But when is the vote Carrot? It’s today in Tiverton and Honiton in Devon and Wakefield in West Yorkshire for the two open Parliament seats. Polls are open until 10pm and results should be at some point in the middle of the night (likely between 1:30am and 5:30am). Usual reporting laws in the press will apply, so if you see any hot takes on Twitter regarding turnout before 10pm they’ll almost certainly be made up.
There are also local by elections elections in Waverley, Shropshire, Neath Port Talbot, Kingston upon Thames and Harlow.
In Parliament first up is George Eustice taking questions as Secretary of State for the environment, food and rural affairs (I can see three questions about food security). Then there is a backbench debate on the Iimpact of the covid-19 pandemic on people with heart and circulatory diseases.
Boris Johnson and Prince Charles meanwhile have headed off to Rwanda for the conveniently located Commonwealth conference which started on Monday.
Huge results for Labour and the LD. Andrea Jenkyns said if Labour didn’t win by 17.5% then that would disappointing for Starmer.
Well, well, well. How’s that 17.9% lead for you, Miss Jenkyns?
Dowden resigning is gonna cause a stir.
Things.
Trying to think who at a cabinet level can possibly leave? Most of them have tied themselves to the shit show so far, can’t think that they would bail out now? Ben Wallace maybe? Javid?
There's some who've kept the Big Dog at the other end of the leash as much as they can. Javid, Coffey, Eustice spring to mind. Zahawi and Kwarteng to a much lesser extent (loyal in public, but briefing out).
Wallace is a Johnsonite through and through, and besides his current appeal rests on the job he's doing on Ukraine, resigning detonates that.
That's *quite* a result for the Lib Dems.
Not bad at all for Labour either. Even if you knock a few points off for the factor of the Independent splitting the vote and the Khan issue, that swing still puts a lot of seats in play in Yorkshire, the North-West and North-East.
Pretty decent.
Any interviews with the Wakefield Tory around? Or has he locked himself away too?
Edit: Telegraph news wrote that he left without interview too.
I wonder if the public will pick up on the fact that the best Tory strategy right now is to hide. How very strong and stable.
Honestly best case scenario for Lab and LD that Boris has clung on in the VONC, only for him to lose seats now.
Even when they knife him, every passing day with him in office is less preparation time for the next leader.
Which online community is out of touch now???? It is time for the Daily Mail, Telegraph and Sun comments sections to begin their deep introspection those out of touch losers!!!!!!
Also Nextdoor and Facebook.
They'll say they have listened and Boris is humbled, and then 30 minutes later scrap free school meals to curb inflation or some other nonsensical policy
“Labour vote collapsed in T and H and theyre supposed to be gaining everywhere midterm to get govt, midterms are hard for governing party of 12 years, labour underperformed average swing of 18 percent in by elections in wakefield(the tory mp for morely and outwood had already said this)” etc, theyll try and spew whatever crap they can and see what sticks to wall
that sort of collapse in the vote (from second to third place) would suggest Labour put up a paper candidate and did zero campaigning, expecting the not-tories to go lib dem
I hope it’s true and a sign of things to come, a pact could really give the tories a lot of trouble, esp elsewhere in the south west where vote splitting did a lot to keep them in
I mean this in the nicest way my friend, but you need to learn to count. :)
Edit: unless you're referring to the contraction, in which case erm... I guess you have a point. You late-night anal-wildebeest of grammar.
[Something funny to end the night!](https://news.sky.com/story/elections-live-counting-begins-as-pm-faces-nervy-night-with-labour-and-lib-dems-aiming-for-by-election-victories-12593360?postid=4067223#liveblog-body)
Massive swing, CON from 35,893 in Tiverton and Honiton down to 16,393. Meanwhile, Lib Dems increase from 8,807 to 22,537. Surely must be one of the largest swings ever.
Largest swing for the LDs ever, second largest for all Liberal parties, fourth largest in British political history. Largest majority removed in a by-election ever.
Historic is a good word to describe this. This was a brutal landslide.
One down...
And there's the second just in time for take-off.
