What an astonishing night May 6, 2010 4.20AM: WHAT an election night. The early results have been all over the place. Clearly, the public has rejected the Labour government and the Tories have had more votes than anybody else; but everything else is much more murky. Swings have been hugely variable. Here are a few early thoughts about what has happened. 1) [...]
Brown holds Kirkcaldy May 6, 2010 LABOUR HOLD Swing 3.3% LABOUR leader Gordon Brown held his Kirkcaldy seat last night. He polled 3.3 per cent of the vote more than in 2005, at the expense of the Scottish Nationalist Party. He claimed he would do his “duty to the country” as it emerges from the recession. He said he would form [...]
Opik falls on grim night for Lib Dems May 6, 2010 CONSERVATIVE GAIN Swing 13.2% THE unofficial Lib Dem mantra in the lead-up to the election was “I agree with Nick”. But yesterday voters made it clear they still disagreed with Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems. The party failed to make significant inroads despite the massive hype machine surrounding them. Their misery deepened when Lembit Opik, the [...]
Hopes of Conservative majority sees gilts surge as pound recovers May 6, 2010 GOVERNMENT bonds saw a small surge in the early hours of this morning on hopes of a Conservative majority that would take decisive action to reduce the deficit. IG Index’s David Jones said June gilts were trading 0.6 per cent higher, having traded as high as one percentage point up earlier, over fears of a [...]
Labour backs reform of the voting system May 6, 2010 LABOUR’S general election coordinator Lord Mandelson last night threw his weight behind electoral reform, in a bid to woo the Liberal Democrats into a Lib-Lab coalition. “The exit poll suggests people don’t want a pure Labour government but people don’t want a Tory government as well. There has to be electoral reform. The first past [...]
Labour’s Khan holds Tooting to chants of “Yes we Khan” May 6, 2010 LABOUR HOLD Swing -3.6% TRANSPORT minister Sadiq Khan last night managed to hold onto his key marginal seat of Tooting in South London dealing a significant blow to Conservative hopes of an overall majority. The junior minister had been earmarked as a potential scalp by the Tories. But in the bellwether seat Khan survived a [...]
Surge in postal votes fuels fraud fears and adds pressure to system May 6, 2010 A HUGE surge in postal votes has led to fears of electoral fraud, with as many as 50 allegations being investigated. Some areas have seen a spike in applications for postal votes of up to 60 per cent. There is a fear the votes could be manipulated by community leaders to influence key seats. Political [...]
Exit poll says Tory minority is most likely May 6, 2010 AN exit poll last night predicted a hung parliament with a Tory minority as the outcome of the election. Tories gained 305 seats in the poll, up 95 on the last general election, Labour were on 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems languishing with just 61, a loss of one. Other parties took 29, [...]
Former Ukip leader survives horror election plane crash May 6, 2010 FORMER UK Independence party leader Nigel Farage was stable last night after surviving an air crash. He was rushed to hospital yesterday after an airborne election stunt almost ended in tragedy. The pilot lost control of a light aircraft the Buckingham constituency hopeful was using to tow a banner reading “Vote for your country – [...]
Conservatives take Battersea seat in landmark victory May 6, 2010 CONSERVATIVE GAIN Swing 6.5% CONSERVATIVE candidate Jane Ellison last night took London’s most marginal seat, Battersea, with a swing of 6.5 per cent – putting the party close to the 7 per cent it would need to gain an overall majority across the country. Ellison garnered 47.3 per cent of the vote – up from [...]
