john07
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Post by john07 on Aug 4, 2017 23:28:40 GMT
Isn't Lord Beecham still a Labour councillor in Newcastle-upon-Tyne? Remember Harold Steward, MP for Stockport South from 1955 to 1964 but was a member of Liverpool City Council throughout? He was chairman of the Planning Committee from 1962 when he was 'named and shamed' on TWTWTW (along with fellow Stockport Tory Norman Hulbert) for not speaking in Parliament since the previous election. He lost Stockport South but went on to become leader of Liverpool City Council.
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Post by john07 on Jun 5, 2017 13:02:41 GMT
If it hadn't been for the meddling of the Catholic Church, Malta might be taking part in our general election! Former leader of the Socialist Labour Party and First Minister Joe Bossano wanted much the same for Gibraltar at one stage.
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Post by john07 on Jun 5, 2017 8:48:24 GMT
Maltese politics are incredibly tribal. I have known a few Maltese from both camps. I had a drink with a former postgraduate student who came over for a year to Edinburgh to study at Heriot-Watt. I asked him about his political affiliation and he confirmed he was a Nationalist. He added that had he lived in Scotland, he would been a Labour supporter. Indeed his uncle was a former Labour Councillor from Leith. In Malta Labour and the Nationalists form two 'laager'. It will take more than a dose of corruption and a couple of defections to break the power of tribal politics for most voters. That's true, but the scale of the Labour victory is spectacular by Maltese standards. The Labour tribe is more solid, and it has added the LGBT community to its numbers as well as others who were appalled by PN's social conservatism (re divorce). While I'm with them on the social issues, the extent of government criminality should eclipse all of that. I can recall when Dom Mintoff was Labour leader that a majority of one seat in Malta was a regular outcome. Then Mintoff picked up a majority of three to amazement all round.
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john07
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Post by john07 on Jun 5, 2017 0:36:31 GMT
34000 labour majority. Seems people were shy to admit they'd vote for a corrupt government so long as the economy was doing well. Maltese politics are incredibly tribal. I have known a few Maltese from both camps. I had a drink with a former postgraduate student who came over for a year to Edinburgh to study at Heriot-Watt. I asked him about his political affiliation and he confirmed he was a Nationalist. He added that had he lived in Scotland, he would been a Labour supporter. Indeed his uncle was a former Labour Councillor from Leith. In Malta Labour and the Nationalists form two 'laager'. It will take more than a dose of corruption and a couple of defections to break the power of tribal politics for most voters.
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Post by john07 on Jun 2, 2017 11:20:59 GMT
Lib Dems are in serious trouble of having less then 8 seats. From our perspective it could be squeaky bum next Thursday. Lib Dem gains or losses often bear little relationship to polling. I can recall one election where the Liberal share of the vote plummeted with little or no effect on the number of seats won.
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Post by john07 on May 28, 2017 20:03:51 GMT
Bugger. I wasnt aware of Jenny Shipley. Ah well. (Shipley never won an election...but then neither do queens!) Neither has May. Yet?
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Post by john07 on May 20, 2017 23:14:32 GMT
Remember the old Lib Dem songbook favourite to the tune of Walzing Matilda:
Losing Deposits, Losing Deposits, Who'll come a Losing Deposits with me....
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Post by john07 on May 19, 2017 0:35:05 GMT
This is true, but rather less work than our "strong and stable" leader! Can't imagine what you're on about... No wonder the crowds are low, that is the 'Remain' campaign bus!
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Post by john07 on May 11, 2017 15:38:36 GMT
Marion is not exactly BNP. She's old-fashioned, ultra-montanist, Maurrassian, all that jazz. Catholic supremacism. Vichyist rather than fascist if you will. Not that that's better, mind. In other words a French style fascist. We tend to equate Fascism with German type Nazism. The Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French variants were very different.
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Post by john07 on May 7, 2017 23:22:29 GMT
Is this a spoof or is it genuine?
