U.K. DUers, vote and check-in

[Anarcho-Socialist]

I got to the polling station at 7.05am, only a 6-7 minutes walk away, then I voted :)

[tuvor]

1. Canadian crashes, asks who you voted for.

If'n you're so inclined.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

2. OK, sure...

Labour Party straight ticket (but was tempted Lib Dem). Although I believe a greater number in the U.K. forum are going to vote Lib Dem.

[AP]

3. Thank you.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. You're welcome

:)

[tuvor]

5. Thanks! n/t

[Guy_Montag]

6. I voted on my way into work

very busy, even though it was after 9.

There's a funny sort of polite camaraderie, I felt. Everyone was very pleasant, "After you, no after you" type stuff. People smiling at each other as they passed on the way in & out. That sort of thing.

Think I'm in a semi-marginal, so I'll be interested to see what happens.

[non sociopath skin]

7. The deed is done.

Voted for my anti-war Labour MP, as planned.

The LibDems missed a chance with me on the Local vote BTW. As an ex-schoolie I'm miffed with the controlling Labour Group's education policy right now and had planned to register a protest. However our LibDem candidate is an obnoxious character. I know him well from my days as a councillor when, among his many quotable quotes, he declared the problem with the District to be that it had "too many thick miners," (like most of us hereabouts, three generations of my folks were pitmen), made a big deal of sending his kids to private school because state schools "weren't appropriate for middle-class children " and explained openly to us in the Members' Room one time that he'd stood as a LibDem because that was the only way for a Tory to get elected by the working-class.

As the LibDems and the Tories are, as always in Wansbeck, fighting the election together, the Tory is a paper candidate and has circulated no literature whatsoever in order to give his LibDem colleage a free run. The Lib has done the same in the neighbouring ward where my mum lives to give the Tory the green light.

The Labour candidate came a-canvassing yesterday: seems she is also an ex-schoolie and seems a pleasant, well-meaning and clued-up body. So she got my faux de mieux.

The Skin

[T_i_B]

8. I was planning on voting at that time...

...but as the voting for the County Council elections started an hour later I will have to vote after work. :-( At least that way I can kill two electoral birds with one stone.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. They're meant to expand the local voting hours to the national ones

But they didn't make that clear on my registration cards (the county council one arrived about a week earlier - already printed before the general election was announced, perhaps).

From the last election:

In areas where ordinary local government elections are taking place on 7 June, the polls at the parliamentary and county council or unitary authority elections must be combined, as required by section 15(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1985. In these areas, the parliamentary and local elections rules are applied with the modifications set out:

polling hours at the local election are extended to match those at the parliamentary election;

http://www.dca.gov.uk/elections/rpacirculars/0446.htm

[Michael_UK]

9. Labour at 7.30, then canvassing with the candidate

It's going to be tight in Bristol West

[Taxloss]

10. I voted at about 10.30am

For Brian Haw, independent peace campaigner.

[D-Notice]

12. I voted at about 10am

Got a day off (no lectures), so no excuse!

Chose Lib Dems in both local & national elections

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. So are local elections always held at the same time as national ones?

Or did it just work out that way this time? :shrug:

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Local elections have a regular schedule

and governments have, in the last few decades, tended to schedule the national one for the same day, for convenience (and maybe hoping that voters in the national election will choose the same party for the local ones, which tend to be more of an even race between the 3 parties).

[LSdemocrat]

15. I think it just worked out that way

I believe that local elections are scheduled further in advance than national elections, which can be called about 3-6 weeks in advance.

[tjwmason]

16. General Elections can be held at any time

The Prime Minister requests that the Queen disolve Parliament and call an election (which is code for the Prime Minister makes the decision but the Queen signs the piece of paper).

They are traditionally held on Thursdays, though I think that there was one on a Tuesday back in the 1920s or '30s. Normally the election is about 3-4 weeks after the disolution of Parliament.

Once the result is clear (i.e., it is certain which party will win a majority of seats), the Queen will summon the majority party leader and ask him/her to form a government and appoint him as Prime Minister (usually around noon on the Friday) after which he will go straight to Downing Street to pick his cabinet - who will all be at their desks first thing on the Monday morning. Compare that schedule with the U.S. where the Iowa caucuses were almost to the day 1 year before inauguration.


