BBC (Sorry Ukip) celebrate vote in Wales as well as UK as a whole

The result of the Euro Elect in Wales saw a surge in support for Ukip  they only narrowly failing to top the poll

Labour has narrowly topped the European election poll in Wales on 28.7% of the vote only just ahead of UKIP who boosted their support to 28.1%.

The Conservatives - who topped the poll in 2009 - came third with 17.8% followed by Plaid Cymru, with 15.6%.

It means no change in that the four parties each retain a seat representing Wales in the European Parliament.

 UKIP topped the poll in Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham  and pointing to the t the North Wales region as the party's best chance of getting its first AM elected in the 2016 assembly elections.

It was also first in Powys and in the Vale of Glamorgan - that'll worry the Conservatives as they defend Montgomeryshire and the Vale of Glamorgan in next year's General Election.

For Labour who inly a few months ago they were heading for winning two seats it was naot as good a night as they hoped for.

February Poll
Labour ... 39% (-2%)
UKIP ... 18% (+5%)
Conservative ... 17% (-3%)
Plaid Cymru ... 12% (-1%)
LibDems ... 7% (-5%)
Wales Political Barometer, February 2014

The Conservatives  who toped the last poll last time will be wired about Ukip taking the majority of votes of them  in next years General Election

Plaid defied the pollsters  who predicted they will lose their single seat, but will look gloomily at the vote in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood says she's pleased that her party has managed to retain its seat in the European Parliament despite 'a difficult electoral context.'

I'm pleased that in a difficult electoral context, Wales returned its most effective representative to the European Parliament. The context of this election resulted in Plaid Cymru having to work considerably harder than other parties to get our message across to the people. I am proud of the teams of dedicated party members who worked hard across the country to spread Plaid Cymru's message of hope.

I also thank those who cast their vote for Plaid Cymru and for Wales on Thursday. We will now continue to further Wales' interests in the European Parliament.

As for the Libdems the fact that they can be placed in the bracket "others speak for its self


Selected results

Newport - Labour 10,648, UKIP 10, 376, Conservatives 5,804, Plaid Cymru 1,661.Blaenau Gwent - Labour 6,621, UKIP 4,300, Plaid 1,164, Tories 883Vale of Glamorgan - UKIP 9,577, Conservatives 9,190, Labour 7,926 and Plaid Cymru 3,484.Rhondda Cynon Taf - Labour 19,579, UKIP 13, 471, Plaid Cymru 9,748 and Conservatives 3,8Ceredigion: Plaid Cymru 7,139, UKIP 4,138, Conservatives 2,698, Liberal Democrats 2,332Torfaen - Labour 7,183, UKIP 6,569, Conservatives 2,799, Plaid Cymru 1,628Ynys Mon - Plaid Cymru 6,609, UKIP 5,201, Labour 3,055, Conservatives 2,715Cardiff - Labour 24,999, UKIP 18,370, Tories 15,297Flintshire - UKIP 11,800, Labour 10,121, Conservatives 7,538, Plaid Cymru 2,947Caerphilly - Labour 14,253, UKIP 11,809, Plaid 5,392 and Tories 3,434Monmouth - Conservative 7,969 UKIP 6,757, Labour 4,746, Plaid Cymru 1,504

All the parties will be looking at gnot only the wales result but the UK as a whole and maybe questioning  the Media role in promoting  a Ukip surge espicialy the part played by the BBC



Which at times seems to the main cheerleader for Farage and one wonders how far there is an Eurosceptic influence in some quarters of BBC News.

Peter Black in denial again.

I imagine if there is one Blogger who is praying Plaid lose their sole MEP rather thab its own

 in tonight Euro Election count because it will allow him to comment on another Parties woes 

Peter probably the most enthusiastic Blogger who is a member of a UK legislature strangely has no comment on the LibDem disastrous showing in the Local Government elections in England.

In some ways the UKIP "earthquake"  (or was it a tremor") masked the disaster to his Party  as I pointed out yesterday they lost all their seats on Islington  Council  despite the fact they were in control eight years ago

But they also ended up with no Councillors in Liverpool which was once their flagship of urban liberalism. 

