UK goes to the polls

[@meric@nwom@n]

Ha, the mother country has fucked up politics too.

[Daisy]

Ha, the mother country has fucked up politics too.

True fact, but we don't HAVE to wait four years to vote next time.

We can fuck it all up again in a few weeks if we want

[@meric@nwom@n]

I now realize that I really don't know squat about your politics.

On the bright side that means I am all American.

[@meric@nwom@n]

From the little I do understand doesn't the Queen pick a winner and can't she say no if you want to dissolve things again?

[Daisy]

From the little I do understand doesn't the Queen pick a winner and can't she say no if you want to dissolve things again?

The Queen is the only person who can invite someone to form a government and to become prime minister.

But that does not mean that the monarch can exercise any personal discretion over the choice of No 10's occupant.

After a general election, the Queen is obliged, by long-established convention, to invite the person who seems most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons to become prime minister and to form a government.

If the outcome of that election is inconclusive, it is for the political parties to determine who that person is, and to communicate that choice to Buckingham Palace.

Only then will the Queen receive any outgoing prime minister to accept his resignation and, a short time later, to invite someone else to take his place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/ ... 667820.stm

[Gob]

My money is on a Con/Lib pact.

Which actually may do some good.

[Daisy]

My money is on a Con/Lib pact.

Which actually may do some good.

For Labour under David Milliband, I agree.

[Gob]

THE flat above the Mehaj florist shop in Southall, west London, has so many voters that it almost qualifies for its own polling station. Of the 27 people who were registered to vote at the general election on Thursday, 15 had been added in the past month.

The owners also have two other properties in the Labour seat of Ealing Southall, where a further 24 voters have been registered, also largely within the past month.

The properties are owned by the family of Dalawar Chaudhry, who was deselected as a Labour council candidate after his restaurant employed illegal immigrants. He stood unsuccessfully as an independent last week.

Chaudhry said the properties were rented out and he had no knowledge of the voters. “I am as gobsmacked as you ... a lot of people live in Southall,” he said.

The high number of people registered at some addresses has raised concerns that “phantom” voters are being added to the electoral roll. It is not limited to any one party. A further 42 voters in the constituency are registered at three properties owned or co-owned by Avtar Singh Khaira, who stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative council candidate.

Khaira denied any knowledge of the voters. He said: “These properties are HMOs [high multiple occupancy homes]. People are always coming and going.”

Police are examining 62 new allegations of electoral fraud and have begun 14 investigations. Two men have been arrested on electoral fraud charges in Halifax.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/p ... 120760.ece

[thestoat]

I heard one economist saying that if the Conservatives (or Con/Lib) do get in, they should straight away go cap in hand to the IMF. That way they can blame any austerity measures dictated to them squarely on Labours shoulders and argue that every time Labour leave power, they screw the economy so badly the IMF are called in. Doesn't matter if Labour are to blame or not - the spin would be a powerful force.

Also, I noticed on Saturday, the Mirror (tabloid that backs Labour) had their front page saying something like "Let the shabby deals commence" (or something like that). Bit rich when Brown has offered his own shabby deals to whomever will talk to him. Anything to stay in power.

None of the three parties would want another election in 6 months time. The Libs can't afford it and the other two would fear a voter backlash at having to go back to the polls mught dent their previous score.

I'm still pinning my hope on the Monster Raving Loons getting in after a recount ...