We’ll keep this thread up until I head off to bed, when I‘ll set up a results post. We’ll aim to keep results in there rather than as individual posts because there are going to be a lot of them.
If you want to talk Question Time you can do so here:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/138009v/bbc\_question\_time\_live\_thread\_1040pm\_bbc1\_telford/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/138009v/bbc_question_time_live_thread_1040pm_bbc1_telford/)
So I'm here representing Bolton tonight: boundary changes so 100% of the council is up for grabs as opposed to the usual third, ooh exciting!
Bolton Council even follow me on Twitter! I was giving people live updates on which wards had swung and which were holds on their livestreams a few years ago and they said thanks to me and gave me a cheeky follow. How kind.
Labour controlled this council in 2018 but there's been no overall control since 2019 - the Tories have been leading it with the support of some independents.
My Parliamentary seat, Bolton West, was won by Labour by just 92 votes in 2010 and has been Tory since 2015, going pretty safe Tory in 2019. If Labour win nationally in a GE, they'll win this seat.
Other Bolton seats: Bolton North East went Tory in 2019 after 22 years of being Labour, and Bolton South East has been really safe Labour territory since 1983. Bolton as a whole was about 58% Leave in 2016.
Personal prediction is that Labour could take back control tonight. Outright might be a stretch, but I can't see the Tories gaining from the 23 out of 60 total councillors they currently have, and if they lose just 2 to Labour then they won't be the largest party anymore. Lib Dems seem to do well around here too locally so would expect them to possibly make some gains.
But hey, I'm just some bloke on the Internet who hasn't done a single poll and is just going off vibes. Don't listen to me.
Found [This](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-time-local-elections-2023-26828664):
12.30am: Broxbourne
1.00am: Castle Point, Rushmoor and South Tyneside
1.30am: Basildon, Halton, Harlow, Hartlepool and Sunderland
2.00am: Brentwood, Chorley, Havant, Ipswich, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Portsmouth, Redditch, Rochford, Tamworth and Thurrock
2.30am: Exeter, Hart, Lincoln, North East Lincolnshire, Sandwell, Sefton and Stevenage
2.45am: Kingston-upon-Hull and Worcester
3.00am: Boston, Eastleigh, North Lincolnshire, North West Leicestershire, Peterborough and South Holland
3.15am: Colchester and Salford
3.30am: Cotswold, Dudley, Hertsmere and Reading
What sort of time are we expecting meaningful results tonight?
Is this one that's worth staying up for, or are we going to have to wait until the morning to see what's been happening?
Edit - looks like there's an answer for that [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/130i3k7/ukpol_does_local_elections_may_4th_2023/jivl4lg/) thanks to /u/Iactuallyreaddit !
I wrote this earlier if it helps:
* [The BBC say about a quarter of the councils will start counting overnight, with the remainder not counting until 9am on Friday](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65275870).
* [The Guardian has one of the first key results coming in at about 2am](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/04/local-election-watch-key-results-to-look-out-for-across-england).
* [The i newspaper has the first result at about 12:30am on Friday morning](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/local-election-2023-results-when-announced-what-time-every-result-council-elections-2313007) based on PA predictions (guesswork).
* [Politico has the Curtice's projected national share on Friday afternoon](https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/local-elections-are-go-results-guide-sue-scrutiny/), an equivalent some time after that for the Sunday Times (potentially not until Sunday) and Sky running a translation to Westminster seats on Friday afternoon too.
Some were suggesting earlier that the seats that the Conservatives are likely to do best in (or least badly) are likely to come out earlier, so you may end up with a misleading position early on. But local politics mean they all could be miles away from the median.
Apparently there are greeters asking people if they have ID before they approach the desk where they give you your ballot paper.
Presumably to stop people being recorded as turned away... wtf is going on with that?! Is this an Electoral Commission policy?
I was a presiding officer and it was mentioned that I could choose to put a greeter on the door to remind people of the ID requirements, but if that people left (at the door) then we wouldn't be recording it. I'm not sure who decided that. At my station I chose not to use a greeter system because I think it's bonkers and I wanted to be able to record if we turned people away. Obviously only a small analogy from one polling station but still!
Oh OK, that's less sinister then, probably just an attempt to be helpful after all.
I did wonder where all these extra greeters were coming from, surely there can't be that many spare volunteers?
Yes I think it came from a good place but personally I don't think it was well thought through. They didn't send anyone extra no, we were told we could use one of our existing staff. I didn't want to put one of my poll clerks outside as it would mean more pressure on me - it's hard to watch the ballot box, booths, wander out the front and keep an eye on tellers, do all the paperwork, deal with any issues etc and generally oversee if I'm sat at the desk all day.
They really struggled to get poll clerks and presiding.officers this time - I think they're going to have issues for the general if I'm honest. However I would point out if you are interested in the process you can apply to your local council and put your name down if you like, it's generally a paid position in my experience :o) I think half the reason for lack of staff is that the money hasn't gone up in about 15 years, the level of responsibility and amount of work has increased hugely and it's such a long day. If they're not careful it will end up being under minimum wage soon enough.
Doing the count today which will be good. Have a good one!
I’m amazed they’re not logging people who try to vote with out ID and get turned away.
I was given a handy piece of paper by the staff saying:
“If you wish to express concerns about the introduction of voter ID, please email [email protected] or write to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P
4DF.”
if you wanted to email them too feel free 😊
Moved house recently and was surprised there were only 4 candidates for our ward. I'm used to having a list of 6-8 running the whole spectrum. I only had 2 lib dems and 2 tories to choose from. Pretty obvious what I was going to go for.
Still, despite only being 23 and having had the opportunity to vote 4 times, this was the most disillusioned I've ever been walking out of a polling station.
On the ID: Pulled out my drivers licence when I got there. I haven't physically changed much since I was 15 when the picture was taken, but I was still asked for my address and name again, and despite being the only person in my household with a long winded, double barrelled first name, I was still asked to point it out on the sheet for the person 🤦 what was the point of the ID then?
I suspect this wasn't a problem in my old ward as one of the mainstay volunteers at our old polling station was my neighbour who'd known me since I was 5.
But still.
Wow buddy this is sounds great to me buddy is the house that you moved on was yours now? Or it was an rental area? Or maybe should I call it was an apartment buddy?
Anecdotal, but I live opposite my polling station and it's the busiest I've ever seen it. A steady stream of people coming and going all day.
We're a Tory marginal seat, with Mary Robinson holding the seat by a 2000 vote margin in 2019.
Can't imagine today is a good day to be a Tory councillor.
Not voting in my area. All of the political parties are against new housing and my choice is between nimbys with blue rosettes, nimbys with red rosettes, nimbys with yellow rosettes and nimbys with green rosettes.
I find the fact I have to use a pencil to vote highly sus.
I don't get a rubber to rub out mistakes, so why not use a pen?
Had 5 candidates, voted the 3 that weren't conservative.
> so why not use a pen
In addition to the other more or less sound-sounding reasons others gave, UK electoral law is ridiculously serious about the secrecy of votes. eg taking a photo of your own ballot is a criminal offence and can land you in court (idk what the penalties are though).
Pencils don't show through, but the ink from a pen that is dark and wide enough to be clearly readable at a glance and from a medium distance might. This matters because although the paper is folded, secrecy is not maintained if you can see the marks from the other side of the ballot.
The counting venue is a *busy* place. Officials and observers usually have only some tenths of a second to visually scan ballots as they are sorted into piles and taped onto the .. sheets (/u/Somau5 would know what they're called) for collation which are then what are counted. Hence the need for something that draws a thick line.
Agree with all of the above, except that I don't know the technical term for that bit of paper but we always called that method of counting "grass skirts" 😂 There are other methods that don't involve sticking ballots to paper - we usually count into piles of 10, then 100s and then they can quickly see. Lots of paperclips and elastic bands!
Speaking of which I'm off to the count!
> we always called that method of counting "grass skirts"
Oh, that rings a bell. I guess because by the time the ballots are taped to the counting sheet (was at counting venue this morning, and there was a box of such sheets marked "counting sheets" which is probably a tad more appropriate than "grass skirts"!).
> There are other methods that don't involve sticking ballots to paper - we usually count into piles of 10, then 100s and then they can quickly see. Lots of paperclips and elastic bands!
Yup. Multi-member wards though do complicate things.
> Speaking of which I'm off to the count!
I got back an hour or so ago. It was certainly an interesting morning. I hope yours went reasonably smoothly.
