Second Best

Second Best, that's what we get when we fiddle with the election system.

After the fifth count using the wishy-washy sandals and cardigan voting system(STV) at the Aboyne, Deeside and Donside By-Election and despite beating her opponent by over 170 votes in a "normal" first past the post vote Jo Pick came second to Rosemary Bruce.

So instead of getting the best candidate we have now elected a councillor who is on more peoples second most OK person list. This voting system is of course a Lib Dem preference and now we see why. Anything that can produce this sort of result is surely a travesty of true democracy.

Unfortunately for us, accepting second best, has become what we expect in this nation.

I do hope that Rosemary can juggle her family life, Office Manager job (As hubbies 30k Diary Secretary) and the work of a Councillor,, or will being a Councillor be second best to helping her hubbie.

Call me a sore Scottish Tory but this sort of result is a joke. Second Best democracy at work. Maybe Dr David Starkey had a point when he called us a

"Feeble little nation. The Scots and the Welsh are typical small nations with a romantic 19th century-style nationalism."

Full result here. Makes interesting reading. Note the lack of any Labour candidates, even the BNP put up a candidate.

Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside by-election result announced - Donside Today

SNP win Glasgow East - Tories third - Brown out?

SNP 11277 43.1%
Lab 10912 41.7%
Tory 1639
Lib Dems 915

Swing to SNP about 26%.
Majority 365.

Brown is surely deeply in trouble now. This was Labour's 25th safest seat. Many Labour MP's in marginal seats will be really begin to worry now.

Congratulations to the SNP.

A Simple Manifesto for Freedom

Here is the Manifesto that Davaid Davis will be using for his By-Election in Haltemprice and Howden. It is very straightforward and very clear on its message.

What I Stand For

• British fundamental freedoms – including liberty, free speech and trial by jury.


• British justice - firm but fair.


• Protecting personal privacy from unjustified intrusions by the state.

What I Stand Against

• Draconian terrorism laws that make us less – not more – safe.
  
• The database state – careless officials losing our personal information.


• A surveillance society – council snoopers spying on local residents.


• ‘Thought crimes’ and political correctness stifling free speech and peaceful protest.

10 Policies to Protect British Freedom

1. Reverse 42 days pre-charge detention – a ‘PR coup for Al-Qaeda’.
2. Scrap ID cards – put the £19 billion savings towards a Border Police Force and other security measures.
3. Immediate reversal of the ban on free speech outside Parliament
4. Protect the right to trial by jury.
5. Stop neighbourhood spies using powers that should rest with the police and MI5.
6. Use intercept evidence to prosecute terrorists – but restrict bugging by local councils.
7. Replace 1 million innocent citizens on the DNA database with the serious criminals left off.
8. Make CCTV more effective (80% is unusable) – strengthen punishments for privacy abuse.
9. Slash the 266 separate powers the state has to force its way into the home.
10. Launch an independent inquiry into the government’s serial database failures.
    
    
    Yours faithfully,
    
    
    David Davis for Freedom - News > Manifesto
    

1066 and all that

Anyone else notice the strange fact that Labour managed to only amass 1066 votes in the Henley by-election last night. Will this be the arrow in "King" Gordon's reign or will the NHS come to the rescue again?

H.T. Woody on Pb.com and my wife for noticing it.

Battle of Hastings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Red Faces for Labour - beaten by Greens and BNP

On the first anniversary of the disaster of making Gordon Brown their Leader, Labour has another disaster as they come 5th in the Henley by-election, beaten by the Greens and the BNP. The coffers of Labour will also be a bit shorter as they have lost their deposit as well. Mustn't chortle., well not too loudly.

Now playing: Norah Jones - Broken
via FoxyTunes
Result

John Howell: Conservative 19,796

Stephen Kearney: Lib Dems 9,680

Mark Stevenson: Green 1,321

Timothy Rait: BNP 1,243

Richard McKenzie: Labour 1,066

Chris Adams: UKIP 843

Tories outpolled Lib Dems more than 2:1

C 56.95% (+3.46)
LD 27.85% (+1.84)
Grn 3.80% (+0.54)
BNP 3.58% (dns)
Lab 3.07% (-11.68)
UKIP 2.43% (-0.07)

BBC NEWS | Politics | Conservatives hold on to Henley