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WELCOME TO THE UK GENERAL ELECTION 2015 |OT| !
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Currently, the
UK Election Debates are televising at this stage of the pre-election season. Information on this is in the timetable part of this OP.
Agenda for OP:
Now sit back, relax and enjoy.
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RULES
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- Do not attack a poster because of their party affiliation. We are above party partisan politics. Policies should, logically, dictate a poster's party affiliation
- There is no need to reveal your party affiliation or who you have voted for in the past. If you are feeling pressurised into doing so, please feel free to contact a mod
- If you are claiming something in an argument, use poll data, ONS/OBR statistics to support your argument
- Take into consideration the limitations of your data sources and the statistical methods that are employed. In particular, the way polling data is constructed and how economists use economic data or measures to support their argument should be considered. Economic history and history can be perceived as post modernist, and economic techniques are not infallible.
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The TOS rules will be abided to
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WHO IS CURRENTLY IN POWER?
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Currently, there is a
Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. In the post 2010 general election results, the Liberal Democrats held the balance power to either the Labour or the Conservatives gaining a majority in Parliament. Neither the Conservatives nor the Labour Party managed to gain a majority in the House of Commons. This is called a Hung Parliament. The Liberal Democrats chose the Conservatives. They gained a number of positions of power within the cabinet in exchange for a concession in their policies, for both parties. However, since mid-Parliament, the Liberal Democrats have waned in popularity and power. The turning point for the Liberal Democrats was their 'U-turn' on tuition fee rises. Despite this and other failures, they have successfully implemented some of their own policies such as tax starting at later income levels for the lowest income earners.
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UK MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES AND MANIFESTOS
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In the title of each party are wikipedia links to the party, the leader of the party, the position they hold if it is of special relevance and their manifesto.
Conservative Party | David Cameron, Prime Minister | Manifesto
The Conservative Party is a centre-right party. Their slogan for this election is 'sticking to our long term economic plan'. The press and the public also refer to them as the Tory Party or the Tories (a historical derivation from the 19th century). David Cameron and his leadership have tried to mimic the New Labour style modernisation by deviating from their right leanings towards a centre-right position. This is part in an attempt to attract younger and more liberal voters and Cameron's ideology.
Labour Party | Ed Miliband, Leader of the Opposition | Manifesto
The Labour Party are a centre-left party. Their slogan for this election could be summed up as 'the cost of living crisis'. Ed Miliband and his leadership have tried to move away from Blair and Brown's New Labour modernisation in the 2000's by moving towards a more left position. For simplicity, this was a combination of Ed's ideology, to distance them from the previous Labour government and distancing them from the current one.
Manifesto Leak:
Liberal Democrats | Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister | Manifesto
The Liberal Democrats are a centre, social-liberal party. In 1988, the Liberal Party and the Social Democrat Party (SDP) merged to create the Liberal Democrats following a 7 year SDP-Liberal Alliance. They are currently in a coalition government with the Conservatives which was planned to last from 2010-2015. It was the first time the Liberals have held power in government since David Lloyd George PM
UKIP | Nigel Farage, Leader | Manifesto
UKIP are the UK Independence Party. They are a far right, libertarian party who are eurosceptic. Their main policy goal is to gain independence from the EU. Nigel Farage has been party leader since 2010 and is a MEP. A surge in popularity in the local elections in 2013 and the run up to the European elections last May resulted in 24 representatives for UKIP in the European Parliament. They currently have 2 MPs (Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless) in the House of Commons as a result of by-elections and defections.
Here is an image of the European Election results (a PR voting system) and the places UKIP won seats.
Green Party of England and Wales | Natalie Bennett, Leader | Manifesto
The Green Party are a left wing party. They have a progressive approach to social issues, believe in non-violent conflict, in a sustainable society and basic material security. In 1990, the UK Green Party split into three separate parties covering the UK (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland). The Green Party have one MP in the House of Commons, their former leader Caroline Lucas. They have seen their membership soar in the last few months..
