By-elections: Ukip win 1st MP in Clacton, close 2nd in Heywood

[-:Undertaker:-]

Tonight: Clacton/Heywood and Middleton by-elections for House of Commons

A ultra-safe Labour seat in Manchester (Heywood and Middleton) is up for by-election tonight after the death of Jim Dobbins MP and the very safe Conservative seat on the south-eastern coast of Clacton is up for by-election tonight following the defection and resignation of Douglas Carswell MP.

Here's the 2010 General Election results for comparison when the results come in...

Apparently there's coverage tonight.. either on the 24-hr news channels, BBC Parliament or BBC One/Two.

Voting closes at 10:00pm with results expected 1:00am to 3:00am.

Thoughts?

[MilksAreUs]

I live in Manchester and I think most people will be voting UKIP. Jim Dobbin died aswell, met him and he's a nice man.

[Chippiewill]

Interviews on BBC news right now with Conservative and Labour MPs are absolutely hilarious. You can hear the UKIP representative laughing in the background.

- - - Updated - - -

This conservative is clearly not feeling happy about the result:

[Chippiewill]

Every conservative so far tonight on every question they're given:
"By-elections are different, votes for UKIP are votes for Ed Miliband". Scaremongering at its finest.

[AgnesIO]

No real surprises in Clacton really. The fact Carswell won is more of a vote in confidence of the man himself, than of UKIP.

HOWEVER, the the Middleton and Heywood result is much more significant, given the gigantic rise in UKIP votes with a non-'veteran' politician.

The GE will be interesting.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The swing in Clacton represents the second-biggest swing in modern British political history and the largest increase in the percentage of the vote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...Largest_swings Interesting for history buffs too (think of the SDP) that a young Baroness Shirley Williams stood in Clacton many years ago.

As happy as I am with Clacton, Heywood and Middleton is a huge breakthough... especially considering the purples have always performed much weaker in Lancashire and western England than they do on the eastern coast (as far as Hull). Heywood has been reduced to a swing seat.

We've at least got our foot in the door now.

Every conservative so far tonight on every question they're given:
"By-elections are different, votes for UKIP are votes for Ed Miliband". Scaremongering at its finest.

Coming from a working class family that has always voted Conservative, as well as knowing friends families who always voted Labour - all of who now vote Ukip - it's funny to see this line being thrown out. Increasingly people ask, so whats the ******* difference?

[AgnesIO]

I quite like some UKIP policies. Then Nigel Farage came out with his HIV comments today and I - if it means all people (not just permanent immigrants), I have lost even the smallest ounce of support I had for the party

[-:Undertaker:-]

I quite like some UKIP policies. Then Nigel Farage came out with his HIV comments today and I - if it means all people (not just permanent immigrants), I have lost even the smallest ounce of support I had for the party

He means those applying for permanent settlement - which is right, considering how HIV drug treatment over a lifetime costs around £500,000 per person. Many other countries also take this into account with citizenship.

“We should do what America does, what Australia does, what every country in the world does. We want people who have trade and skills. But we do not want people with criminal records and we cannot afford to have people with life threatening diseases,” he said.

“We have leading cancer experts in Britain saying the burden now of treating overseas people is leading to huge shortages in the system. I do not think those (immigrants) with life threatening diseases should be treated by NHS”.

Farage also said that he would ban anyone with a murder conviction from migrating to Britain after Arnis Zalkans, the Latvian builder who was jailed in his home country for the murder of his wife in 1998, emerged as the prime suspect in the murder of the teenage Londoner Alice Gross. His badly decomposed body was found a few days after Alice’s body was recovered from the river Brent.

Those are his comments without the hysterical Guardian opinion placed into it.

The Ukip leader may have referred to people with the virus because 38% of new HIV diagnoses in 2013 were of people born outside the UK, according to Public Health England.

When Britons are being denied life-prolonging drugs on the NHS we can't treat the rest of the world.

It is after all called the National Health Sevice, not the International Health Service.

[Michael]

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this, but why did the presiding officer at the Heywood & Middleton by-election say to Liz (the now Labour MP): ''it would have been that result whatever it said''

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YijO...utu.be&t=2m15s 2:15

[-:Undertaker:-]

I quite like some UKIP policies. Then Nigel Farage came out with his HIV comments today and I - if it means all people (not just permanent immigrants), I have lost even the smallest ounce of support I had for the party

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this, but why did the presiding officer at the Heywood & Middleton by-election say to Liz (the now Labour MP): ''it would have been that result whatever it said''

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YijO...utu.be&t=2m15s 2:15

Just saw this question from the Survation Poll....

Public agree overwhelmingly with Farage on permanent settlement & HIV status.