Controlling party		Years	Leader
No overall control		1974–1983	1974 – 1975 Cyril Carr (Liberal) 1975 – 1976: Bill Smyth (Liberal) 1976 – 1978: John Hamilton (Labour) 1978 (May – June): Eddie Roderick (Labour) 1978 – 1979: John Hamilton (Labour) 1979 – 1983: Trevor Jones (Liberal)
	Labour	1983 – 1987	1983 – 1986: John Hamilton 1986 – 1987: Tony Byrne
	Liberal	1987 (March – May)	Trevor Jones
	Labour	1987 – 1992	1987 (May – October): Harry Rimmer 1987 – 1990: Keva Coombes 1990 – 1992: Harry Rimmer
No overall control		1992 – 1996	Harry Rimmer (Labour)
	Labour	1996 – 1998	Frank Prendergast
	Liberal Democrat	1998 – 2010	1998 – 2005: Mike Storey 2005 – 2010: Warren Bradley
	Labour	2010 – present	2010 – present Joe Anderson

Now the council is much smaller because they now have a Mayor but  to have no councillors in an area where you were once a major power looks pretty awful

Election results by party Liverpool

Party name	Seats won	% of votes
Labour Party	27	58.09%
Green Party	2	10.72%
Liberal Party	1	4.51%
UK Independence Party	0	9.74%
Liberal Democrat	0	9.45%
Conservative Party	0	5.14%
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	0	1.22%
National Health Action Party	0	< 1%
Independent	0	< 1%
Old Swan Against the Cuts	0	< 1%
English Democrats "Putting England First"	0	< 1%
English Democrats "More Police - Catching Criminals"	0	< 1%

So back to Pete what does he comment on ...

"The paper quotes a 'comprehensive' Treasury analysis that found that the state pension would be less affordable in an independent Scotland unless it could attract almost half a million more immigrants.  Civil servants have calculated that Scotland would need the population increase over the next 20 years – the equivalent of a city the size of Edinburgh – because there are fewer workers north of the Border paying taxes to fund each OAP’s pension.
A separate Scotland would have to more than treble its projected annual net migration from 7,000 to 24,000 if the funding gap relative to the UK was to be closed, it said.
Without a steep increase in immigration, actuaries have warned that each worker would have to pay hundreds of pounds more in tax to make good the shortfall.

No doubt the SNP have allowed for this in their calculations".

One of the commentators pointed out that

Glyn Erasmus.
# posted by  Anonymous : 1:16 PM
Has it been discredited? I think not.
# posted by  Peter Black : 1:19 PM

So to help Peter I've this morning to pointed him to Wings over Scotland's comprehensive demolition of "this rubbish" I Hope he reads it. 

Maybe Tal Michael should have stayed in Islington?

Since i used to live in Camden  it still has some interest for  me  but nearby Islington  has always fascinated me.

According to The Guardian, "Islington is widely regarded as the spiritual home of Britain's left-wing intelligentsia

Bur for years the Liberal Democrats have put up a strong challenge and as recent as eight years ago controlled the council

Labour however  won a landslide victory in Islington, wiping out the Lib Dems to claim every seat but one in the borough.

The Greens will now make up an opposition of one after Caroline Russell pipped Labour in Highbury East by a mere eight votes to take one of the three seats in the ward.
 

It was a catastrophic afternoon for the Lib Dems, who saw their share of the vote collapse. The party,who as I said  ran the Town Hall just eight years ago, slumped to last place in many wards. They narrowly missed out in their stronghold of Highbury East, however.
 

The Greens came second in many wards, and can now claim to be the second party in the borough.

If this reflects the next General Election the Liberal democrats  their have long challenged in the Islington South seat 

General Election 2010: Islington South and Finsbury[8][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Emily Thornberry	18,407	42.3	+2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Bridget Fox	14,838	34.1	-4.2
	Conservative	Antonia Cox	8,449	19.4	+4.6
	Green	James Humphreys	710	1.6	-3.1
	UKIP	Rose-Marie McDonald	701	1.6	+0.1
	English Democrats	John Dodds	301	0.7	+0.7
	Animals Count	Richard Deboo	149	0.3	+0.3
Majority			3,569	8.2
Turnout			43,555	64.4	+10.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.3

But now with no councilors in the seat they may have along wait before their challenge again.

Islington Council has been seen as training ground for future Labour MPs and  once included failed candidate for North Wales Crime commissioner and Ynys Mon flop Tal Michael

Still it's not good for democracy to see just one opposition councillor  on any council but ,Terry Stacy, the former Lib Dem leader, and former leader of the council, warning  that Islington will be the "North Korea" of London seems the words of a bitter man.

