U.K. Politics: Nadine Dorries resigns her post as MP - or does she?

[heppolo]

Fine boys have finally got into power
[youtube:3lo3wzoa]4K622RDDSJc[/youtube:3lo3wzoa]

[heppolo]

Loving the mess
Got what she deserved!

Theresa's probably fine deep inside. DUP pushed Tories to far-right.
Some Brexiteers/Trumpists are already shouting "great to see liberal tears, down with those snowflakes, gays and ethnic minorities" which DUP can drag Tories towards.

[Storyteller]

Loving the mess
Got what she deserved!

Theresa's probably fine deep inside. DUP pushed Tories to far-right.
Some Brexiteers/Trumpists are already shouting "great to see liberal tears, down with those snowflakes, gays and ethnic minorities" which DUP can drag Tories towards.

I wouldn't worry much. When she makes a balls of brexit, I'm sure another election won't be far behind.

[heppolo]

Loving the mess
Got what she deserved!

Theresa's probably fine deep inside. DUP pushed Tories to far-right.
Some Brexiteers/Trumpists are already shouting "great to see liberal tears, down with those snowflakes, gays and ethnic minorities" which DUP can drag Tories towards.

I wouldn't worry much. When she makes a balls of brexit, I'm sure another election won't be far behind.

With BoJo as the next PM

[Storyteller]

Loving the mess
Got what she deserved!

Theresa's probably fine deep inside. DUP pushed Tories to far-right.
Some Brexiteers/Trumpists are already shouting "great to see liberal tears, down with those snowflakes, gays and ethnic minorities" which DUP can drag Tories towards.

I wouldn't worry much. When she makes a balls of brexit, I'm sure another election won't be far behind.

With BoJo as the next PM

You think if she makes a balls of brexit that the conservatives won't lose more seats? Jeremy as PM more like!
He ain't going anywhere. As Sky were saying earlier this morning, he'll be leader for as long as he wants now.

[heppolo]

As long as the fear of ethnic minorities will be on the top of the agenda and the terror attacks continue, Tories can mantain their power.

[Wayne]

Overall Numbers

House of Commons - Elected MP Breakdown *

Conservatives - 318 seats (-12 seats)
Labour - 261 seats (+29 seats)
Scottish National Party - 35 seats (-21 seats)
Liberal Democrats - 12 seats (+4 seats)
Democratic Unionist Party - 10 seats (+2 seats)
Other - 13 seats (-2 seats)

* we still have 1 seat to be announced (it's expected to be Tory).

Popular Vote - Breakdown by Party

Conservatives - 42.4% (13,650,900 votes)
Labour - 40.0% (12,858,652 votes)
Liberal Democrat - 7.4% (2,367,048 votes)
Scottish National Party - 3.0% (977,569 votes)
UKIP - 1.8% (593,852 votes)
Green Party - 1.6% (524,604 votes)
Other - 5.4% (1,185,616 votes)

= 32,158,241 total votes cast (68.7% turnout)

[heppolo]

^UK desperately needs proportional representation, plain and simple

[Wayne]

The biggest upsets of the night...

Liberal Democrats - Nick Clegg
Former deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats

He had previously held his Sheffield Hallam seat since 2005 and enjoyed his most popular years in the early 2010s when he formed a coalition government with the Conservatives. Last night, he lost his seat to Jared O'Mara (Labour) who won it with a majority of 2,125.

SNPs - Angus Robertson
The SNPs Westminster leader

Angus previously had a majority of 9,065 - this was overturned last night by theh Conservatives' Douglas Ross (who beat him 22,637 votes to 18,478 votes). This represented a huge loss for the SNP.

SNPs - Alex Salmond
Former first minister of Scotland and former leader of the SNP

Perhaps the most infamous SNP result of last night was the loss of Alex Salmond who had his previous majority of 8,687 overturned by the Conservatives' Colin Clark (who won on a massive swing of 20%).