SNP | Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland | Manifesto
The SNP are the Scottish National Party. They are a socialist-democratic, nationalist party who campaign for Scottish independence. They have been in in the spotlight in recent weeks because of talks of a possible coalition in the event of a hung parliament. They form a majority government in the Scottish Parliament. Greater pressure for more Scottish powers since the Scottish referendum has led to the 'English votes for English laws' issue.This is commonly referred to as the West Lothian Question.
Plaid Cymru | Leanne Wood, Leader | Manifesto
Plaid Cymru are a party that advocates for an independent Wales. They are a centre left/left wing party that is based on decentralist socialism. Their aims include attempt to revive a bilingual Welsh nation and its traditions as well as social justice. They are currently third in the National Assembly for Wales with 11 seats, behind the Conservatives (14 seats) and Labour (30 seats).
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) | Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland | Manifesto
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. It is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. There have been calls for the party to be included in the seven way party leaders debate on April 2nd. Their omission is strange given that they have the forth largest number of representatives in the House of Commons.
Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams, President | Manifesto
Sinn Féin are an Irish republican left wing party. They are active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Island who have the goal to achieve a united Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves". Sinn Féin is currently the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly with four ministerial posts in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive, and the fourth-largest party in the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.
Social Democratic and Labour Party | Alasdair McDonnell, Leader | Manifesto
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist centre left party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP party advocates for Irish unification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom. There are debates on whether to focus on the 'social and democratic' part of their party founding or campaigning for a united Ireland and civil rights in a peaceful way.
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | David Ford, Leader Minister of Justice | Manifesto
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a left wing party. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons. Founded in 1970 from the New Ulster Movement, the Alliance Party originally represented moderate and non-sectarian Unionism. However, over time, particularly in the 1990s, it moved towards neutrality on the Union, and has come to represent wider liberal and non-sectarian concerns. It opposes consociational power sharing as deepening the sectarian divide, and, in the Northern Ireland Assembly, it is designated as neither unionist nor nationalist, but 'Other'.
Respect | George Galloway, Leader | Manifesto
The Respect party are a socialist, left wing party founded in 2004. The party grew out of the Stop The War Coalition against the Iraq War. It seeks to "provide a broad-based and inclusive alternative to the parties of privatisation, war, and occupation". George Galloway was a former Labour MP in the early 2000s who was expelled over the Labour Party's involvement with the Iraq War and is strong supporter of Palestine in the Palestinian - Israeli conflict.
There are many more UK parties that you are eligible to vote for if there is a representative running in your constituency. Here is a
link to them. I have included only parties who have at least one House of Commons representative.
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TIMETABLE
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- Here is an interesting timeline styled website categorised by months by The King's Fund
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ELECTORAL MAPS
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- BBC 'The Battleground' Interactive Maps
- The Economist Electoral Maps
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New Statesman
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STRUCTURE
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How Does it Work?
In the UK, general elections take place in May once every five years, unless Parliament votes to hold an election sooner. General elections in the UK are made up of 650 individual elections that take place on a single day, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A similar number of voters live in each area of the country marked out as one of the UK's 650 'constituencies'. Every eligible resident gets to go out and vote for one of the would-be representatives, called candidates. The candidate with the most votes in each area wins a place, or 'seat', in the House of Commons.
House of What?!?
The UK public elects 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons. MPs consider and propose new laws, and can scrutinise government policies by asking ministers questions about current issues either in the Commons Chamber or in Committees.
FTTP? Is that a Disease?
FPTP. On the contrary. It is the UK's choice of weapon in democratic elections. Under First Past The Post (FPTP), voting takes place in single-member constituencies. Voters put a cross in a box next to their favoured candidate and the candidate with the most votes in the constituency wins. All other votes count for nothing.
How many constituencies are there in the UK?
There are currently 650:
England: 533
Scotland: 59
Wales: 40
NI: 18
Information on constituency boundaries and statistics are
here
What is a Hung Parliament?