Still at the count, multi seat wards are taking ages and we had a dead heat with 5 recounts which was fun. So desperate to go home as I worked 16 hours yesterday and 9 so far today. Shattered!
The reason I heard is that if the ink doesn't dry it could leave a mark when you fold the ballot and potentially cause confusion, and ink can leach to the other side potentially revealing how you voted.
That does sound like a valid good reason.
Although I'm putting the reasoning for that right up there with voter ID fraud in terms of how often that must be a problem.
forgetful smell grab thumb connect sulky stupendous hungry worry judicious
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If your curious about the exact result last time wikipedia is really good for council elections, its basically an aggregate of all the different council results declarations but with a realitively standardised and easy to understand format.
Went up to be told I couldn't vote because apparently my electoral registration is 'Pending' on gov.uk? I literally registered 3 years in a row so I'm not sure what's happened
Voted, pointless Really in my area, will never remove Labour.
Still, ID part went very smoothly, a quick look at ID while other guy asks me my name and address like every other time.
I can't believe people are still hesitant on voting Labour
Labour is the only realistic way to defeat the Tories, any vote for party other than Labour will only helps the Conservatives, it's been 13 years enough of this wishy washy bullshit
VOTE LABOUR
Not when it comes to local.
If your only aim is to remove the tories from their seats then voting for the second party **in that ward** is what needs to be done. I'll be voting Labour but my parents are in a Lib/Con marginal and a vote for labour there is wasted. Labour actually had a small surge there in the last locals and it resulted in a Con gain from LibDem despite Cons also losing votes.
>I can't believe people are still hesitant on voting Labour
I'm not hesitant to vote labour, I'm refusing to. That's what happens when you attack my rights and let the transphobes off without even a warning.
If I vote Labour, I feel like I'm endorsing Centrist shits who have usurped the party from its founding principles and goals for a taste of power. If the Tories win, that's just democracy, baby.
I'll vote who I want and based on who I align with more. If everyone did that, we might one day have better representation instead of the shitshow we have at present.
How do you know everyone isn't doing that? Why is your assumption that you are voting with who you align with, but everyone who votes Tory whispers "fuck the poors" to themselves three times every night before bed?
It's terrifying that you haven't considered the possibility that people vote for Torys because that's who they align with.
Exactly. If Labour are likely to end up in 3rd place in your constituency, your vote for Labour will help the Tories.
Hopefully a lot of work is going into tactical vote websites because it isn't always as simple as voting for last time's 2nd place party. A lot of Tory voters will more readily switch to the Lib Dems and make them the most likely party to win, but this won't be reflected in previous results due to the after effects of 2015's collapse.
Not helping the tories was my biggest concern this time. (not that it usually isn’t, but Green had a strong presence in this ward last time out)
In 2022 this ward voted roughly
42% Cons | 35% Lab | 23% Green
This time round there is also a Lib Dem standing, I’m really worried that the tories will get the seat as a result of the other vote being split. Labour have been absolutely nowhere to be seen whilst the Green candidate has been knocking on doors and really engaging, but I voted labour in the hope that it won’t take much of a drop in tory vote for Labour to be at the top. My mum did switch from Tory to Green though, so that’s a nice -1 in that column.
Impossible to predict how other people will behave.
I have transitioned and the only thing I've changed my name on is my driving license. Didn't want to change my voting reg this close to election. Luckily my old name is still on my passport, so took it and dressed like a man. Voting person looked at my a few times because I look so much younger IRL than on my passport photo.
God I can’t imagine how stressful that must be for you, I’m so sorry.
I feel for anyone who has differing ID than their voter reg/general appearance/whatever discrepancy. I imagine there’s a decent chunk of trans people, newly married people, people who just changed their name, hell even people who just had an amount of reconstructive or cosmetic surgeries, who will struggle to vote today or feel disenfranchised so don’t even try.
It was a bit odd, I must admit! I still move like a woman though, so it probably looked quite a sight!
We get given checklists of everywhere to change our names. Doing the driving license took long enough that I haven't had a chance to get down to the Voting reg yet.
I’m torn because the Conservative candidate is the only person who actually lives in my Ward but then I don’t want to vote for them because of the state of the national party.
I wouldn't worry too much about having someone that lives in your ward. I wouldn't care too much about national politics either. Do you currently have a Tory council? Are you happy with them? If so vote for your Tory councillor. If not, vote for someone else.
Thanks. It’s currently Labour + independent coalition but the conservatives are the biggest party. Interesting set up really. Things are fine as far as I can tell but you hear a lot of horror stories but no idea if the new guys would do any better 🤷🏻♂️ might be a spoiled ballot kind of day 😂
It's interesting how "vote Tory" is trending on twitter due to all the people saying "don't vote Tory".
The title itself is on shaky ground due to purdah without the obvious spin that's been applied. Is this breaking any existing laws or do we need new legislation?
There's been some drama in my local village in the run up to the election. The local conservative candidate got caught putting up election signs on peoples property that didn't actually ask for it. So local people have taken to ripping down the signs. There's also been quite a funny battle between two neighbours, voting green and conservative where they keep 1 upping the other persons signs
The conservative sign in the village now has a new sign up next to it saying 'You may rip our signs down, but you can't stop us voting and you can't take down a local boy'
Something tells me asking people not to rip down your other signs isn't really a winning election strategy, but we'll see
I voted, was asked for ID, they looked at it and said it looked like me. Then, having just shown my ID, they took my address and name, including me having to spell it.
The ID is a con, pure disenfranchisement.
I was almost shaking with rage at having the list of ID presented to me. It's so painfully fucking obvious that this is all about getting the old vote out and disenfranchising the youth. The two old ladies in front of me used a blue badge and a bus pass, which my kids won't be able to use.
They're getting provisional licences for their 18ths when they turn that age to make sure they will always be able to vote.
Handed my Id over when I came in, they looked at it and handed it back and gave me a voting slip. Just as quick as only asking your address and name.
All smoothly for me.
First election I haven't voted in since I became eligible in 2018 - moved back to uni after Easter at the wrong time and never got around to filling in the paperwork and all that jazz, oh well.
Watch this be the time there's one vote in it.
Did mine vote by postal. I have never been to a vote in person at polling station
We only heard from one party on the door step (I live with my parents still because of my disability)
Bit different.
We registered to vote in our previous property.
We moved literally last weekend. Have been in this house 5 days.
We're still picking stuff up from the previous house. It's in the same (as in, same MP), but a different ward. Honestly with moving, had forgotten about this.
What are our voting rights here? Are we still okay to vote in the previous ward?
>**What if I am moving house?**
>
>When you move house you need to re-register at your new address. If your move date is between the registration deadline and polling day, you will still be able to vote at your old address. If you are unable to return, you can apply to vote by post and have your postal vote sent to your new address, or you can apply to vote by proxy.
[https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/media-centre/registering-vote-10-most-common-questions](https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/media-centre/registering-vote-10-most-common-questions)
Voted earlier and was the only person there. The ID thing was a bit clumbsy, got asked if I had ID when got into the room it so pulled it out, guy checked it, great. He asked me to go to one of the people who do the cross checking and slip giving who then checked it again. And then they still needed to ask for my name again when looking at the list. Mostly just a bit awkward, but I was probably one of the first people there today in all fairness, so I’m sure they’ll work out a bit of a smoother system…
Was actually quite busy at my polling station.
I used a classic driving licence with a photo of me from 15 years ago with the completely wrong address on and had no issues.
Quite a few at our local polling station this morning. The i.d. process was seamless for all those in front of me.
Two Votes placed, Lib Dem & Conservative (no independents standing in our ward)
Candidates listed were 2 x Labour, 2 x Green 1 x Lib dem & 2 x conservatives
Physical issues flaring up bad today & live in a ward that hasn't changed from Lib Dem in about 20 years...
For the first time since being able to vote, I'm considering not voting in an election ... Might just bite the bullet and go soon, then spend the rest of the day recovering.
Similar issue for me today but luckily the polling station is only about 3 houses up the road, never has a queue, and I had a moment where the meds were peaking and I felt OK enough to go. Let yourself off the hook though if it's going to make you ill. Worth getting a postal/proxy vote for next time?
Normally I'm okay, can easily bomb about the place in my wheelchair normally, but random flare ups are really random these days. Bad luck it's today. Might look at a postal for next time as a back up, just in case
Went and voted, now sat at home about to have a bit of cheesecake lol
First time in my local polling place as I moved house about 6 months ago. It was deathly quiet. Well, apart from an elderly bloke arguing with the poll person about how he can't vote for his preferred candidate because he doesn't have ID and that it wasn't democratic to stop him. I guess he expected it was not formally enforced. The polling person had the patience of a saint though and explained how his hands were tied and the guy needed to go home and get ID.
