General Election 2005 LIVE
Hello, good evening and welcome to the Chicken Yoghurt General Election 2005 LiveBlog. My name’s Justin McKeating and I’ll be your host for the evening. I’m also hoping to joined by none other than Jarndyce from The Pseudo Magazine (on a blogroll near you now) his baby daughter and hangover permitting.
In the event of either of us becoming too drunk/tired/despondent simply refer to the The CY Election Liveblog Guide on the right and try somewhere else - there’s loads going on.
You may have noticed that there’s not been much on the news about the election - it’s the deep breath before the plunge. In my heart I feel that us on the anti-war left are going to take a big knock tonight. But if that’s the case, and you’re like me, take this image with you to keep you warm:
(Courtesy of Red Pepper.)
You never know - stranger things have happened.
The real action will start tonight shortly after ten o’clock when the first exit poll is announced - I believe the BBC and ITV will announce it simultaneously. It’s actually illegal to announce exit polls before polling closes as they can impact on voter turnout (or so the thinking goes). Exits polls have been wrong before (most famously/notoriously in last year’s US presidential election) so don’t be too down if the poll doesn’t tell you what you want to hear.
The spread betting is interesting at the minute. Most seem to be going for a Labour majority between the high 80’s and 90’s - I haven’t seen a cut above 100 seats yet. The Lib Dems are creeping up apparently though so we could be in for an interesting night. If anyone can update us in the comments, please do.
Anyone passing through who wants to leave some remarks in the comments, please feel free. only if it’s to tell me what a cack-handed job I’m making of this liveblogging lark.
Right, a pizza, a beer and then down to action.
Good luck everybody.
UPDATE: No more nominations for the CY Election Liveblog Guide. Feel free to post a link in the comments if you’re liveblogging but missed the cut. Thanks to everybody who volunteered.
UPDATE: Ha ha.
UPDATE: The final Election Roundup Blog is now up. The mighty Phil from Cabalamat will be running the site for tonight with his whizzy election doohickies.
Posted on May 5th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
| See also • GE05 LIVE: BBC EXIT POLL • The Chicken Yoghurt Election Night Special • GE05 LIVE: The spreads |
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Hows this live blogging working then Justin?
Is it a new post each time,one your updating or comments?
Hi John - for sake of clarity and because there’s two of us blogging on here tonight, we’re going to publish a new post everytime there’s some significant.
People are then free to comment on that post if they wish.
good good, reading emails on my brick is easy but web is a bit of a pain.
I’m pessimistic too. But nowhere near as bleak as I felt in 1977, 1984… or worst of all in 1992, when right up until the last day it looked like Labour could win. Anybody got the foggiest guess what’s going to happen in Hove and Porstlade? It’s been such a weird campaign here. I haven’t had anyone round. In my long street there are only two posters in windows. Normally there’s a dozen or so, at least. And what number would be embarrassing for Blair? A majority of 90?
Will, here’s the betting on the Hove result - damn close.
We had Celia Barlow round canvassing a few weeks ago. She was - how can I put this - unconvincing
Hell’s teeth. No wonder the Labour guy on the knock this pm trying to summon up recalcitrant voters looked knackered.
If Blair has a majority above 75 then he can claim a victory of some sort (in my opinion). By rights; given how clearly unpopular he is (the audience on Question Time were more hostile to him than to Michael Howard!); there’s no way he should be able to lead a party to a third term.
So a majority of 75, which would immunise him against all but the most serious backbench revolts, would be - I feel - enough to keep him smiling.
And I think he’ll get at least 90. Mores the pity.
I’ve been getting the vote out in West London for Labour. Based on today’s experiences, I think the polls are way out! Labour majority of between 17 and 32. One typical ex Labour voter told me: ‘My son’s in the army in Iraq, I’m losing my job at the BBC, and my mum had to come home early from hospital due to MRSA in the ward’ That may be extreme, but it sums up Labour’s legacy.
Eddie, Ealing, London
I am an overseas Brit…. Been in the US for 15 years and watching anxiously…. I am hoping that the Liberal Democrats make some headway this time, and that a couple of leading Tories lose… It may be too much to hope that Howard loses in Folkestone but I would laugh my head off if he did… If Letwin and Davis also lose there is a byelection coming up straight away in a Tory held seat because of the death of the Liberal democrat candidate (South Staffs.). The Lib dems would be able to go into the first by-election with all guns blazing… I hope that thie time it is another forward march for the Liberals and not another ‘what might have been.’ Anything less than 60 seats and i should be VERY disappointed…