Breaking news...

[juliet]

Ken Clarke: "I found your exit polls very boring... Peter Snow's getting awfully excited about a lot of results that haven't happened yet"
Paxman: "Well, Peter Snow gets awfully excited about just about everything"

KC: "I'm pulling your leg about your exit polls - of course, they're always wrong"

David Blunkett: "What are you going to ask me?"
Paxman: "I don't know, I think we might go back to Clarke rather than talking to you"
[later in same interview]
Paxman: "Well, there's no need to take that sort of tone" (turns round & cuts away while Blunkett still talking)

Also: new Labour slogan: Baseball Caps - Forward, Not Back.

[0:46] In more serious news: Putney Tory gain (see comment below), *massive* swing against Labour in Newcastle (though they still held it, obviously), & apparently 'very close' between Oona King & George Galloway in Bethnal Green & Bow.

[1:35] It's all just *entirely batshit*, that's what. LD hold Cheadle (Con target #1), but lose Newbury (Con target #30). Swings appear to be constituency-specific - although swings *away* from Labour, mostly.

On the upside, zotz's sister is now an MP (Ayrshire North & Aran, Lab) so go her. And I just saw Oscar that-I-used-to-know-at-Oxford on the telly at Newbury (Lab, -1%, but not bad in the context of the rest of the evening).

[1:43] Jack Straw saying 'oh fuck' under his breath whilst fiddling with his earpiece, unaware that he was already live.

[1:59] Teresa May has FLOPPY GOTH SLEEVES! And really fucking weird lighting - BBC camera really not up to scratch. In other news, batshit swings continue. And recounts all over the place. Robin Cook is quietly gloating - says his majority has gone up (though BBC says small swing to SNP).

[2:04] Blaenau Gwent: all-women shortlist, (some of?) local party felt candidate was parachuted in, independent Labour candidate stood against & won. Bah :-(

Further updates through the night, pop kids...

Comments

[trishpiglet.livejournal.com]

Ha! Yes we just heard that too.
Brilliant stuff.
: )

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

I'm watching it in a room full of reporters and political types, and trying to not squeek too much!

Fear ...

[bootpunk.livejournal.com]

Tories doing quite well in marginals ...

Re: Fear ...

[juliet]

And first Con gain :-( Plus 10% swing away from Labour in Newcastle! Fucking hell.

(otoh, I'm informed that the Tory in Putney worked the seat *very* hard, so it may in part be a local campaigning effect - the research I read back when I was doing my thesis indicated that a good local campaign can make up to 7% diffference)

[lnr]

KC: Brilliant wasn't he.

We're having great fun here in Cambridge :-)

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Electoral toy is being updated semi-live :-)

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

4% swing from Lib Dems to Labour in NS&B :)

[(Anonymous)]

hopefully this will prove to be the beginning of the end.

[rgl.livejournal.com]

Agh, George Galloway is now my MP...

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Yeah, because we really want the Tories back in.

Re: Fear ...

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

Yes, and she'd lived there for years. She claims to be going to fix the District Line...
Interview this morning: "There's been one blond Northern Conservative woman Prime Minister; do you think you'll be the next one?"
She started by saying she was going to be a good constituency MP, but within 30 seconds managed to endorse the 'not racist to limit immigration' campaign and mix up immigration and asylum...

Both Lab and Con campaigns in H+F were rather dull but plentiful, lots of missing the real points and taking the credit for central govt policies. Posters in windows were about 25%Lab (all in Hammersmith), 25% Con (all in Fulham), 50% Chelsea (fairly even spread)

[absinthecity.livejournal.com]

Yeah - I noticed the goth sleeves thing as well. BIG SLEEVES!

I'm seriously considering putting this in our jokey news page of alt.wear ;)

[juliet]

Yeah, I just saw that (wasn't still up when the result came in) - well done Kirsty!

[juliet]

Did you see his clash with Paxman? (realaudio whatsit)

[rgl.livejournal.com]

Don't have a soundcard on my work computer so can't hear the RealAudio, but there's a transcript up on the BBC election blog (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/blog/default.stm). What a horrible man.

[(Anonymous)]

rather them than labour in my book. didn't vote for them though because (amongst other things) they supported the war.

[(Anonymous)]

which one?

[rgl.livejournal.com]

Either. Both.

[ali-in-london.livejournal.com]

So what is your opinion on all-women shortlists? I'm trying to work out whether the "Bah" is for the shortlist or the independent candidate (or something else entirely).

[juliet]

Hrm. It varies. On the one hand: should just compete evenly etc. On the other hand: this simply isn't possible as things stand, as selection committees are overwhelmingly male & elderly (& usually white - certainly in that area they would be), & the whole thing is jobs-for-the-boys. I see all-women shortlists as one way of trying to get past that, rather than a Good Thing in themselves, if that makes sense? Evening things out overall, although obviously not in any given single location. It works, in that Labour now has a higher percentage of female MPs than anyone ever. I don't think that as-an-X politics is a terribly good thing; but I do think there's something wrong when an institution is so very lopsided. Broadly, I don't believe that women are simply less good as MPs than men, so I don't see why there should be so many fewer of them chosen as MPs (&, importantly, so many fewer chosen as *candidates*). Of course, there's other issues - the work done on changing the hours & culture of the Commons lately is a good thing - but this tackles some of the problems.

The bah in that case was specifically at the independent candidate bloke, who gave the *very* strong impression of "how dare this *woman* come along and take *my* job!" attitude (without, obviously, actually saying that up front).

I gather she wasn't local; which makes me wonder further how the local party have managed to put off all their local women from being interested? (or, cynically, wonder if they deliberately chose a non-local candidate - since this bloke & presumably many of his supporters were Labour Party members previously, so would have got to vote - so as to get an easier ride as independent).