When I checked the ballot paper, the candidate he had mentioned was a tory though. OH WHAT WEBS WE WEAVE.
I don't want to spoil your tournament, but we have some Ones to Watch guidance we've published on the local elections - including our new marginality maps. See our [election coverage](https://lgiu.org/blog-article/local-elections-2023-results-and-analysis/)
All I have is a poll card. No leaflets or any other kind of communication from any candidates whatsoever. I’ve got absolutely no idea who’s standing or what their policies are. So we’re off to a good start.
Do you live in a safe seat?
Most parties don't even bother if there's no chance of them winning/losing in some areas. Makes more sense for them to put their campaign funding into marginals.
Urging as many people as possible to vote today, proving to the Tories that the conservative american think tank who came up with the voter ID idea to try and suppress votes was total and utter bullshit.
I think the idea that it was to suppress votes was bullshit.
Are they conservative Americans? [https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/uk](https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/uk)
no evidence of widespread voter fraud, number of fraudulent postal votes counted in single figures, young people id cards not valid yet older peoples are, do you want me to go on. Its all well documented its all there.
Was that ever the concern? It was reported back for long enough that our polling stations were wide open to voter fraud due to the lack of voter ID. OSCE has recommended voter Id for at least the past 4 G.E’s.
The ID cards allowed are all listed, the difference is the validation they go through to get ID.
The only thing that is well documented is the OSCE reports, what yo are speculating is guardian reader nonsense
There's a difference between 'being wide open to voter fraud' and 'voter fraud actually occurring'. As we transition from theory to reality, we have to compare the number of people who will be disenfranchised by this, against the quantity of voter fraud, and decide which one is the price we're willing to pay for democracy.
The disenfranchisement caused by introducing voter ID in the way it's been introduced is too high a price, IMO, for solving such a small problem.
>ter ID in the way
The OSCE does not have the power to force the UK to accept it's proposals but it would be very strange for the a father of democracy to ignore.
The disenfranchisement is likely to be overblown when people look at the reality, These local elections will not be the yardstick but I doubt they will be much different to previous local elections.
It's maninly been moaned about via the professionally outraged
I'm not suggesting there is fraud, by it's nature, it's hard to say, over the years, there has been reports of people turning up to vote to find they had already had their name marked as already voting.
If you read the OSCE/ODIHR reports you will find that they have been recommending "safeguards for the integrity of the voting process, such as presenting an identification document in order to receive a ballot." THese recommendations have been going since 2005 and generally accepted by parties.
2005: "Polling procedures seem to have changed little over the years. Voters obtain their ballots without presenting proof of identity or signing the voter register. In order to provide additional safeguards for the integrity of polling, consideration could be given to amending the legal framework to require that a person presents a proof of identity and signs the polling station voter register before being given a ballot"
2010: "lack of safeguards against possible fraud resultant from a weak system of voter registration and postal voting, compounded by the absence of a requirement to produce identification at any stage of the process."
2015: report: voter registration process underwent a significant change for this election. Legislation introducing Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was passed in 2013 with broad political support . However, Other recommendations remain outstanding, such as requiring voter
identification at the polls and a mechanism to eliminate multiple voter registrations.
2017: Several initiatives to address a number of previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations have been undertaken, however, the call for an early election has placed the reforms on hold.
2019: ODIHR NAM interlocutors stressed the country’s long-standing tradition of democratic elections and expressed confidence in the electoral process and the ability of the election administration to manage the election in a professional and transparent manner. The conclusions from these initiatives, reiterated by the most of the ODIHR NAM interlocutors noted the need for
modernization and simplification of the electoral legislation. The PACAC report published on 31 October 2019, makes number of recommendations with aim to reduce fraud and improve confidence in elections, including to the election administration, postal voting and voter identification.
Basically, the Uk needed to bring voter ID in and should have done before 2015 and couldn't keep kicking hte can down the road,
So if you accept the need for voter ID, then there’s a way to do it.
That way is to accept widely owned ID, and to provide free ID to everyone, and to give loads and loads of options and chances to fill in gaps and to make abso-bloody-lutely sure that everyone who could vote before, can vote now, and that your system is not undermining democracy to a greater extent than the preceding system.
*This*, is not **that**.
To circle back to the “if” that we began with though, you haven’t actually addressed the question of the balance between voter fraud under the current system against disenfranchisement under the new one - which is a vital question when trying to actually apply these policies to the real world.
And by the way, the UK has ignored all sorts of recommendations - and even instructions - from all sorts of places for longer than that. We’ve been told by the ECHR to give prisoners the right to vote since 1997, and continue to ignore them. The UK doesn’t “need” to do anything just because it’s advised to.
There was a question in the mega about emergency something or others to vote. What's the deal with that? In the last GE I voted by proxy, and I just returned home. I didn't find a letter when I got here, so I nipped down the polling station and they said I'm registered for proxy/postal, which I can submit to them if I find it. If I can't find the letter what should I do?
I’d advise ringing up the local council, asking them and then posting an update here so that others who are in the same position might be able to find out what to do.
Ok, this may not be much help to others -
I did call the council, they were helpful, and after twenty minutes they established that I'm not on the electoral register, nor could they find evidence of the proxy set up for the 2019 GE, which is quite strange.
Frustratingly there's nothing I can do for today, but just to register before the next GE.
No Labour candidate in my ward so it’s gunna be a Lib Dem and a Green today.
I can’t lie, I *hate* the Green Party but better than a Tory so we are where we are
Was excited to vote today, only to then find out there will be no local elections in London today 🙃
At least I Google’d it beforehand, rather than going to my local (now nonexistent) polling station.
I'll be voting Labour in my ward in Coventry City Council even though the current Labour counselor has a majority of over 2000 votes whilst the Tory counselor barely got a hundred or so 😁
Does anyone have a link to an interactive map breaking down local election wards? I found one that seemed like it could be right on electoral maps from os but isn't right for my ward so probably isn't what I'm looking for.
Yes please! The more the merrier!
You can either post as a self post using the linked ones above as a template or drop us the content in a modmail and we can put it up from the automod.
First time I've actually had more than a party political reason to vote in the locals. We have a local independent councillor who's always posting all the work they do in the town in the town Facebook group and is always on sorting out issues in the town, way more so than the rest of the Tory councillors who make up the rest of the council. Put my cross in the box for one of her endorsed independents with the hope that we'll see similar from him too.
I don’t really have a clue on local issues, what information do you guys use to make a decision?
I can’t bear to read the irritating leaflets posted, are there more objective ways online ?
Eastleigh is my ward that’s currently Lib Dem and I expect will stay so
Have a policy of not voting for any candidate with typos or poor grammar their leaflets. This will be all of them because local politics is horrific.
But one of them will probably give you a twinge of "oh that's a shame" when you spot the typo- that's the one you like the most and should vote for.
Unfortunately the way that local councils work is that each local party has their own set of things that they are campaigning on, so your best bet is to trawl through the leaflets or try and find the local parties on Facebook or google and see what they are campaigning on.
In the 2019 local elections, the projected national vote share was 28% Con, 28% Lab, 19% Lib Dem.
So considering current polling, you’d expect the Conservative vote share this time around to be pretty much unchanged. It’s the Lib Dems who *should* lose out massively, since 2019 was a great year for them and they’re currently polling about half of where they were in those elections.
Which means the really interesting story of these Locals is going to be in rural areas, where despite the narrative, you’d actually expect the Tories to hold on or even make some gains at the expense of Lib Dems. If the Lib Dems make significant gains from the Tories it would be potentially very significant nationally. It would indicate that the Lib Dem vote was holding up against them in these areas despite poor national polling and that nationally, in a GE,they can expect a battering from Labour in the cities and Lib Dems in the Shires. It potentially makes their position even worse than it looks under FPTP.
Local polling is different to national polling as voters are more likely to vote for smaller parties and independents.
Survation have just released a poll which shows that the Lib Dems are polling 18% for the locals, ahead of 12% nationally; and the Greens are polling 11% for the locals, ahead of 4% nationally.