"What's going to happen is not good for democracy," he said.

"If it becomes all Labour, there will be no scrutiny. I did highlight a lot during my time as a councillor, I was the first to speak out against wasteful spending and I'm not going to be around to do that anymore.

"Islington is the North Korea of north London now. It is a one party state, there is no democracy, there will be no one to challenge Labour. For the long-term I plan to put my feet up and have a think about my future and what I'm going to do."

Still I wonder if Tal Michael regrets coming back to Wales to have a career in politics here but is time in Islington was not without controversy where he was forced to withdraw   allegations against a Labour candidate  fellow Labour candidate Liz  Davies who issue libel writs against three Islington councillors, Tal Michael, James Purnell and Phil Kelly, unless they retracted allegations that she had "incited violence" and barracked and heckled at an education committee meeting into the closure of a school playground.

So I wonder how popular he is was in the " spiritual home of Britain's left-wing intelligentsia".

Tory AM compares Blaneau Gwent to Eastern Europe

The Mule reported that 

"Tory AM Mohammad Asghar stokes fury by describing Blaenau Gwent as 'third-world' and comparing parts of his region to Eastern Europe

Mr Asggar who once was a Plaid AM for the South East Region before controversially switching to the Tories said South Wales East was the poorest region in the UK, including areas such as Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Torfaen and Merthyr Tydfil and said the government should be “ashamed” of its record for unemployment, education and housing.
He added: “In this part of the world...if you look at Newport, Merthyr, Caerphilly, Pontypool, Hengoed, Bargoed...go and look at the empty shops.

He added:

 “In this part of the world...if you look at Newport, Merthyr, Caerphilly, Pontypool, Hengoed, Bargoed...go and look at the empty shops.
“I go there every week, Deputy Presiding Officer. The record that they have is virtually the worst in the world. We are getting this European funding. You have failed to deliver. You make this part of the world like the third world – like eastern European countries.”

But Mr Asghar’s comments were denounced by First Minister Carwyn Jones in his response to the debate, saying they were a “profound insult” to those who live in Blaenau Gwent, while the constituency AM and Natural Resources Minister Alun Davies called on Mr Asghar to apologise to the people of Blaenau Gwent.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said

: “Let me tell him that in third-world countries, as he calls them, people die of malaria, They die of polio.
“I went to Uganda in January, there was one hospital there which covered four and a half million people with six consultants.
“If you had cancer, you died. If you had heart disease, you died. If you had any disease that required drugs that cost a lot of money, you died. That’s what you describe as a third-world country, or a developing country, looks like.
“To describe Blaenau Gwent in those terms is a profound insult to the people who live there and is a profound insult to those people who live in developing countries who face very difficult lives – I ask him to reconsider that point.

Well yes, but Mr Asghar was actually referring to eastern Europe and may have be wrong to use the term third world.

But  Carwyn Jones,  can't deny that Blaneau Gwent is not one of the poorest areas of the EU at least and can he not accept that after 15 years of his party in power in Cardiff Bay, eleven of which Labour were also in power at Westminster under Blair/Brown they must take some responsibility for this?.

Of course coming from a Tory it sticks in the craw o here and  but who can deny there are parts of our Nation where there is extreme deprivation.

It is sad that Plaid Plaid Cymru AM for the region, Jocelyn Davies could not attack Labour rather than Mr Ashgar when she ,  said: “

The Member’s comments were silly, ill-considered and show that he knows very little about Blaenau Gwent.

"The South East is an area that has suffered significantly as the result of Tory cuts, but the Conservative AM’s comments show how out of touch he is."

But Jocelyn , Ashgar has a point about the state of the region  it is a bigger insult to the people there t to  to side with Labour and put the blame on the Tories. 

To solve a problem you have first  to accept it exist.

It may be hypocritical of a Tory to point things out, But did he in his interjection blame the people of Blneau Gwent  or the Labour administration?

Blaming Labour for its failing in government is not the same as attacking those they represent  though you some time Labour think they own their constituencies.

But is it not time Plaid stopped Pussy Footing with Labour and started attacking them for their failures over the last 15 years ?
It is time they stopped worrying that they will be accused by Labour of siding with the Tories by pointing out that the former must take its responsibility for the  deprivations of areas of Blaneau Gwent.

The people there deserve better and clearly the answer does not lie with a Labour or Tory whether in Cardiff or Westminster administration.

