21.44 I am enduring the coverage of BBC Radio London on the way to Sky. What appalling coverage, with two presenters who would be better suited to CBeebies. There's no coverage on either Radio 4 or 5.
20.56 I now have to go to Sky News to do their paper review at 10.30pm and 11.30pm. I have persuaded my ever suffering partner to drive me because a) I would fall asleep at the wheel, and b) I think there's a law against driving and updating my live blog on my Blackberry!
20.48 Congratulations to James Cleverly MLA - He's won Bexley with a 75,000 majority! Well done James.
20.38 You want colour? Well here's a text conversation I have just had with one of Boris's inner team...
BORIS TEAM: We are all sitting in a room watching the TV which says Boris has won. Boris is still waiting for the call to go anywhere.
IAIN: Tell Boris to spend the time thinking how he will reverse the £25 congestion charge.
BORIS TEAM: Ah. that's a breeze.
IAIN: Or he could rehearse "Where there is discord..." Am I being helpful?
BORIS TEAM: Shove it! x
IAIN: Charming. And after all I have done for you. Sob, sob :) Now, seriously, I gather Boris hasn't appointed a minorities adviser. I mean, who better??!!
BORIS TEAM: You are a shoe in. x.
So there you have the proof, ladies and gentlemen. I am the new Lee Jasper.
20.36 From Captain Cupcake, with, I suspect some inspiration from Catherine Tate... "In breaking news I can reveal that Dame Bertha Cupcake of North Tyneside (my mother) feels sorry for Gordon Brown.
"He's much more intelligent than Tony Blair and was in his shadow for so long."
[Sip of sherry]
"What a fucking loser."
20.34 Until yesterday my highest ever day for unique visits was 14,000. Yesterday I had 21,000. Today it will be double that. PoliticalBetting had 200,000 pageviews yesterday. Amazing.
20.31 Northern Monkey on LabourHome asks, why are we so crap?
20.20 Just got a call from Boris's people. He wants me to replace Lee Jasper. Now, about that £100 million grant to West Ham United...
20.10 Thanks to Nicholas Bennett for this... "Tory held seats (220$) have 5-6% higher turnouts than Labour ones which is highly significant for Boris result and suggests result will not be "Too close to call"
Constituency Electorate Turnout (%)
Barnet & Camden 376,818 47.98
Bexley & Bromley 407,003 49.92
Brent & Harrow 367,337 43.20
City & East 470,863 39.86
Croydon & Sutton 360,221 49.06
Ealing & Hillingdon 401,671 44.08
Enfield & Haringey 351,536 46.03
Greenwich & Lewisham 347,252 42.95
Havering & Redbridge 369,407 45.50
Lambeth & Southwark 395,202 42.17
Merton & Wandsworth 362,542 47.16
North East 451,787 43.95
South West 415,092 46.21
West Central 343,182 48.65
TOTAL 5,419,913 45.48
20.06 Comment on ConservativeHome... "Speaking as an Irishman, we have PR-STV and it's 100 times quicker counting with our mess of a system than this London system. You know something's not right when the Irish are more efficient...."
20.05 I do apologise. I fell asleep at the keyboard. I have just been jolted into consciousness by a cry of "dinner's ready". Now, do we have a mayor yet?!
6.47 Was just about to have a little snooze (eyelids feeling very heavy!) when Ann Widdecombe rang to ask if Boris was mayor yet! Doubt whether I will drop off now...
6.46 Jonny Wright (LibDem blogger) asks in the comments if I am serious about Paddick's comments. Afraid so.
6.34 Unbelievable. Brian Paddick just admitted on BBC London that he had given his second preference to Lindsey German, the Left List Candidate! Words almost fail me.
6.32 Sky say Labour now have more than 400 losses.
6.29 Peter Kelner (head of YouGov) has just said live on BBC London radio that he will resign on air if Boris isn't declared winner in London. Over to you, MORI.
6.27 Is anyone getting bored? It appears from my traffic figures that is not the case.
80 comments:
Bored? Not in the slightest. Impatient? Totally. Why can't it just be over and Boris declared the winner?
Not bored! Keep it going!
Iain Said:
"Is anyone getting bored? It appears from my traffic figures that is not the case"
Not a bit of it! Labour down over 400 - this is just too good to miss !
Thanks for your work Iain, been following your blog all evening and today.
Why is the London count taking so long?
Why no cameras at the count?
You're serious about what Paddick said? I'm genuinely horrified to hear it ... :-S
Not bored - but very, very tired!
Where do Sky get 400+ Labour losses from? BBC says Labour are down 331 with all seats counted. Did Labour really win another 70?
Sea Shanty Irish here:
Iain et al, have there been any reports of significant problems at the count?
