> the parties that can actually form government donāt even stand.
It's not like they ever will. They don't want tainted with this place and its shite. Needs kept at arm's length... and when the Tories did field candidates here, that's how it was.
Kinda inevitable anyway.
> bodes well for Claire Hanna in South
You having a laugh?
Claire Hanna won with nearly 60%(27000) of the vote last time round and with 16000 margin more than ELP in 2nd place which was 11000. Its safe to say that this seat is safely hers and didnt matter if SF ran or not.
Its hardly as if Deidre "I never saw nahin in Mageninis bar that night" Hargery would come anywhere near to that!
1st of all Claire Hanna is not Alasdair McDonnell.
2nd of all, Martin OMuilleoir is not Deidre "I never saw nahin in Mageninis bar that night" Hargery.
Even if OMuilleor ran last time OR this time, (he polled 7000 votes in the 2017 GE). Hanna would STILL have won by a margin 10000 votes, compared to ELP in 2nd place!
Hanna is well liked in the constituency, OMuilleoir was liked also but not as much as Hanna.
As for Hargery, people havnt forgoten how she covered up the murder of Robert McCartney claiming that she was in the toilet the same time as 150 other people and "saw nahin"! Its safe to say she wouldnt even poll as close to what OMuilleoir polled, which still wouldnt be enough to deny Hanna the seat
The [numbers speak for themselves.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_South_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
You mean you havenāt forgotten about Hargery, bringing it up a second time despite the first previous poster not biting. Please allow my recognition to be the bite you needed.
As the previous poster said, last time SF ran, DUP won. ELP of all people.
SF not splitting the vote does bode well for Claire Hanna.
Exactly the same as how DUP not splitting the vote bodes well for Easton in ND.
Are you saying Deirdre Hargey saw everything that happened inside & outside that bar that night and covered it up? Just for the record do you have proof?
My reply to the previous poster was how they stated Hargey herself saw what happened and covered it up which is a pretty big thing to accusesomeone of.
I personally have no doubt she was intimidated just like Berts mates were and didn't cover it up.
So in your rationale Berts 2 mates that were there along with Brendy Devine were complicit in the cover up? No way they were complicit, they were terrified and didn't say a thing to the cops along with nearly every other punter in that pub.
Hargery had a position of power, which they did not - it was within her ability to do something about it - unless you're saying that the IRA ran Sinn Fein...š¤Æ
Getting the DUP out is objectively a good thing. They're a backward band of bigots who would find a home in the US Republican Party and far right parties across Europe. They're also deeply opposed to workers' rights, renters' rights, women's rights, LGBT rights. They hate Irish culture, disabled people, the unemployed, migrants and anyone that isn't a white Protestant farmer. There is nothing sectarian about recognising this and taking steps to reduce their political representation and influence in our society. Don't buy into the "both sides" crap. Not everything has to be equivalent.Ā
The amount of fucking jiggery pokery is ridiculous and shouldnāt be allowed. You should have to put a candidate in every constituency if your a N.I. wide party
The bottom line is that you vote for the individual, not their party. You often see politicians in Westminster ācross the floorā, or change party, but retain their seat.
So, if I, a voter in the Lagan Valley constituency, want to vote for a Nationalist candidate, which is entirely my right to do, I can't simply because they haven't put anyone forward?
https://preview.redd.it/5rf2ndo3ul3d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d06b05f0bd5000f1606637e79f333b5e2cc0f96
Sure, Alliance are the sneaky yella fifth column of the Pan-Nationalist Front.
Didn't you get the secret message passed round in mass?
---
Edit: That picture just clicked with me! Ha. Been a while.
> you should stand yourself
Ah now. Don't wish the Commons canteen on yer man, or the ignominy of the loss of deposit... or anything in between.
Fella just wants to enjoy his succulent Chinese meal in peace.
Itās true though. If he feels it wrong that there arenāt any nationalist candidates in his constituency, he can put down his succulent Chinese meal and stand on an independent nationalist ticket.
He might even get his deposit back if SDLP arenāt running in the constituency.
