The Greens had an interesting Tactic in some wards .

I think many who like this Blogs author lean towards Plaid Cymru , were pleased with the result for the Greens over the boarder in the English Local Elections.

In looking at the results I came upon a tactic which I never have experienced before.

In some wards in the City of York  the Greens ranked their candidates in order in preference 

Guildhall Ward

Candidates		Party	Number of votes
Dawn Argyle		Conservative Party	429
David Barratt		Conservative Party	409
Jamie Butler		Liberal Democrat	271
Denise Craghill		Green Party (first choice candidate)	1492
Robin Dickson		Conservative Party	374
Fiona Fitzpatrick		Labour Party	1198
James Flinders		Labour Party	1050
Janet Looker		Labour Party	1151
Danni Makin		Green Party (third choice candidate)	977
Jack McAteer		Liberal Democrat	226
Matthew Smithson		Liberal Democrat	191
June Tranmer		Green Party (second choice candidate)	1076

If they had not done so then maybe a distribution of votes could have seen them  gaining another seat

Micklegate Ward

Candidates		Party	Number of votes
Carlotta Allum		Liberal Democrat	407
Rosie Baker		Green Party (first choice candidate)	1954
Sam Biram		Green Party (second choice candidate)	1313
John Brewin		Conservative Party	457
Jonny Crawshaw		Labour Party	2408
Bill Gambold		Conservative Party	436
Jennie Gambold		Conservative Party	449
Christopher Gammie		Liberal Democrat	293
Vera Gool		Green Party (third choice candidate)	1052
Pete Kilbane		Labour Party	1913
Sandi Redpath		Labour Party	1746
Kate Webster		Liberal Democrat

In this ward it may well have worked with nearly 900 votes separating the elected First Choice Candidate and the Third.


In some wards they did not use this tactic may be because they did not expect to win

Rawcliffe and Clifton Without Ward

Candidates		Party	Number of votes
Jill Armstrong		Green Party	295
Rod Bell		Green Party	211
Will Bossman		Labour Party	642
Andy Dearden		Green Party	281
Peter Dew		Conservative Party	721
Rebecca Fewtrell		Labour Party	729
Dave Merrett		Labour Party	692
Charlotte Milligan		Conservative Party	746
Stuart Rawlings		Conservative Party	711
Darryl Smalley		Liberal Democrat	2219
Derek Wann		Liberal Democrat	2149
Sam Waudby		Liberal Democrat	2128

It does show that seem to have a detailed knowledge of where they vote is coming from in the City of York and a professionalism that in the past they have lacked.

Of course it could be simply that the Greens are using it as an argument for PR particularly STV, though it would take someone more skilled in Psephology than myself, to say what may have been the outcome if STV had been adopted.

If anybody particularly from the Greens have any further analysis or details, I would be grateful for any comments.

Plaid and Wales needs a Replacement Vote not a Protest Vote.

All Parties in power have Mid Term Blues in which they lose seats in local elections  and where we sometimes are led to believe that in the following General Election we will see a change in government, only to see the Prime Minister return  to number 10.


So Yesterdays results in England may not be  a sea change that many may hope for.

Still for the Tories it was an even worse drubbing than anybody seem to have predicted.

England scoreboard

PARTY	COUNCILLORS	CHANGE +/-
Conservative	3562	-1334
Labour	2023	-82
Liberal Democrat	1350	+703
Green	265	+194
UKIP	31	-145
Others	1179	+662

Councillors change compared with 2015

Labour didn't have a particularly good night , but in truth many of the councils being fought were the sort the Liberal Democrats have won in the past 

Council change results: sorted by Result descending. Click buttons below to sort the tabular data

Bath and North East Somerset	LD GAIN FROM CON
Chelmsford	LD GAIN FROM CON
Cotswold	LD GAIN FROM CON
Hinckley and Bosworth	LD GAIN FROM CON
Mole Valley	LD GAIN FROM CON
Vale of White Horse	LD GAIN FROM CON
Winchester	LD GAIN FROM CON
North Devon	LD GAIN FROM NOC
North Norfolk	LD GAIN FROM NOC
Teignbridge	LD GAIN FROM NOC

It is the Greens who are probably the  real story here with nearly 200 gains scattered throughout England , they now are beginning to look like a party for the future.

As i said we have seen this before but  whereas the Westminster  Party have rallied behind the leader The prime minister Theresa May wasas been heckled at Welsh Conservative conference on the very day her party  1,300 seats in English council elections.

"Why don't you resign", party member Stuart Davies told Theresa May before he was shouted down and escorted from the premises in Llangollen.

Mrs May said the election results gave both the Conservatives and Labour a simple message "to get on" with Brexit.

She insisted to BBC Wales that the Welsh Conservative party supports her.

Mr Davies yelled across the hall: "We don't want you" as Mrs May began her speech to conference.

The heckler - a member of the Clwyd South Conservative association which recently passed a motion of no confidence in the PM - accused her of dragging the party into disrepute.

"We saw the results. There's only one way - it's down," he told BBC Wales after being ejected."We need a new prime minister and we need that new prime minister as soon as possible."