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Post by john07 on May 7, 2017 22:08:13 GMT
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Post by john07 on May 4, 2017 23:42:40 GMT
En March would be better off cutting deals with sympathetic incumbents from the Centre Left and Centre Right leaving them to focus efforts on seats with die hard right wing Assembly members and National Front targets. Doesn't seem a logical approach if they really do have a chance to win hundreds of seats alone. But does Macron have the machine to deliver a large number of seats. Some well entrenched Deputies may be fairly sympathetic to what Macron is trying to achieve. Vote splitting can lead to some undesirable run-offs in the French election system.
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Post by john07 on May 4, 2017 22:57:28 GMT
Tony Otim I presume they will stand in the vast majority of seats, allowing for deals with incumbents to support Macron. Keep in mind that this poll is pre-2nd round. In past elections the president-elects party has been rewarded by voters as people want the president to be able to actually carry out their agenda. If En Marche is polling just below a majority now, they have a good chance of actually achieving one come the election. En March would be better off cutting deals with sympathetic incumbents from the Centre Left and Centre Right leaving them to focus efforts on seats with die hard right wing Assembly members and National Front targets.
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Post by john07 on Apr 27, 2017 14:06:13 GMT
Globalisation in the developed world has been going on since the late 19th century... Bit disingenuous there as the globalisation of the 1970s is a whole world away from the globalisation of 2017.... as for the globalisation of 1910.. what are we talking of? Osram? Nestle, maybe? Shell-Mex? Lever Brothers? Ford probably wasn't even producing cars outside the US then. Wrong. Ford UK opened in 1909!
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Post by john07 on Apr 25, 2017 18:58:53 GMT
It's a non-issue. You count both and they cancel each other out. Just like deliberate abstentions in our parliament by going through both lobbies. As Tony Otim says however, a blank envelope would be more common. I prefer our our system which allows me to write rude comments about the candidates. surely only true if there are only 2 candidates. If more than that could effectively depress the vote of a third (or more) candidates In the first round, people could literally vote for everyone but Le Pen! Of course they would need lots of envelopes.
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Post by john07 on Apr 24, 2017 12:26:46 GMT
I'm sure we can get it up to 100 pages if we start to rake up Manchester's old railway lines. Or pubs in Stockport. No that is generally reserved for the Scottish Football thread.
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Post by john07 on Apr 24, 2017 10:12:58 GMT
Le Pen, which is no surprise as I would of voted for her in the first round. How Macron can be considered an outsider by some is laughable. Not quite as laughable as Le Pen trying to label herself as apolitical outsider. She has effectively been a professional politician since joining the legal department of the Front National in 1998.
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Post by john07 on Apr 23, 2017 23:19:26 GMT
That is a real turn around. In 1981 when Mitterrand was elected, Giscard carried all of Brittany apart from Cotes du Nord. Giscard also carried Loire Altlantique and Vendee (ought to be in Brittany) from Pay de Loire. Now Macron appears to have swept the board. That is on the first ballot. Wait for the second ballot! Vendée in Brittany? Agree about Loire Atlantique though. Pays de la Loire is an abomination - Vendée should go to Nouvelle Aquitaine, Loire Atlantique to Brittany, and the rest to Centre Val de Loire. Take away Loire Atlantique and Val de Loire makes no sense whatsoever. Anyway for years the street graffiti has proclaimed: 44 = BZH.
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Post by john07 on Apr 23, 2017 22:37:15 GMT
All départements in Normandie are in, 2 each for Le Pen, Macron & Fillon. Le Pen 23.93% Macron 22.36% Fillon 19.57% Méchelon 19.16% Normandy only has 5 départements? Not if you include the Iles Anglo-Normandes! Any idea how they voted?
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Post by john07 on Apr 23, 2017 22:13:36 GMT
Bretagne vote shares: Macron 29.05% Mélenchon 19.28% Fillon 19.04% Le Pen 15.33% etc! That is a real turn around. In 1981 when Mitterrand was elected, Giscard carried all of Brittany apart from Cotes du Nord. Giscard also carried Loire Altlantique and Vendee (ought to be in Brittany) from Pay de Loire. Now Macron appears to have swept the board. That is on the first ballot. Wait for the second ballot!
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