When a general election results in no single political party winning an overall majority in the House of Commons, this is known as a situation of no overall control, or a 'hung Parliament'. This is what occurred in 2010, and is set to occur in 2015 by indications of the polling data.
How many seats are needed for a majority government to rule?
Wait, I thought Ireland was one country!?!?
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland compromises of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since the Republic of Ireland went independent in 1922, Ireland has been separated into two countries. Surrounding NI this election is the 'Unionist Unity' pacts, meaning DUP and UUP won't stand against each other in 4 constituencies.
This is how it currently stands:
Code:
Affiliation Members
DUP 8
Sinn Féin 5
SDLP 3
Alliance 1
Independent 1
You crazy Europeans!
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THE POLLS
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Leading academic's prediction of election results from the
BSA:
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UK Polling Report
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BBC News Polls
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YouGov Polls
- Opium/Observer Polls,
Opium Website
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Survation polls
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Ashcroft Polls
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Populous Poll
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WHO SHOULD I VOTE FOR?
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If you want a government that represents the true view of the country's views, then do some research on each party policy and the potential constituency's policy. Your views should be reflected in the party that most represents your views or your most important views and you should concern yourself in how your constituent's policies for your constituency vary from the national policy.
However, I can understand time is a valuable resource. There are two surveys
'Vote for Policies' and
'I side with Quiz' that could help you find which parties maybe in your spectrum of thoughts.
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LINKS TO USEFUL WEBSITES AND VIDEOS
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Newspapers
- The Telegraph
- The Guardian
- The Times
- The Independent
- The FT
Blogs
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Liberal Conspiracy
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Guy Fawkes's blog
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Tabloid Watch
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Mail Watch
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UK Politics Subreddit
Election Coverage
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BBC News
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ITV News
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Channel 4
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Sky News
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The Economist
Coverage of every political interview on broadcast TV:
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Liarpoliticans
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Liarpoliticans2
Twitter
- Twitter list of 453 UKMP's
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UK/EU/SCOTTISH ELECTION ARCHIVES 2010 - 2014
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Take a trip down memory land and relive the spectacle of elections in the past 5 years. There are various links to speeches, debates and wikipedia articles.
UK General Election 2010
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BBC Coverage UK General Election 2010 Playlist
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UK General Election 2010 OT Thread
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BBC Election 2010 Results
- Wikipedia Information on the UK General Election 2010
- Gordon Brown's farewell speech
[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw_MI3uCz5Y"]- David Cameron's first speech as Prime Minster
[/URL]-
The new coalition government's speech in the gardens:
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3
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Televised Debates:
Debate 1 (ITV) |
Debate 2 Part 1 (Sky) |
Debate 2 Part 2 (Sky) |
Debate 3 (BBC) Full Transcript |
Debate 3 (BBC)
Scottish Referendum 2014
- Scottish Referendum OT Thread
- Scottish Results
- Scottish Results BBC
EU Elections 2014
- EU Elections OT Thread 2014
- EU Election Results
- EU Election 2014 Results (UK)
[URL="http://tinyurl.com/kujv7my"]- EU Election Results BBC
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ADMIN
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I will request a self ban on March 30th - mid June. After this date, I will no longer be able to update the OP about any crucial information. If you demand for information to be put in the OP, or want the exit poll data to be inserted in the title of the election results, then please contact a mod. This would include inserting manifesto links in the OP. This can be done by replacing the link where it says 'Manifesto' under each party title in Section 2 of this OP. Since
Wes posts here, it would make most sense to PM him for any queries.
The 3rd post in this OT has result predictions. If you would like to make a prediction, a poster will record and, by election day, ask a mod to place them in the third post.
Thanks to JonathanEx for the title of the thread. A number of other gaffers had other fantastic titles. Thanks to Yen and CyclopsRock for information on NI and polls respectively. Thanks to Chinner and Amir0x for previous election thread inspiration. Thanks to Coreda with help with images. Thanks to Crab for allowing me to take a serious critique into various polling methods. Lastly, thank you for being patient.