Asked if the heckler was saying what many Welsh Conservatives were saying in private, Mrs May told BBC Wales: 

"I think you saw the reaction from everybody in the hall. They did not want that to be said."

So it seems that she realises that is what they are thinking though.


What of Wales  where there were no Elections , Plaid may be well rueing  there weren't any here and it would be them picking up the "Protest Vote"

Certainly it was the REMAIN Parties who won on Thursday in England and Plaid  will be confident that will not lead to the Lib Dems and Greens , being seen as such in Wales in the forthcoming Euro Elections.

But for an Independeista Party protest votes can only go so far and can disappear with the wind as the Liberal Democrats found out . They have just emerged from the wilderness after nearly a decade after all.

What Plaid need to be careful of is turning to populist policies to win short time power.

Plaid in the past have reproduced the above results ans one control of Merthyr Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly ,only to swept away at the next election.

Rather than a Protest vote Plaid should be arguing for a Replacement Vote, and a mindset that this means Independence.

Pete Wishart (SNP) for Speaker? Maybe a good idea.

The news that longstanding  SNP intends to put his name forward for Speaker of the house of Commons must have come as a bit of shock to many Independistas in Scotland but also here in Wales.

At first glance it looks like Pete has gone all establishment , but a quick look at his proposals, it looks like he is attempting to end the archaic practises in the bloody place.

As the National reports.

Launching his manifesto, Wishart said he would shake up the Commons, with “a clear reforming agenda” that will “make the House look and feel like a proper 21st-century institution.”Key pledges from the SNP politician included electrical voting in a bid to end the current “medieval parliamentary system.He also promised to allow MPs to use their names in the Commons: “We all have names, and if they are good enough for us in all other day-to-day discourse, they should be good enough for the chamber of the House of Commons.“All debates should continue to be made through the chair but we must start to speak to each other like ordinary human beings and address each other sensibly.”There were promises to reform the hours Parliament sits, the rules around clapping in the chamber and also to end the dress code and let MPs choose “what they should or should not wear to work”.Wishart said he would take some debates out of London to other parts of the UK.He told MPs: “My pledge to you as your Speaker is to make Parliament look and feel like an institution that belongs to its age. I will put in place reforms so that all Members of Parliament are treated equally and I will do everything to make Parliament relevant to all members of our community and all parts of the United Kingdom.”
Normal Parliamentary convention is that parties do not stand candidates against the Speaker during an election.However, the SNP have previously rejected that convention. An SNP source said that would change: “We won’t stand against Pete, no.

To summarise

1) Introduce electronic voting 

2) Abolish the dress code 

3) Allow clapping 

4) Allow MPs to use each other's names (rather than addressing by constituency)

 5) Extend proxy voting...
(6) Replace House of Commons commission with an ‘Executive of the House’ involving "all members of the HoC community including staff representatives"
7) End current practice of MPs being selected to speak based on seniority
8) Create an “open and available list of when Members would be expected to speak prior to the start of a debate” 

9) Take parliament around the UK, allowing some debates outside Westminster 

10) Reform parliament with 21st C working hours.

In other words copy much of the procedure in the Scottish Parliament .

Of course even if he was to win the establishment will block him at every turn

Still it's a pointer to what it is needed .

Could George Galloway pull of another by election shock for Brexit Party?

So we have an historic moment  in UK political History  when for the the first time in British politics a sitting MP has been removed by their constituents A Recall Petition which closed today (Wednesday) was signed by 19,261 of her constituents, passing the 10 per cent threshold needed to trigger a by-election.

With 27.64 per cent of eligible voters signing the petition. Sixty two signatures were rejected.

Ms Onasanya sparked outrage after she refused to step down following her conviction in December for perverting the course of justice.

A jury unanimously convicted the MP of lying about who was driving her car when it was caught speeding in Thorney in July 2017.

She was sentenced to three months in prison for the crime but only served four weeks before being released on licence.

Peterborough was one of 30 net gains by the Labour in 2017 in like Newport  West is a Two Way marginal

General Election 2017: Peterborough^[73]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Fiona Onasanya	22,950	48.1	+12.5
	Conservative	Stewart Jackson	22,343	46.8	+7.1
	Liberal Democrat	Beki Sellick	1,597	3.3	−0.4
	Green	Fiona Radić	848	1.8	-0.8
Majority			607	1.3
Turnout			47,738	67.5	+2.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.7

General Election 2015: Peterborough^[74]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stewart Jackson	18,684	39.7	-0.7
	Labour	Lisa Forbes	16,759	35.6	+6.1
	UKIP	Mary Herdman	7,485	15.9	+9.2
	Liberal Democrat	Darren Fower	1,774	3.8	-15.9
	Green	Darren Bisby-Boyd	1,218	2.6	+1.4
	Liberal	Chris Ash	639	1.4	N/A
	Independent	John Fox	516	1.1	N/A
Majority			1,925	4.1	-6.7
Turnout			47,075	64.9	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.4