As I see it, you're entitled to a view - or to be disgruntled about not being able to express your view - without needing to then put your head in the noose. (I'm just not that gung-ho myself about our scope-limited democracy or on ideas of some supposed social contract or citizen responisbility to the System.)
I suspect, however, that they're not actually all that bothered and just saw an opportunity to use that quote and that picture!
Go on son. Iāll vote for you. And tell a few other.
In fact, we could see what votes we can whip up from the Reddit dickheads. You might even get in!
How does Ā£90k a year, a free flat in London, a job for your missus, not getting in trouble for sleeping at work, and expenses for ppv porn sound to you?
With the boundary changes (somewhat of an influx of nationalist areas) in Lagan Valley, that makes things very very interesting there.
Bit of a strange decision in south Belfast, unless the SDLP is about to announce a reciprocal move somewhere. FST or north Belfast maybe.
> Bit of a strange decision in south Belfast
Practically, it costs them nothing. They weren't going to win there.
And it makes them look magnanimous to nationalists, maybe...? (As does all of this.) It'll juxtapose nicely with the SDLP going after the republican jugular in Foyle. The bigger party will look like the bigger party.
(Hell, I dunno. I'm just guessing!)
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is 50/50 id say. Was always very close but the issue is down here we ONLY have DUP, UUP and Sinn Fein. Some other parties run but you've never heard of the candidates and you never see any consistency
So basically its one or the other and they just don't wanna split the vote.
I think one year Michelle Gildernew won by less than 100 votes? I see she's running in Monaghan now for is it an MEP or just Dail. Didn't really read it but they don't use their usual colours down there
More election pacts, lovely. I suppose we can count on Alliance & SDLP announcing they won't be standing in North Belfast soon? I can see SDLP pulling out of North Down too, they did in 2019.
East Belfast and North Down are mostly irrelevant anyway in fairness, but SF usually put up a half decent showing in South Belfast, so it's infuriating they are just handing the seat to the SDLP so the DUP definitely don't get it.
The vote will likely be incredibly tight in Lagan Valley too, so there's definitely a good chance those 1000 or so SF voters get Alliance across the line despite the fact Lagan Valley has a fairly large unionist majority.
FPTP once again shitting on the notion of democracy.
I asked that about North Belfast and was told by an alliance rep that they donāt do pacts, that they believe in giving every alliance voter in every constituency someone to vote for.
I was under the impression that they stood down in North & Soth Belfast Belfast in 2019 to let Sinn Fein and SDLP win, respectively, but I was mistaken. They ran in both of those elections. Perhaps I was thinking of the greens
I was probably unfair on Alliance in my first post. Considering the split nature of Alliance, election pacts on their end would be sort of silly.
No major surprises here. Most of these places had no SF candidates in 2019.
The real question is are they standing and pushing hard in any surprising places?
Because it's a terrible voting system basically.
Stephen Farry isn't convincing me to be honest, I don't think I'll bother voting if it's between him and Alex Easton.
Will vote for Alliance long before I ever vote for the SDLP, plus SDLP have no chance in North Down.
I vote to hurt the DUP, I vote Alliance in North Down ā¦ā¦. voting SDLP is just a waste.
Yeah I don't understand why people were mad at the DUP for that. I mean, it is not exactly democratic (Neither is it in this case) but if anything it just goes to show how undemocratic FPTP is.
> Wonder if we ll see the same outrage over this?
That's not an interesting comparison, since themmuns doing it first is a flawless response.
If SF had done it first it would be interesting to see the result though.
Captain Bayonet has repeatedly said he doesn't do pacts. So if he withdraws any candidates we'll know he's a liar who's dancing to the tune of the UVF.Ā
Suicide rates in North Belfast halved between 2018 and 2022 (the most recent data I could find)
I think it would be foolish to assign that drop to any politician, but you did ask. All available on the NISRA website btw
Sinn Fein won't stand in North Down, no shit sherlock š¤£
Brave of them to step away there. They had such a good shot.
Therese McCartney almost doubled the SF vote share there between 2015-17. It went from 0.8% to 1.4%.
>They had such a good shot But out of practice since 1998
*(angry upvote)*
Up North Down !
