5th May UK regional elections discussion and results

Only had PCC elections in my area. Didn't manage to get to the polling station until 7pm as i was working late. And i was only the 107th voter they've had all day. Shocking considering how many people live within a 5 min walk of the station.
 
andicole0 said:
No council elections for me only pcc. All my candidates were aligned to a political party - no independant.
Polivine and the pcc shouldn't be a political role.
Andi.
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It does seem weird to me that it's a political role. I can kind of see the logic of it as a curb on abuse by law enforcement, but I'm not sure it works in practice. It reminds me of elected judges in the USA which has always seem rather worrying. Is there anybody here who thinks that the majority of people are smart and informed enough that they'd want them sitting over you in judgement?

Anyone explain the logic of elected police commissioners to me? Is it new? I don't remember it ever being a thing when I was younger.
 
Didn't vote - only police and crime com' being voted on in my area and didn't receive any correspondence from any candidate - nor anything about a single one in local press - so on the basis of having nothing but a name to go on I decided it was a waste of time
 
squerble said:
I voted yesterday - oddly enough, it was with a pencil, not a pen. Not suspicious at all!
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Ever since the LibDems had a turn at running the local council we've had pencils. Probably making sure the place is never such a **** hole ever again. ;):p

Neil79 said:
Next stop, Muhammed Mustaff Prime Minister and Christians banned from praying :o
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:D

(at least I hope that's sarcasm. I can't always tell in GD)
 
h4rm0ny said:
Anyone explain the logic of elected police commissioners to me? Is it new? I don't remember it ever being a thing when I was younger.
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It's about democratic accountability I guess. Police forces/authorities used to have governing boards of worthies and it was quite unclear how they were formed but I assume local councils etc would have had representation. This seemed to work for years. But the Chief Police Officers formed ACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers) and this became a quasi official source of policing policy written only by Chief Police Officers. The trend was for governing boards to follow ACPO guidance so the Police effectively became self governing apart from the Home Secretary's direct oversight. PCC's were supposed to give democratic legitimacy/accountability to the governing boards. I'm not sure how well it was formulated or is working but I can't say it has made things demonstrably worse.

Personally I would like to see a more wholesale shake up of the UK's political structures. Federalise England into regions by removing the county councils and replacing with regional assemblies, re-form the police authorities on a regional basis and make them directly accountable to regional assemblies. Even out devolution so Wales, Scotland Northern Ireland and the English regions get homogonised powers and then leave alone for 10 years and see how regional democracy works. This should limit the scope of Westminster and re-legitamise national Government whilst helping devolve powers and focus regionally. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
 
London Elects has a live count of the Mayoral election. Khan is ahead on first preferences, with UKIP and the Lib Dems fighting for fourth and the Green candidate sitting comfortably in third.
 
Glaucus said:
which is massively poor. historically it's the time the opposition should make significant gains. when the current government is doing all the stuff people hate early on in their term. before they switch to nicer stuff running upto election.
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I'm not sure this is really a fair comparison. Labour under Ed Miliband made big wins in 2012, which is what this election is being compared against, so it would be difficult for any Labour leader to pile large further gains on top of those wins.
 
For people who are saying that PCC's are aligned to a Political Party need to read more about it:

PCCs are required to swear an oath of impartiality when they are elected to office. The oath is designed so that PCCs can set out publicly their commitment to tackling their role with integrity. It reflects the commitment police officers make to serve every member of the public impartially and makes clear that they are there to serve the people, not a political party or any one section of their electorate.
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Here are the results for my ward (Bromborough) for last night compared with the result in 2012



The electorate is around 11,000, giving a turnout of 32% in both 2012 and '16.

My questions, to all the Corbyn fans out there are these: What happened to all those people who didn't vote in previous elections because there wasn't a 'proper' choice; weren't they supposed to get all enthused by the new politics? And if they can't be bothered to get out and vote now, when Corbyn is still relatively 'fresh', why should we think they'll be any more inclined in 2020?
 
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