Conservatives fall to FOURTH in Hartlepool byelection

[LSdemocrat]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/byelections/story/0,11043,1317478,00.html

"Tories pushed into fourth place as Labour holds on to Hartlepool

Labour last night breathed a sing of relief when it held on to the safe seat of Hartlepool in a byelection that had at one point been billed as a chance to trigger the resignation of Tony Blair before the general election.

In one of the most bitterly fought contests of recent times, Labour won with a vote of 12,752, a majority of 2,033, down from 14,571 in the 2001 general election.

Turnout was just under 46%, down about 10 percentage points from the general election but in line with many recent byelections.

The Tories tumbled from second place to a catastrophic fourth, behind the UK Independence party. This is the first time since the second world war that the official opposition has come fourth in a byelection. The Tories polled 3,044, 149 fewer than the Ukip."

[T_i_B]

1. Sigh, fathers 4 "justice" morons again

Will fathers 4 justice ever grow up?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3705866.stm

Ms Dunn, a family lawyer, had purple powder thrown over her as she took to the podium to thank her supporters.

BBC News Online's Chris Hamilton, in the hall, said she looked visibly distressed.

Fathers 4 Justice candidate Paul Watson was arrested over the incident and released on police bail. He is due to be questioned later this month.

[Englander]

3. Or "fuckwits4justice" is a more accurate moniker...

they are pathetic misogynists..

[RogueTrooper]

6. Fathers4Justice grow up

probably not, why do you think they don't have access to their kids. ;-)

[non sociopath skin]

2. It seemed to be "a plague on all your houses".

Despite pulling out all the stops (with far more resources than they could ever put into an individual seat in a General Election) and the gift of Bliar's non-apology for the war, the LibDems pin-up girl still didn't manage to take it. So one cheer for New Labour's party hack who managed to persuade the Powers That Be to save the local hospital - a big issue in the campaign - and stumble to victory

(BTW, this isn't quite the Labour Fiefdom that the media would have us believe - that Monkey Mayor was a right-of-centre anti-Labour candidate and the Tories and LibDems were running the Council a couple of years ago)

Meanwhile, the UKIP, the BNP in Baggy Suits, come third. And the Tories fourth, though well ahead of what some would have us believe is the future of Progressive politics.

:nuke: Big sighs all round, sez the Skin :nuke:

Full Results:

Iain Wright (Labour) 12,752 (40.66%, -18.49%)

Jody Dunn (Liberal Democrat) 10,719 (34.18%, +19.15%)

Stephen Allison (Ukip) 3,193 (10.18%)

Jeremy Middleton (Conservative) 3,044 (9.71%, -11.15%)

John Bloom (Respect) 572 (1.82%)

Iris Ryder (Green) 255 (0.81%)

James Starkey (National Front) 246 (0.78%)

Paul Watson (Fathers 4 Justice) 139 (0.44%)

Christopher Herriot (Socialist Labour) 95 (0.30%, -2.09%)

Richard Rodgers (The Common Good) 91 (0.29%)

Philip Berriman (Independent) 90 (0.29%)

Alan 'Howling Laud' Hope (Official Monster Raving Loony) 80 (0.26%)

Ronnie Carroll (Independent) 45 (0.14%)

Edward Abrams (English Democrats) 41 (0.13%)

Laour majority 2,033 (6.48%)

18.82% swing Lab to LD

Electorate 68,517; turnout 31,362 (45.77%, -10.47%)

General election 2001: Lab maj 14,571 (38.29%) - Turnout 38,051 (56.25%) Mandelson (Lab) 22,506 (59.15%); Robinson (C) 7,935 (20.85%); Boddy (LD) 5,717 (15.02%); Scargill (Soc Lab) 912 (2.40%); Cameron (Ind Cam) 557 (1.46%); Booth (Ind Booth) 424 (1.11%)

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

[Englander]

4. "UKIP, the BNP in Baggy Suits"-very good....

I call them the Grey-haired neo-nazis.

This is another stage in the endgame of the Blair era,I think

[LeftishBrit]

5. In some ways it's good to see the right so weak and divided.

But it also means that Blair et al have little serious opposition, and can continue to ride roughshod over the country (and other countries when they can manage it), without being held accountable.

[fedsron2us]

7. Another awful result for the Tories

Even if they had taken every vote that had gone to UKIP plus all the other fringe parties they would still have trailed well behind the Liberal Democrats. In the last three by-elections they have come third twice and fourth once. This is not the performance of a party about to form the next government. The Conservatives desperately need a Disraeli to reinvent the party so that it can win over at least some of the metropolitan vote. Instead they seem determined to keep faith with the 'nasty party' policies that really only appeals to their dwindling core vote of blue rinse pensioners, xenophobes and misanthropes. It going to need a come back bigger than Lazarus to get out of the grave they have dug for themselves.

[sweetheart]

8. Oops... slipped on the soap!

Ha! :-) I laugh heartily to watch the evil scum party lose... geez,
i wish the wisdom of Hartlepool would blow across the pond to
enlighten the american swing states.

Funnily, the response has been a new letwin tax cut bullshit round.
Geez, a one string guitar don't make a tune you wanker tories.
Or two string, if you count bankrupting the treasury with wars
and prisons.

The libdems are the unofficial opposition, and there is a strong
sign in the wind outside, that the libdems are the future of
opposition and government....

:-) there must be a god! :-)

[Guy_Montag]

9. Sorry been a bit slow to point this out,

in a by-election shortly before Scottish devolution the Lib Dems came fifth after (I forget the order) Lab, SNP, Tories, Airdie FC Supporters party.

Within months (or maybe years, but not many) they were in the Scottish executive.

[LSdemocrat]

10. In the earlier general election the Lib Dems were in 4th place

In Hartlepool the Tories were second.