Saw something about machines jaming due to postal votes, presumably because they were folded.
I don't know if Paddick actually has a brain. The only way to make the second preference vote count *at all* was to use it use for one of the candidates likely to be the top two.
Using it the left list candidate was akin to not using it at all.
Asked on TV if he would stand as an MP, he said he would talk to Nick Clegg to decide what was "best for the party". Does he really think him standing as an MP is going to have some major effect on the party?! What an ego!
Can anyone help me out on this one? Presumably the wise people in City Hall decided to count the London election by machine-and not by hand during the night- because it would be quicker and more efficient. Erhem, Yeah...right.......
Is there a link to Iain's response last night to Portillo online anywhere?
Champagne's on ice. God, I haven't felt this good for years. Labour are already down to fewer than 150,000 paid-up members nationally, and the scale of this wipeout will kill them in many areas with no sitting councillors. The queue of cash for honours donors has shrunk away, and the big money is now bound to switch to the Tories. Labour are £20m in debt and on the verge of insolvency. This must have been what it was like when the Liberals went from a great party of state to a fringe interest group.
Just proves Cameron was right not to agree a stitch up on State funding for the buggers last year.
Exciting times ahead, and a fundamental shift in national politics I think.
Excellent work on the blog Iain - your efforts are very much appreciated.
Sky/BBC
Sky have others as +77
BBC has others as +5
whilst
Sky Labour -400
BBC Labour -331
is this something to do with the treatment of the breakaway Councillors in and around Merthyr?
BBC somehow doing their friends a favour?
Chris Evans has just said that heads are being held low because Boris has won. Don't you just love the BBC's unbiased reporting.
Iain you have been amazing over the last 72 hours, much appreciated.
The BBC is reporting 256 Con gains with all the councils declared. How does that square with the Labour line that the Tories had to get 200 for it to be a good result?
hahahahahahaahahahahaahahh
I don't know what says more about Paddick: that he voted for that communist rabble or that he decided to own up to it on a live broadcast. He gets points for honesty (or naivety) I suppose, but my God what appalling judgement.
So, what's next on this most enjoyable day?
I think Brown will hold on to No. 10--although some in Labour will talk about striking the king, few have the ability to kill him when they do. So, unless he can pull some wonderful trick and reverse Labour's fortunes dramatically, this government is essentially dead on its feet. Alas, it will stagger on for some time.
But that's not so bad because David Cameron and his team will have the time to start talking seriosuly--and acting just as seriously--as the people who will form the next government. If he can keep going around the press--especially the BBC--and going directly to the people, all of the NuLab attempts to spin him into a heartless monster or a shallow toff will fall flat. Then, those projections of 100+ seat majorities will be realized.
Iain, wanted to ask your view on this. The Brown drop from 'boom' to bust has been for many reasons, not lest Cameron and Osborne, but I think Fraser Nelson's great analysis of the Brown government's long sequence of incompetence, not least the 'Brownies' has been great, and part of the movement of the view that Brown is more Bean than Stalin. Why isn't Fraser an MP? He expresses himself better than most in parliament, certainly miles ahead of Jonah Brown. Can anyone see him as an MP in Cameron's first government?
I'm getting a bad feeling about this, is the delay suspicious? Or does it mean it really IS too close to call?
After the last 24 hours I feel like I know you, Mr Burnside. Whatever will I do after Boris is crowned King?
Seriously though, I read on one of the umpteen blogs that I'm repeatedly checking that the sense in that blogging has come into its own - especially when set against the dreadful, dreadful BBC coverage. I thought the shot of Dimplebum and the rest huddled cluttered around a table was the worst, most nauseating camera work I've ever seen. The live-blog coverage was rivetting, and, as ever, yours was the consumate example.
Brian Paddick just admitted on BBC London that he had given his second preference to Lindsey German, the Left List Candidate!
WTF? Look, can we just forget the whole Brian thing and move on?
Paddick has made a terrible mistake. Personally, and I'll admit this, despite everything, if I'd lived in London I've have voted 1) Lib Dem and 2) Green. Yes, I know all the objections, but I don't care.
But the Left List are bad news.
Anne got your pecker up?
Have been following your blog all day Iain. Its been excellent. Indeed as have many other blogs of all political stripes.
Stay on the job Iain. You may need to keep it up all night! (if Widdie hasnt worn you out)
Sky now say conservatives +300
Sky are comparing this year to 4 years ago. BBC are comparing this year to the last results inc by elections.
Labour ? Hahahahahahahaha, bye bye !
So, Boris, yes or no !?!?
So come up to NuLab
And see what's on the slab
I see you shiver with antici...pation
But maybe the rain
Isn't really to blame
So I'll remove the cause
But not the symptom
God how come electronic counting takes 5 times as long as doing it by hand.