Conservatives - Gavin Barwell
The current Tory housing minister

He was running on a knife edge this year having won last time with a majority of just 165 votes. This time around, he lost his seat to Labour's Sarah Jones (who won 29,873 votes to Barwell's 24,221).

Conservatives - Julian Brazier
Longstanding MP of 30 years

The first time in history that the Canterbury constituency has elected a Labour MP as Labour's Dosie Duffield beat out a Kent MP with 30 years service - Duffield achieved a majority of just 187 votes (25,572 vs. 25,385).

And many more... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40215512

[Wayne]

Amber Rudd will remain as Home Secretary - good call.

Boris Johnson to remain as Foreign Secretary - very bad call.

David Davis to remain Brexit Secretary - great call.

Michael Fallon to remain Defence Secretary - bad call.

Philip Hammond to remain as Chancellor - bad call.

She really should've taken this opportunity to reshuffle - Amber Rudd as Chancellor (though retaining her in any senior position is a positive - she's brilliant), I possibly would've switched Boris with David but probably sacked Boris actually and appointed a new Brexit secretary. There is something about David Davis that I really like - he comes across as a steadfast & stellar statesman.

I would've loved it if she'd taken this opportunity to just really reshuffle - new, young blood into the cabinet. She still has loads of posts to fill with Jeremy Hunt (Health), Priti Patel (ID) & Justine Greening (Education) all holding tenuous positions.

[Artoo]

Boris will go after her job - watch this space.

[Wayne]

I've added more commentary to my post above.

I've thought that Boris would be in this for the long game, since he was appointed Foreign Secretary - his aspirations are just too much for "just" the position of Foreign Secretary.

I think the Tory MPs are probably that disillusioned with Theresa today that they'd probably vote him in.

[Kaloki]

So we now have a Tory government propped up by a party that doesn't believe in climate change, hates gays, and doesn't even allow women and young girls to have an abortion if they've been raped.


Theresa May lied about a lot of things, but she wasn't lying when she said we'd end up with a coalition of chaos led by terrorist sympathisers

[oasisbobo]

Surely the Scottish woman needs to resign now too?

I assume you mean Nicola Sturgeon who won a large majority of the seats in Scotland?

She lost 33% of seats. More than any other party - if anyone has lost the most from this election it's the SNP. She thought she would be in a position to offer Labour coelition but her numbers were too low, meaning she had nothing left to negotiate a 2nd referendum with - which surely should be the aim of her party whilst the Tories and Labour cannot win a majority.

If every voter in Scotland votes for the 2nd placed party it makes no difference. Scotland's vote has never made a difference on the overall outcome of any general election.

[heppolo]

If every voter in Scotland votes for the 2nd placed party it makes no difference. Scotland's vote has never made a difference on the overall outcome of any general election.

Except for probably this one

[heppolo]

I've added more commentary to my post above.

I've thought that Boris would be in this for the long game, since he was appointed Foreign Secretary - his aspirations are just too much for "just" the position of Foreign Secretary.

I think the Tory MPs are probably that disillusioned with Theresa today that they'd probably vote him in.

BoJo is a self-centered clown of Trump's proportions

[oasisbobo]

If every voter in Scotland votes for the 2nd placed party it makes no difference. Scotland's vote has never made a difference on the overall outcome of any general election.

Except for probably this one

Yeah and that is the depressing thing.
Once again Scotland ****'s it up for themselves.
I have no idea why anyone in Scotland would vote for the tories. I've yet to hear one reason. That's not a lie. I've never seen anyone who has voted tory in Scotland and given a reason for it.

[Kaloki]

If every voter in Scotland votes for the 2nd placed party it makes no difference. Scotland's vote has never made a difference on the overall outcome of any general election.

Except for probably this one

Yeah and that is the depressing thing.
Once again Scotland ****'s it up for themselves.
I have no idea why anyone in Scotland would vote for the tories. I've yet to hear one reason. That's not a lie. I've never seen anyone who has voted tory in Scotland and given a reason for it.

