Posts by Ben Austin
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Well, I've learned that polling companies are rubbish unless its to do with Scotland, in which case, well.
Interesting to see Labour's vote share in London was soft too. Tooting stayed Labour but Khan didn't gain much, just a couple of hundred votes, so he is still well and truly a marginal.
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Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad, in reply to Caleb D'Anvers,
It very much does seem like it is designed around the owner's social life. I put it as slightly more readable than the Metro, but only by a whisker
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Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad, in reply to WaynePhillips,
I’m not sure if anyone was pushing for a referendum on MMP, but various parties or organisations have their preferences.
One of the main reform organisations, if not the main one, is the Electoral Reform Society. Their preference is some form of STV. Darren Hughes works for them now and maybe could elaborate if he reads this forum. I think the Lib-Dems also prefer STV.
http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/making-votes-count
AV+ was also recommended by the Royal, which garned some support in the Labour Party. Brown talked about it a bit I think before 2010
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Back to newspapers, I understand the Evening Standard (arguably London's regional newspaper) today led with a front page exhortation to vote Conservative as it would be the best for London. The Standard's sister paper, the Independent, endorsed the Coalition (Liberal Democrat-Conservative). This is a tad controversial
Apparently their owner has leaned heavily on both papers and this reflects his personal views. The Independent anyway is traditionally quite left wing. The Evening Standard perhaps not so much, as it used to part of the wider Daily Mail Group.
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Anyway, I've voted in Tooting, a marginal Labour electorate in London.
The MP, S Khan, Labour, had a close run in 2010, but it seems he feels safe in 2015. Tooting/SW London seems to be slowly trending Conservative, but in 2015, Labour is strongly ahead across London and so it seems that the Conservatives have largely given up on Tooting. Apparently the party decided last week to focus on Conservative marginals like Battersea and Croydon Central and pulled out most of their activists (assuming they obeyed orders).
I'm going to be watching both electorates, if they go Labour then I think the Conservatives are in for a rough night
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Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad, in reply to Caleb D'Anvers,
What bugs me especially about discussion of coalitions, PR or electoral reform in the UK is that parts of the UK have had a similar system (AMS) to NZ's since the 1990s too, in the devolved parliamentary elections. It really is only the English people living outside of London that don't experience this.
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Hard News: Will the grown-ups ever…, in reply to ,
So it is useful for boats. Ok, do we have any demonstrated examples of New Zealand boats or ships having issues, solely due to the confusion between our flag and Australia's?
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Hard News: Will the grown-ups ever…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Actually, that is a good question. What is the point of a flag, these days, as opposed to the historic or recreational yachting reasons? I'm not convinced that it necessarily has a single, useful reason for existence, which, if it is recognition, why it is so important uninformed strangers can easily draw a contrast.
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Hard News: Anzac Day II, in reply to Sacha,
Going to a pub and playing two-up does seem to be an Australian thing. I've done it a couple of times in London and it isn't so bad once you get used to it.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Fickle Rock, in reply to Russell Brown,
Hari was just interviewed on John Safran’s first 2015 Sunday night show on Triple J, on his new book.