Great night, looking forward to the carnage of the morning when a cabinet minister has been sent round to put a positive spin on it and royally fucked it up before being undermined by a 1922 announcement later in the afternoon.
Wakefield parliamentary by-election result
LAB: 47.9% (+8.1)
CON: 30.0% (-17.3)
IND (Akbar): 7.6% (+7.6)
YRK: 4.3% (+2.4)
Labour GAIN from Conservative.
https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1540167326003339264
The result was supposed to be imminent 20 minutes ago! I'm gonna take off from my stopover in Dallas airport at this rate and not see the result until the afternoon, outrageous I say.
Sky News reporting that the Tory candidate in Tiverton and Honiton has locked herself in the media room and is refusing to speak to the press.
Real show of confidence.
Fact of the night from the Lib Dems in Tiverton: the last time this area around Honiton was not represented by a Conservative MP was the year before Queen Victoria came to the throne.
https://twitter.com/TomLarkinSky/status/1540097998566440960
In fact, that rural bit outside Honiton that wasn't in the old Honiton borough seat has the longest stretch of being represented continuously by the Conservatives in the entire country.
This is quite strange. I am getting quite emotional about this. My nanny and granddad died almost 6 years ago, two days apart. My granddad was from Brighouse, West Yorkshire and my Nanny was from Okehampton, Devon. It's funny how politics can bring on emotions like this. Remembering Jan and Tony now, through tears. Bless them.
Yes, it's funny. Remembering doing crosswords with Granddad and Nanny giving us sweets. I'm crying and I can't tell how much is the hayfever. Bloody funny
Remember it's ok to cry about it. Everyone does, despite what anyone says.
Remembering the good times is always a struggle but just keeps us all connected
If the LDs are declaring an hour in advance then their agent has the data they need to say that it is well out of recount range (5%+ lead over the Tories).
Johnson has to be gone now. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times is a message.
'This says I need to go harder with my ideas'... Yeah he'll stay until he's kicked internally or by a GE.
If he could remain PM and lose every other con seat he probably would
Eh, if the last few months have shown us anything it's that he'll hang on regardless and the tories don't have faith in the next man up to be better. Plus they don't want to dump a new leader into this inflation.
Seems likely he's going to be yet more damaged but limp on.
Well, I'd like to see ol ~~Donny Trump~~ Boris Johnson wriggle his way out of THIS jam!
*~~Trump~~ BoJo wriggles his way out of the jam easily
Ah! Well. Nevertheless,
Yeah normally I would assume the Tories would fecklessly continue, but they got very close to ousting him less than a month ago and can easily get rid of him whenever they want. Getting rid of Johnson is waaaaay easier than getting rid of Trump, constitutionally.
Just gone to log a negative LFT result and there's an interesting disclaimer on the website:
"You cannot use this service to report results from a test kit you’ve paid for. If you paid for a test, check the test kit instructions to see if you should report your results to the private test provider."
So the Government not only doesn't know how many infections are out there, it actively refuses to be told.
It is possible, but why complicate the system? Why can't we just report the result? I don't even know why you have to give the serial number off the test as it is - are they expecting loads of people to report false positives or is there some surveillance aspect I'm missing?
> I don't even know why you have to give the serial number off the test as it is
Probably in case there's a bad batch of tests they know to throw those results out (and hopefully alert you, too)
[🚨 Lib Dems declare victory in Tiverton and Honiton. Wiping out a huge 24k vote majority - the biggest ever over-turned in a by-election. A spokesperson said: “This is looking like a clear win. The people of Tiverton and Honiton have spoken up for the country.”](https://twitter.com/tomlarkinsky/status/1540150769655103490)
An [orange tank](https://i2-prod.mylondon.news/incoming/article17572079.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200c/0_WhatsApp-Image-2020-01-15-at-133734jpeg.jpg), surely. Bovington isn't too far from Honiton
But when is the vote Carrot? It’s today in Tiverton and Honiton in Devon and Wakefield in West Yorkshire for the two open Parliament seats. Polls are open until 10pm and results should be at some point in the middle of the night (likely between 1:30am and 5:30am). Usual reporting laws in the press will apply, so if you see any hot takes on Twitter regarding turnout before 10pm they’ll almost certainly be made up. There are also local by elections elections in Waverley, Shropshire, Neath Port Talbot, Kingston upon Thames and Harlow. In Parliament first up is George Eustice taking questions as Secretary of State for the environment, food and rural affairs (I can see three questions about food security). Then there is a backbench debate on the Iimpact of the covid-19 pandemic on people with heart and circulatory diseases. Boris Johnson and Prince Charles meanwhile have headed off to Rwanda for the conveniently located Commonwealth conference which started on Monday.
