UK General Election 2024

[Trackman]

Are the Official Monster Raving Looney Party standing anywhere? They are the only party for which I would put a sticker in my window even though they aren't standing in my constituency. I feel that such move would be consistent with their motto 'vote for insanity, you it know makes sense!'.

Slighty OT, Bin face or whatever they are called is standing.. manifesto includes national service for ex prime-ministers.

 

[Bald Rick]

I feel the Conservatives have put in no effort into the election campaign whatsoever

Private Eye has been reporting for some time now in the local elections and by elections that some Conservative candidates have been very carefully excising any reference to the Consevative party in the leaflets etc handed out. The only clue is that there has to be a ‘published by’ wording in the small print.

David Owen, the leader of the SDP who famously refused to go along with the merger with David Steel's Liberal party,

But the ‘will they win’t they’ merger did lead to one of the most memorable (to me) Spitting Image sketches, which went something like this:

OWEN: We are agreeing to merge our parties, David
STEEL: Oh that’s great David. What shall we call it?
OWEN: Well, from my party, we shall use the words “Social Democratic”, and from yours, the word “Party”
STEEL: Err, okay, but what about the leader?
OWEN: To be fair and equal, we shall do that the other way round. From your Party leader we shall take the Christian name “David” and from my Party leader, we will take the surname “Owen”.

 

[Busaholic]

But the ‘will they win’t they’ merger did lead to one of the most memorable (to me) Spitting Image sketches, which went something like this:

OWEN: We are agreeing to merge our parties, David
STEEL: Oh that’s great David. What shall we call it?
OWEN: Well, from my party, we shall use the words “Social Democratic”, and from yours, the word “Party”
STEEL: Err, okay, but what about the leader?
OWEN: To be fair and equal, we shall do that the other way round. From your Party leader we shall take the Christian name “David” and from my Party leader, we will take the surname “Owen”.

AFAICR, David Owen kept David Steel in his pocket, and, cruel though that was, we all kind of knew that was the dynamic! Owen was a great loss to politics imo when he withdrew from the fray, but I guess he was never a team man.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

AFAICR, David Owen kept David Steel in his pocket, and, cruel though that was, we all kind of knew that was the dynamic! Owen was a great loss to politics imo when he withdrew from the fray, but I guess he was never a team man.

Was David Owen actually a doctor, or was that just a fiction to help the playground rhyme* "scan"?

*=I can only half remember this, and was only reminded of it by seeing the names of Davids Steel and Owen mentioned in this thread. It was to the tune of "Frere Jacques". Not sure why a rhyme about politicians was going around primary school playgrounds, but the 1980s were weird!

 

[WesternLancer]

They always have a candidate in my Cornish seat of St Ives, including this time, and usually in a couple of others too such as Camborne. In this area I'd say it's associated with Wesleyan Methodism and is to a certain extent the nearest there is to the ideas of the old Whig party.

Thanks. Interesting insights into this fairly niche party.

Was David Owen actually a doctor, or was that just a fiction to help the playground rhyme* "scan"?

*=I can only half remember this, and was only reminded of it by seeing the names of Davids Steel and Owen mentioned in this thread. It was to the tune of "Frere Jacques". Not sure why a rhyme about politicians was going around primary school playgrounds, but the 1980s were weird!

Yep. Biog says a medic so definitely a Dr.

 

[Busaholic]

Yep. Biog says a medic so definitely a Dr.

On that basis his first two jobs in the Labour government of the 1970s were in the Health Department, latterly as Minister for Health and he tried to get blood supplies from abroad banned, but hadn't succeeded before he was promoted to Foreign Secretary. He has played a significant role in the Infected Blood scandal and subsequent long-delayed Inquiry. His Wikipedia entry covers this in great detail, and he comes out of it with much credit, but bitterly regretting that he hadn't managed to stop the importations.

 

[nw1]

Private Eye has been reporting for some time now in the local elections and by elections that some Conservative candidates have been very carefully excising any reference to the Consevative party in the leaflets etc handed out. The only clue is that there has to be a ‘published by’ wording in the small print.

The Conservative poster I briefly saw not far from me just had the candidate's name in big letters plus the constituency. It was in Conservative blue, but aside from that, no mention of them.

But the ‘will they win’t they’ merger did lead to one of the most memorable (to me) Spitting Image sketches, which went something like this:

OWEN: We are agreeing to merge our parties, David
STEEL: Oh that’s great David. What shall we call it?
OWEN: Well, from my party, we shall use the words “Social Democratic”, and from yours, the word “Party”
STEEL: Err, okay, but what about the leader?
OWEN: To be fair and equal, we shall do that the other way round. From your Party leader we shall take the Christian name “David” and from my Party leader, we will take the surname “Owen”.

I think I remember that.

