Stephen Twigg, former Labour MP for Enfield Southgate
Wouldn't you line up to vote him out of office if he represented you?
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 05/06/2005 12:14:44 PM PDT by MadIvan
A series of big-hitting MPs from all sides have seen their careers stall during a night of election upsets.
The biggest political casualty was David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, who lost his Upper Bann seat to David Simpson of the Democratic Unionist Party led by the Reverend Ian Paisley.
The defeat cast major doubt on Mr Trimble's future as Ulster Unionist leader.
Education minister Stephen Twigg was one of three government members to lose, ceding Enfield and Southgate to the Conservatives.
It had taken the seat from Michael Portillo in the Labour landslide of 1997.
Junior constitutional affairs minister Chris Leslie saw his period as MP for Shipley end as did health minister Melanie Johnson at Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
Fiery rebel MP George Galloway saw his strong anti-Iraq war stance steer him to victory against Labour's Oona King.
Ex-Labour minister Barbara Roche suffered one of the biggest swings against Labour, one of almost 15% seeing her majority of more than 10,000 in Hornsey and Wood Green overturned by the Liberal Democrats.
And Labour lost one of its safest seats with a majority of almost 20,000 in Blaenau Gwent where rebel MP, Peter Law, was victorious as an Independent candidate.
A strong student protest vote in Cambridge saw the Lib Dems eradicate a Labour majority of almost 9,000 to win.
Not all the big losses were Labour. Key Michael Howard aide and Tory education spokesman Tim Collins lost his seat in Westmorland and Lonsdale to the Lib Dems.
In Solihull, the Lib Dems secured a swing of almost 14% from the Conservatives to come home first.
Stephen Twigg, former Labour MP for Enfield Southgate
Wouldn't you line up to vote him out of office if he represented you?
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Did you change your mind about leaving?
Well, at least they have some truth in advertisement in the UK...
I've been persuaded to stay...by all of you and by the Mods.
Regards, Ivan
Indeed. And with a Kennedy leading the party, no less.
Regards, Ivan
Hurray! I'm SO pleased you've changed your mind. You are greatly appreciated.
Who won Prime Minister? Did Blair win?
The way the system works is this - in order to form a government, a political party must have 324 MPs elected. Labour won 355 seats. Blair, as the leader of the Labour Party, thus becomes Prime Minister.
Regards, Ivan
I believe the phrase is "Jolly good!"
Thanks Ivan, FR would not be the same without ou here!
Glad to see Twigg got the old heave-ho, but I am disgusted that that slimeball George Galloway managed to get himself elected. That man needs to be arrested, not sitting in Parliament!
Good to see you! : )
I'm glad you are staying. Surrendering to the forces of evil is what the French and some other Continentals do -- it's NOT the right thing for a proud Brit such as yourself. Sod the bloody ungrateful Anglophobes -- true Americans know who our friends are!
BTW: MP Twigg bears an uncanny resemblence to the older Peter Brady from The Brady Bunch.
Ivan, were you leaving FR??? Why?
BTW did you vote Labour or Conservative?
Bwhahaha!
Good news. I didn't think the Mods existed anymore. I heard they got their a-sses kicked by a group of Rockers at Blackpool back in '67.
Glad you're staying. I think most Freepers know that the English are our best friends in Europe. And it's great to have a local to post the important news for us.
So, the people voted on the MPs and the party affiliation carries the leader....(did I follow?)
And Blair won :)
Sorry that the swing was not a few percentage points greater, which might have offered more relief.
Bill Flax
Thanks for staying. You are are appreciated by many.
I was utterly shocked George Galloway won - I wondered who wielded the heavy stick and gave the voters of Bethnal Green and Bow the collective blow to the head.
Here was why I thought he'd lose - how would you feel if some tosser from the other side of the country was parachuted into your state to run for the House, just for the sake of say, telling George Bush off. He'd have no relation to your locality, no history, no help from a major party and just had a reputation for taking bribes and having a big mouth.
That's why this is shocking.
Regards, Ivan
Oh, and thank you for staying. You don't realize how much I've learned from your explanations!
Bump to a FRiend!
That may still happen
Or at least I hope so :0)
So glad to hear you are staying, Ivan!
Wow...I didn't know you were leaving but I'm glad you're staying because I always enjoy your posts and comments.
I voted Conservative. But in my constituency it didn't matter - they don't count the Tory votes in my area, they weigh them - it was a crushing victory.
Regards, Ivan
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
With the exception of "no help from a major party "
Something tells me that many from the State of New York can relate
Losing an election can do that to you ...
Glad you changed your mind.
Hooooooooray!
YAAAAAA!
We hardly ever post to each other so you probably don't recognize me from Adam, but I read a lot of your posts because you're fun and smart. Glad you're staying.
I think they call themselves Metrosexuals now. Yea! Ivan's staying.
LOL! New York does come to mind, doesn't it? Good one, Mo1!
Yes, glad you're not leaving us. I love your posts. Rarely do I reply, but I always come away with new understanding of what's going on with Briton.
"The biggest political casualty was David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, who lost his Upper Bann seat to David Simpson of the Democratic Unionist Party led by the Reverend Ian Paisley.
The defeat cast major doubt on Mr Trimble's future as Ulster Unionist leader."
This is pretty big, isn't it? Does this spell less chance for peaceful progress, in NI?
It's difficult to see who will lead the Ulster Unionists...it may be time to break out the Dr. McCoy pictures for his party.
Regards, Ivan
What is also shocking is that a large number of people are prepared to deny all that that POS is and vote for him, just because he is an extremist anti war agitator.
We can only hope, that one or more of the many Oil For Food investigations, uncover hard evidence of what he was upto.
The Iraqi government may well find/have the dirt on him, or even the Sod'emite may take him down before he swings.
Good. Your ability to explain political events in the UK is invaluable to those of us who really want to understand them.
This came up on another thread, so I thought I'd pose this question to you, MadIvan. Do the dead vote in Britain like they do in Chicago? Do you suspect they do even if it hasn't reached a scandalous stage? In other words, are your elections squeaky clean, or do they discover an extra box of votes under a table in a liberal district?
"I heard they got their a-sses kicked by a group of Rockers at Blackpool back in '67."
How did the Silly party fare this time?
BTW, Ivan, who do you think will replace Howard, at least in the short term? Oh, and did that young Tory man you pointed out yesterday win his seat?
It is pretty big - it leaves the peace process up in the air. However, the Unionists can say, legitimately, "Why should we deal with Sinn Fein, they're the same people who killed Robert McCartney!"
The ball is in Sinn Fein's court.
Regards, Ivan
Let's face it, would Churchill have cut and run after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Welcome back!
But how are the boundaries of the constituencies drawn? How often are they updated?
In the US we have a census every 10 years and the number of seats each state gets is determined by population with every state being guaranteed at least one seat. Then each state legislature divides up its state into districts. There have been numerous Supreme Court cases over the years on this subject, and the states aren't allowed to draw districts that are much different in population.
How much do the constituencies in Britain vary in population and are there systematic biases in them that favor Labour over the Conservatives?
Absolutely
They are discredited and as long as Bush is President they should look for no help from us unless they give up terrorism and prosecute the perps.
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