They need a New Hope where will it come from/

”
 

I beleive you should vote Plaid today; But at least vote

It will come as no surprise that I will be voting for Plaid  in the European Elections today .

Back on the 10 th may I  Blogged that since then

Plaid should openly admit they could lose Jill Evans in European Election.

It seems that this might have just worked . Plaid have risen in the Polls and by promoting Jill whose probably the only MEP  standing that people outside the political bubble can name.

Ukip will undoubtedly win a seat and the reason for this may be varied  but it will largely be a protest vote .

It is sad that the protest vote these days now gores almost entirely to the right even far right and the left partly because they can't unite fail miserably.

It will be also sad that once again there will be no Green representation from Wales  and if STV was in place then my second vote would have gone to them.

Unfortunately unlike Norther Ireland 

W

what other European Country has different voting system within its boarder?

I still believe Plaid and the Greens should have formed a pact where Jill Evans would top the list and Green take second place.

But the important thing is that people go out to vote. With some suggesting that voting will be around 30%  it will hardly be a ringing endorsement for any party.

However I think I may just  avoiding the News on the BBC over the next few days  as they gleefully show Nigel Farage gloating over his success.

God Help us.

There is no "Welsh" Conservative Party and they should not be allowed to pretend there is.

Last nights "Welsh" Conservative Party Political Broadcast  showed an anomaly in our democratic process.

It appears to be largely the same as the shown in England but with a natation by someone with a welsh accent and final segment whree davis Cameon made a vert short address where he mentions Wales and includes Pklaid in the parties he attacks.

ut hang on a minute is there e a Welsh Conservative Party or is it the Conservative Party in Wales.

I've tried to find out if there a Pary called this registered with the Electoral Commision but frankly their search Engine or this is crap.

There are rules however  and the Commission state  that

Registration requirements for political parties
When registering, parties need to provide us with some information about their party structure, including a financial scheme, their constitution and details of any branches of the party that manage their own finances (“accounting units”). They must also appoint people to the official roles of:

• Party leader

• Treasurer

• Nominating officer

Registered parties must keep details of these roles up to date and inform us of any changes. Every year we ask parties to confirm their registration details in an annual registration confirmation.

So Who is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives the Treasurer and Nominating Officer 

The same may be said of the "Welsh" Labour party whilst I'm somewhat prepared to accept the "Welsh" Liberal Democrats  may have a case under thier main Party's federal structure.

But the question is should  the Conservatives/Labour be allowed to have a PPB  claiming to be a distinct Party when it merely a UK party in Wales or Scotland.

Indeed is it fair that Unionist Parties can pretend that the are a federal party and have distinct parties in wales and Scotland and be allowed to tweak their PPB's to attack opponents there even to the extent that they may be saying something slightly different from Thieu UK policy.

Should the EC insist that Political Parties should only be allowed a a PPB under the name it is registered with?

Or how much longer are the electorate going to be deceived with the claim that these Unionist parties here are somehow miraculously "Welsh"

If Scotland votes . They and Wales could lose their Football sides,

The supporters of  a NO vote in the Scottish referendum have long be accused of running  "Project Fear " and coming up with negative and sometime ludicrous arguments of what would happen if Scotland should leave the UK.

Amongst them are

Scotland would not be reapply to join the EU
They would not be allowed to keep the pound 
People would need a passport to see relatives in the rest of the UK

And this pathetic claim that in the wake of Independence, Scots in trouble abroad will have no one to turn too.

But what of the reverse? What can Scotland loose if they miss the opportunity to become a Nation in its own right.

Well here's one .

If Scotland votes NO then we can't blame the members of FIFA asking why there should be a Scottish Football team?

The result of a NO vote a GB team at the World Cup in 2022

When the idea that Serge Blatter assured Chancellor Gordon Brown that a British side could compete in the Olympics without FIFA forcing the home nations to give up their own independent sides in competitions. Brown off course in an effort to portray himselfl as a Brit and not a Scot was all in favours

He advised that written assurances would be given that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland could continue to field separate teams in the World Cup and European Championship after the games.

But it's not cast in stone.


It must be very odd for other Nations to see the England,Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland compete as if they were Independent Nations in Football and you can't blame them for thinking.

"They don't even want to be a Nation why should they compete as one?

The same would apply to us and we could lose our team if Scotland vote no.

Fantasy? no more than much of Project Fear scaremongering.