# UK General Election {2024-07-04} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 22, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932 "2024-05-22T23:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/461 "2024-07-05T07:39:41Z")
Count Binface would like it to be known that he finished in 6th place for the first time ever. > ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/462 "2024-07-05T09:12:27Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Beaten by Labour, not a lettuce (no jokes please), Oh, please, I came here to write that the Lettuce keeps winning! By 640 votes, which makes it probably even more annoying for Ms Truss. > **[Former Tory prime minister Liz Truss loses her seat to Labour](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/05/former-tory-prime-minister-liz-truss-loses-her-seat-to-labour)** > > Voters in South West Norfolk deliver one of biggest blows to Conservatives on disastrous night for the party And does highlight the already mentioned inherent injustice of the first past the post voting system. And I still have not found any precise and reliable indication of the real nationwide percentages of the votes for each party, only district by district. They call it a landslide victory, but only in Westminster, not in the country. Less than half the votes, but three quarters of the seats. Labour should look at the Tories and know it will not last, but they will not have the courage to reform the voting system. A reform that would improve the representation of greens, LibDems and, alas! the fascists, whatever they call themselves today. A reform Labour could try now, with their enormous parliamentary majority. A reform I believe most Brits would welcome or at least accept. But I guess they won’t do it. > [@Gyrate](#): > > It is the general view that Sunak will resign and fuck off to California (where his next job will be in cyber) I believe krypto is the new hotness for scamming billions. ---
**Author:** ![FurloeRoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@FurloeRoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FurloeRoth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/463 "2024-07-05T09:22:13Z")
Next Tory leader is likely to be Kemi Badenoch, I would have thought. For those keeping track of the “number of leaders/prime ministers who are not white and male” scores, that would make it: Caring, inclusive Labour Party: 0 Nasty, racist Tory Party: 5 … Great night for the Lib Dems. Maybe tactical voting did have some impact? Or bungee jumping and falling into lakes is actually a good way to campaign? Anyway, their vote efficiency beat that of the Tories for once: ``` Share Seats Seats per 1% Labour 33.8% 412 12.2 Conservative 23.7% 120 5.1 Reform 14.3% 4 0.3 LibDem 12.2% 71 5.8 SNP 2.4% 9 3.8 Plaid Cymru 0.7% 4 5.7 Sinn Fein 0.7% 7 10.0 ``` (as results stand right now) ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/464 "2024-07-05T09:28:07Z")
[The BBC have got the vote percentages on this page](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/results) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/465 "2024-07-05T09:39:00Z")
If I read that page right, Labour has increased its share of the vote by 1.6% to 33.7% in total, thus doubling their MEPs from 211 to 412. And the Tories have lost 19.9% and two thirds of their MEPs (121 now, 250 less), while the fascists have gained 12.3% for a total of 14.3% for a total of lousy 4 MEPs. This is bonkers to me. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/466 "2024-07-05T09:40:58Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And does highlight the already mentioned inherent injustice of the first past the post voting system. And I still have not found any precise and reliable indication of the real nationwide percentages of the votes for each party, only district by district. They call it a landslide victory, but only in Westminster, not in the country. Less than half the votes, but three quarters of the seats. Labour should look at the Tories and know it will not last, but they will not have the courage to reform the voting system. A reform that would improve the representation of greens, LibDems and, alas! the fascists, whatever they call themselves today. A reform Labour could try now, with their enormous parliamentary majority. A reform I believe most Brits would welcome or at least accept. But I guess they won’t do it. Speaking as an Israeli… be careful what you wish for. We have a Westminster system very similar to yours, except that we use national proportional representation, which means, that yes, our parliament accurately represents a broad section of the nation’s beliefs and desires; it also means that in 25 election cycles, not once has any party achieved a majority by itself, leading to more and more complex and unstable coalitions, as the “big” parties fade and fracture and any extremist yahoo can bring down the government at will. You really, really don’t want that. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/467 "2024-07-05T09:45:18Z")