Hopefully solicitors and observers were dispatched to keep an eye on goings on, especially at excel...
My name is Alexandourous Borisius De Pfeffelus Johnsonion, Commander of Hendley, General of the Conservative Londoninium Empire, Loyal servant to the true emperor Davidious Camerus, Father to the United Nations, husband to a glorious future and I will fix Londinium in this life or the next.
Aka The Gladiator
What does all this mean?
ON THIS DAY
1945: The Battle for Berlin ends after less than two weeks with the capture of the city by Soviet force.
1982: The Argentinean warship 'General Belgrano' is sunk by the British submarine HMS 'Conqueror'.
1997: 'New' Labour wins the general election by a landslide, ending 18 years of Conservative government.
Omens, portents...?
My name is Alexandourous Borisius De Pfeffelus Johnsonion, Commander of Hendley, General of the Conservative Londoninium Empire, Loyal servant to the true emperor Davidious Camerus, Father to the United Nations, husband to a glorious future and I will fix Londinium in this life or the next.
Aka The Gladiator
here's an observation Iain - a lot more women commenting on your blog tonight. Do you think they've seen your photo in GQ and maybe got the wrong idea?
Iain have you fallen asleep on the job with Widdecombe?
Never been one to kick someone when they are down, but I just can't help feeling good about Labour getting a good seeing to.
COME ON BORIS
This comment is on CHome:
Speaking as an Irishman, we have PR-STV and it's 100 times quicker counting with our mess of a system than this London system. You know something's not right when the Irish are more efficient....
Guido will be pleased anyway
Not bored at all - but God, Iain, you must be exhausted!
BBC reporter just said 'results not expected 'til at least 10:00'... :(
And bless you too - see the Tories are claiming victory for Boris!
Stanley Johnson - what a guy!!!
'Boris knows his greek and latin, if you know that you can do anything'
Please more of him on the BBC.
You're during a grand job.
I was interested to see Clegg at the scene of the St Albans "triumph". As far as I'm aware the Lib Dems gained one seat,
the Conservatives 3. I thought the Lib Dems had been running St Albans for some years. They finish 3rd in the General Elections though.
Stanley Johnson on the BBC at 19:35 - totally brilliant!
Give the man a serious tilt at Henley.
If Ann Widecombe rings you to find out what's going on, in my book, that gives you cool points.
Paddick sounded a bit chippy but refreshingly off the cheat sheet unlike everyone else (including Dave "its not just a vote against Labour but a vote for the Conservatives" Cameron sadly, but predictably repeated endlessly). As someone who voted Paddick/Johnson I hope he stays in London politics.
Iain, (bit presumtious that - first name terms as we have never been introduced,) so Mr. Dale, tell me, how can this message to New Labour be turned very quickly into ousting them from power, before they do any more major damage to the economy and the country?
And do you think that Mr Mondeo Man has finally woken up to the profligacy and deceit that has characterised this Government?
Lastly, if you get selected to fight and win a Conservative seat, do you please solemnly promise me that you will not spend shed loads of my (our) money badly?
Well the Evening Standard have already decided - their front page reads "Boris is the Mayor"
sky news headlines (tv) : labour have lost 400 seats
to be precise labour are down 434 ... my gods. thats a LOT of disgruntled councillors...
Taxi For Red Ken
Not bored at all old chap, you're doing a great job, I'm just on the edge of my seat waiting for the Mayoral declaration so that I can put my Boris posters back up all over the front windows and yell from the rooftops:
Who da man? BORIS IS DA MAN!!!!!!
Well, I am bored, but then I am inside City Hall, watching the non-action. Paint drying is more interesting. Off to read some real books on politics. Lenin's "What is to be done?", the dullest book on the subject, sounds quite fun at the moment.
why cant we get the votes as they come in? As an Aussie voting for the first time in UK, (yes I pay taxes and I am allowed to vote, would become a British citizen if I could but keep failing the language test) I am used to political pundits extrapolating wildly and sometimes hilariously on the basis of a few 1000 early returns. It obviously doesnt affect the result (not allowed to start reporting until all polling booths closed) but adds enormously to the interest in the election process. In UK it just sounds like "dont you mind, we'll tell you when we know the result".
