There’s a revolt in British politics
Conservatives-in-name-only have suffered the biggest wipe-out in 200 years. Reform UK has won four seats so far, with only about 11 seats not finalized. They’ve done this in a mere matter of weeks, with no funding, no branch structure and in a snap election. From nowhere they won 60% as many votes as the Conservative Party that was the UK government. That is really extraordinary. They are running second in “hundreds of seats” which means that in a first-past-the-post system, they could pick up as many as 6 million votes but only convert that into a small number of seats. But by polling so well across the UK, they represent a large political force. Both older establishment parties will be wary of losing more voters. As the third biggest force in British politics they will change the behaviour of the two major parties in a way that is not reflected in the seat tally.
Ponder that Reform UK won more votes than the Lib-Dems, but at the moment the Lib-Dems look like winning 70 seats, compared to the Reform tally of 4 seats. There is a huge unmet desire in British politics for a party that will represent the people instead of the Establishment — and that includes “establishment science” which has failed the people so appallingly in climate, energy and health. Congratulations to Nigel Farage who finally wins a seat himself.
Looking at the Reuters page — the Labor Party have only picked up an extra 2% of the votes (to 34%) but shifted from 34% of the seats to 63% of the seats in Parliament. The Conservatives have lost 20% of the voting public (from 43% down to 23%), and fall from controlling 56% of the seats to only 18%. The generational shift here is that the “other vote” has reached a record 27% as voters search for anything but the Uniparty corruption. The real story of our times is that politics is not so much right versus left, as The Establishment versus The People. Or Corruption versus honesty.
Photo of UK Flag by Rian (Ree) Saunders
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Let’s all wait and see if Australians wake up and support the Oz equivalent: Pauline Hanson’s One Australia Party: the only party in Australia that truly opposes the WEF/Elite criminals, the Marxists and the others who wish to take over/destroy our country (any clues?).
I will NEVER forgive the LNP nor the ALP/greens for infiltrating her initial party then imprisoning her on ridiculous lawfare charges. If Tony Abbott had one gram of decency, he would beg Pauline for a position in her party.
Pauline has more courage, patriotism and conviction than any other politician in the country and probably owns the “only pair” in the house while, along with her two senators are the ONLY ones with a clue there and all regularly challenge the tidal wave of woke garbage engulfing us. Initially, like Trump, she made the mistake of trusting her advisors. That won’t happen again. But the MSM and its elite owners do their best to derail her and her party.
The two parties: LNP and the marxists(ALP/greens) offer no choice to the people other than the WEF Elite one and we need to wake up a shave the Brits and the Europenas.
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I agree with you but do not neglect Senator Ralph Babit (UAP) nor senator Alex Antic (Lib).
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Who remembers that it was Kerry Packer who busted Pauline Hanson when the Women’s Day ran a story about her son’s problems that we hadn’t heard about a week before the election?
That story would have halved her vote in “The Bush” in an election that was promising to establish One Nation as a major party.
Today I am hoping that she doesn’t stay in the job till she dies, because we need her to supervise the first TV series.
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Labour promised everybody everything and have absolutley no chance of achieving even a quarter of it before the country is totally bankcrupt.
As they say “You may not be able to fool all of the people all of the time”, but this election proves that you can fool the majority long enough to get a landslide victory.
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This will be the second lowest turnout ever in a UK election since 1885, with only 2001 being lower at 59%
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nglegege1o
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Lowest or second lowest or whatever you like it is of no matter at present.. Labor has won 412 seats so far which is 214 seats more than in 2019. Conservatives have lost 251 seats from an ingoing total of 372 and the Reform party has managed to win 4 seats. Lots of comments in the media that the Labour vote was the second lowest since 1885 but these comments avoid mentioning that the rules for voting have changed
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I am generally in favour of first past the post but in the case of yesterdays UK GE it has certainly thrown up some glaring inconsistencies. (see Jo’s graphic)
Basically Reform have been very badly served. The Lib Dems have done very well out of the system as has Labour. Tories did less well than their voting numbers deserved, but having said that their numbers have crashed since 2019
SNP 696162 votes, 2.4% of vote = 9 seats
Green 1,938260 votes, 6.8% of the vote = 4 seats
Libdem 3,497877 votes, 12.2% of the vote = 71 seats
Reform 4,087896 votes, 14.3% of the vote = 4 seats
Tories 6,801123 votes, 23.7% of the vote = 120 seats
Labour 9,674564 votes, 33.8% of the vote = 412 seats
In conjunction with the above this is very interesting and half way down the page is a nice graphic that gives the share of seats according to if we had a PR system
How under proportional representation Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would have won 93 seats.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1919287/proportional-representation-nigel-farage-reform-how-commons-would-have-looked
This has been called the most indifferent landslide in History. There was no enthusiasm for Labour or Keir Starmer at all, as can be seen that Labour actually polled fewer votes than in 2019 under Corbyn.