The problem is well know in my country, Germany, it is called Weimar. To avoid that there are methods that are not as skewed as the British one. It is a matter of political judgement, it must not be an absolute proportional system, there can be thresholds (currently 5% of the national vote, which means there can be no more than 19 parties in parliament simultaneously: currently 7). But giving a party with one third of the vote three quarters of the MEPs is also something I really, really do not want. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/468 "2024-07-05T09:48:22Z")
MEP=Member of the European Parliment, obsolete in UK MP=Member of Parliament ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/469 "2024-07-05T09:49:48Z")
I don’t think anyone wants pure proportionality off party lists. The link of a single member per constituency is too strong. Some of that, though, is tied to the load of constituency casework, which is made worse by the consistent weakening of local government power and discretion over the decades. MPs end up doing what local councillors ought to be doing. We do use German-style supplementary list voting in the devolved parliaments and London Assembly, but only for a proportion of the seats, to make the overall result a bit more proportional. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/470 "2024-07-05T09:50:13Z")
Sorry, my very bad, particularly considering I work for the PE regularly. I’ll blame my motor memory to avoid the shame. ---
**Author:** ![FurloeRoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@FurloeRoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FurloeRoth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/471 "2024-07-05T09:52:57Z")
I forgot the Green Party: ```auto Share Seats Seats per 1% Green 6.8% 4 0.6 ``` ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/472 "2024-07-05T09:53:30Z")
I think the AV that the UK soundly rejected in 2011 was in fact the best possible system, keeping 1 MP per constituency so everybody has “their” MP but more broadly reflecting the will of those living in the seat. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/473 "2024-07-05T10:03:09Z")
The breakdown by nation is really interesting. In Scotland, Labour gained 17 percentage points in vote share - in England, just 0.6 pp. That 0.6% extra share of the vote turned into 166 extra seats. An incredibly efficient vote distribution. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/474 "2024-07-05T11:21:35Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > An incredibly efficient vote distribution. That is one way to put it. I have already stated that I find it undemocratic because unrepresentative and distorting. But concerning the English case, it is not so much that labour has won, it rather seems that the Tories have lost. By shedding their voters to the small parties, mainly LibDem and the fascists, they all have ended losing. My point is that Labour should see that this is a one-off, just like Boris’ excessive majority was. And they should think of something to avoid those extravagant swings in the future. Their enormous majority is the chance to do it. Not my country, not my call. But I am entitled to an opinion. Here you have it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/475 "2024-07-05T11:23:47Z")
If the polls hadn’t been predicting a landslide for weeks I wonder if Labour would have gotten a much larger share? It was a very low turnout. Here is the moment Starmer actually became PM [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GRuGDdGXcAAPI4n?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GRuGDdGXcAAPI4n?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/476 "2024-07-05T11:43:31Z")
They’re both probably wearing £5,000 suits and It might be the pose, yet I’ll take the black one on the left, please. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/477 "2024-07-05T12:02:07Z")
> **[LIVE: Sir Keir Starmer delivers first speech as prime minister](https://www.youtube.com/live/73WOGhS9pxk?t=903)** > > Sir Keir Starmer addressed the nation in his first speech as prime minister outside No 10. Starmer is expected to appoint the cabinet in full today. Read the... ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/478 "2024-07-05T12:08:19Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > They’re both probably wearing £5,000 suits and It might be the pose, yet I’ll take the black one on the left, please. Charles has never looked comfortable in his own skin, never mind a suit. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/479 "2024-07-05T12:15:12Z")
In Scotland Labour benefited from 2 parties in freefall. Before the election the SNP said as they had been denied an official referendum on Independence (post Brexit) this general election was that referendum, if the SNP won the majority of the seats in Scotland then the people had spoken and Scotland should become independent. (At the time this probably looked almost certain to succeed where basing it on votes would be much less certain). So the “referendum” was defeated by a ration of 5 to 1 but thewy ar enot interested in what the people want they know better “Therefore, we need to take the time to consider and to reflect on how we deliver our commitment to independence - which remains absolute.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/480 "2024-07-05T12:33:09Z")
Yeah, with a bit of luck, something something rope, something something hang himself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932.md?page=25)