Interesting electoral facts

[The Bishop]

But the increase in the Labour % share come 1997 was still fairly substantial (and significantly more so when the seats where Labour already had 70% or more are omitted)

Don't forget it was a GE where turnout was over 6 points down nationally on 1992 - and by considerably more in many "safe" Labour areas (something that immediately gave the lie to the "we only lost, or at least on such a scale, because our voters all stayed at home" myth that all too many Tories comforted themselves with in the aftermath)

[Andrew_S]

In 1997 there was a rather untypical rise in the LD vote of 3.5 percentage points in the Derby South constituency.

Looking back at it now, it seems to me likely this was something to do with the fact that the name of the LD candidate was Beckett, the same as the Labour MP.

[Andrew_S]

In Winchester in 1997 the Loony candidate polled 307 votes as against a LD majority of 2 votes. This is probably the largest ratio of Loony votes to majority in any constituency.

[Deleted]

It has crossed my mind that John Browne's attempt to retain Winchester in 1992 may possibly have contributed to Gerry Malone's defeat in 1997. By articifically reducing the Tory majority, the LibDems were able to make this more light of the seat as a viable target. I didn't expect we would win it back last time. The 2010 result was one of our more pleasantly surprising results, in spite of Mark Oaten's personal difficulties.

[Tony Otim]

The Tory majority in Winchester was pretty much the same in 1992 as 1987. It may have been slightly larger without Browne's candidacy, but then again he might have taken some votes from the LDs as well, so overall I doubt it made much difference to the 1997 result.

[andrewteale]

Returning Officers for the 2014 European Parliament elections.

EAST MIDLANDS: Kettering
EASTERN: Chelmsford
LONDON: Lewisham
NORTH EAST: Sunderland
NORTH WEST: Manchester
SOUTH EAST: Southampton
SOUTH WEST: Poole
WEST MIDLANDS: Birmingham
YORKSHIRE: Leeds
WALES: Pembrokeshire
SCOTLAND: Falkirk

(Doesn't really fit in this thread but I wasn't sure where else to post it)

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Several changes in that list, from memory. North West used to be Manchester, and Scotland used to be Edinburgh.

[maxque]

Who decides them?

[The Bishop]

Aug 22, 2013 0:10:55 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

Several changes in that list, from memory. North West used to be Manchester, and Scotland used to be Edinburgh.

And according to the above list, still is.......

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Sorry, I meant used to be Liverpool.

[andrewteale]

I've put together a list of returning officers in past European elections since PR was introduced in 1999.

Four regions have been run by the same council in every election since 1999: North East (Sunderland), West Midlands (Birmingham), Yorkshire (Leeds) and Wales (Pembrokeshire).

Two regions move to a new venue this year after three elections in the same venue: Eastern (Huntingdonshire to Chelmsford) and Scotland (Edinburgh to Falkirk).

Two regions have had the same venue since 2004: North West (declared in Liverpool in 1999) and South West (declared in South Somerset in 1999).

The East Midlands declaration was from Northampton in 1999 and 2004, Leicester in 2009 and Kettering next year.

The London declaration was in Barnet in 1999 and Lewisham since 2009. The 2004 count was done by the GLA counting team and declared at City Hall.

The South East declaration was in Winchester in 1999, South Oxfordshire in 2004 and Southampton since 2009.

[Andrew_S]

Looks like we have another case of a widely reported constituency result being incorrect, with the 1997 Bassetlaw result.

A lot of sources like the Times Guide and Wikipedia give it as follows:

Lab: 29,298
Con: 11,838
LD: 4,950
Ref: 1,838

The repeat of the "1,838" part with both Con and Ref looks a bit suspicious.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassetlaw_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_1990s

On the election.demon website the result is given as follows:

Lab: 29,298
Con: 11,950
LD: 4,915
RP: 1,838

www.election.demon.co.uk/1997EC3.html

[Deleted]

Beverley & Holderness in 1997: was James Cran's majority 811 or 1,211? My Times Guide says the former, Wikipedia the latter.

[The Bishop]

I think that has been discussed here, possibly upthread.

[Deleted]

Ah, yes, Page 6. Thanks Bish. That was while I had lost my broadband connection.

[mick745]

The is also a discrepancy on the 'official' result for the by-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 at Banff & Buchan.  The votes given in almost all sources differ from the one on the aberdeenshire website.

www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/elections/BBsp2001.pdf

The 'correct' figures are 15386, 6819, 4597, 3231 and 682.  Wiki (and most others) gives 15,386, 6,819, 4,897, 3,231 and 682.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_and_Buchan_(Scottish_Parliament_constituency)

Talking of the Scottish Parliament can anyone tell me the rules governing the 'top-up' lists when there is a vacancy?  Does the party have to use the next listed person or anyone from the list?  If a MSP has defected then resigned I assume the vacancy is filled from the party which originally won the seat?  Also what happens if the list is used up, are there then empty seats?

[Deleted]

FWS Craig always used to acknowledge the possibility of errors creeping into his election results books when writing introductions, but was confident they would be "few in number and trivial in nature". This sort of thing is inevitable, unfortunately.

[johnloony]

In the Bromley & Chislehurst by-election in 2006, I managed to get more than twice as many votes as Nick Hadziannis because he voted for me instead of himself.

[piperdave]

Aug 22, 2013 4:15:02 GMT maxque said:

Who decides them?

The post of European RRO is filled by open competition from among the UK Parliamentary (A)ROs in each electoral region. You can see the job description here. Normally there is only one candidate but where there is a competition, there is an interview process. The Cabinet Office will then put that into the European Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers) Order 20xx. The ROs are likely to be in the running if they are in one of the largest councils in the region, or have a very experienced electoral services department.

In the case of Scotland, Mary Pitcaithly (RO for Falkirk constituency and council) is the current convener of the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, having taken over from Tom Aitchison (City of Edinburgh Council) after the 2009 European elections. She has already co-ordinated (with statutory powers) the 2012 local elections and is likely to be the Chief Counting Officer (ex officio) for the referendum so she's the obvious choice for the Euros.

[erlend]

What statutory need for coordination was needed for locall elections without a concurrent election/referendum?