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Tony, does the UK have first past the post voting?
I assumed our preference system in Aus was adopted from “the old country”.
I’m a fan of the preference system. It’s doesn’t guarantee the first choice wins. But it at least means the least preferred doesn’t win. The latter can happen in first past the post.
I also like our compulsory voting.
The combo of preference and compulsory voting is a good thing. It ensures the people don’t get what they didn’t want.
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Yes we have fptp which generally works well in giving a clear result and a rapid change in govt. I don’t like the notion of compulsory voting but would like the idea of having a section on the ballot paper for ” none of the above”. This could be properly counted and have legal standing.
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none of the above”. This could be properly counted and have legal standing”
Taken to its logical conclusion such an approach would preclude any party winning
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That might tell the parties they need to do much better!
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I actually wrote that on a voting slip once.
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I know folk who did this time …
Several – they say. No reason to doubt them.
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The way people vote in Australia has changed a lot over time. The first federal election in 1902 used ‘first-past-the-post’ voting for both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Preferential voting was introduced for both the Senate and House in 1918, and is still used to elect members of the House of Representatives.
Proportional representation was introduced for Senate elections in 1948. In part, this was a response to the lopsided results of previous elections. For example, after the 1946 election there were 3 opposition senators, 33 government senators and no minor party or independent senators. Proportional voting has given minor parties and independent senators representation they wouldn’t have otherwise.
https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice/questions/why-is-the-preferential-and-proportional-voting-system-used-at-australian-elections
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Tony, for democracy to stand a chance it must have compulsory voting and a preferential system, which prevents well organised minorities from dominating.
Even then it is theoretically possible to win government with 26% of the votes.
Strop has summed it up very neatly.
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I beg to differ.
In the senate election for Western Australia in 2022, Fatima Payman received 1681 votes directly. This was 0.01 per cent of the votes cast.
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Fatima Payman was not running as an individual. She ran as part of a team, in a supposedly unwinnable position. It was the unusually poor performance of the alternative parties that made space for her.
Having gained election she holds that seat for six years unless we have a double dissolution. A double dissolution would not dislodge her, under those terms she would get reelected in her own right, so I don’t see one coming on her account.
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In Australia there is no compulsory voting. Yes, you are compelled to get your name ticked off at a voting location, but you don’t have to vote. You can submit a blank voting slip.
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Actually Labour performed poorly on a historical basis
It was the collapse of the Tory Vote with voters going for the Lib Dems and Reform UK that resulted in a “Landslide”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9soBm6sqY-s
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If you count those who did not vote at all then 80% of Pommies did not vote Labour.
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Compulsory and preferential voting would avoid that.
Or maybe it would end up confirming that at least 50% preferred labour and validate the result.
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“If you count those who did not vote at all then 80% of Pommies did not vote Labour.”
Absolutely.
79 point something did NOT vote FOR Labour and the Beige Knight.
A hell of a lot voted against the “Tories” [they called themselves ‘Conservatives’, but actions did not really support that label]. Accepted.
Still, appreciably less than two in nine voting for Sir Starmer suggests – to me – a majority that is wide [ c.170 seats] and very shallow.
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NO! It does matter that the turnout was low as when you convert the Labour share of the votes cast to a percentage of the electorate it becomes less than 30% – not exactly a ringing endorsement and a sign that in the coming years we will see Labour losing every byelection held.
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The labour vote has been described as very shallow
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Good news, and especially liked the summation of the voters choices;
“The Establishment versus The People
Or
Corruption versus honesty.”
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“The Establishment versus The People”
There in lies the problem.
In a ‘democracy’ how does the establishment become at odds with the people?
Maybe because the establishment controls the semantic house of mirrors.
We look in the mirror and see democracy but it’s illusion.
The Internet is thus far able to point out the real image produce some push back.
Keir Starmer is Justin Trudeau.
We have one here in the US named Gavin Newsom, who has already turned California into Canada (or as I call it, North Korea with Food).
These gruesomes share an important goal … ending Free Speech … which they will tell us is protecting the public from ‘misinformation’ … which is akin to the ‘protection’ we are getting from SLR, and the forced protection we got from a virus.
The problem with the people versus the establishment, is that the establishment holds all the reins of polite reform, and all the people have is pre-industrial night vision devices and manual pronged hay redistribution implements.
Only the few of us here are aware of the decades long robbery by the establishment of the public purse, in pursuit of the dragons and witches of ‘Climate Change’.
I feel that the recent watered down victories we celebrate are just the highly developed and elaborate rigged ‘voting’ structures which have been carefully, artfully, and surreptitiously evolved to function only as a pressure valve.
Don’t know about where you are, but in my world they’re bringing in ‘voters’ by land, sea, and air.
