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^^^ I laughed when I heard that. Though with some voters left out in the rain and not even getting a vote the Duckworth Lewis method might have been a better way of resolving that one.

Lib Dems romped home here, but disappointed nationally after all the hype.

Mandrake wrote:Should've used an I.D!

When I heard about that on the news I started wondering what I would do in such a situation. I wonder if I could get away with hiding a palmed card in front of a returning officer for several hours, just in case such an occasion cropped up

Nah, you're right, I'd probably drop it on the stage!

It's amazing how they assume that cutting the deck is genuinely free of any jiggery pokery!

It seems to me that Nick Clegg is going to be unpopular no matter what he does next.

The BBC is reporting that his phone conversation with Gordon Brown was more a "diatribe" on Brown's part. What sort of an idiot shouts at the one person who can help him stay in power?

The Tories will probably call a snap election within a year, get a clear mandate before they have a chance to make a mess of their own, and then dump the Libs like Labour did in '74.

Q: What's brown and sticky?
A: Gordon

(via Documentally)

Did anyone see the front page of The Sun today? Claiming there was a squatter in No. 10. I actually burst out laughing in the shop.....and felt no shame.

I didnt see that unfortunately, but the Mail had a quote from the conservatives - "Gordon Brown has put superglue in the locks of No.10."

Rather pathetic really considering he never got officially elected into office.

Sk8r St3v3 wrote:I didnt see that unfortunately, but the Mail had a quote from the conservatives - "Gordon Brown has put superglue in the locks of No.10."

Rather pathetic really considering he never got officially elected into office.

Nobody ever elects a Prime Minister. They vote for a local MP to represent them in Westminster. The leader of the party with the most seats becomes Prime Minister. When Tory Blair stepped down, leadership went to Brown.

The argument of 'nobody elected Brown' is complete nonsense.

Pete

pcwells wrote:

Sk8r St3v3 wrote:I didnt see that unfortunately, but the Mail had a quote from the conservatives - "Gordon Brown has put superglue in the locks of No.10."

Rather pathetic really considering he never got officially elected into office.

Nobody ever elects a Prime Minister. They vote for a local MP to represent them in Westminster. The leader of the party with the most seats becomes Prime Minister. When Tory Blair stepped down, leadership went to Brown.

The argument of 'nobody elected Brown' is complete nonsense.

Pete

Would you not agree though, that the public see the leader of the party as someone who represents them completely. What I'm saying is, with many people being superficial and only looking at things on the surface, if they don't like the leader, they probably won't like the party.

A case in point is Nick Clegg. The Lib Dem's manifesto didn't change with his TV performance, but his place in the running was suddenly given more credence. Admittedly that turned out to be un-founded but still, he projected his personality on the nation, and the nation decided they liked it, ergo he was suddenly the new Tony Blair. Shudder.

I feel that the reason everyone bleats on about Brown 'not being elected' is because they really don't like the bloke and don't like him being in that position. Let's face it, he's about as endearing as a Parking Fine.

Well i swear i saw somewhere an article about him gaining office by a means offbeat from the usual path.

I guess i misread it.

My bad.

Steve

I find the "first past the post" system fascinating and really in need of reform. That the Lib Dems could get 20% of the vote and get so few seats compared to Labour who got only 27% is crazy.

He wasn't leader of the party when they won the election. We was made leader afterwards.

The same happened to John Major when Thatcher got the boot, but he didn't wait three years to call an election. That, however, was more a reaction to infighting and leadership contests within the Tory party than it was about letting the public choose.

I agree that the leader of the party has a big influence on the way many people vote, but my point remains that we don't vote for a prime minister. So the argument that Brown wasn't elected PM is a completely bogus one, as no Prime Ministers are elected by the public under our current electoral system.

Pete

I'm getting a bit tired of Lib Dem supporters complaining about forming a government with the Conservatives. If they get their way this will be the norm every election. They should view this as a trial run for PR.

gillows wrote:I'm getting a bit tired of Lib Dem supporters complaining about forming a government with the Conservatives. If they get their way this will be the norm every election. They should view this as a trial run for PR.

I prefer to think of it as a sensible electorate, badly burnt by both Labour and Tory parties in the past, insisting that the sensible, reasonable, demonstrably non-evil Lib Dems have a controlling interest in the next government on their behalf.

Nick Clegg: he's like a dog with two d*ck heads today.

The thing is that if the Tories don't ditch the Lib Dems (which they probably will), then we'd be getting the best of both worlds.