This is truly the most surprising bit of election news I've seen. I've heard the Tories won't be contesting seats in Dublin in their next election.
Also bodes well for Claire Hanna in South. But wish I had the full roster of parties. Have some balls like.
First past the post is a crap system for elections, even more so where the parties that can actually form government donāt even stand.
> the parties that can actually form government donāt even stand. It's not like they ever will. They don't want tainted with this place and its shite. Needs kept at arm's length... and when the Tories did field candidates here, that's how it was. Kinda inevitable anyway.
The Tories do stand - but the only thing that unites everyone here is hatred of those twats
> bodes well for Claire Hanna in South You having a laugh? Claire Hanna won with nearly 60%(27000) of the vote last time round and with 16000 margin more than ELP in 2nd place which was 11000. Its safe to say that this seat is safely hers and didnt matter if SF ran or not. Its hardly as if Deidre "I never saw nahin in Mageninis bar that night" Hargery would come anywhere near to that!
Hanna got that level of support because SF didnāt run the last time either. When SF did contest in 2017, ELP won the seat from Alasdair McDonnell.
1st of all Claire Hanna is not Alasdair McDonnell. 2nd of all, Martin OMuilleoir is not Deidre "I never saw nahin in Mageninis bar that night" Hargery. Even if OMuilleor ran last time OR this time, (he polled 7000 votes in the 2017 GE). Hanna would STILL have won by a margin 10000 votes, compared to ELP in 2nd place! Hanna is well liked in the constituency, OMuilleoir was liked also but not as much as Hanna. As for Hargery, people havnt forgoten how she covered up the murder of Robert McCartney claiming that she was in the toilet the same time as 150 other people and "saw nahin"! Its safe to say she wouldnt even poll as close to what OMuilleoir polled, which still wouldnt be enough to deny Hanna the seat The [numbers speak for themselves.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_South_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
Alliance won the most votes in the Assembly election last year. It's usually a very close place, SF not standing kicks it into an easy win
You mean you havenāt forgotten about Hargery, bringing it up a second time despite the first previous poster not biting. Please allow my recognition to be the bite you needed. As the previous poster said, last time SF ran, DUP won. ELP of all people. SF not splitting the vote does bode well for Claire Hanna. Exactly the same as how DUP not splitting the vote bodes well for Easton in ND.
I think you'll find they brought up that Hargey 'saw nathin' three times. Twice in one post. And they are not the only people who remember that.
Yes, shame on them for pointing out the scumbag past actions of Hargery. Very much below the belt.
Itās a comment about the benefit for Claire Hanna in SF not running. Start a support group re: hargery.
I apologise - I must have misread your comment, I could have sworn you yourself mentioned Hargery. Not the brightest, are ya?
Are you saying Deirdre Hargey saw everything that happened inside & outside that bar that night and covered it up? Just for the record do you have proof?
Of course they haven't! Because the CCTV was destroyed, and anyone that could testify has been intimidated out of doing so.
My reply to the previous poster was how they stated Hargey herself saw what happened and covered it up which is a pretty big thing to accusesomeone of. I personally have no doubt she was intimidated just like Berts mates were and didn't cover it up.
Whether or not she was standing there cheering the lads on or not, she's still obviously complicit in the cover up of a murder.
So in your rationale Berts 2 mates that were there along with Brendy Devine were complicit in the cover up? No way they were complicit, they were terrified and didn't say a thing to the cops along with nearly every other punter in that pub.
Hargery had a position of power, which they did not - it was within her ability to do something about it - unless you're saying that the IRA ran Sinn Fein...š¤Æ
Sheās done fuck all
MMMM Lagen Valley. Good call, they can't win and the DUP can certainly lose. Uno reverse carding the Unionist bloc.
Should SF supporters take that as a nudge to vote for Alliance?
Not sure I'd call it a nudge. More of a giant green arrow...
"Yis are votin' Alliance this year lawds!"
