Police & Crime Commissioner election

[BillyStubbsTears]

I see Labour has won. Quite comfortably in the end. It didn't even go to second preference votes.

Have to say, I'm surprised. If UKIP can't breakthrough on an issue like this, with such a tiny turnout, I can't see how that will ever be successful in South Yorks.

[Dagenham Rover]

I'm "out of area" at the moment the last I heard it was fairly close, what was the % in the end?

[BillyStubbsTears]

Labour got 50.02% on the first preference votes, so it didn't go to a second pref count. That's not close. On first pref votes the figures were:

Lab 50.02%
UKIP 31.7%
Con 14%
EDL ~4%

[Dagenham Rover]

I would have thought it pretty close it only needed .03% to force it too the 2nd preference and with the turnout that would probably equate to half a dozen voters

Anyway shall we wait for Madmicks expert opinion that might be worth a laugh

[BillyStubbsTears]

DR

True, but it shows how far off UKIP are from winning in South Yorkshire. On first preferences (which is all that matters in a General Election of course) Labour beat them by ~1.75:1. And Labour beat UKIP in every borough of the county, even Rotherham, where you'd have thought this election was tailor-made for UKIP.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Labour could put madMick up and they'd win in yorkShire.  Sad but true. Nationally the polls are consistently tighter of late but if labour don't win next May then something has gone wrong. It is theirs to lose despite their awful front bench.

[Muttley]

A couple of interesting points about this election:

- In Doncaster (and I expect a similar trend elsewhere) postal "turnout" was approx 43% (60k sent out, 26k returned) but physical turnout was less than 5% (of the non-postal electorate). Should we be going to a 100% postal system?

- the ballot papers suggested that you had to vote for both a 1st and 2nd choice candidate, when in fact you could just vote for a 1st choice. If it had gone to a second round, then it could have been very interesting with some Labour voters voting for a RW candidate as their 2nd choice.

[The Red Baron]

Labour could put madMick up and they'd win in yorkShire.  Sad but true. Nationally the polls are consistently tighter of late but if labour don't win next May then something has gone wrong. It is theirs to lose despite their awful front bench.

Miliband may well lose it north of the border.

As regards the PCC election, I wonder how much effort UKIP threw at it? I dare say nothing like they would do for a Parliamentary election. The latest polls suggest that Labour is getting badly squeezed in Rochester and Strood and their votes are going to UKIP.

Interesting times!