Agreed - seems like turkeys voting for Christmas to me

If Sturgeon hadn't started on about indyref 2 a few months back the Tories wouldn't have won near as many seats in Scotland. They had a few seats with tiny majorities.

I also blame Kezia for not being more firmly anti independence, and the lib dems for standing in seats they had no chance of winning in Scotland and draining seats away from the SNP and Labour

[Artoo]

I voted other.

I believe in reform, but I do believe first past the post is absolutely fine - a party with the majority of seats should be forming our government. Where I want reform though is on the number of seats.

MPs are paid a basic wage of £70,000 and more on top if they join committees or take on other responsibilities. As we all know, they also get to claim expenses. There are currently 650 seats - I'd like to see this number doubled so that we have more MPs.

The issue of political engagement is often discussed, but hardly ever addressed. Engagement only ever happens in the weeks leading up to an election, and most voters haven't a clue who stands for what, leading to 'generational voting' where you vote based on how your parents voted. Ultimately, MPs must do more and if we double the number of seats, then I believe that there can be more interaction with MPs and their constituents, leading to better engagement and increased voting.

In all honesty, how many of us recognised the names of the politicians on the ballot yesterday? Have you ever met your new member of parliament, or attended events where they are listening to people in your area? The answer for most people will be no - because no one cares until election time. That balance needs addressing and smaller constituencies leads to better engagement and ultimately, better representation in parliament.

How could we afford this? Simple. Half the current wage from £75,000 to £37,500. Being an MP should never be approached as a career choice - it must be a calling. Let them have the salary tax free, but get people engaging with MPs and build relationships - it can only lead to more votes being cast.

As part of this I'd like to see the lines redrawn on constituencies, but I am oppose to the number of overall votes being turned into a reflection on the number of seats in parliament a party gets. I dislike the American way of voting for an individual leader and believe in the separation of party leader and local representatives. If people vote based on party leader then fine, that's your choice. But I want politics to become more local and more reflective of what matters in individual communities.

[hun]

Ugh I'd've preferred a slight Conservative majority than this coalition with that DUP mess :x They're awful

Right. Now there are 2 parties in charge whom a lot of people do not care for

[SeeForever]

What a mess that was!! I don't agree with these coalition pacts, look what it did to the Lib Dems, now we get a DUP coalition??

What would happen if no one can get a majority (can't make up a coalition) and you end up with a hung parliament, who ends up in government??

I think a lot of the young voters would have voted for Labour, do think it's a bit sad if people used their vote as a protest vote against Brexit, we voted out!! (well I didn't) Though I am sick of hearing about hard Brexit, well just the whole thing

Personally I think all the parties aren't good enough, I did vote but for me it's who is the least worst, I find most party leaders really annoying, I just think is the best they can get to lead them??

[Theodorerichert]

I voted no, because it's still better than what we have in the US.

[Rihab]

Doesn't a coalition between Tories and the DUP also violate the Good Friday Agreement? :-?
Northern Ireland still doesn't have a functioning government and will return to direct rule from Westminster if Sinn Fein and DUP don't come to an agreement by the end of the month. Now if DUP joins a coalition in Westminster, they'll virtually be governing Northern Ireland on their own, without Sinn Fein, ending power-sharing.

[Wayne]

It isn't a formal coalition government so it doesn't violate the agreeement. It isn't expected to become one either - it's expected that the DUP will informally prop up the Conservatives on a case-by-case, issue-by-issue basis - in return for investment in Nothern Ireland.

Either way, it is bad for relations with Sinn Fein - how can the Secretary of State for Nothern Ireland be impartial when they are working closely - potentially - with the DUP?

[heppolo]

John Major was in the informal coalition with the UUP for a couple of month after december 1996. Only applied more pressure on Tories prior to their 1997 wipe-out. If only Labour had someone as charismatic as Tony Blair, Tories might have been finished.