From the New York Times
‘The First Amendment is Out of Control’
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/opinion/supreme-court-netchoice-free-speech.html
Unbelievable.
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An unpaywalled version.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/law-professors-beef-first-amendment-203502762.html
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Good one. My only reason for cheering this result is that the current uglies have been booted out.
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Mr. Farage will beat the drum for elevtoral system change – possibly some form of Proportional Representation,known in English as party-led negotiation. No room there for individuaks, or principles.
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Tories+Reform got 1/3 the seats per vote of Labour+LibDems.
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Mike, Agreed.
That is the system we use.
in the ‘Teens the DimLebs, now Children’s Entertainer Ed Davy’s mob, in Coalition, finagled a referendum on proportional representation – but lost abut 1:2.
A hammering.
First Past the Post [FPTP] does usually give a government with a majority in the House of Commons.
However, this time – with the proposed significant constitutional changes [Votes at 16, or 14; Huge changes to the House of Lords, perhaps others ….] – Labour would be wise [politicians? I can hope] to present the separate changes to at least a consultative referendum.
I advise you, too, not to hold your breath.
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The first past the post system does produce a government – and would have won RN the French Parliament if applied there – whereas PR produces a system that requires coalitions where little parties can exert undue influence. Ask Germans how their coalition including the ecofascist Greens is working out for them as their country heads for inexorable decline. The French system has something going for it in requiring 50% of the votes cast to win the seat. If not then any candidates with 12.5% or over goes into Sunday’s second round. But what should be applied is a requirement for ALL qualifying candidates to stand in round 2 and not doing what the anti-right are doing in dropping out to increase votes against RN. PR systems remove the linking of an individual to a seat as they are doled out based on overall votes which stops voters ejecting those they detest.
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Ask NZ!! MMP has produced the worst Govts I have ever seen, tiny factions like the Greens or the Maoris bargaining their way into power because the Uniparty have no morals at all, ever!
None of these versions of democracy will ever work, it is a system set up to fail right from the start. Jo’s graphic shows it all, the parliament is in no way representative of the people’s wishes, and no democratic system ever is- there are ‘seats’ to play with, gerrymandering of boundaries, ‘Electoral colleges’, minimum numbers of votes to get a seat… and then that never equals the power of that many votes for some other party.
Its all a distraction, not a system of Govt.
Just pull taxpayer’s numbers out in a lottery and say “Here, go Govern the country for a while!”
At least the speeches in the British Parliament will be a lot more fun this term!
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Reform gains are widespread which is important when Labour falls.
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“Reform gains are widespread which is important when Labour falls.
”
But when will Labour fall?? The next General Election is not scheduled for 5 years and with around 64% of the total number of seats Labour can afford to lose quite a few before worrying too much. Plus of course the Lib Dems and Reform Party will take votes primarily from conservatives
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No, Reform were second in many of the seats that Labour won so it is important to see where things are moving to. If during the coming 5 years, Reform can build towards taking those seats in 2029 then Labour can be denied a second term of destruction. In 5 years it is likely the Muslim vote will increase that will also take seats from Labour.
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In 5 years it is likely the Muslim vote will increase that will also take seats from Labour.
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When people call London – Londonistan it is no longer a joke.
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And the adage
‘Import the Third World, become the Third World’ also may apply.
Not, I hope, in my time … but …
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So the Pomms voted to jump out of the frying pan and into the biggest fire they’ll have when UK Labour is through with them. Bwahaha. Goodluck.
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I’m picking we’ll see the conservative rump join a fledging Reform Party very soon! In the meantime, it’s full steam ahead with Heil Starmer
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Along with Farage and Tice, the party won in Great Yarmouth, and retained Lee Anderson’s seat in Ashfield after he defected from the Conservatives earlier this year.
Expect many more defections.
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I was disappointed by the result for Andrew Bridgen.
He bravely stood up in parliament and asked questions about the Covid Vaccine effects. He was shunned by the whole parliament and expelled from the Conservative Party. After 2 terms in his seat of west lancashire he stood as an independent and got only 3% of the vote.
Shame on the voters! Very few realised what a brave fighting politician they had.
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Damn. That is sad. He is so brave. A bit like Craig Kelly here. It’s just super hard to stand as an independent. More achievable in the Senate.
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He also had a key role in the Post Office scandal coming to light. https://freenations.net/the-good-and-bad-of-the-uks-reform-party-and-the-quality-of-andrew-bridgen%ef%bb%bf/
No parties – just a win for corporatism
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Andrew Bridgen should join with Lee Anderson at UK Reform.
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In Australia our Labor-lite Liberals dropped Senator Rennick from the next Senate election for speaking up.