Local government elections are held on a fixed schedule, though these were moved from late May to early May in anticipation of the General Election. Different parts of the country have different systems of local government, and today we're also electing the County Councils where these exist (mainly the more rural parts of the country).

[Taxloss]

28. It boosts turnout to link the elections. Higher turnout helps Labour.

But not every part of the country votes in local elections at the same time - so my local elections were last year, as a Londoner, and coincided with the European elections.

However, the dates of local and Euro elections are set impartially, while the dates of general elections are set by the sitting government. So the system is really quite ad hoc, apart from one thing - elections are always, always, always on Thursdays.

[RogueTrooper]

17. Labour

Or I would be if I was registered to vote :(. I lost my registration when I moved abroad and did not manage to register in time. To add insult to injury most of the election media has been taken up with shouty Nordies as I get BBC Northern Ireland here ( That said the nordie may provide the most interesting episodes of the evening ).

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Except they don't count until the morning in NI, do they?

That's what the implied on the lunchtime news, anyway. That rgins a vague bell from last year's Euro elections too.

[RogueTrooper]

19. Not sure

I will be registered to vote in Britain ( probably my parents constituency ). I will be watching RTE to find out,however.

[non sociopath skin]

34. That's right, Mu. NI has ALWAYS counted on Friday morning.

The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

20. Voted on my way to work

For our Lib Dem MP. I ended up splitting my Council vote (two seats) between a Lib Dem and a Green candidate.

[Maiden England]

21. vote by postal proxy

for the lib dems - my constituency is a marginal lib-dem target too :evilgrin:


I really miss being able to go down and physically vote, but at least it means I still get to participate, even though I'm an ex-pat.

[communerd]

22. Voted at 8.45 this morning- for Labour

Just the general for me- no local council elections this year (unfortunately- the local regime would have be very strong candidates for worst local council in the country), and I live in a unitary borough so no county council vote either.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

23. Welcome to DU!

:hi: :toast:

[communerd]

26. thanks mate!

I love your nibbler avatar.
:hi:

[Anarcho-Socialist]

27. Thanks...

:hi: You're one of the few people who recognised what my avatar is.

[Guy_Montag]

24. Where do you live

:hi:

[communerd]

25. Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Southend East and Rochford, to be precise. Will almost certainly stay Tory, although some have speculated that the retirement of our popular Tory MP (Teddy Taylor) could give Labour a slim chance. Very unlikely I'd say, but I live in hope.
:hi:

[mr blur]

29. Voted Labour at 9.30 this morning

both in the national and local ballot.

[Pert_UK]

30. Voted at 6:30 this evening.....Lib Dem for parliamentary, Green for local.

Don't know why, but I suddenly went green at the last minute for the local council elections.......Guess I decided that none of the major parties were doing enough for the environment.

FYI, there were only 4 choices in each for me - the usual suspects + Green for the locals, the usual suspects + UKIP for the nationals.

I have a Conservative MP at the moment, so I'm hoping that a combination of:

- Conservative vote being split with UKIP
- Protest votes against Labour moving to Lib Dem

will return a Lib Dem MP for SW Herts.

P.

[Jack Rabbit]

31. Polls close in 10 minutes

Get yourself a pint (as a Yank, I prefer mine cold) and let's watch the returns.

The BBC website has switched to low graphics.

[communerd]

32. Polls closed- now we can expect the first result in about 40 minutes

Sunderland South looking to beat their own record of declaring just 43 minutes after voting ended in 2001. It's a rock solid Labour seat, though, so it'll be tricky deducing too much from the result.

[fedsron2us]

33. Voted 8.30 a.m.

Labour in the local elections.

Spoilt my ballot paper in the General Election by writing 'None of the above'.

This is the first time in 30 years that I have not voted Labour in a national election.

[T_i_B]

35. Voted at 18:16 GMT

I was please that the clerks were advising people NOT to give their details to the pillocks with rosettes on outside. I loathe that pratice. :-)