Post by nickd on Mar 4, 2011 9:15:00 GMT 1
In Barnsley Central , the Liberals face massive humiliation this morning as they wake up to realise how their share of the vote has gone down since coming second less than a year ago in the General Election last May. Dan Jarvis (Labour) retained a safe seat - getting over 60 % of the votes.
The Liberals came bottom of the pile in sixth place, losing their deposit and beaten by UKIP and the BNP. Nick Clegg must now surely be wondering about how his alliance with the Conservatives has impacted upon his own party?
Barnsley Central By-election: Lib Dems 'humiliated'By Robin Brant
Labour win Barnsley by-election
Just over half the electorate turned out last time, at the general election back in May. This time round it was barely one in three who voted.
You could put that down to the wintry cold weather, but more likely it was the fact that the result was all but decided.
Barnsley Central is safe Labour territory. It's had a Labour MP since 1935. They've got another one now, although he is a break from the past.
Dan Jarvis was an army officer, he quit the military for politics. He's in his 30s and from the south of England. He is the new face of Labour in South Yorkshire as they try to move on from the trauma of Eric Illsley and his fiddled expenses.
There was no sign of anger at Labour for the sins of the former MP. Dan Jarvis increased its majority.
The story of the night was humiliation for the Liberal Democrats. Last year, at the general election, they came in second, beating the Tories by a whisker, but that support has evaporated. Nick Clegg's party slipped to sixth place.
'Got a kicking'
It came in behind, among others, the British National Party and an independent candidate.
The Lib Dem candidate Dominic Carman admitted he'd "got a kicking". The performance was so bad they lost their deposit. This was not a dismal showing in a key marginal seat.
But nonetheless, the Lib Dems were wiped out in Barnsley Central. Some in the party will see this as fresh reason to feel nervous about the coalition.
The Liberal Democrats will want to forget - very quickly - what happened here”
They'll see it as a sign of the electoral decimation Nick Clegg could face as the price of spearheading public service spending cuts which are controversial and in some quarters hugely unpopular.
The other way of seeing it is that this is the verdict of Labour loyalists who've rediscovered their loyalty to a newly invigorated party. Some are being wooed back by Ed Miliband.
Either way Tim Farron, the Lib Dem Party president, told me he'd rather be in government taking tough choices than in opposition racking up good performances at by elections.
Labour's main challenger was the UKIP. It almost doubled its vote to come in second. It was a distant second but still it was a dramatic upset to out do the Tories and the Lib Dems so convincingly.
UKIP will hope that Barnsley will serve as a springboard. The Liberal Democrats will want to forget - very quickly - what happened here.
The coalition government is still only months old and it's pushing ahead with its boldest and most controversial changes at great speed.
As David Cameron has predicted, both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats can expect to be unpopular at the ballot box for some time yet.
But no matter how you look at it for a party of government to be relegated to sixth place in an election, and to have to pay for the privilege, is humiliating.
This news comes as the Halifax also announced how house fell by 0.9% - considerably more than the expected 0.5%. This could be a worrying sign if more and more people start to face negative equity in their properties.
Nick Clegg would be very unwise to dismiss such poor results as this, not least because it's an indicator that the turn out in May is likely to be poor and not favourable to his party. If the Liberals don't get their way on the 'Alternative Vote' (which is seen by them as a far more likely to get them seats in Parliament than the current 'First Past The Post' system) - they'll be starting to think - what on earth they are we doing with the Tories?
If the Liberals lose out on the Alternative Vote, they'll be wondering what position they'll end up in if the coalition crumbles. All of this is a far cry from how Clegg was seen as 'Kingmaker' before the general election, many will be asking themselves what happened to the crown.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12644261
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12643639
The Liberals came bottom of the pile in sixth place, losing their deposit and beaten by UKIP and the BNP. Nick Clegg must now surely be wondering about how his alliance with the Conservatives has impacted upon his own party?
Barnsley Central By-election: Lib Dems 'humiliated'By Robin Brant
Labour win Barnsley by-election
Just over half the electorate turned out last time, at the general election back in May. This time round it was barely one in three who voted.
You could put that down to the wintry cold weather, but more likely it was the fact that the result was all but decided.
Barnsley Central is safe Labour territory. It's had a Labour MP since 1935. They've got another one now, although he is a break from the past.
Dan Jarvis was an army officer, he quit the military for politics. He's in his 30s and from the south of England. He is the new face of Labour in South Yorkshire as they try to move on from the trauma of Eric Illsley and his fiddled expenses.
There was no sign of anger at Labour for the sins of the former MP. Dan Jarvis increased its majority.
The story of the night was humiliation for the Liberal Democrats. Last year, at the general election, they came in second, beating the Tories by a whisker, but that support has evaporated. Nick Clegg's party slipped to sixth place.
'Got a kicking'
It came in behind, among others, the British National Party and an independent candidate.
The Lib Dem candidate Dominic Carman admitted he'd "got a kicking". The performance was so bad they lost their deposit. This was not a dismal showing in a key marginal seat.
But nonetheless, the Lib Dems were wiped out in Barnsley Central. Some in the party will see this as fresh reason to feel nervous about the coalition.
The Liberal Democrats will want to forget - very quickly - what happened here”
They'll see it as a sign of the electoral decimation Nick Clegg could face as the price of spearheading public service spending cuts which are controversial and in some quarters hugely unpopular.
The other way of seeing it is that this is the verdict of Labour loyalists who've rediscovered their loyalty to a newly invigorated party. Some are being wooed back by Ed Miliband.
Either way Tim Farron, the Lib Dem Party president, told me he'd rather be in government taking tough choices than in opposition racking up good performances at by elections.
Labour's main challenger was the UKIP. It almost doubled its vote to come in second. It was a distant second but still it was a dramatic upset to out do the Tories and the Lib Dems so convincingly.
UKIP will hope that Barnsley will serve as a springboard. The Liberal Democrats will want to forget - very quickly - what happened here.
The coalition government is still only months old and it's pushing ahead with its boldest and most controversial changes at great speed.
As David Cameron has predicted, both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats can expect to be unpopular at the ballot box for some time yet.
But no matter how you look at it for a party of government to be relegated to sixth place in an election, and to have to pay for the privilege, is humiliating.
This news comes as the Halifax also announced how house fell by 0.9% - considerably more than the expected 0.5%. This could be a worrying sign if more and more people start to face negative equity in their properties.
Nick Clegg would be very unwise to dismiss such poor results as this, not least because it's an indicator that the turn out in May is likely to be poor and not favourable to his party. If the Liberals don't get their way on the 'Alternative Vote' (which is seen by them as a far more likely to get them seats in Parliament than the current 'First Past The Post' system) - they'll be starting to think - what on earth they are we doing with the Tories?
If the Liberals lose out on the Alternative Vote, they'll be wondering what position they'll end up in if the coalition crumbles. All of this is a far cry from how Clegg was seen as 'Kingmaker' before the general election, many will be asking themselves what happened to the crown.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12644261
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12643639