Conservatives win York Outer
The constituency of York Outer, in which the University of York lies, has today been won by the Conservative Party candidate, Julian Sturdy.
The seat, which polls suggested would be a closely fought seat between Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties, was won by the Conservatives with 22,912 votes out of a total turnout of 53,300 – with a majority over the Liberal Democrats of 3,688.
This comes after a Nouse exit poll yesterday revealed that in a random survey of University of York student voters, 55.9 per cent voted for the Liberal Democrats, compared to only 24.3 per cent for the Conservatives and 19.4% for Labour.
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YAY!!!! Come on you Blues!!!
What a huge let down. Students can look forward to being shafted in our own backyard.
I am truly very happy for Julian. He organised a great campaign, has stood up for local issues and will be a great MP for York Outer.
…I may have thrown my phone at a wall and started kicking various objects when the result came through.
Whilst screaming.
Jesus Christ. Cashcroft to the rescue indeed.
There goes the neighbourhood.
People at this Uni seem to get far too upset about the fact the Tories got in, when realistically it’s never going to bring about the cataclysmic downfall of our nation that their reaction suggests. I even heard that some tears were shed.. get over it people!
> …I may have thrown my phone at a wall
Bad news then: you may be a sore loser.
> when the result came through
What? This has been a long time coming.
The result has been firmly predicted for some time now, and it was still clear after the debates that this would happen (if not worse given possible swing to Lib dem).
Were you genuinely surprised by the outcome?
> Cashcroft to the rescue indeed.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_for_Honours
Don’t take that as a deflection; I genuinely see a problem in the ability of one person to have such a huge impact.
But – and this is a point I’d like to end on – whatever you do:
Do not look at your current party preference through rose-tinted glasses (hopefully you are not a voter for life). Just because the other party is “bad” doesn’t automatically make “yours” by default any better. If you can’t name problems with your current political choice that is not a good sign. Show a little balance.
Do not pass on your subjective party preference as somehow the right answer or more important than that of others. To other supporters of your party this may be endearing, but to most it just appears narrow-minded and un-accommodating.
That’s my lengthy response not just to your comment but to similar ones on York uni sites which have been unnecessarily whingy and self-assured.
Well done those students who voted for an increase in tuition fees.
>What? This has been a long time coming.
>
>The result has been firmly predicted for some time now, and it was still clear after the debates that this would happen (if not worse given possible swing to Lib dem).
>
>Were you genuinely surprised by the outcome?
The result *nationally* was expected, albeit not quite a cockup of this magnitude. York Outer, on the other hand, was pretty much on a knife edge. Being out knocking on doors until ten minutes before polls closed hardly helped the sense of disappointment when the results came through.
>Do not look at your current party preference through rose-tinted glasses (hopefully you are not a voter for life). Just because the other party is “bad” doesn’t automatically make “yours” by default any better. If you can’t name problems with your current political choice that is not a good sign. Show a little balance.
…And there are plenty of problems with the my party of choice (Lib Dems)- their nuclear and immigration policies, to name but the largest offenders.
On the other hand, the platter the Conservatives have offered up to the nation verges upon being downright offensive. Their “Big Society” reforms, along with an objection to significant electoral reform of any sort, latent homophobia, ludicrous aversion to all things European, support for Trident, and underlying climate scepticism are more than enough to make me run for the hills.
Yes, the Tories aren’t evil incarnate. That doesn’t make any sense of dismay at their having won the seat unwarranted.
“Well done those students who voted for an increase in tuition fees.”
i wonder how many york uni students actually pay their own uni fees though?
People forget that it was not a Tory government that introduced tuition fees, rather it was Tony Blair’s New Labour that not only introduced the fees, but also scrapped the maintenance grants (though they were re-introduced in 2004).
DAN. DAN. DAN. DAN.
It doesn’t matter who introduced the fees, the Torys are still the most likely to jack them up massively.
Alan, likelihood is out of the window. Did you not see Nouse’s front page?
http://www.nouse.co.uk/2010/05/04/tuition-fee-cap-removal-leaked/
Labour commissioned this report when they were trailing the Tories by 10 points, and made sure that its findings came out AFTER the election. Both Labour and the Tories know that they have to – Labour just wanted to make it look like a Tory policy – ironically backed up by their own report.
The LibDems have stuck their neck out, but at the moment it looks like their maths don’t add up.
Of course, if somehow Labour remain in power after the horse-trading this week and beyond, their own report will bite them on the arse and they’ll have to come out and admit that fees will rise. And if Labour are in power in a Lib-Lab coalition, that’s going to be a massive problem for Clegg and Co.
Not a Tory voter by any means but students need to wake up and stop moaning about tuition fees.
There’s not much money about at the moment and if Universities are going to continue to invest in research and facilities they need to get the money from somewhere.
Going to university gives us a big leg up in the jobmarket compared to those who haven’t so why should they have to foot the bill?
And frankly, many people who go to university spend a lot of time lounging around, going out getting trashed and vaguely studying joke subjects and ought to pay for the privilege
>And frankly, many people who go to university spend a lot of time lounging around, going out getting trashed and vaguely studying joke subjects and ought to pay for the privilege
Not denying the validity of the sentiment, but you really ought to see if you can get that stick dislodged from your rectum.
Objecting to paying at all is one thing, but objecting to paying ludicrous amounts is another entirely.
Whilst I am Labour and would more naturally prefer a Lib Dem to a Tory I have to say the better candidate of the two by far won the day. Its a shame James Alexander was not picked to run in a more winnable seat because he’s brilliant and from what I hear now in control of the Labour group in York Council
Hugh Bailey also won York Central in spite of the national media led character assassination of Gordon Brown media which is not insignificant.
This highlights how important an MPs Local work can really still be in retaining or winning seats in spite of national trends. The York seats are a victory for local over national partisan politics.