General Election 2010: Peterborough^[75]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Stewart Jackson	18,133	40.4	-2.9
	Labour	Ed Murphy	13,272	29.5	-4.8
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Sandford	8,816	19.6	+2.9
	UKIP	Frances Fox	3,007	6.7	+3.5
	English Democrat	Rob King	770	1.7	N/A
	Green	Fiona Radic	523	1.2	N/A
	Independent	John Swallow	406	0.9	N/A
Majority			4,861	10.8	+4.2
Turnout			44,927	63.9	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.95

Though neither party is  probably releshing the Byelection we may get some indication on Thursday where one third of the council is up for election 

The Conservatives currently hold 31 of 60 wards, more than double Labour’s 14. The Liberal Democrats have seven, and the rest belong to a smattering of small parties including the Greens, Ukip, and local group Werrington First. The three Werrington First councillors are said to almost invariably vote with the Tories, and are in no real danger of losing seats. So if Peterborough City Council is to change hands, at least five Conservatives must be unseated. It’s no easy feat, but not impossible either. Labour is targeting seven seats and hopes to gain at least four or five; the Greens are on track to win one; while the Lib Dems estimate they’ll take about four.

Maybe a better guide will happen later this month  as the parties will be scanning the result in the East of England constituency particularly the vote for Nigel Farages Brexit party.

Certainly the news that George Galloway wants to be the Brexit candidate in Peterborough and threatens to run an as indy if he isn’t could make this a very interesting Byelection.

As political betting point out 

"This could be tricky for Farage because Galloway is no slouch when it comes to by-elections and has a far better record here than the Brexit Party leader.In 2012 in Bradford West he was 33/1 in the betting when he put himself forward in the rock solid safe Labour seat. Even on the day you could have got him at 4/1. As it turned out Galloway took the seat with 55% of the vote way ahead of the Labour candidate on 25%".

The recall petition in Peterborough  could be followed by one in Brecon & Radnorshire, and the result in Wales in the Euro Elections may have some impact on any Byelection though it is an ideal target for the Liberal Democrats.

I am not a great fan of recall petitions and although the above two are justified. I do worry that an organised party can trigger one for a trivial misdemeanour (though it seems it depends on the HOC speaker whether to trigger a petition).

Still if members of the House of Lords can carry on after being imprisoned for serious offences and we ordinary mortals have no say it does not put democracy  in a good light.

Labour are Riding two horses at the same time One called Remain and the other Leave

Labour may have just pull off one of the most deceitful manifesto commitments  ever.

The BBC report that 

Labour's governing body has agreed to support a further referendum on Brexit under certain circumstances.
The National Executive Committee met to decide the wording of its manifesto for May's European elections.
It rejected the idea of campaigning for a referendum under all circumstances - as supported by deputy leader Tom Watson and many ordinary members.
But the party will demand a public vote if it cannot get changes to the government's deal or an election.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) oversees the overall direction of the party and is made up of representatives including shadow cabinet members, MPs, councillors and trade unions.

 A Labour source said: 

"The NEC agreed the manifesto which will be fully in line with Labour's existing policy to support Labour's alternative plan and if we can't get the necessary changes to the government's deal, or a general election, to back the option of a public vote."

The decision was sufficiently nuanced, though, that MPs have interpreted it in different ways.Wes Streeting, who favours another referendum, tweeted that the NEC had "made the right call and confirmed that a public vote will be in our manifesto for the European elections".Fellow pro-referendum MP Bridget Phillipson said Labour had "done the bare minimum needed" and she could "only hope" it would be enough to win over voters who want another say on Brexit.
On the other side of the party, Gloria De Piero, who is against another vote, also welcomed the decision, arguing it meant the manifesto would "not contain a pledge" to hold a referendum - only keeping it as "an option" if a general election could not be engineered.

So basically  they are claiming that we can have a  public vote if it cannot get changes to the government's deal  in which Jeremy Corbyn may back whatever Mrs May comes up with or an election in which there's no guarantee that Labour will get a more acceptable deal including a Customs Union and Freedom of Movement which many Remainers feel is a red line.

Indeed what would be in a Labour General Election Manifesto? Unless there is a commitment to a Conformation Referendum on whatever they can obtain what's the point.

Riding two horses at the same time. One called Remain and the other Leave.

Don't worry though the  it seems that "Welsh"  Labour candidates in the Euro elections  will be calling for a conformation referendum.

Before the meeting NEC Third Rate Minister Mark Drakeford told the assembly's Brexit committee on Monday that he was "relaxed" about the efforts of all four Labour candidates in Wales for May's European Parliament elections to push for a second referendum.

When Mr Drakeford was asked whether he had any advice for Mr Antoniw ahead of Tuesday's NEC meeting, he said he expected the Pontypridd AM to "exercise his judgment".

Mr Drakeford is of course a Lexiter and follows orders from London.

But  it seems likely that Labour in Wales will be attempting to ride two horses in giving the impression they support both Remain and Leave , which may just work on the other hand, many of those who accepted the 2016 referendum may think that Remain is the only option that will not result in a catastrophe , especially as both May and sadly Corbyn haven't a clue in how to extract a deal that avoids one.