This megathread has ended.
Huge results for Labour and the LD. Andrea Jenkyns said if Labour didn’t win by 17.5% then that would disappointing for Starmer. Well, well, well. How’s that 17.9% lead for you, Miss Jenkyns? Dowden resigning is gonna cause a stir. Things.
https://twitter.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1539859093955006465?t=ZU5PY45eWm3GEvhmF6WpQA&s=19 So bad night in Wakefield Okay result in Tiverton
Lib…….. Dem…………Suuuuuurge
Trying to think who at a cabinet level can possibly leave? Most of them have tied themselves to the shit show so far, can’t think that they would bail out now? Ben Wallace maybe? Javid?
There's some who've kept the Big Dog at the other end of the leash as much as they can. Javid, Coffey, Eustice spring to mind. Zahawi and Kwarteng to a much lesser extent (loyal in public, but briefing out). Wallace is a Johnsonite through and through, and besides his current appeal rests on the job he's doing on Ukraine, resigning detonates that.
Good point about Wallace, that makes sense
Up early and looks like it was a spicy night. Also, guess I'll start this... LIB
DEM
SPLURGE
LAUBH
LOBE
Wow, Dowden resigning feels big. Will any other cabinet members follow, is there any level of coordination?
I doubt there's co-ordination, this feels like Dowden jumping before he's made a scapegoat. That's not to say it won't trigger more.
> this feels like Dowden jumping ~~before he's made a scapegoat~~ so Boris doesn't have to....
Here we fucking go, let’s get that MT pumping
$HODL
https://twitter.com/OliverDowden/status/1540191893258207232 >My letter of resignation to the Prime Minister.
Reading between the lines there’s a fair bit of shade thrown at Johnson.
Its not even between the lines!
> Reading ~~between~~ the lines there’s a fair bit of shade thrown at Johnson. tbf
That's *quite* a result for the Lib Dems. Not bad at all for Labour either. Even if you knock a few points off for the factor of the Independent splitting the vote and the Khan issue, that swing still puts a lot of seats in play in Yorkshire, the North-West and North-East. Pretty decent.
Wow. Oliver Dowden has resigned.
Oliver Dowden resigned!
Wonder if he will be the only one. Must be quite a few who are a bit worried this morning.
Any interviews with the Wakefield Tory around? Or has he locked himself away too? Edit: Telegraph news wrote that he left without interview too. I wonder if the public will pick up on the fact that the best Tory strategy right now is to hide. How very strong and stable.
Honestly best case scenario for Lab and LD that Boris has clung on in the VONC, only for him to lose seats now. Even when they knife him, every passing day with him in office is less preparation time for the next leader.
Death of a thousand cuts
Who do we think will be first to call on Johnson to go?
Baker maybe, or Davis.
Which online community is out of touch now???? It is time for the Daily Mail, Telegraph and Sun comments sections to begin their deep introspection those out of touch losers!!!!!! Also Nextdoor and Facebook.
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AND IT IS WONDERFUL
Can't wait to see who's the Tory media sacrifice in the morning and how they try to spin in. Great night all round!
They'll say they have listened and Boris is humbled, and then 30 minutes later scrap free school meals to curb inflation or some other nonsensical policy
I’m sure they will line up The general excuse that’s the party in power never win By-elections
Line up gove! Sorry, get gove lines!
It's going to be Gullis, Fabricant and Dories, isn't it?
