Letters From A Tory

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Today’s elections are still anyone’s guess

May 1, 2008 · 12 Comments

Dear Peter Riddell,

Your words of caution are well-founded.  Anyone who claims to be sure who the next Mayor of London will be is living in a dreamworld, and the local election results are far from certain when you bear in mind the huge gains made by the Conservatives at the last set of elections.

I think that the first and second preference system for the London Mayor sounds good in theory, but like you said many people don’t understand how it works.  If anyone chooses a second preference that is not either Boris or Ken, their second vote is completely wasted - which I suspect will be a common theme as the voting system is widely perceived as requiring you to choose who your two favourite candidates are, which is technically true but would be a pointless mantra to follow.  The BNP are certainly the party to watch as they only need a tiny increase in their share of the vote to get a seat on the London Assembly, an event that would trigger more soul-searching in political circles (with no end result, naturally).  Despite being a bunch of nutters, the BNP are filling a void that no political party dares to challenge them for.  The Conservatives could wipe out UKIP and the BNP if they dared to stand up for conservative values, but that discussion is for another day.

I suspect that when you look through the results of the elections tomorrow, you may find that you were largely correct.  Then again, beyond finding out who won the Mayoral elections and seeing how much of a drubbing Labour got, no-one is going to be paying much attention to the small print.

Yours sincerely,

A.Tory

Categories: Mayoral elections · Peter Riddell

12 responses so far ↓

  • asquith // May 1, 2008 at 9:25 am

    I spoiled my ballot. I had a “choice” between Labour, Conservative, BNP and two independents, both of whom are utterly retarded, as a flick through their campaign “literature” demonstrates. I should have had the presence of mind to write “Liberal Democrat” (or maybe “Gavin Webb” or something similar) on the ballot paper, but it was too early in the morning to remember such things so I contented myself with an obscenity.

    I think my action is justified. I can’t bring myself to vote for any of the candidates, and certainly don’t want to encourage them, but staying at home would have made them think I don’t care and they can just carry on being t***s.

  • asquith // May 1, 2008 at 9:25 am

    That was in the local elections. D’oh, not reading again. That’s what mornings do :)

  • Madeley // May 1, 2008 at 9:34 am

    “The Conservatives could wipe out UKIP and the BNP if they dared to stand up for conservative values.”

    I dread to think what “values” another political party would have to take on to appeal to BNP voters.

  • Letters From A Tory // May 1, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Fair enough, it’s your right to spoil your ballot paper in any election!

  • Madeley // May 1, 2008 at 9:36 am

    Actually, disregard the previous comment. Sorry, you’re absolutely right, it’s a discussion for another day and a different comment thread.

  • Blue Eyes // May 1, 2008 at 9:38 am

    Asquith is right to vote+spoil if there are no suitable candidates.

    The BNP are not a conservative party, they are a party of nationalist socialism - total anathema to Tories and worryingly close to Labour. UKIP are a whole other ballgame. Please don’t pander to the soft-left by aligning the two.

  • Madeley // May 1, 2008 at 9:39 am

    Blue Eyes, please don’t pander to the hard-right by aligning Labour with Socialism.

  • Blue Eyes // May 1, 2008 at 10:13 am

    Labour’s manifesto may not be Socialist, but every action they take in office is hard line authoritarian socialist.

  • Letters From A Tory // May 1, 2008 at 10:21 am

    I think aligning Labour and socialism is littered with problems, but the party is still full of socialists (at least in the backbenches).

    And I’m not pandering to the soft-left nor am I “aligning” UKIP with the BNP. They would both be dealt with very separately but could still be defeated. UKIP prey on concerns about our relationship with the EU while the BNP prey on concerns about immigration. A tougher stance on both issues from the Conservatives would leave UKIP and the BNP with nowhere to run.

  • asquith // May 1, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    I don’t know if Labour can be called socialist, but they are very authoritarian. They’ve got that classic we-know-best attitude. Look at their endless restrictions on civil liberties. A genuinely liberal or conservative government would never even have entertained those ideas, it just wouldn’t come into their heads at all.

    I do appreciate Cameron and Davis for being civil libertarians. Howard certainly wasn’t one.

  • Letters From A Tory // May 1, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Point taken, but I don’t hear Cameron and Davis talking about civil liberties very much. I would have thought repealling some government policies in this area would win over a lot of voters.

  • asquith // May 1, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Yes, we really need a civil liberties coalition in this country. It isn’t just a “liberal” cause, it’s conservative as well (small l and small c).

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