Could it be goodbye to Labour in Midlothian????

After the Labour loss in Bradford (also known as a "right gubbing") we now have a Labour councillor quitting here in Midlothian. If people can be persuaded to vote for non-party / independent candidates who are not being told what to vote for by their bosses then we might see a completely different Midlothian Council in May.


http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/majority-lost-as-councillor-quits-labour-1-2206253

More dodgy stuff from the cooncil's Labour lot:

http://www.scotsman.com/news/labour-loses-stronghold-as-politician-quits-for-pension-1-2219964

And the answer is sadly NO as we end up with 8 Labour and 8 SNP councillors. Time they did something to increase the turnout as 40-45% is hopeless - how about NO VOTE, NO BENEFITS?

fourty year ahve votit but no yisterday but ah stil need ma pinsion

Looks like who is likely to be the more persuasive when it comes to twisting Peter de Vink's arm, no?

Quote :

a stalwart of the Scottish Conservatives since the mid-1970s

to quote the Herald and believes

Quote :

the time has come for some fresh thinking to reinvigorate Midlothian

to quote his election leaflet.
Interesting times!

As quoted on the BBC website

BBC Scotland has learned the most likely coalition will be between the SNP and the 71-year-old Midlothian independent councillor Peter de Vink, who has said he would support any party which helped Labour lose.

So the question is - where will Ian Baxter's loyalties lie?

Evil Edna wrote:

As quoted on the BBC website

BBC Scotland has learned the most likely coalition will be between the SNP and the 71-year-old Midlothian independent councillor Peter de Vink, who has said he would support any party which helped Labour lose.

So the question is - where will Ian Baxter's loyalties lie?

No doubt the SNP will come up with some deal to tempt the Greens like they did with Margo MacDonald a few years ago to get her support.
Another classic performance from Monty today as he refused to shake hands with the SNP!

Sam Tyler wrote;" Another classic performance from Monty today as he refused to shake hands with the SNP! "

Hardly surprising, as Mr. M has been victim of a relentless smear campaign for some years, some of which reaching his home and family. His actions show that he is indeed human.

A story like a coin has two sides.

omala
You are correct and there was a considerable backwash which affected other people, me included.
I still have the evidence!
The campaign was vicious and personal aimed solely at beating Montgomery and accusing him of inappropriate conduct because the main protagonists made an incorrect assumption to start with and compounded it by refusing to back down. At least one very good friend of mine was reduced to tears in the middle of the precinct.
Unless the others have decided to forgive and forget there at least three of us sitting on sufficient evidence to bring suit for defamation with a reasonable prospect of success.
I wouldn't be shaking hands with them either, though I don't know whether either of the current crop can be tarred with that particular brush. Hopefully not.

Well said Omala and Pitsgate!

Yes, well said, Omala, and Adam isn't the only person to be subjected to this cruel but childish behaviour.

Radio Forth have tweeted that Mr. Independent (used to be a tory, therefore a unionist) is joining the SNP (pro independence party) in coalition, while Mr. Green is supporting them but not joining coalition.

...and Scotsman saying Lisa Beattie to be leader.


Should be interesting times ahead.

Thanks for the info on the background to this...just shows that all the politicians are as bad as each other. No wonder so many people did not bother to vote!!!!

Thank you, Pitsgate, Rubber-eye, Lothian Lass and Sam for your comments. But to put it in football parlance, would you expect a team down to 8 men, that had been hacked off the park to shake the winners hand. Just saying.

I can't comment on the recent election campaign because I'm out of it (physically as well as mentally!). The last one was grubby with a lot of internal arm-twisting beforehand to get the "right" candidate.
I'm no Labour supporter but I voted for Montgomery then because he's been representing Penicuik one way or another for more than 25 years and for all his faults I've not seen anyone else that's done their best for the community to the extent that he has. On the Council that is!
There you are, Adam; I've said it! Just leave the brown envelope you-know-where!

I couldn't vote for Adam because I'm in a different ward (Midlothian West). But like Pitsgate, I voted for an individual rather than a party - Russel Imrie, as it happens, even though he's Labour and my own inclinations are cautiously Nationalist.

Considerations of party loyalty aside, something is really bothering me about this proprtional representation system we're now using - even though it helped the Nats, I reckon.

I learned from another forum

http://thebothy.myfreeforum.org/index.php

that it works like this,

Say 10000 votes are cast and there are four candidates. Those 10000 votes are divided by five to decide on a sort of qualifying threshhold. So, if the most favoured candidate got 5000 votes, 3000 would be excess to his requirements and distributed to the second most favoured candidate. If that gives the second most favoured candidate more than the required 2000, his excess then passes to the third most favoured candidate, and so on.

The result of all that is that Midlothian now has at least one councillor who only scraped through at the seventh phase. In other words, we now have a councillor that very few of us actually wanted.

There has to be a better system.

And another thing, I'm really not keen on the Nationalists' tactic of putting up two candidates for every ward. (Labour did it as well on a couple of wards.) I'm not clear as to why I don't like it, but it seems to me that the proportional representation system described above (if I've understood it correctly) could turn tactical voting a bit dirty - especially if, unlike Pitsgate and I, most people vote according to party allegiances.

Hi Salamander-dundee and welcome to the forum.

A good start for the new council
http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/108074-leader-of-midlothian-council-resigns-after-five-weeks-in-the-job/

Would they not be better getting on with the job of running the county instead of all this in-fighting???

Reminds me a wee bit of this Forum?

That's what fora are for, Chris.
If we all just sat here mouthing platitudes we might as well not bother.

BBC Scotland are reporting that Beattie was told to resign or face a vote of no confidence. It will be interesting to find out why, five weeks into the job, her own party wants her out. Isn't it a bit early to start the civil war, people?

And another thing, I'm really not keen on the Nationalists' tactic of putting up two candidates for every ward. (Labour did it as well on a couple of wards.)

Labour fielded 2 candidates in 7 wards out of 8. The only Ward where they did not field 2 candidates was Ward 1, Adam Montgomery's Ward. I wonder why?

Parties field two candidates in wards where they think they have a reasonable chance of taking two seats. Lib-Dems did it in Penicuik last time and it didn't work. Two Labour candidates in Penicuik could possibly have split the vote and neither of them would have got in. Whatever Montgomery is, he ain't stupid!
If you are going to limit parties to one candidate per ward then you will always have a "hung council". You can argue whether that is a good thing or not but to arrange things so that there must be a hung council doesn't seem to square with the people's democratic right any more than in the days of the old Midlothian District when 47% of the vote won Labour 88% of the seats.
No system is perfect.

Oh how true Mike. BTW, how is French France? Heading over to Contalmaison for the weekend

"Labour fielded 2 candidates in 7 wards out of 8. The only Ward where they did not field 2 candidates was Ward 1, Adam Montgomery's Ward. I wonder why?" said Midlothian 15.

Like him or not Adam Montgomery has a proven track record as a competent councillor, he must be one of the few seasoned councillors in post. The new players have a lot of catching up to do.

Very French, Chris! Cheese 10/10. Wine 10/10. Weather iffy. We're getting a bit of the backlash from what you're getting this year.
Are you heading for the Hearts Memorial by any chance? If not, try to make time ...

Yes indeed Mike. 3rd visit to the ceremony. We have French family based in Amiens