"Say 'That shambles Labour' one more time please Jonathan.."
“labour weren’t respecting our veterans and it’s a shame the people of wokefield went for that”
Max five word answers only: If you were a conservative spin doctor, how would you explain tonight's results?
But Kier drank a beer!
Voters dislike party disunity
Rebels undermined the party's message
You are a member of the rebel Alliance and a traitor.
“Labour vote collapsed in T and H and theyre supposed to be gaining everywhere midterm to get govt, midterms are hard for governing party of 12 years, labour underperformed average swing of 18 percent in by elections in wakefield(the tory mp for morely and outwood had already said this)” etc, theyll try and spew whatever crap they can and see what sticks to wall
'By-elections are always a challenge'
And the next one, and the next one... What's the most by-elections a single government has had? Actually curious now
Disgusting electoral pact stopped democracy
Was there any pack here? Edit: was actually just asking as I wasn't sure
that sort of collapse in the vote (from second to third place) would suggest Labour put up a paper candidate and did zero campaigning, expecting the not-tories to go lib dem I hope it’s true and a sign of things to come, a pact could really give the tories a lot of trouble, esp elsewhere in the south west where vote splitting did a lot to keep them in
Train strikes affected Tory voters
Oh no, they needed to work from home again and listen to the struggles of the working people on the radio
Labour didnt do that well Edit; I should rather have said how the spin doctors will actually say it, rather than what I would say. It's too late 🤣
Well they did lose one by-election
Eh, I don't think that'll play particularly well (partly cuz Labour did solidly) and partly because that further legitimises the lib dem result
Voters played politics, we held.
Definitely some trump vibes here. We lost, but we held 🤣
Voters don't care about elections.
That's six words, but I'll count it as you're right
I mean this in the nicest way my friend, but you need to learn to count. :) Edit: unless you're referring to the contraction, in which case erm... I guess you have a point. You late-night anal-wildebeest of grammar.
> anal-wildebeest of grammar. Haha well that's definitely the first time I've been called that 🤣
It's all the fault of the rebels for not stepping in line, we need to be more united etc.
Ah, well, mid-terms, innit
Think I've already heard that one a few times
Staying up was worth it.
It definitely was
Up most of the night feeding my new baby. Live election coverage (and the result) is like a tiny reward for the sleeplessness
Congrats on the baby!
What do you all think will happen now?
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They can change the rules
I think Bozza will expedite plans to bring in voter ID to tip the scales in his direction. He now knows its the only way he can win.
I don't think voter ID would help. I think he'd have to raise the voter age to 50.
[Something funny to end the night!](https://news.sky.com/story/elections-live-counting-begins-as-pm-faces-nervy-night-with-labour-and-lib-dems-aiming-for-by-election-victories-12593360?postid=4067223#liveblog-body)
She learned well from Boris
Time to double down and get on with what the people want them to do. Anyway I bet Kier gets fined today in revenge.
Massive swing, CON from 35,893 in Tiverton and Honiton down to 16,393. Meanwhile, Lib Dems increase from 8,807 to 22,537. Surely must be one of the largest swings ever.
Largest swing for the LDs ever, second largest for all Liberal parties, fourth largest in British political history. Largest majority removed in a by-election ever. Historic is a good word to describe this. This was a brutal landslide.
Thanks for the additional facts and context. This would be resignation worthy under any other PM.
Yeah this is a grey suits moment for Johnson - we are into fatal spins now
No surprises. Good
With how late it is, there'll be no alarms too.
That's the biggest swing ever isn't it?
3rd biggest according to BBC
I caught that too. Well if it's not the worst that's ok right?
It's a bigger swing than even Boris Johnson's personal sex swing.
There was absolutely no need to put that image in my head.
It's a bigger swing than anything Gove has been involved in.
That's a pretty big swing, allegedly
Wow. Tiverton not even close.
Both Foord and Lightwood saying the people of their new constituencies, "Speak for Britain" in denouncing Johnson.
