General Discussion
Albeit with a vastly reduced percentage of the vote. Sad really how many voters seem content with the cuts imposed by this Conservative-controlled County Council.
People who vote Tory are blind to social issues. All they care for is themselves and what they read in their copy of the Daily Mail.
I find it strange that folk forget why we are where we are remember the banking crisis the bankers are to blame for all the cuts and yet they walked away scott free.
True about the banking crisis dropping us in the mire, Leatash - but who will be to blame when those same tax-payer propped up banks move operations to the EU (Eire would look to be in the sweet spot) once Brexit really bites?
It's obviously saying that the voters are in the main happy with what is being done with the level of budget given. we can all sit there like some candidates and promise to reinstate children and elderly homes, reinstate no.2 bus amongst other generous offerings, but when it is known that these things cost a great deal more than is being spent now and all that can be offered up is "we'll take it from reserves" people are seeing through that, reserves are not a bottomless pit. People can work out that something else would have to suffer and those things weren't forthcoming. Some people really need to learn from these experiences if they want to make a difference, not continue to slate others in their quest for success, maybe, just maybe you got something wrong!
It seems that money is going to be 'found from somewhere' to complete the controversial cycle path to Teignmouth - despite the grant funding drying up, Dil. Is that a good or bad way of spending tax-payers' money in Devon?
The votes are in:
https://new.devon.gov.uk/democracy/election-2017/division/dawlish/
I see Younger-Ross lost Teignmouth by 22 votes. I wonder if he will be standing in the parliamentary election.
The Tory Councllors in County Hall were all congratulating themselves, Clatworthy looked please.
They were getting stuck into canapes and drinks provided at the taxpayers expense.
It was quite a buffet laid on - it really takes the piss.
Cllr Connett tried to put on a brave face for the Lib Dems, despite retaining his own seat.
Why Richard Younger-Ross is standing in the General Election is unfathomable. The 'Winning Here' slogan now attains a new level of irony.
Clearly the current opposition parties are all in disarray.
We need a new movement to oust the Tories and their neoliberal ideology. Not the Tory-Lite of the Lib Dems and the majority of Labour MPs. We need an entirely new and visionary political system that offers hope to ordinary people struggling to make ends meet and not just older, better-off, middle class voters.
That is partly why the likes of Cllr Wrigley fail to win.
... and by way of a comparison, here are the scores on the doors from the 2013 Devon CC elections:
https://new.devon.gov.uk/democracy/elections2013/division/?division=46
That's a 5-fold increase from 2013 to 2017...
An increase in the Lib Dem vote from 294 in 2013 to 1479 is not to be sniffed at Burneside. And while there were much closer calls both ways for the Conservatives and the Lib Dems today, the figures for the incumbent in Dawlish was considerably flattered by the collapse in the UKIP vote (from 1094 > 300).
Looks like those who support UKIP have found a new home for their vote in the Conservative party. Should this shift be repeated in the general election, the party will be listing even further to the right. What then for the 'strong and stable' government we are being sold by Theresa May - either before or after Brexit?
The Lib Dems in 2009 had 969 votes to the Tories 2236.
In 2013 it nose-dived to 294 probably because of their subservience in the coalition.
1479 was still well short of Clatworthy's total.
It was a n improvement but it's now an irrelevance, it'll be forgotten. For all the Lib Dems talk and confidence prior to yesterday it'll be forgotten news.
The Lib Dems pose no real threat to Tory hegemony, nor does their brand of politics endeavour to change the status-quo for the poorest and marginalised in society.
The Lib Dems were closer to the Tories elsewhere - maybe Wrigley was simply the wrong candidate? He did recieve the fewest votes of all the town councillors in the 2015 DTC election and he failed in his 2015 bid to become a Teignbridge District councillor.
That was overly ambitious having never been in politics before.
Maybe the failure is about more than politics?
We all want to change the world, Indy Scot. But going for the man instead of the ball (and in the interests of gender equality, elsewhere on this site, for the woman) will achieve nothing except to further the cause of the right-wing Conservatives.
Still that seems to be the mantra of the idealogues of Labour and the left: Conservatives out - but first let's get rid of those pesky Lib Dems.
@Gary Taylor to clarify i do not distinguish between the tories and the lib dems and labour anymore.
In my view they are all neoliberal parties (including Labour which Corbyn cannot reform) that are in the pockets or the corporatocracy.
It just so happens that locally and nationally the Lib Dems present themselves as the only viable opposition to the Tories - And because of the view I stated above I am therefore critical of the Lib Dem's posturing.
If I lived in Exeter I'd be equally critical of Bradshaw and Blairism. Labour aren't so relevant in the Newton abbot constituency.
I wouldn't challenge the Lib Dem rhetoric as much on here if you weren't such a prolific mouth-piece for them. So what do you expect? Not to be questioned?
You don't have to take it personally. If you get involved in politics you should expect some critical enquiry and disagreement.
If people perceive the Lib Dems as 'pesky' then why not reflect on why that might be? Instead of coming across as self-righteous all the time.
'Pesky' is your choice of word. I just don't find the Lib Dems to be credible.
You'd need to clarify the 'going for the man and not the ball' comment and how that furthers the case of right-wing conservatives. I'll answer you if you cease to communicate in riddles.
Interesting data on the overall DCC scores for the Westminster constituency (excepting Exminster and Haldon):
Yes the data is interesting.
It was extremely close between the Lib Dems and Tories in some areas, and poor Lib Dem results in Kingsteignton and Dawlish were largely cancelled out by other results in Newton Abbot North and Exminster & Haldon which had more sizeable leads over the Tories..
It suggests tactical voting could swing it for a Lib Dem victory in Newton Abbot. Looking at the rest of Devon the prospect of ousting the Tories looks pretty bleak.
Dream on.
At the last election the Tories achieved double the LibDem vote, and will likely pick up a significant number of the almost seven thousand votes cast for UKIP now that the Brexit job is done. You are also forgetting that turnout at local elections is risably low.
@burnside. Fair point, I was only looking at the Newton Abbot constituency, it depends on how many Labour or Green supporters votes tactically for the Lib Dems versus how many UKIP supporters vote Tory, which is highly likely given Brexit. The rest of Devon looks like a blue-wash in waiting, bar Exeter.
I don't dream of a Lib Dem victory, but that's the second worst option after the Tory nightmare we have now for anti-Tory voters residing in this constituency. I would be a very reluctant tactical voter.