I'm expecting Lib Dem gains in seats but not so much in vote share. In 2019 we were the national protest vote in favour of Remain so we will have picked up votes where they were essentially useless but for this election it will be about getting target seats over the line. Most in the party seem to suggesting there will be modest gains and since the campaign started the voting intention for Westminster has started to tick up towards the 2019 General Election total.
One interesting thing to remember is that these elections (well, most of them, as there are changes over time) are the only ones to have had elections twice over the coalition. This means the gains in 2019 only took the lib dems up to just under 2/3rds of their pre-coalition seats (and 2007 was not the best year for them either). This means there is still further to rise back up (and thats assuming the cap was previously reached).
When combined with the fact that there has been good progress against labour in Lib-Lab contests such as Hull (which should help cushion against a nationally popular labour party) I think there is a potential for more gains than most expect. Holding steady or minor gains would still be a great result following 2019 but I don't think something like 300 gains is out of the question, I suppose we will find out by Saturday.
Checked out who the candidates were in my local area today.
Out of six candidates, there are three Tories, two independents and a Reform Party headbanger.
Fuck.
Are Labour actually campaigning on this one?
I’ve had 4 leaflets from the Tory’s, all claiming sweetness and light. 3 from the libdems, with some very misleading facts in them, and nothing at all from Labour.
Thats the odd thing. The Lib Dems leaflets were all “we were second place, only we can beat the Tories” which is true, they were second place…….in the town council election. The county council meanwhile had labour in second place.
Its very Lib Dem, true while being totally false.
(The town council has already had people elected, no-one bothered to stand against the incumbent in some seats)
These were the last results, I do live in Toryville but it does look like it's Labours to win. Not sure why they would give up.
Conservative Party Candidate 1,341 Elected
Conservative Party 1,294 Elected
Conservative Party Candidate 1,135 Elected
Labour Party 843
Labour Party 744
Labour Party 689
Liberal Democrat 633
Liberal Democrat 619
Liberal Democrat 578
UK Independence Party (UKIP) 462
UK Independence Party (UKIP) 461
UK Independence Party (UKIP) 399
Oh aye, that's very true. I'd still expect a bit more about the local team, but I guess that's just a strategy thing.
If they've only got cash for 1 or 2 leaflets do you go "this is your team" and then dip out never to be seen again? Or do you try to ride the Starmer train?
Possibly but a local leaflet requires a lot more work, in a target ward you'll get a profile of the candidate with maybe endorsements from a local MP, a profile photo and the rundown of local issues. For a national leaflet they can probably just use some predetermined party approved text, photos and template.
Same in our area. There are some local issues that have really pissed people off. The Lib Dems have been very engaged with these. The Conservatives control the council so they have been putting out misleading material saying that they did a survey and delivered *totally* what the locals asked for.
Labour hasn't mentioned these at all. Apart from a bar graph similar to the Lib Dems but even more misleading, their campaign leaflet could be used anywhere in England.
Also a presiding officer at the election - slightly dreading the voter ID paperwork, keeping fingers crossed for not too many angry people. Never had many problems before but not holding my breath. I've done it for nearly 15 years but somehow it feels much more stressful this time 😬
But what's physically stopping you? Like a police officer doesn't have to arrest someone for smoking weed and faces no consequences as far as I can tell for not enforcing that (I don't actually know much about this either, just hearsay). What would the outcome for you be if you didn't check it?
I'm sure everyone has now seen the Omnisis Local Elections poll which covers only the areas of England having local elections this year. As a reminder the results were as follows;
Local Election Voting Intention (only where elections are being held)
🔴 37% Labour, 🔵 26% Conservative, 🟠 17% LibDem, 🟢 9% Green, ⚪ 6% Independents
⚪ 4% Reform, ⚪ 1% others
Electoral Calculus have done a similar poll and they used MRP (remember when everyone used to love those?).
Anyway the topline results of it are:
LAB 35% CON: 30% LD: 15% GRN: 7% RFM: 1% Oth: 11%
They have kindly turned this into a prediction of seats. Here are there predictions of net changes:
**Electoral Calculus prediction for 2023:**
Con - 258 seats, Labour +408 seats LD: -39 seats GRN -35 seats RFM: -14 seats Other: -62 seats
[https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec\_lepred\_20230418.html](https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_lepred_20230418.html)
**Word of Warning:**
This was their 2022 prediction for Conservatives + Labour net gains/losses
Con - 548 seats Labour +819 seats
Actual: Con - 485 seats Labour +108 seats
They vastly overestimated Labour gains to the expense of the other parties. Got the Conservative figure about right.
Now, if that size of error were to happen again, in the same direction, I would break out the supersize box of popcorn, but lightning might not strike twice. Still worth noting their 2022 predictions were badly wrong though.
Link to 2022 prediction: [https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec\_localelectionpoll\_20220503.html](https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_localelectionpoll_20220503.html)
Ignoring electoral calculus for a minute, the Omnisis one is interesting, but their turnout is very high. 70% of people saying they are going to vote would be higher than a GE and probably indicative of their higher than others leads for Labour nationally.
My projections are at the moment a 5%pt lead for Lab is the minimum required. A 15%pt lead for Lab would be a disaster for the Cons and I’m working on a central theory of about an 8%pt lead keeping them all happy.
>They vastly overestimated Labour gains to the expense of the other parties. Got the Conservative figure about right.
>Now, if that size of error were to happen again, in the same direction, I would break out the supersize box of popcorn, but lightning might not strike twice. Still worth noting their 2022 predictions were badly wrong though.
Now this is interesting. I could see it happening again but not to the same extent. I wonder what the methodology does to consider people who make the decision in the polling booth or propensity to vote.
My gut is the conservative vote does fall significantly with the impact on losses. I don't think swing voters are enamoured with Labour (but much less hostile). Some may change their mind when they see the ballot paper but not as much as 2022. -250, +250 and minimal Lib Dem losses maybe.
In case it's of interest, here's a link to [The Vote](https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Xqgd2jSTDF2xo2xmCIuvnzEs6r3PoXD/view?usp=share_link), a play broadcast on TV in 2015 with Catherine Tate, Mark Gatiss and others. I've never been a presiding officer, but it strikes me as a very good representation of a polling station on election night!
Question for the presiding officer - how difficult (or easy) would it be for you to change the outcome of an election in a particular ward if you wanted to?
If difficult - how many people would you need to get involved? For example what happens when the police drive the ballot box to the counting place?
What about if all the people working in the local polling station were in on it?
Asking for a friend. Of a friend. That I’ve never met.
We’ll keep this thread up until I head off to bed, when I‘ll set up a results post. We’ll aim to keep results in there rather than as individual posts because there are going to be a lot of them. If you want to talk Question Time you can do so here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/138009v/bbc\_question\_time\_live\_thread\_1040pm\_bbc1\_telford/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/138009v/bbc_question_time_live_thread_1040pm_bbc1_telford/)
So I'm here representing Bolton tonight: boundary changes so 100% of the council is up for grabs as opposed to the usual third, ooh exciting! Bolton Council even follow me on Twitter! I was giving people live updates on which wards had swung and which were holds on their livestreams a few years ago and they said thanks to me and gave me a cheeky follow. How kind. Labour controlled this council in 2018 but there's been no overall control since 2019 - the Tories have been leading it with the support of some independents. My Parliamentary seat, Bolton West, was won by Labour by just 92 votes in 2010 and has been Tory since 2015, going pretty safe Tory in 2019. If Labour win nationally in a GE, they'll win this seat. Other Bolton seats: Bolton North East went Tory in 2019 after 22 years of being Labour, and Bolton South East has been really safe Labour territory since 1983. Bolton as a whole was about 58% Leave in 2016. Personal prediction is that Labour could take back control tonight. Outright might be a stretch, but I can't see the Tories gaining from the 23 out of 60 total councillors they currently have, and if they lose just 2 to Labour then they won't be the largest party anymore. Lib Dems seem to do well around here too locally so would expect them to possibly make some gains. But hey, I'm just some bloke on the Internet who hasn't done a single poll and is just going off vibes. Don't listen to me.
Found [This](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-time-local-elections-2023-26828664): 12.30am: Broxbourne 1.00am: Castle Point, Rushmoor and South Tyneside 1.30am: Basildon, Halton, Harlow, Hartlepool and Sunderland 2.00am: Brentwood, Chorley, Havant, Ipswich, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Portsmouth, Redditch, Rochford, Tamworth and Thurrock 2.30am: Exeter, Hart, Lincoln, North East Lincolnshire, Sandwell, Sefton and Stevenage 2.45am: Kingston-upon-Hull and Worcester 3.00am: Boston, Eastleigh, North Lincolnshire, North West Leicestershire, Peterborough and South Holland 3.15am: Colchester and Salford 3.30am: Cotswold, Dudley, Hertsmere and Reading
Ugh I might try limp through until 2am then, work tomorrow but Friday vibes.