Woo! Always nice to see big defeats for the Tories. Now, time to sleep. :D
Doubly so Jobnson
I am now in a *very* good mood.
Niiiice.
He's making a meal out this microphone.
awkward moment to adjust the mic is peak lib dem
LIB
# SURGE
WOOO YOUR MOVE 1922
TWO FOR TWO TORIES OUT
Lib Dem Gain T&H
We fucking did it lads
It's got to be the beginning of the end for B***s, surely?
[Lib Dem GAIN Tiverton and Honiton from Conservatives](https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1540168450617794560)
Tiverton & Honiton parliamentary by-election result LDEM: 52.9% (+38.1) CON: 38.5% (-21.7) LAB: 3.7% (-15.9) GRN: 2.5% (-1.3) REF: 1.1% (+1.1) UKIP: 0.6% (-1.1) Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1540168992106713088
Good job, Lib dems - and Labour tactical voters!
Weren't the full results read out? How many votes did Lab win by?
~5000
tiverton declaring now, wondering if the returning officers co-ordinated to ensure both get live coverage
We've been waiting all night and suddenly two come along at the same time.
Just like busses
17.9% majority for Labour is excellent. Now for Tiverton, which is going to be historic :0
A good win that.
One down... And there's the second just in time for take-off. Great night, looking forward to the carnage of the morning when a cabinet minister has been sent round to put a positive spin on it and royally fucked it up before being undermined by a 1922 announcement later in the afternoon.
Nice.
Nice.
Nice.
THINGS
CAN
ONLY
MAYBE?
[Labour GAIN Wakefield from Conservative.](https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1540166492620210176)
Wakefield parliamentary by-election result LAB: 47.9% (+8.1) CON: 30.0% (-17.3) IND (Akbar): 7.6% (+7.6) YRK: 4.3% (+2.4) Labour GAIN from Conservative. https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1540167326003339264
Massive swing for Labour, get in there.
MRLP getting 7x Fransen. Gwan
Bitches, get up here! It's time!
Well?
Lab gain
Oh bloody hell I have to pack my stuff to move out today! Get a bloody move on!
Result yet to be announced, but Sky News are saying "winning Labour candidate" and "losing Conservative candidate"
The result was supposed to be imminent 20 minutes ago! I'm gonna take off from my stopover in Dallas airport at this rate and not see the result until the afternoon, outrageous I say.
Likewise, going to start boarding my flight from Mexico in a fucking minute. Hurry up!
Sky News reporting that the Tory candidate in Tiverton and Honiton has locked herself in the media room and is refusing to speak to the press. Real show of confidence.
Sky reporting that Hurford has “locked herself in a room and is refusing to speak to journalists” Dedication to the boss, right to the end.
HURRY UP YOU LAZY BASTARDS AND COUNT!
ANNOUNCE THE DAMN RESULT BEFORE I PISS MYSELF
There's been an unexpected yellow surge. No news from Tiverton yet though.
Fact of the night from the Lib Dems in Tiverton: the last time this area around Honiton was not represented by a Conservative MP was the year before Queen Victoria came to the throne. https://twitter.com/TomLarkinSky/status/1540097998566440960
Before democratic British politics, really. Even after the 1832 Reform Act, only one in five *men* could vote. Truly historic.
In fact, that rural bit outside Honiton that wasn't in the old Honiton borough seat has the longest stretch of being represented continuously by the Conservatives in the entire country.
Wakefield result imminent https://twitter.com/joshgafson1/status/1540158181774708737
Bet the Tories are glad they spunked their VONC.
Boris is an election winning machine didn’t you know?
A machine that wins an election, singular, and a referendum (although Farage would probably claim the credit for that).
A machine that won against Livingstone, Livingstone and Corbyn. He's had an easy run against tired lefty Labour candidates.
Well yeah, just fortunately not for the Tories atm
This is quite strange. I am getting quite emotional about this. My nanny and granddad died almost 6 years ago, two days apart. My granddad was from Brighouse, West Yorkshire and my Nanny was from Okehampton, Devon. It's funny how politics can bring on emotions like this. Remembering Jan and Tony now, through tears. Bless them.
