Naffman]

How is it not?

[LeTiss]

I really hope this thread will stay on topic rather than descending into moral turpitude.

It's not though Shaun - this has been in the news this week. Tim Farron is a devout Christian, and refused to say whether he thought homosexuality was a sin or not.

[mjmorris335]

It irks me no end when I see vox pops on the news and the reporter is asking people whether they've had enough of elections and referenda.

Millions of people throughout history have willingly given up their lives for the right to determine their own future, and now it's become a pain in the arse to take a stroll round to the polling station and put a tick in a box, FFS.

I'd make voting compulsory, albeit with a box that says, "None of the wankers above, thank you very much."

We've now got seven weeks of politicians and commentators trying even harder than they usually do to score cheap political points, but I won't be moaning about it.

Mike

[Euler]

I'd make voting compulsory, albeit with a box that says, "None of the wankers above, thank you very much."

I agree, maybe there should be a threshold at which none are elected if 'none of the above' wins. May force the quality of the 'elected representatives' up.

[RentonT]

And here I am thinking people should pass a test before being allowed to vote (due to most people not knowing f all about what they are voting on) lol Mind you I suppose it isn't their fault, with all the stupid campaigning!

[mattdidius]

political betting is probably my only knowledge area pre betfair/betangel, got the year right for this election so starting ahead. Just a heads up, Corbynites have a campaign to get supporters to bet on Corbyn just to change the odds, its as daft as it sounds.

[vankancisco]

It will be interesting to see how it pans out after the way things have gone over the last couple of years. Tory majority in 2015, Corbyn, Brexit, May and Trump have all shown to expect the unexpected to various degrees. The next Labour leader is interesting to look at, I thought Lisa Nandy could be an interesting contender. I think Labour will be keen to get in on the act with a female leader, and I think Nandy is part of a group in the party that are ambitious. It's the same group Owen Smith is part of, who obviously played his hand at the wrong time. Yvette Cooper has been backed into favouritism over the last couple of days, but I doubt there's enough appetite for her. Of course, there's the very real possibility of Corbyn staying on, regardless of how Labour perform in the election.

[ShaunWhite]

I really hope this thread will stay on topic rather than descending into moral turpitude.

It's not though Shaun - this has been in the news this week. Tim Farron is a devout Christian, and refused to say whether he thought homosexuality was a sin or not.

I really wasn't referring to any particular comment or poster, it was just a general hope. I did wonder though if it would be interpreted that way, whatever comment it just happened to follow.

[ShaunWhite]

And here I am thinking people should pass a test before being allowed to vote (due to most people not knowing f all about what they are voting on) lol Mind you I suppose it isn't their fault, with all the stupid campaigning!

It's an idea that dates back to about 380BCE, if you don't teach debating or politics and the constitution in schools ...here's where you end up ->

All aboard !!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_fools

[LeTiss]

I see BF are adding every single constituency, just like previously.

I notice though the one that borders me, Southampton Test isn't up yet. It's currently held by Labour (Alan Whitehead), who has made a great effort to do what he can for the community. However, Southampton Test voted 'Leave' on June 23rd, and he was one of the MP's who tried to stop Brexit going through

I'm interested to see what price the markets throw up, because I reckon his seat could be vulnerable

[sionascaig]

"Nicola Sturgeon is a divisive character, and has split Scotland, not unified it - will this be reflected in the SNP vote? I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose seats"

I think you are right Le'Tiss, however it looks like the Greens are not fielding candidates in quite a few seats, e.g. Edin South where labour won by around 3000 votes last time... If the greens 7000ish votes go to the SNP (likely) there could still be a few upsets...

A surprising number of Political markets now, although liquidity was very low on most of them last time I looked...

[LeTiss]

I'm wondering whether a Tory overall majority is a bit low at 1.17?

They only had a 12 seat majority last time, and I'm sure the Lib Dems will be hoping to grab a few Tory seats in staunch 'Remain' areas

[ShaunWhite]

I'm wondering whether a Tory overall majority is a bit low at 1.17?

They only had a 12 seat majority last time, and I'm sure the Lib Dems will be hoping to grab a few Tory seats in staunch 'Remain' areas

I agree, I've thought that for a while. But there's no way Brexit will be stopped at this stage and even the Remainers who are already Lib Dem are daft to think that. Lib Dems will definately do a lot better than last time though because they'll pick up anti-Tory votes from people who have lost faith in Labour.

It shows how poor Labour are when they are pro-brexit (on paper at least), big on public spending, 'banker bashers', pro-workers, and not Tories...(Joe Public's dream ticket) but still can't be seen as a threat. I've voted Labour for over 30years but with this shower, and the fact I've moved to a Tory heartland where any vote is futile, I think I'm just going to sit this one out. I won't be the only one especailly as the media have May nailed on.

Under 55% turnout looks the big price to me at 9ish, and 65%-70% must surely be too short at 4.5.

[LeTiss]

I'm old enough to remember the 1983 GE, where Thatcher had just triumphantly won the Falklands, and Michael Foot was advocating unilateral disarmament!

However, the laughing stops there! Because unbelievably, Corbyn believes in unilateral disarmament, he pretty much confirmed this on Marr on Sunday, despite the rising tensions in the world - the man is a total disaster, and I'm pretty confident he will record Labour's worst result since 1983.

Labour won 209 seats in 1983, they currently have 229