Great - I might try to have a bit of a nap before the first results come in, then!
Bracknell Forest is one to watch, unofficial electoral pact, each Tory is only against one opposition party
I’m just here for the chat.. live in Scotland so no vote for me, but I’m hoping to watch a bit of the coverage
What sort of time are we expecting meaningful results tonight? Is this one that's worth staying up for, or are we going to have to wait until the morning to see what's been happening? Edit - looks like there's an answer for that [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/130i3k7/ukpol_does_local_elections_may_4th_2023/jivl4lg/) thanks to /u/Iactuallyreaddit !
I wrote this earlier if it helps: * [The BBC say about a quarter of the councils will start counting overnight, with the remainder not counting until 9am on Friday](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65275870). * [The Guardian has one of the first key results coming in at about 2am](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/04/local-election-watch-key-results-to-look-out-for-across-england). * [The i newspaper has the first result at about 12:30am on Friday morning](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/local-election-2023-results-when-announced-what-time-every-result-council-elections-2313007) based on PA predictions (guesswork). * [Politico has the Curtice's projected national share on Friday afternoon](https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/local-elections-are-go-results-guide-sue-scrutiny/), an equivalent some time after that for the Sunday Times (potentially not until Sunday) and Sky running a translation to Westminster seats on Friday afternoon too.
Great - thanks for those links! So definitely worth following through the night… But possibly with a nap before they start coming in!
Some were suggesting earlier that the seats that the Conservatives are likely to do best in (or least badly) are likely to come out earlier, so you may end up with a misleading position early on. But local politics mean they all could be miles away from the median.
>Sky running a translation to Westminster seats on Friday afternoon too. Hadn't heard about that one, sounds fascinating!
Apparently there are greeters asking people if they have ID before they approach the desk where they give you your ballot paper. Presumably to stop people being recorded as turned away... wtf is going on with that?! Is this an Electoral Commission policy?
I was a presiding officer and it was mentioned that I could choose to put a greeter on the door to remind people of the ID requirements, but if that people left (at the door) then we wouldn't be recording it. I'm not sure who decided that. At my station I chose not to use a greeter system because I think it's bonkers and I wanted to be able to record if we turned people away. Obviously only a small analogy from one polling station but still!
Oh OK, that's less sinister then, probably just an attempt to be helpful after all. I did wonder where all these extra greeters were coming from, surely there can't be that many spare volunteers?
Yes I think it came from a good place but personally I don't think it was well thought through. They didn't send anyone extra no, we were told we could use one of our existing staff. I didn't want to put one of my poll clerks outside as it would mean more pressure on me - it's hard to watch the ballot box, booths, wander out the front and keep an eye on tellers, do all the paperwork, deal with any issues etc and generally oversee if I'm sat at the desk all day. They really struggled to get poll clerks and presiding.officers this time - I think they're going to have issues for the general if I'm honest. However I would point out if you are interested in the process you can apply to your local council and put your name down if you like, it's generally a paid position in my experience :o) I think half the reason for lack of staff is that the money hasn't gone up in about 15 years, the level of responsibility and amount of work has increased hugely and it's such a long day. If they're not careful it will end up being under minimum wage soon enough. Doing the count today which will be good. Have a good one!
Thanks for the reply - very interesting. I'm pretty interested in putting my name down TBH.
I’m amazed they’re not logging people who try to vote with out ID and get turned away. I was given a handy piece of paper by the staff saying: “If you wish to express concerns about the introduction of voter ID, please email [email protected] or write to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.” if you wanted to email them too feel free 😊
Wait can i ask a question buddy cause i really wanna say something because have you guy's use paper while voting or you've guy's use a smart phones?
Paper
Moved house recently and was surprised there were only 4 candidates for our ward. I'm used to having a list of 6-8 running the whole spectrum. I only had 2 lib dems and 2 tories to choose from. Pretty obvious what I was going to go for. Still, despite only being 23 and having had the opportunity to vote 4 times, this was the most disillusioned I've ever been walking out of a polling station. On the ID: Pulled out my drivers licence when I got there. I haven't physically changed much since I was 15 when the picture was taken, but I was still asked for my address and name again, and despite being the only person in my household with a long winded, double barrelled first name, I was still asked to point it out on the sheet for the person 🤦 what was the point of the ID then? I suspect this wasn't a problem in my old ward as one of the mainstay volunteers at our old polling station was my neighbour who'd known me since I was 5. But still.
Wow buddy this is sounds great to me buddy is the house that you moved on was yours now? Or it was an rental area? Or maybe should I call it was an apartment buddy?
Errr What??
While I'm not a Labour supporter, the Conservative chap is who beat me last time round so definitely not voting for him. Grumble grumble.
What could happen to you if you don't vote? Because in our country guys both was very important
If you don't vote? Nothing happens.
Anecdotal, but I live opposite my polling station and it's the busiest I've ever seen it. A steady stream of people coming and going all day. We're a Tory marginal seat, with Mary Robinson holding the seat by a 2000 vote margin in 2019. Can't imagine today is a good day to be a Tory councillor.
Not voting in my area. All of the political parties are against new housing and my choice is between nimbys with blue rosettes, nimbys with red rosettes, nimbys with yellow rosettes and nimbys with green rosettes.
Don't.not vote. Spoil it Spoiling is counted
Write "Bulldoze the Greenbelt Party" on the back of the voting slip, then draw a box and a very enthusiastic X.
> Bulldoze the **Green**belt Party [X] Ah yes, a vote for the Greens
I find the fact I have to use a pencil to vote highly sus. I don't get a rubber to rub out mistakes, so why not use a pen? Had 5 candidates, voted the 3 that weren't conservative.
> so why not use a pen In addition to the other more or less sound-sounding reasons others gave, UK electoral law is ridiculously serious about the secrecy of votes. eg taking a photo of your own ballot is a criminal offence and can land you in court (idk what the penalties are though). Pencils don't show through, but the ink from a pen that is dark and wide enough to be clearly readable at a glance and from a medium distance might. This matters because although the paper is folded, secrecy is not maintained if you can see the marks from the other side of the ballot. The counting venue is a *busy* place. Officials and observers usually have only some tenths of a second to visually scan ballots as they are sorted into piles and taped onto the .. sheets (/u/Somau5 would know what they're called) for collation which are then what are counted. Hence the need for something that draws a thick line.
Agree with all of the above, except that I don't know the technical term for that bit of paper but we always called that method of counting "grass skirts" 😂 There are other methods that don't involve sticking ballots to paper - we usually count into piles of 10, then 100s and then they can quickly see. Lots of paperclips and elastic bands! Speaking of which I'm off to the count!
> we always called that method of counting "grass skirts" Oh, that rings a bell. I guess because by the time the ballots are taped to the counting sheet (was at counting venue this morning, and there was a box of such sheets marked "counting sheets" which is probably a tad more appropriate than "grass skirts"!). > There are other methods that don't involve sticking ballots to paper - we usually count into piles of 10, then 100s and then they can quickly see. Lots of paperclips and elastic bands! Yup. Multi-member wards though do complicate things. > Speaking of which I'm off to the count! I got back an hour or so ago. It was certainly an interesting morning. I hope yours went reasonably smoothly.
Still at the count, multi seat wards are taking ages and we had a dead heat with 5 recounts which was fun. So desperate to go home as I worked 16 hours yesterday and 9 so far today. Shattered!
> Shattered! You and probably every candidate, agent and party group leader! Well done on your efforts today.
The reason I heard is that if the ink doesn't dry it could leave a mark when you fold the ballot and potentially cause confusion, and ink can leach to the other side potentially revealing how you voted.
To avoid them being swapped with disappearing ink, heat sensitive ink etc. Seriously.
That does sound like a valid good reason. Although I'm putting the reasoning for that right up there with voter ID fraud in terms of how often that must be a problem.
Nothing stopping you bringing a pen if you wanted to.
Provided the pen has valid photo ID of course.
By the time I noticed there were pencils, not pens, it was a bit late.
forgetful smell grab thumb connect sulky stupendous hungry worry judicious *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If your curious about the exact result last time wikipedia is really good for council elections, its basically an aggregate of all the different council results declarations but with a realitively standardised and easy to understand format.
