Monday, May 30, 2005
GENERAL ELECTION RESULT 2005 - IS THIS DEMOCRACY?
LABOUR 227 seats (instead of 356)
CONSERVATIVE 208 seats (instead of 197)
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT 142 seats (instead of 62)
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
DID YOU KNOW ---?
In the 2005 election:
22% voted Labour
20% voted Conservative
14% voted Lib.Dem.
5% voted for other parties
- but 39% did not vote at all
DID YOU KNOW ---?
Labour received only 3% more votes that the Conservatives - but they have 159 more seats !
DID YOU KNOW ---?
There is one Labour MP for every 27,000 Labour voters - BUT
- it took 45,000 votes to elect a Conservative MP
- it took 100,000 to elect a Liberal Democrat MP !
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT ADVANCE
LIB.DEM.SEATS HELD:
Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine; Argyll & Bute; Bath; Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk; Berwick-upon-Tweed; Brecon & Radnorshire; Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross; Carshalton & Wallington; Cheadle; Cheltenham; Chesterfield; Colchester; Cornwall North; Cornwall South East; Devon North; Dorset Mid & Poole North; Eastleigh; Edinburgh West; Fife North East; Gordon; Harrogate & Knaresborough; Hazel Grove; Hereford; Kingston & Surbiton; Lewes; Montgomeryshire; Norfolk North; Northavon; Orkney & Shetland; Oxford West & Abingdon; Portsmouth South; Richmond Park; Romsey; Ross, Skye & Lochaber; St.Ives; Sheffield Hallam; Somerton & Frome; Southport; Southwark North & Bermondsey; Sutton & Cheam; Teignbridge; Torbay; Truro & St.Austell; Twickenham; Winchester; Yeovil
SEATS LOST: Devon West & Torridge [to Con.]; Guildford [to Con.]; Leicester South [to Labour]; Ludlow [to Con.]; Newbury [to Con.]; Weston-Super-Mare [to Con.]
SEATS GAINED BY LIB.DEMS.:
Birmingham Yardley [from Labour]; Brent East [first won in by-election from Labour]; Bristol West (from Labour); Cambridge [from Labour]; Cardiff Central [from Labour]; Ceredigion [from Plaid Cymru]; Dunbartonshire East [from Labour]; Falmouth & Camborne [from Labour]; Hornsey & Wood Green [from Labour]; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey [from Labour]; Leeds North West [from Labour]; Manchester Withington [from Labour]; Rochdale [from Labour]; Solihull [from Con.]; Taunton [from Con.]; Westmorland & Lonsdale [from Con.]
LIB.DEM. TOTAL SEATS: NOW 62
Sunday, May 08, 2005
ELECTION REFLECTION!
Reflecting on the General Election result, John Beanse, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Chingford & Woodford Green, said:
“Nationally there was another steady advance for the Liberal Democrats with some dramatic gains. We now have 8 MPs in London.
There was a much reduced majority for Labour, but although the Tories reconnected with some of their former supporters, particular in NE London, there was no great appetite for a return to Conservative government.
We are even more clearly now in a time of three party politics, which is good for democracy and in which the Liberal Democrats can play an increasingly positive and constructive role.
One important lesson from the election is that the issue of electoral reform needs to be put high on the agenda. Our antiquated voting system does not accurately reflect the balance of public opinion in Parliament – and why should a party with only 36% support of those who voted have a clear majority over all the other parties in the Commons?
Locally, I would have liked to make further inroads, but nevertheless our positive campaign was well received by many; our vote was up by around 1100 to nearly 7000 and the share up by 2.2% - all this despite the local swing back to the Conservatives. My thanks to all who supported the Liberal Democrats by voting for me”
COMPARE THE SHARES OF THE VOTES WITH THE NUMBER OF SEATS - are we fairly represented?
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Saturday, May 07, 2005
CON. 20,555 -------53.2% up 5.0%
LAB. 9,914 ---------25.7% down 7.7%
LIB.DEM. 6,832 --17.7% up 2.2%
UKIP 1,078 ----------2.8%
Ind. 269 ---------------0.7%
Turnout 63%
Many thanks from John Beanse to those who supported him in the election.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
DECISION DAY
Monday, May 02, 2005
REMINDER OF KEY ISSUES !
WE OPPOSE: PUTTING TARGETS FIRST
WE PROPOSE: PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST
WE OPPOSE: TUITION FEES & TOP-UP FEES
WE PROPOSE: SCRAPPING STUDENT FEES
WE OPPOSE: COMPULSORY I.D. CARDS
WE PROPOSE: SPENDING THE MONEY ON 10,000 MORE POLICE
WE OPPOSE: SELLING YOUR HOME TO PAY FOR CARE
WE PROPOSE: FREE PERSONAL CARE FOR THE ELDERLY
WE OPPOSE: IGNORING CLIMATE CHANGE
WE PROPOSE: CLEANER TRANSPORT & CLEANER ENERGY
WE OPPOSE: £1.5 BILLION ON THE CHILD TRUST FUND
WE PROPOSE: £1.5 BILLION TOWARDS REDUCING CLASS SIZES
WE OPPOSE: MEANS-TESTING PENSIONERS
WE PROPOSE: £100 EXTRA PER MONTH STARTING WITH THE OVER 75s
WE OPPOSE: HIDDEN TAX INCREASES
WE PROPOSE: ONLY ONE TAX INCREASE – ON INCOME ABOVE £100,000 PER YEAR
WE OPPOSE: UNFAIR COUNCIL TAX
WE PROPOSE: LOCAL INCOME TAX, SAVING TYPICAL HOUSEHOLDS £450 PER YEAR
WE OPPOSE: BUSH & BLAIR ON IRAQ
WE PROPOSE: NEVER AGAIN
HEALTH MATTERS !
Health was the main focus of the weekend's campaign, both nationally and locally.
Key Liberal Democrat priorities include:
* abolishing absurd targets and freeing doctors & nurses from meddling
* introducing free personal care for those who need it (help with washing,
dressing, feeding, etc)
* developing more preventive medicine and screening
* promoting education on smoking, healthy eating, physical activity
* cutting unfair charges; we would have free eye and dental checks
As a former Chairman of our local health watchdog, the Community Health Council, (disgracefully abolished by Labour), John Beanse is keen to pursue health issues.
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