 

[WesternLancer]

Large parts of the constituency is rural and there are usually lots of large Conservative posters in fields near main roads erected by local farmers. I’ve only seen one of these this time. The road into the village where I live usually has a series of Conservative posters on display but this time nothing. I wonder if the local Nottinghamshire farmers are not voting Conservative this time. I’ve seen a few Labour posters in windows of houses but nothing from the Lib Dems as usual in this area. I know the Lib Dems in the past have done very poorly here, but I would have thought that they would have made some effort to get some of the share of Conservative votes and stop the rise of support for Reform. I’ve not had anything from the Lib Dem’s posted through my letterbox.

As it happens my other half was recalling in the run up to 1992 election driving through the then Sherwood Constituency as regular route to work. The then (conservative) MP was Andy Stewart - who I see from wikipedia was a farmer in the area himself.

Anyway overlooking a prominent main road he had boards in a field that spelt out his name in individual letters, presumably with party logo.

Most mornings these had been re-arranged overnight to spell out different words instead of the name. One day they spelt out 'randy ****s'

 

[brad465]

"Where do they find these people?"

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A Conservative parliamentary candidate under investigation over a bet placed on the timing of the UK election is married to the party’s director of campaigning, according to Tory officials

 

[jfollows]

"Where do they find these people?"

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Tony Lee, the candidate’s husband, has taken leave of absence from his job as “director of campaigning”.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Had my first leaflet come through the door today. A Reform UK one (I live in a Labour Safe Seat).

Leaflet reads: Vote Reform UK on July 4th. Stop the Boats, Make Work Pay, Zero Waiting lists, Freeze Immigration. Also shows candidate, Clifford Ronald Thomas Bond, and constituency, York Central. Britain Needs Reform, includes Reform UK logo.

I've also seen 2 Labour posters in windows, just 2 or 3 doors in between, one with the candidate's name (Rachael Maskell) and one with the simple "Vote Labour."

 

[brad465]

Had my first leaflet come through the door today. A Reform UK one (I live in a Labour Safe Seat). Leaflet reads: Vote Reform UK on July 4th. Stop the Boats, Make Work Pay, Zero Waiting lists, Freeze Immigration. Also shows candidate, Clifford Ronald Thomas Bond, and constituency, York Central. Britain Needs Reform, includes Reform UK logo.

I've also seen 2 Labour posters in windows, just 2 or 3 doors in between, one with the candidate's name (Rachael Maskell) and one with the simple "Vote Labour."

"My name is Bond, "Clifford Ronald Thomas Bond"

 

[ainsworth74]

Had my first leaflet come through the door today. A Reform UK one (I live in a Labour Safe Seat).
View attachment 160488


I've also seen 2 Labour posters in windows, just 2 or 3 doors in between, one with the candidate's name (Rachael Maskell) and one with the simple "Vote Labour."

Identical to the one that we got here in Redcar (obviously different candidate!). I thought it was interesting that their material was so utterly generic considering the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour leaflets have all been customised to talk about their candidates and what they've gotten up to/believe in. And, you know, have the candidates picture on them as well...

 

[D6130]

Identical to the one that we got here in Redcar (obviously different candidate!). I thought it was interesting that their material was so utterly generic considering the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour leaflets have all been customised to talk about their candidates and what they've gotten up to/believe in. And, you know, have the candidates picture on them as well...

I suspect (hope) that they have a pretty tight budget....not having the millionaire donors from whom the two major parties benefit.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Tony Lee, the candidate’s husband, has taken leave of absence from his job as “director of campaigning”.

If the publicity wasn't damaging enough for them, losing their director of campaigning in the middle of - ummm - an election campaign is not exactly going to be helpful!

 

[OuterDistant]

"Where do they find these people?"

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I bet Kier Starmer can't believe his luck. Collectively, his opponents are just so stupid.

 

[AlterEgo]

Tony Lee, the candidate’s husband, has taken leave of absence from his job as “director of campaigning”.

Another pair to be paraded in sack cloth when the time comes. These feckless, utter losers. Corrupt, sad, broken, pathetic, incompetent, dishonest - begone.

 

[ainsworth74]

I suspect (hope) that they have a pretty tight budget....not having the millionaire donors from whom the two major parties benefit.

Yes that's true though they do have some donors I'm sure! I wonder if there's a different leaflet costing more money to produce for areas where they feel more competitive?

 

[D6130]

If anybody wants to know the full, no-holds-barred insider story of the decline in political standards in general - and those of the Tory Party in particular - I can thoroughly recommend Rory Stewart's book 'Politics on the Edge'. He tells it as it is, from his own parliamentary experience as an extremely disillusioned 'One Nation' Tory who went into politics following his military career, with the intention of improving peoples' lives both nationally and in his own constituency. Unfortunately that career was cut short by a clown called Johnson....of whom he is unsurprisingly extremely critical.

 

[birchesgreen]

If the publicity wasn't damaging enough for them, losing their director of campaigning in the middle of - ummm - an election campaign is not exactly going to be helpful!

Considering how bad their campaign has been this might be a blessing.

 

[Gloster]

I went to Sandown today (livin’ the high life) and saw one Green, two Labour and two Conservative posters, although one of the last was in the window of the Conservative Club. I saw plenty of Liberal-Democrat posters, but all were in the window of the shop in Ryde being used as their campaign headquarters. The Conservative boards that were put in a hedge on the Ryde-Newport road have gone: I have no idea if the cause was opponents, the force of the wind, an angry farmer or Islandroads.