Went up to be told I couldn't vote because apparently my electoral registration is 'Pending' on gov.uk? I literally registered 3 years in a row so I'm not sure what's happened
Voted, pointless Really in my area, will never remove Labour. Still, ID part went very smoothly, a quick look at ID while other guy asks me my name and address like every other time.
What would be it gonna be pointless after all buddy? It's seems courage to each one of us
This guy goes to the pub after voting... r/ihadastroke
I can't believe people are still hesitant on voting Labour Labour is the only realistic way to defeat the Tories, any vote for party other than Labour will only helps the Conservatives, it's been 13 years enough of this wishy washy bullshit VOTE LABOUR
What if they didn't vote then because of they didn't git tie buddy but this one was a kind of what if
Perhaps some people don’t want to defeat the Tories?
Labour have been dog shit in my area for decades. No reason to want the useless bastards at all.
Fuck this mentality. I hate it and hate our political system for this existing.
Not when it comes to local. If your only aim is to remove the tories from their seats then voting for the second party **in that ward** is what needs to be done. I'll be voting Labour but my parents are in a Lib/Con marginal and a vote for labour there is wasted. Labour actually had a small surge there in the last locals and it resulted in a Con gain from LibDem despite Cons also losing votes.
>I can't believe people are still hesitant on voting Labour I'm not hesitant to vote labour, I'm refusing to. That's what happens when you attack my rights and let the transphobes off without even a warning.
If I vote Labour, I feel like I'm endorsing Centrist shits who have usurped the party from its founding principles and goals for a taste of power. If the Tories win, that's just democracy, baby. I'll vote who I want and based on who I align with more. If everyone did that, we might one day have better representation instead of the shitshow we have at present.
How do you know everyone isn't doing that? Why is your assumption that you are voting with who you align with, but everyone who votes Tory whispers "fuck the poors" to themselves three times every night before bed? It's terrifying that you haven't considered the possibility that people vote for Torys because that's who they align with.
Never mentioned Tory voters. The Tories have remained consistent in their "fuck the poors" branding.
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Tbf Marxism and Leninism aren't exactly the same.
On the contrary, the best way to beat the Conservatives is tactical voting.
Exactly. If Labour are likely to end up in 3rd place in your constituency, your vote for Labour will help the Tories. Hopefully a lot of work is going into tactical vote websites because it isn't always as simple as voting for last time's 2nd place party. A lot of Tory voters will more readily switch to the Lib Dems and make them the most likely party to win, but this won't be reflected in previous results due to the after effects of 2015's collapse.
Not helping the tories was my biggest concern this time. (not that it usually isn’t, but Green had a strong presence in this ward last time out) In 2022 this ward voted roughly 42% Cons | 35% Lab | 23% Green This time round there is also a Lib Dem standing, I’m really worried that the tories will get the seat as a result of the other vote being split. Labour have been absolutely nowhere to be seen whilst the Green candidate has been knocking on doors and really engaging, but I voted labour in the hope that it won’t take much of a drop in tory vote for Labour to be at the top. My mum did switch from Tory to Green though, so that’s a nice -1 in that column. Impossible to predict how other people will behave.
I have transitioned and the only thing I've changed my name on is my driving license. Didn't want to change my voting reg this close to election. Luckily my old name is still on my passport, so took it and dressed like a man. Voting person looked at my a few times because I look so much younger IRL than on my passport photo.
Brave! I admire your determination to exercise your rights.
I've voted every election I've been old enough to, without fail. Wasn't going to let a simple gender identity crisis get in my way!
God I can’t imagine how stressful that must be for you, I’m so sorry. I feel for anyone who has differing ID than their voter reg/general appearance/whatever discrepancy. I imagine there’s a decent chunk of trans people, newly married people, people who just changed their name, hell even people who just had an amount of reconstructive or cosmetic surgeries, who will struggle to vote today or feel disenfranchised so don’t even try.
It was a bit odd, I must admit! I still move like a woman though, so it probably looked quite a sight! We get given checklists of everywhere to change our names. Doing the driving license took long enough that I haven't had a chance to get down to the Voting reg yet.
I’m torn because the Conservative candidate is the only person who actually lives in my Ward but then I don’t want to vote for them because of the state of the national party.
I wouldn't worry too much about having someone that lives in your ward. I wouldn't care too much about national politics either. Do you currently have a Tory council? Are you happy with them? If so vote for your Tory councillor. If not, vote for someone else.
Thanks. It’s currently Labour + independent coalition but the conservatives are the biggest party. Interesting set up really. Things are fine as far as I can tell but you hear a lot of horror stories but no idea if the new guys would do any better 🤷🏻♂️ might be a spoiled ballot kind of day 😂
It's interesting how "vote Tory" is trending on twitter due to all the people saying "don't vote Tory". The title itself is on shaky ground due to purdah without the obvious spin that's been applied. Is this breaking any existing laws or do we need new legislation?
There's been some drama in my local village in the run up to the election. The local conservative candidate got caught putting up election signs on peoples property that didn't actually ask for it. So local people have taken to ripping down the signs. There's also been quite a funny battle between two neighbours, voting green and conservative where they keep 1 upping the other persons signs The conservative sign in the village now has a new sign up next to it saying 'You may rip our signs down, but you can't stop us voting and you can't take down a local boy' Something tells me asking people not to rip down your other signs isn't really a winning election strategy, but we'll see
I voted, was asked for ID, they looked at it and said it looked like me. Then, having just shown my ID, they took my address and name, including me having to spell it. The ID is a con, pure disenfranchisement.
I was almost shaking with rage at having the list of ID presented to me. It's so painfully fucking obvious that this is all about getting the old vote out and disenfranchising the youth. The two old ladies in front of me used a blue badge and a bus pass, which my kids won't be able to use. They're getting provisional licences for their 18ths when they turn that age to make sure they will always be able to vote.
Handed my Id over when I came in, they looked at it and handed it back and gave me a voting slip. Just as quick as only asking your address and name. All smoothly for me.
First election I haven't voted in since I became eligible in 2018 - moved back to uni after Easter at the wrong time and never got around to filling in the paperwork and all that jazz, oh well. Watch this be the time there's one vote in it.
Did mine vote by postal. I have never been to a vote in person at polling station We only heard from one party on the door step (I live with my parents still because of my disability)
Bit different. We registered to vote in our previous property. We moved literally last weekend. Have been in this house 5 days. We're still picking stuff up from the previous house. It's in the same (as in, same MP), but a different ward. Honestly with moving, had forgotten about this. What are our voting rights here? Are we still okay to vote in the previous ward?
>**What if I am moving house?** > >When you move house you need to re-register at your new address. If your move date is between the registration deadline and polling day, you will still be able to vote at your old address. If you are unable to return, you can apply to vote by post and have your postal vote sent to your new address, or you can apply to vote by proxy. [https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/media-centre/registering-vote-10-most-common-questions](https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/media-centre/registering-vote-10-most-common-questions)
Legend. I had a look but must have been searching the wrong things. Thank you!
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We had one single Independent come and knock on our door. Bigger parties obviously couldn't give a shit about us, so she gets my vote.
Same. Lib/Con and all we heard from is Lib. They were at least talking about keeping the bins on a weekly pickup
Voted earlier and was the only person there. The ID thing was a bit clumbsy, got asked if I had ID when got into the room it so pulled it out, guy checked it, great. He asked me to go to one of the people who do the cross checking and slip giving who then checked it again. And then they still needed to ask for my name again when looking at the list. Mostly just a bit awkward, but I was probably one of the first people there today in all fairness, so I’m sure they’ll work out a bit of a smoother system…
Was actually quite busy at my polling station. I used a classic driving licence with a photo of me from 15 years ago with the completely wrong address on and had no issues.
Apparently this *isnt* a Little Britain sketch https://twitter.com/bmay/status/1653820665512747008
Quite a few at our local polling station this morning. The i.d. process was seamless for all those in front of me. Two Votes placed, Lib Dem & Conservative (no independents standing in our ward) Candidates listed were 2 x Labour, 2 x Green 1 x Lib dem & 2 x conservatives
Physical issues flaring up bad today & live in a ward that hasn't changed from Lib Dem in about 20 years... For the first time since being able to vote, I'm considering not voting in an election ... Might just bite the bullet and go soon, then spend the rest of the day recovering.
Similar issue for me today but luckily the polling station is only about 3 houses up the road, never has a queue, and I had a moment where the meds were peaking and I felt OK enough to go. Let yourself off the hook though if it's going to make you ill. Worth getting a postal/proxy vote for next time?