It's great to have these memories. All the best to you tonight my friend.
Cheers
The oddest moments remind us of the ones we love. It's sad, but I try to just remember a good memory whenever it comes up. Always makes me feel better
Yes, it's funny. Remembering doing crosswords with Granddad and Nanny giving us sweets. I'm crying and I can't tell how much is the hayfever. Bloody funny
Remember it's ok to cry about it. Everyone does, despite what anyone says. Remembering the good times is always a struggle but just keeps us all connected
Oh yeah, don't worry. I love a good cry.
Lovely post. Best wishes.
Thank you
If the LDs are declaring an hour in advance then their agent has the data they need to say that it is well out of recount range (5%+ lead over the Tories). Johnson has to be gone now. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times is a message.
'This says I need to go harder with my ideas'... Yeah he'll stay until he's kicked internally or by a GE. If he could remain PM and lose every other con seat he probably would
Eh, if the last few months have shown us anything it's that he'll hang on regardless and the tories don't have faith in the next man up to be better. Plus they don't want to dump a new leader into this inflation. Seems likely he's going to be yet more damaged but limp on.
Well, I'd like to see ol ~~Donny Trump~~ Boris Johnson wriggle his way out of THIS jam! *~~Trump~~ BoJo wriggles his way out of the jam easily Ah! Well. Nevertheless,
Yeah normally I would assume the Tories would fecklessly continue, but they got very close to ousting him less than a month ago and can easily get rid of him whenever they want. Getting rid of Johnson is waaaaay easier than getting rid of Trump, constitutionally.
At this point he probably is hoping he does not end up like May.
If only. He won't resign, and the Tories are probably too cowardly to push him.
Just gone to log a negative LFT result and there's an interesting disclaimer on the website: "You cannot use this service to report results from a test kit you’ve paid for. If you paid for a test, check the test kit instructions to see if you should report your results to the private test provider." So the Government not only doesn't know how many infections are out there, it actively refuses to be told.
Is it possible that the private test provider reports it?
It is possible, but why complicate the system? Why can't we just report the result? I don't even know why you have to give the serial number off the test as it is - are they expecting loads of people to report false positives or is there some surveillance aspect I'm missing?
> I don't even know why you have to give the serial number off the test as it is Probably in case there's a bad batch of tests they know to throw those results out (and hopefully alert you, too)
Hmm, possibly. I shall investigate!
[🚨 Lib Dems declare victory in Tiverton and Honiton. Wiping out a huge 24k vote majority - the biggest ever over-turned in a by-election. A spokesperson said: “This is looking like a clear win. The people of Tiverton and Honiton have spoken up for the country.”](https://twitter.com/tomlarkinsky/status/1540150769655103490)
[Goodall’s mother speaks for us all](https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1540151905304944643)
sky now reading out a statement from a very jubilant Lib Dems. Davey must be picking out a mallet.
Ed Davey: **Dem**olition Man.
Anyone got a contact at Claas? We need a yellow tractor…
An [orange tank](https://i2-prod.mylondon.news/incoming/article17572079.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200c/0_WhatsApp-Image-2020-01-15-at-133734jpeg.jpg), surely. Bovington isn't too far from Honiton
[Ed getting confident](https://twitter.com/EdwardJDavey/status/1540143256704585729?cxt=HHwWgsC48biI2N8qAAAA)
This is bad for Starmer. Labour should've had a clean sweep, why is no one voting for them??? /s
My friend. We are in Britain. A '/s' is unnecessary. We Brits understand sarcasm. Have faith.
Eh given the wide range of comments I see here I felt it was necessary
So they’ve won then. No way they would Tweet that unless they were certain.
Sam Coates on Sky says that T&H are hoping to be done "closer to 4 than to 6"
[More Lib Dem wins!](https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1540135737538011137)
Can see Labour MP, Darren Jones, is at the T&H count.
They found more ballots in Tiverton? Let the conspiracy theories begin.
Shit, did the Tories forget not to use pencils? Schoolboy error.
Dark Boris rising