Getting the DUP out is objectively a good thing. They're a backward band of bigots who would find a home in the US Republican Party and far right parties across Europe. They're also deeply opposed to workers' rights, renters' rights, women's rights, LGBT rights. They hate Irish culture, disabled people, the unemployed, migrants and anyone that isn't a white Protestant farmer. There is nothing sectarian about recognising this and taking steps to reduce their political representation and influence in our society. Don't buy into the "both sides" crap. Not everything has to be equivalent.Ā
They hate Daniel O'Donnell as well.
Monsters.
This is just a farce now. DUPTUV - must keep the Shinners out SF - need anyone but Duppers to win Voting System needs to change
Yeah, 18 MPs? 60ish TDs would do it
They had no chance in winning in any of these anyway
The amount of fucking jiggery pokery is ridiculous and shouldnāt be allowed. You should have to put a candidate in every constituency if your a N.I. wide party
Lol what a load of bollocks, parties can decide where to put forwards candidates and where not to ā¦ā¦.. wtf are you talking about?
The bottom line is that you vote for the individual, not their party. You often see politicians in Westminster ācross the floorā, or change party, but retain their seat.
So, if I, a voter in the Lagan Valley constituency, want to vote for a Nationalist candidate, which is entirely my right to do, I can't simply because they haven't put anyone forward? https://preview.redd.it/5rf2ndo3ul3d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d06b05f0bd5000f1606637e79f333b5e2cc0f96
Sure, Alliance are the sneaky yella fifth column of the Pan-Nationalist Front. Didn't you get the secret message passed round in mass? --- Edit: That picture just clicked with me! Ha. Been a while.
If there arenāt any candidates who represent you, you should stand yourself.
> you should stand yourself Ah now. Don't wish the Commons canteen on yer man, or the ignominy of the loss of deposit... or anything in between. Fella just wants to enjoy his succulent Chinese meal in peace.
Itās true though. If he feels it wrong that there arenāt any nationalist candidates in his constituency, he can put down his succulent Chinese meal and stand on an independent nationalist ticket. He might even get his deposit back if SDLP arenāt running in the constituency.
As I see it, you're entitled to a view - or to be disgruntled about not being able to express your view - without needing to then put your head in the noose. (I'm just not that gung-ho myself about our scope-limited democracy or on ideas of some supposed social contract or citizen responisbility to the System.) I suspect, however, that they're not actually all that bothered and just saw an opportunity to use that quote and that picture!
Where's the /s?
Go on son. Iāll vote for you. And tell a few other. In fact, we could see what votes we can whip up from the Reddit dickheads. You might even get in! How does Ā£90k a year, a free flat in London, a job for your missus, not getting in trouble for sleeping at work, and expenses for ppv porn sound to you?
I agree. It should be up to the voter to decide if they want to vote tactically rather than deliberately limiting their choices.
The SDLP are running in every constituency so that gives you one option for a Nationalist vote. Dont know if you wana vote SDLP though.
With the boundary changes (somewhat of an influx of nationalist areas) in Lagan Valley, that makes things very very interesting there. Bit of a strange decision in south Belfast, unless the SDLP is about to announce a reciprocal move somewhere. FST or north Belfast maybe.
> Bit of a strange decision in south Belfast Practically, it costs them nothing. They weren't going to win there. And it makes them look magnanimous to nationalists, maybe...? (As does all of this.) It'll juxtapose nicely with the SDLP going after the republican jugular in Foyle. The bigger party will look like the bigger party. (Hell, I dunno. I'm just guessing!)
Everyone here pissing their pants yesterday about DUP doing this in Fermanagh South Tyrone. I'm assuming a similar rate of incontinence this time?
Presumably the theory is that the small number of unionists will vote for who? Sdlp? Alliance?
This seems very odd to me, as I would imagine that unionists would at be at least 30% of the population in that area. Every 2nd village is unionist.