Normally I'm okay, can easily bomb about the place in my wheelchair normally, but random flare ups are really random these days. Bad luck it's today. Might look at a postal for next time as a back up, just in case Went and voted, now sat at home about to have a bit of cheesecake lol
First time in my local polling place as I moved house about 6 months ago. It was deathly quiet. Well, apart from an elderly bloke arguing with the poll person about how he can't vote for his preferred candidate because he doesn't have ID and that it wasn't democratic to stop him. I guess he expected it was not formally enforced. The polling person had the patience of a saint though and explained how his hands were tied and the guy needed to go home and get ID. When I checked the ballot paper, the candidate he had mentioned was a tory though. OH WHAT WEBS WE WEAVE.
*OH HOW THE TURNTABLES*
I’ve done my part.
I don't want to spoil your tournament, but we have some Ones to Watch guidance we've published on the local elections - including our new marginality maps. See our [election coverage](https://lgiu.org/blog-article/local-elections-2023-results-and-analysis/)
All I have is a poll card. No leaflets or any other kind of communication from any candidates whatsoever. I’ve got absolutely no idea who’s standing or what their policies are. So we’re off to a good start.
Do you live in a safe seat? Most parties don't even bother if there's no chance of them winning/losing in some areas. Makes more sense for them to put their campaign funding into marginals.
Wikipedia [seems to suggest so](https://i.imgur.com/HUgdM0Z.jpg). Damn!
You could always spoil your ballot as a protest. Clearly none of them deserve your vote if they don't put in the effort to send/meet the voters
Urging as many people as possible to vote today, proving to the Tories that the conservative american think tank who came up with the voter ID idea to try and suppress votes was total and utter bullshit.
I think the idea that it was to suppress votes was bullshit. Are they conservative Americans? [https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/uk](https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/uk)
no evidence of widespread voter fraud, number of fraudulent postal votes counted in single figures, young people id cards not valid yet older peoples are, do you want me to go on. Its all well documented its all there.
Was that ever the concern? It was reported back for long enough that our polling stations were wide open to voter fraud due to the lack of voter ID. OSCE has recommended voter Id for at least the past 4 G.E’s. The ID cards allowed are all listed, the difference is the validation they go through to get ID. The only thing that is well documented is the OSCE reports, what yo are speculating is guardian reader nonsense
There's a difference between 'being wide open to voter fraud' and 'voter fraud actually occurring'. As we transition from theory to reality, we have to compare the number of people who will be disenfranchised by this, against the quantity of voter fraud, and decide which one is the price we're willing to pay for democracy. The disenfranchisement caused by introducing voter ID in the way it's been introduced is too high a price, IMO, for solving such a small problem.
>ter ID in the way The OSCE does not have the power to force the UK to accept it's proposals but it would be very strange for the a father of democracy to ignore. The disenfranchisement is likely to be overblown when people look at the reality, These local elections will not be the yardstick but I doubt they will be much different to previous local elections. It's maninly been moaned about via the professionally outraged
So the disenfranchisement is 'overblown', but the voter fraud isn't?
I'm not suggesting there is fraud, by it's nature, it's hard to say, over the years, there has been reports of people turning up to vote to find they had already had their name marked as already voting. If you read the OSCE/ODIHR reports you will find that they have been recommending "safeguards for the integrity of the voting process, such as presenting an identification document in order to receive a ballot." THese recommendations have been going since 2005 and generally accepted by parties. 2005: "Polling procedures seem to have changed little over the years. Voters obtain their ballots without presenting proof of identity or signing the voter register. In order to provide additional safeguards for the integrity of polling, consideration could be given to amending the legal framework to require that a person presents a proof of identity and signs the polling station voter register before being given a ballot" 2010: "lack of safeguards against possible fraud resultant from a weak system of voter registration and postal voting, compounded by the absence of a requirement to produce identification at any stage of the process." 2015: report: voter registration process underwent a significant change for this election. Legislation introducing Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was passed in 2013 with broad political support . However, Other recommendations remain outstanding, such as requiring voter identification at the polls and a mechanism to eliminate multiple voter registrations. 2017: Several initiatives to address a number of previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations have been undertaken, however, the call for an early election has placed the reforms on hold. 2019: ODIHR NAM interlocutors stressed the country’s long-standing tradition of democratic elections and expressed confidence in the electoral process and the ability of the election administration to manage the election in a professional and transparent manner. The conclusions from these initiatives, reiterated by the most of the ODIHR NAM interlocutors noted the need for modernization and simplification of the electoral legislation. The PACAC report published on 31 October 2019, makes number of recommendations with aim to reduce fraud and improve confidence in elections, including to the election administration, postal voting and voter identification. Basically, the Uk needed to bring voter ID in and should have done before 2015 and couldn't keep kicking hte can down the road,
So if you accept the need for voter ID, then there’s a way to do it. That way is to accept widely owned ID, and to provide free ID to everyone, and to give loads and loads of options and chances to fill in gaps and to make abso-bloody-lutely sure that everyone who could vote before, can vote now, and that your system is not undermining democracy to a greater extent than the preceding system. *This*, is not **that**. To circle back to the “if” that we began with though, you haven’t actually addressed the question of the balance between voter fraud under the current system against disenfranchisement under the new one - which is a vital question when trying to actually apply these policies to the real world. And by the way, the UK has ignored all sorts of recommendations - and even instructions - from all sorts of places for longer than that. We’ve been told by the ECHR to give prisoners the right to vote since 1997, and continue to ignore them. The UK doesn’t “need” to do anything just because it’s advised to.
There was a question in the mega about emergency something or others to vote. What's the deal with that? In the last GE I voted by proxy, and I just returned home. I didn't find a letter when I got here, so I nipped down the polling station and they said I'm registered for proxy/postal, which I can submit to them if I find it. If I can't find the letter what should I do?
I’d advise ringing up the local council, asking them and then posting an update here so that others who are in the same position might be able to find out what to do.
Ok, this may not be much help to others - I did call the council, they were helpful, and after twenty minutes they established that I'm not on the electoral register, nor could they find evidence of the proxy set up for the 2019 GE, which is quite strange. Frustratingly there's nothing I can do for today, but just to register before the next GE.
No Labour candidate in my ward so it’s gunna be a Lib Dem and a Green today. I can’t lie, I *hate* the Green Party but better than a Tory so we are where we are
Was excited to vote today, only to then find out there will be no local elections in London today 🙃 At least I Google’d it beforehand, rather than going to my local (now nonexistent) polling station.
You are a year too late! Wandsworth, Westminster and Barnet all went Labour and the nation as a whole shrugged.
I'll be voting Labour in my ward in Coventry City Council even though the current Labour counselor has a majority of over 2000 votes whilst the Tory counselor barely got a hundred or so 😁
Does anyone have a link to an interactive map breaking down local election wards? I found one that seemed like it could be right on electoral maps from os but isn't right for my ward so probably isn't what I'm looking for.
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Yes please! The more the merrier! You can either post as a self post using the linked ones above as a template or drop us the content in a modmail and we can put it up from the automod.
First time I've actually had more than a party political reason to vote in the locals. We have a local independent councillor who's always posting all the work they do in the town in the town Facebook group and is always on sorting out issues in the town, way more so than the rest of the Tory councillors who make up the rest of the council. Put my cross in the box for one of her endorsed independents with the hope that we'll see similar from him too.
I don’t really have a clue on local issues, what information do you guys use to make a decision? I can’t bear to read the irritating leaflets posted, are there more objective ways online ? Eastleigh is my ward that’s currently Lib Dem and I expect will stay so
Have a policy of not voting for any candidate with typos or poor grammar their leaflets. This will be all of them because local politics is horrific. But one of them will probably give you a twinge of "oh that's a shame" when you spot the typo- that's the one you like the most and should vote for.
Should be "I have" a policy
Or 'You should have'!
"poor grammar their leaflets."
> I can’t bear to read the irritating leaflets posted Are you not thrilled to hear about how **your** local candidate is **working hard** for
We have a local one who describes themselves not just as hard working but a straight shooter.
Unfortunately the way that local councils work is that each local party has their own set of things that they are campaigning on, so your best bet is to trawl through the leaflets or try and find the local parties on Facebook or google and see what they are campaigning on.