I wonder if people nowadays are more reluctant to display their affiliation in case they get a brick through their window. There seems to be a fringe, on both sides, who are deeply intolerant of others’ choices and more inclined to react excessively to those choices. They always existed, but whereas they just used to be the odd nutter, there are more of them and they are more likely to do something stupid.

I have had leaflets from the Liberal-Democrats, Reform and the Conservatives: the last was personally addressed, rather than just bulked. Nothing from Labour, Green or the independent yet.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes that's true though they do have some donors I'm sure! I wonder if there's a different leaflet costing more money to produce for areas where they feel more competitive?

I thought they were largely funded by a multi millionaire.

 

[maniacmartin]

We've had huge boundary changes here in Addiscombe, so I am now in a marginal seat and my vote will actually count. Our incumbant Labour MP has decided to run in the safer neighbouring seat after our constituency was cut up.

You'd think it'd be easy for the Labour candidate to win given the national sentiment towards the Tories at the moment, but Labour haven't been great locally lately: They were in charge of the council when it was essentially declared bankrupt due to wreckless investments and incompetance/corruption, their candidate lives outside of the borough, and their internal candidate selection process for MP and councillors was mired in controversy with allegations of vote rigging. Maybe this won't matter though as I suspect most people don't follow local politics that closely.

Labour and Tories have both been knocking on my door and delivering leaflets. Not heard anything from any other party.

 

[takno]

Tony Lee, the candidate’s husband, has taken leave of absence from his job as “director of campaigning”.

Recently?

I suspect (hope) that they have a pretty tight budget....not having the millionaire donors from whom the two major parties benefit.

I thought they were more or less entirely funded by Tice, who is a millionaire. If anything they will be more dependent on millionaire contributions, since the other parties have reasonably large memberships who will often throw in a few quid, as well as access to short money from their existing MPs.

It's important not to start thinking that Reform are some grassroots campaign of the people.

 

[Busaholic]

Yes that's true though they do have some donors I'm sure! I wonder if there's a different leaflet costing more money to produce for areas where they feel more competitive?

Their biggest donor is a Muslim entrepreneur (strange but true!). I don't have his name to hand, but I'm sure it's readily available.

A Sunday Times columnist last weekend was speculating on the fleet of expensive 4X4s with tinted windows that whisk Farage around and all the goons associated with that trade, but I suspect a company is providing all that free of charge. I do hope Reform remember to account for it when the time comes!

 

[bspahh]

Recently?

Yes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722014r42xo says

20 June 2024, 09:05 BST
Updated 2 hours ago

The Conservative Party’s director of campaigning Tony Lee is also being looked into by the Gambling Commission over an alleged bet relating to the timing of the general election, the BBC can reveal.

The BBC reported earlier that Mr Lee – who took a leave of absence from his job on Wednesday afternoon – is married to a Conservative candidate who is being looked into by the betting industry regulator.

 

[D6130]

Yes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722014r42xo says

You really couldn't make it up, could you?

 

[sor]

Identical to the one that we got here in Redcar (obviously different candidate!). I thought it was interesting that their material was so utterly generic considering the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour leaflets have all been customised to talk about their candidates and what they've gotten up to/believe in. And, you know, have the candidates picture on them as well...

I can only assume they're spending the money up there. I got a Reform pamphlet in Suffolk and not only is the design very "amateurish" compared to the one in that photo, they've shared it with the neighbouring constituency (two candidates are shown on one side, the candidate I could actually vote for is shown on the other). Doesn't mention Tice or Farage at all.

The legally required imprint lists both candidates as the promoters.

 

[Simon11]

Had my first leaflet come through the door today. A Reform UK one (I live in a Labour Safe Seat).


I've also seen 2 Labour posters in windows, just 2 or 3 doors in between, one with the candidate's name (Rachael Maskell) and one with the simple "Vote Labour."

What, only just had your first leaflet?

I along with my wife get several different leaflets/ letters a week. Just today, I had to throw away 4 leaflets/ letter campaigning, even though our box clearly says no junk mail....

Just a waste of paper and money! And I've just posted my ballot, after looking at information online about the candidates, so even more pointless sending me information over the next few weeks.

 

[DarloRich]

I've also seen 2 Labour posters in windows, just 2 or 3 doors in between, one with the candidate's name (Rachael Maskell) and one with the simple "Vote Labour."

I have 3 labour posters up in my house - the guy in the corner has one as well

Another pair to be paraded in sack cloth when the time comes. These feckless, utter losers. Corrupt, sad, broken, pathetic, incompetent, dishonest - begone.

and would you describe you view of the Tories as favourable or unfavourable

What, only just had your first leaflet?

I have had 2 x Lib Dems, 1 Green and one Tory

I have also had the Labour candidate round. He seems to be trying to visit every house in the constituency like the old days. He is out pounding the streets seemingly every day going by his socials. No sign of the incumbent Tory. His socials are flat also.