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It’s going to be so hard for Labour to face reality on climate and resultant energy policies, hopefully when the revitalized EU and the US post-election administrations start to change their energy tune to suit the pockets of the masses, the reluctant UK will follow suit. But it will take some years of economic strife before Net Zero is finally phased out, that is the sad case in OZ. Unless some brave scientists or politicians stand up for real science integrity and makes the public and governments understand that there is no climate crisis, that we are attempting to change by totally ineffectual energy policies that instead are ruining our economy.
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In seats, Reform deserved more,
While in speaking, we should hear Nigel score,
Against warmist woke acts,
With truth and hard facts,
Driven through by a coach-and-four.
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Clean power by 2030
To deliver our clean power mission, Labour will work with the private sector to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. We will invest in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and marine energy, and ensure we have the long-term energy storage our country needs.
Sounds familiar!
A new Energy Independence Act will establish the framework for Labour’s energy and climate policies.
No mention of how many Battery Energy Storage Sytems (BESS) will be required when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine!
Must have got the memo on how expensive this would be!
“Labour will maintain a strategic reserve of gas power stations to guarantee security of supply” This will not fly in Australia with a Greens/Labor coalition likely at the next election here.
Nuclear power is also OK with UK Labour.
And the usual “Appeal to Authority” scam
“A national mission for clean power by 2030 is achievable and should be prioritised. We desperately need to end the era of high energy bills, excessive carbon emissions and energy insecurity by accelerating the transition to clean, homegrown energy. Britain can lead on this by treating this mission like the vaccine challenge. We can be the innovators and the implementers, helping ourselves and exporting our solutions worldwide. But if we choose to go slowly, others will provide the answers, and ultimately we’ll end up buying these solutions rather than selling them.”
– Sir Patrick Vallance, Former Chief Scientific Adviser
https://labour.org.uk/change/make-britain-a-clean-energy-superpower/#:
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You can bet that Genius Bowen will be on the next plain to the UK to hand out more Australian taxpayer money so that the UK can be joined to his “Green Hydrogen” dreams
https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/media-releases/growing-australias-hydrogen-supply-chain-germany
Bowen should make the most of his last few months in office as his seat in Western Sydney (MacMahon) might fall to the new Australian Muslim Party at the next election
The only seats Labour lost in the UK were in electorates with a high Muslim population
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Genius Bowen could also sign up the Poms for some Hydrogen from the Latrobe Valley!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-12/coal-to-hydrogen-trial-for-latrobe-valley/9643570
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One might hope the next batch of offshore wind turbines last longer than six years before requiring major repairs!
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/worlds-first-floating-wind-farm-hywind-scotland-faces-shutdown-for-heavy-maintenance/2-1-1582273
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More on Labour’s Energy/Climate policies here:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/07/05/british-national-election-2024-a-climate-policy-muddle/
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‘Britain can lead on this by treating this mission like the vaccine(sic) challenge’. Oh dear. Just as well he is the FORMER Chief Scientific Adviser.
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It looks like Independent former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgend North Leicestershire was not elected again.
A pity, that guy had the guts to tell it how it was. He was rubbished my many Conservatives whom I am happy to see jobless now.
Geoff S
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Excellent closing paragraph Jo.
Parallels between the UK and Netherlands.
Leaders who are not from the people but are instead beholden to the global corporate centralised control tyranny, are being foisted upon the public. Two new leaders cast in the mold of Macron Trudeau Ardern Andrews Merkel Albanese.
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Humm, voter turnout was 60%, Labour got 34% of the vote, so they were supported by 0.6 x 0.34 = 0.204 or 20.4% of the eligible voters, and it’s a massive landslide. It must be the most fragile landslide in UK history. I’m guessing it will be a one term government.
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Farage has a great chance to be the next PM
https://news.sky.com/video/reform-deputy-says-nigel-farage-will-be-prime-minister-in-the-next-general-election-13165971
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Let’s hope so, can’t see them holding it together for the next 5 years.
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Did you see some of the candidates for the OMRLP when the results were announced?
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow, or simply Lord Sutch. It is notable for its deliberately bizarre policies and it effectively exists to satirise British politics, and to offer itself as an alternative for protest voters, especially in constituencies where the party holding a safe seat is unlikely to lose it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPDW3B_9tGc
Australia needs a party like this – but then we already have the Australian Greens!
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This election result reminds me of the gains you can make by trading with leverage.
Hopefully a small drop in popularity for Labour will result in their collapse in the next election. Progressivism has no place in politics.
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The Liberal Democrats got less votes than Reform UK but scored 71 seats vs 5 for Reform UK
Democracy in action!
Liberal Democrat
Total seats
71
Change
+63
Total votes
3,501,040
Share
12.2%
Reform UK
Total seats
5
Change
+5
Total votes
4,114,287
Share
14.3%
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Labour, not Labor. They can still spell it, even if they no longer have any connection with labourers.
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I predict that by early 2025, Brits will be getting a taste of the disaster they have wrought on themselves.
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