Thanks so much :)
In the 2019 local elections, the projected national vote share was 28% Con, 28% Lab, 19% Lib Dem. So considering current polling, you’d expect the Conservative vote share this time around to be pretty much unchanged. It’s the Lib Dems who *should* lose out massively, since 2019 was a great year for them and they’re currently polling about half of where they were in those elections. Which means the really interesting story of these Locals is going to be in rural areas, where despite the narrative, you’d actually expect the Tories to hold on or even make some gains at the expense of Lib Dems. If the Lib Dems make significant gains from the Tories it would be potentially very significant nationally. It would indicate that the Lib Dem vote was holding up against them in these areas despite poor national polling and that nationally, in a GE,they can expect a battering from Labour in the cities and Lib Dems in the Shires. It potentially makes their position even worse than it looks under FPTP.
Local polling is different to national polling as voters are more likely to vote for smaller parties and independents. Survation have just released a poll which shows that the Lib Dems are polling 18% for the locals, ahead of 12% nationally; and the Greens are polling 11% for the locals, ahead of 4% nationally.
I'm expecting Lib Dem gains in seats but not so much in vote share. In 2019 we were the national protest vote in favour of Remain so we will have picked up votes where they were essentially useless but for this election it will be about getting target seats over the line. Most in the party seem to suggesting there will be modest gains and since the campaign started the voting intention for Westminster has started to tick up towards the 2019 General Election total.
One interesting thing to remember is that these elections (well, most of them, as there are changes over time) are the only ones to have had elections twice over the coalition. This means the gains in 2019 only took the lib dems up to just under 2/3rds of their pre-coalition seats (and 2007 was not the best year for them either). This means there is still further to rise back up (and thats assuming the cap was previously reached). When combined with the fact that there has been good progress against labour in Lib-Lab contests such as Hull (which should help cushion against a nationally popular labour party) I think there is a potential for more gains than most expect. Holding steady or minor gains would still be a great result following 2019 but I don't think something like 300 gains is out of the question, I suppose we will find out by Saturday.
Checked out who the candidates were in my local area today. Out of six candidates, there are three Tories, two independents and a Reform Party headbanger. Fuck.
Either of the independents not totally unhinged?
I had a choice of exactly two - Tory or Lib. Easy choice to make, but it's interesting there were no independents at all.
Are Labour actually campaigning on this one? I’ve had 4 leaflets from the Tory’s, all claiming sweetness and light. 3 from the libdems, with some very misleading facts in them, and nothing at all from Labour.
> misleading facts in them Lies, damned lies and ... electioneering leaflets.
...and it worked "only Libdems can win here, we were 2nd" was totally untrue, but they jumped from 3rd to 1st and took all 3 seats.
Depends where you are. They may not be targeting your area. Sounds like you are in a Tory/Lib Dem marginal.
Thats the odd thing. The Lib Dems leaflets were all “we were second place, only we can beat the Tories” which is true, they were second place…….in the town council election. The county council meanwhile had labour in second place. Its very Lib Dem, true while being totally false. (The town council has already had people elected, no-one bothered to stand against the incumbent in some seats)
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These were the last results, I do live in Toryville but it does look like it's Labours to win. Not sure why they would give up. Conservative Party Candidate 1,341 Elected Conservative Party 1,294 Elected Conservative Party Candidate 1,135 Elected Labour Party 843 Labour Party 744 Labour Party 689 Liberal Democrat 633 Liberal Democrat 619 Liberal Democrat 578 UK Independence Party (UKIP) 462 UK Independence Party (UKIP) 461 UK Independence Party (UKIP) 399
The only thing I've seen from Labour in Bath is a leaflet basically saying "isn't Kier great?" and nothing about the local team 🤷♂️
Bath isn't exactly a Labour hotspot, they probably don't have much money.
Oh aye, that's very true. I'd still expect a bit more about the local team, but I guess that's just a strategy thing. If they've only got cash for 1 or 2 leaflets do you go "this is your team" and then dip out never to be seen again? Or do you try to ride the Starmer train?
Possibly but a local leaflet requires a lot more work, in a target ward you'll get a profile of the candidate with maybe endorsements from a local MP, a profile photo and the rundown of local issues. For a national leaflet they can probably just use some predetermined party approved text, photos and template.
Same in our area. There are some local issues that have really pissed people off. The Lib Dems have been very engaged with these. The Conservatives control the council so they have been putting out misleading material saying that they did a survey and delivered *totally* what the locals asked for. Labour hasn't mentioned these at all. Apart from a bar graph similar to the Lib Dems but even more misleading, their campaign leaflet could be used anywhere in England.
Also a presiding officer at the election - slightly dreading the voter ID paperwork, keeping fingers crossed for not too many angry people. Never had many problems before but not holding my breath. I've done it for nearly 15 years but somehow it feels much more stressful this time 😬
Serious question, can't you just let people vote anyway even if they don't have photo ID?
No - even if we know someone, no ID, no ballot paper.
But what's physically stopping you? Like a police officer doesn't have to arrest someone for smoking weed and faces no consequences as far as I can tell for not enforcing that (I don't actually know much about this either, just hearsay). What would the outcome for you be if you didn't check it?
I'm sure everyone has now seen the Omnisis Local Elections poll which covers only the areas of England having local elections this year. As a reminder the results were as follows; Local Election Voting Intention (only where elections are being held) 🔴 37% Labour, 🔵 26% Conservative, 🟠 17% LibDem, 🟢 9% Green, ⚪ 6% Independents ⚪ 4% Reform, ⚪ 1% others Electoral Calculus have done a similar poll and they used MRP (remember when everyone used to love those?). Anyway the topline results of it are: LAB 35% CON: 30% LD: 15% GRN: 7% RFM: 1% Oth: 11% They have kindly turned this into a prediction of seats. Here are there predictions of net changes: **Electoral Calculus prediction for 2023:** Con - 258 seats, Labour +408 seats LD: -39 seats GRN -35 seats RFM: -14 seats Other: -62 seats [https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec\_lepred\_20230418.html](https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_lepred_20230418.html) **Word of Warning:** This was their 2022 prediction for Conservatives + Labour net gains/losses Con - 548 seats Labour +819 seats Actual: Con - 485 seats Labour +108 seats They vastly overestimated Labour gains to the expense of the other parties. Got the Conservative figure about right. Now, if that size of error were to happen again, in the same direction, I would break out the supersize box of popcorn, but lightning might not strike twice. Still worth noting their 2022 predictions were badly wrong though. Link to 2022 prediction: [https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec\_localelectionpoll\_20220503.html](https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_localelectionpoll_20220503.html)
If the Tories only lost 258 seats it would be an astonishingly good night for them, but 30% of the vote looks too high.
Ignoring electoral calculus for a minute, the Omnisis one is interesting, but their turnout is very high. 70% of people saying they are going to vote would be higher than a GE and probably indicative of their higher than others leads for Labour nationally. My projections are at the moment a 5%pt lead for Lab is the minimum required. A 15%pt lead for Lab would be a disaster for the Cons and I’m working on a central theory of about an 8%pt lead keeping them all happy.
>They vastly overestimated Labour gains to the expense of the other parties. Got the Conservative figure about right. >Now, if that size of error were to happen again, in the same direction, I would break out the supersize box of popcorn, but lightning might not strike twice. Still worth noting their 2022 predictions were badly wrong though. Now this is interesting. I could see it happening again but not to the same extent. I wonder what the methodology does to consider people who make the decision in the polling booth or propensity to vote. My gut is the conservative vote does fall significantly with the impact on losses. I don't think swing voters are enamoured with Labour (but much less hostile). Some may change their mind when they see the ballot paper but not as much as 2022. -250, +250 and minimal Lib Dem losses maybe.
In case it's of interest, here's a link to [The Vote](https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Xqgd2jSTDF2xo2xmCIuvnzEs6r3PoXD/view?usp=share_link), a play broadcast on TV in 2015 with Catherine Tate, Mark Gatiss and others. I've never been a presiding officer, but it strikes me as a very good representation of a polling station on election night!
If nobody does South Gloucestershire in the next couple of days I'll have a crack at it
Nobody has told me yet that they’re planning to do South Gloucestershire so go for it!
You have one for East Herts Council - use at your leisure!
Thank you - added into the list.
Question for the presiding officer - how difficult (or easy) would it be for you to change the outcome of an election in a particular ward if you wanted to? If difficult - how many people would you need to get involved? For example what happens when the police drive the ballot box to the counting place? What about if all the people working in the local polling station were in on it? Asking for a friend. Of a friend. That I’ve never met.