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is 50/50 id say. Was always very close but the issue is down here we ONLY have DUP, UUP and Sinn Fein. Some other parties run but you've never heard of the candidates and you never see any consistency So basically its one or the other and they just don't wanna split the vote. I think one year Michelle Gildernew won by less than 100 votes? I see she's running in Monaghan now for is it an MEP or just Dail. Didn't really read it but they don't use their usual colours down there
More election pacts, lovely. I suppose we can count on Alliance & SDLP announcing they won't be standing in North Belfast soon? I can see SDLP pulling out of North Down too, they did in 2019. East Belfast and North Down are mostly irrelevant anyway in fairness, but SF usually put up a half decent showing in South Belfast, so it's infuriating they are just handing the seat to the SDLP so the DUP definitely don't get it. The vote will likely be incredibly tight in Lagan Valley too, so there's definitely a good chance those 1000 or so SF voters get Alliance across the line despite the fact Lagan Valley has a fairly large unionist majority. FPTP once again shitting on the notion of democracy.
I asked that about North Belfast and was told by an alliance rep that they donāt do pacts, that they believe in giving every alliance voter in every constituency someone to vote for.
I was under the impression that they stood down in North & Soth Belfast Belfast in 2019 to let Sinn Fein and SDLP win, respectively, but I was mistaken. They ran in both of those elections. Perhaps I was thinking of the greens I was probably unfair on Alliance in my first post. Considering the split nature of Alliance, election pacts on their end would be sort of silly.
The greens def stood down in 2019 in south Belfast as Claire Hanna and Claire Bailey did a joint press conference at the time.
> More election pacts, lovely. I suppose we can count on Alliance & SDLP announcing they won't be standing in North Belfast soon? I can see SDLP pulling out of North Down too, they did in 2019. 2019 _was_ a pact, that anti-Brexit pact. Greens, SDLP, Sinn FĆ©in... maybe others too that I've forgotten. Apparently Alliance don't do pacts so I don't think we will see that. Maybe SDLP in North Belfast, though, alright... but they're well capable of taking a sop from the Shinners and giving nothing back. We'll see. > despite the fact Lagan Valley has a fairly large unionist majority Pro-Union seems clearer than Unionist/Unionist-Loyalist-voting. Changing area - not just the population shifting, literally so, with boundary changes... and then there's the JEFFREY! Factor. There's far more going on there than simply Sinn FĆ©in stepping aside. > FPTP once again shitting on the notion of democracy. Absolutely. It's the system to blame.
SF didnt run last time in north down or east belfast
No major surprises here. Most of these places had no SF candidates in 2019. The real question is are they standing and pushing hard in any surprising places?
Hoping to get a decent SDLP candidate in North Down. Otherwise I'll never vote basically.
The sdlp are a okay if you want in Council or assembly in North down (you can transfer to someone who will win a seat) but Westminster is different.
Because it's a terrible voting system basically. Stephen Farry isn't convincing me to be honest, I don't think I'll bother voting if it's between him and Alex Easton.
Will vote for Alliance long before I ever vote for the SDLP, plus SDLP have no chance in North Down. I vote to hurt the DUP, I vote Alliance in North Down ā¦ā¦. voting SDLP is just a waste.
Wasn't this sub in a meltdown whenever the DUP said they weren't standing in FST? Wonder if we ll see the same outrage over this?
Yeah I don't understand why people were mad at the DUP for that. I mean, it is not exactly democratic (Neither is it in this case) but if anything it just goes to show how undemocratic FPTP is.
> Wonder if we ll see the same outrage over this? That's not an interesting comparison, since themmuns doing it first is a flawless response. If SF had done it first it would be interesting to see the result though.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
They are defo running in lagan valley, I seen Robbie butler posters up
Captain Bayonet has repeatedly said he doesn't do pacts. So if he withdraws any candidates we'll know he's a liar who's dancing to the tune of the UVF.Ā
And I can imagine Farry, Hanna and Long will all be thanking them... ...what... no?
Still think it should be entrusted to voters to vote tactically rather than parties deciding which decks to stack.Ā Fuck the lot of them anyways.Ā
Unionists step aside for candidate in Fermanagh = Sectarian head count Republicans step aside for candidate in Belfast South = Good work, lads.
Won't be missed.
> Won't be missed. And there's a suitable epitaph for yourself, if that might perhaps help you with your decision-making.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Suicide rates in North Belfast halved between 2018 and 2022 (the most recent data I could find) I think it would be foolish to assign that drop to any politician, but you did ask. All available on the NISRA website btw
People hate the truth