Ken vs. Boris: It's So On

The fucking Galloway bus went past me again on Saturday, dude is stalking me clearly.

Are people really going to vote for Boris because he's "funny"?

He's not funny

He's "funny".

I'm hoping that there are very few who would vote for him only for that reason.

The lib dems have put three leaflets through my letterbox in the last two days. Live in Hounslow, where apparently EVEN KEN would vote lib dem (so they're claiming). There are a whole load of charts explaining why this is the case but...ahem, recycle bin.

i wonder if anyone is voting for sian berry 'cos she's quite fit'

me

Hmm, can't decide:

http://www.green-engage.co.uk/SianBerry2forweb.pdf.jpg

Berry does look attractive, when I see pictures of her.

I don't believe in "'funny'". Either you're funny or you're not. BJ is not.

Are people really going to vote for Boris because he's "funny"?

Believe this is called getting the student vote.

she is fittest out of the four.

i would vote green anyway, out of contempt.

But there aren't any other reasons to vote FOR Boris are there? (As opposed to voting against Ken.)

All of the London students on my course who I've asked about Boris/Ken say they are heading back to uni this week and are therefore not heading back to London again to vote.

(Even though their university is only in Surrey.)

members of my family are actively campaigning for boris :(

To suggest a possible answer to Tracer: incipient Toryism still the love that dare not speak its name, especially amongst under 40s, so "because he's funny" may well be cover-phrase for "because I am repellent Tory shitebag".

I was going to put Green as my 2nd choice, but I'm not sure after that whole "taking a taxi is greener than taking an empty bus, even though the bus is going to run anyway you stupid twat" thing. I guess Paddick might as well get it, it's not going to matter anyway.

not sure many people vote FOR ken, do they, as opposed to against boris?

^^

Yeah, when I hold my nose and tick the Labour box for our local elections on Thursday it's not cos I want to dick-ride Gordon Brown et al.

i wasn't going to vote anyway but turns out i will be in london rather than where im registered so fortunately i go through this teflon style.

Well Boris wasn't running in the last mayoral election and Ken managed to get in.

The only real problem I see with Ken is that he rolls over for any property developer with a business card. But his "rule" that 50% of all new housing be affordable is unheard of in, say, the US for instance, and mitigates this for me some.

I will vote for the Labour candidate and against the Conservative one.

I suppose I will tick second preference Green though I guess that won't do them any good.

Let's hope for your sakes, London, that this whole Boris For Mayor stuff is just one elaborate Rickroll at everyone's expense.

For what it's worth, at the last election I voted in, I voted the Green candidate because she was a BBW. To my shock, she got voted in.

I heard some folks plan to tick Green first Ken second, claiming it will Send Ken A Message but not actually hinder his chances - the theory being that Boris won't get over 50% of 1st choice votes so all those 2nd choices will count for Ken. Does that makes sense? Strikes me as risky.

I briefly considered doing that, but it's not worth the risk. BORIS SURGES AHEAD IN POLLS etc.

In our local elections...

One very glossy/professional leaflet from the Tories,

One medium cost printed picture leaflet from LibDems, plus doorstep visit from candidate herself,

One photocopied a4 sheet (no pics), from Labour.

Guess which currently has no seats on our council, and aren't exactly holding breath...

I still wonder whether enough voters actually understand Second Transferable Vote to make this fannying around worthwhile.

Our current Lib Dem councillor is using the "tidal wave of ever more chummy, ever more horrible leaflets thru the door day after day after day", the Sean Hughes-looking crypto-Tory tossbag. Unfortunately I figure he'll keep his seat.

i like the idea of 'affordable housing', though it's aimed at people who earn "less than £60,000" which is not exactly the neediest sector of society! it's also skewed toward trad state employees, which i don't understand -- working for a "contractor" for the nhs,* doing work that the nhs used to do and has to do, i'm not sure why i'd be less eligible.

*it's more complex than that but...

incipient Toryism still the love that dare not speak its name, especially amongst under 40s

It feels like 1992 to me. All those liars who said they weren't going to vote for Major because it was slightly embarassing to admit it in public, once in the privacy of the polling booth, reverted to type.

Under STV it's OK to vote Greens 1, Ken 2 because Ken will get all those votes when the Green candidate is eliminated. Just make sure Boris is your last preference, alright?

Presumably a significant proportion of Boris's votes (whether he wins or loses) are gonna be anti-Labour rather than anti-Ken?

Fairly sensible of him to go purple rather than red for his campaign literature though.

As DC has just said - I'm not sure I understand the system. I'm less sure after the last few posts here. I think I'll just have to vote for Ken Livingstone and be happy with that.

I wonder if I know anyone who will vote for Boris. It is possible there could be one or two - but even those likely to vote Tory in next election might feel Johnson's inexperience rules him out.

He may be inexperienced but Boris is the candidate of CHANGE and HOPE.

YES

WE

CAN

Johnson did make me laugh last week. He was answering questions put to him by various people via youtube clips and when one hooded teenage boy did his turn Johnson responded by mocking the kid by going "Yeeah!" and an attempt at finger-snapping in a way that seemed more playful than anything else. But I'm easily amused.

I thought the transferable vote thing was fairly well-known but my boss (who studied political history and is always having 'discussions' with any foreign members of staff about what's going on over 'there') had no idea about it, and was slightly incredulous when I drunkenly tried to explain it the other day to him. So maybe not.

Looking at the results from 2000 and 2004 it seems most people do use the second vote, but they seem to use most of their 1st votes on the big three, and then spread it about with the secondary, which suggests people don't understand how it works.

Look here, a quick STV example for you stupid Englishers!

Say you vote like this:

1. Fit Greens Bird
2. That Gay Lib Dem Dude
3. (A Message To You) Ken
4. That Idiot Boris

Now let's say after the results come in that the Greens candidate has the least amount of votes. Well, all his votes get sent to the next preferred candidate on the voting slips. In that case it goes to the Lib Dem. Now it looks like this:

1. Lib Dem
2. (A Message To You) Ken
3. That Idiot Boris

Now with the final three, the Lib Dems have the least amount of votes. That means his votes including those second preferences from those originally voted Green will go to your NEXT preference on the voting slip...

1. (A Message To You) Ken
2. That Idiot Boris

Therefore, Ken gets your vote in the end yet a message has been sent to him. Ken stays Mayor with his lesson learnt whilst Boris goes on a profitable tour of Universities across the country with his LOLcat Powerpoint Slide Show.

YES, IT'S THAT SIMPLE

this background image amuses me too
http://www.backboris.com/images/header_blue.jpg

"hmmm, fillet mignon or the sea bass?"

Livingstone's result as an Independent in 2000 looks stunning to me.

Thanks, King Boy, for your help, but I'm still not sure I have got the hang of this, so I had better stay safe and simple as possible.

However, if you feel like just voting Green or Lib Dem, just give them the No. 1 and your preferences will be directed automatically according to their wishes. Which should mean it'll go to Ken instead of Boris (well, I hope for their sake).

yeah, ken winning against a tory nonentity who was dropped in after jeffrey archer got done for perjury was a real shock.

xpost

He won against a Labour nonentity as well! If by 'nonentity' you mean 'former cabinet minister'. Actually this goes for Norris as well.

no the shock was more his ability to undermine Labour (candidate) at the same time, as well as he did - crap tho Dobson also came across as. xp

did anyone here NOT vote Ken in BOTH of the previous elections?

Me - I didn't vote.

Mind you I wasn't eligible to vote in 2001 as I moved to London in June.

look at all you tourists