We have been wondering where you were! Gawd I hope Bozza gets it on 1st pref
Here are GLA constituency turnout figures:
Tory held seats (220$) have 5-6% higher turnouts than Labour ones which is highly significant for Boris result and suggests result will not be "Too close to call"
Constituency Electorate Turnout (%)
Barnet & Camden 376,818 47.98
Bexley & Bromley 407,003 49.92
Brent & Harrow 367,337 43.20
City & East 470,863 39.86
Croydon & Sutton 360,221 49.06
Ealing & Hillingdon 401,671 44.08
Enfield & Haringey 351,536 46.03
Greenwich & Lewisham 347,252 42.95
Havering & Redbridge 369,407 45.50
Lambeth & Southwark 395,202 42.17
Merton & Wandsworth 362,542 47.16
North East 451,787 43.95
South West 415,092 46.21
West Central 343,182 48.65
TOTAL 5,419,913 45.48
Silly poiny There are about twice as many people in London then there are in the whole of Ireland.
Eat fast. Boris dun it according to all sources but with no real facts. What do you know, Iain? I mean, KNOW?
If Mugabe had any sense of irony might he not be making a demand to the UN to sort this mess out in London..
Fell asleep at the keyboard?
You're a shambles.
You're fired.
Fuck- please give me a result from some London count- any one....even if it is made up.
what is the hold up?
This won't be resolved before midnight.
Ken's Returning Officer employs lots of little elves who are all local government trade unionists, so in between destroying Boris Ballots ("they obviously didn't mean to vote that way") they'll be rigging the overtime.
Knock the top off a few more bottles, chaps, it's gonna be a long one...
Sea Shanty Irish here:
The statement that Irish STV counting is 100% faster than today's London count is a fable. UNLESS he's talking about tabulation of electronic as opposed to paper ballots.
Irish counts take all day and then some, for much smaller constituencies.
In breaking news I can reveal that Dame Bertha Cupcake of North Tyneside (my mother) feels sorry for Gordon Brown.
"He's much more intelligent than Tony Blair and was in his shadow for so long."
[Sip of sherry]
"What a fucking loser."
This doesn't half put Rupert Murdoch in a fix. I wonder if Rebecca Wade has put feelers out for another job yet.
Good blogging, Iain, Keep going - you're a great and timely source of news - even the 24 hour news channels' coverage isn't up to much.
News 24 saying no results til midnight? Come on, I want the hilarity to begin.
Hope you enjoy/ed your dinner... you deserve it. Your (almost) 24hr-blogposts & Guido's chat-widget from last night have been the most fun I've had on the web since... er, well, let's not go there.
"Gordon Brown. Not porridge, just toast."
Brown in PMQs two weeks ago;
"We WILL NOT ALLOW him to win".
Hmmmmmmmmmmm
Any idea why Sky and the BBC have significantly different figures for councillors gained and lost, with all results in?
Barry, Bury, Boris
I know I am repeating it but who was listening at 10am?
On turnout overall my spreadsheet shows conservative constituencies 46.8% Labour 42.8%.
Input to colour/Boris team - please sort out election faults/ reporting etc by 2012 its ridiculous that virtually everyone has called it with no official results yet announced.
Betfair was still quite active in late afternoon when Boris win likelyhood was >95%
Well done Mr Cleverly
Any word on any other GLA seats particularly "safe" Labour ones like Lambeth/Southwark?
Bromley and Bexley Seat
Top 6
James Cleverly 105162
Labour 29925
Lib Dem 21240
NF11288
Green 9261
UKIP 8021
Con Majority 75237
Cracking stuff lately, Iain.
In the desperate cause of saving a few measly bob, NuLab have forced through the two new Cheshire councils, at the expense of leaving the whole county run by Tories from now till doomsday. No wonder Gwyneth was against the ridiculous scheme (and the toffeenoses in Macclesfield were so much in favour of it).
Tessa Jowell has just said that Ken is highly unlikey to be Mayor in a few hours....
*** Evans holds Havering and Redbridge ***
78K Conservative
35K Labour
City and East a Labour hold buy 32,000
Greenwich and Lewisham 98% counted
posted by dizzy at 5/02/2008 09:17:00 PM
Iain:
I've been out of the country on business since Wednesday and have just returned home.
It seems like I've landed in another country.
What's happened?
Has Gordon topped himself yet?
Start a new thread from the Green room?
Can you not turn to LBC for your radio coverage? Nick Ferrari is infintely better.
LBC's coverage is much better than the BBC London's.
Steve Norris and George Galloway on the Talksport election special (sic) and Norris is in fine form.
How can people say the BBC is biased to labour their cheif politcal correspondent was a young tory.
Teri said...
"My name is Alexandourous Borisius De Pfeffelus Johnsonion"
Although his full name is ALEXANDER BORIS DE PFEFFEL JOHNSON.
The real family name is actually KEMAL (for some reason they adopted the name 'Johnson')
So he is actually ALEXANDER KEMAL.
"Proof"? I think you'll find he said "Poof", Still, well done! Top blogging!!
PS God help the poor sods who live in London ...!
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