Well, obviously I'm disappoointed at the results of the referendum. But it's important not to live and die but such things. From a spiritual point of view I think you have to be engaged and fighting for the politics you believe in, but it can't be your ultimate concern. The Beloved Community is not built on the results of any one election.
It is positive that it was a reasonably high turn-out, higher than many expected. It was a reasonable turnout with a clear result, which is what you hope for in politics. The people did vote.
The issue was aired, though not as well as it should have been. I would have liked to have seen a BBC1 primetime debate, like the Prime Ministerial debates. I think the media has a responsibility to give this more coverage than they did.
I've heard that under 40-year-olds were much more likely to vote yes (been searching through the Internet and I've not found any reliable statistics on this yet though) which might mean that in another generation there might be more appetite for this, but for now, it's over. We lost. The people will continue with first-past-the-post.
I always like to give a very local twist when I talk about elections on this blog, so I'll briefly mention Bolton.
Bolton Council went from no overall control to a Labour majority. I don't expect that to terribly change anything happening in Bolton. Most people I speak to are pretty disillusioned with the council, whichever party is in charge. Obviously the Liberal Democrat vote collapsed in Bolton as in elsewhere, and in several wards in Bolton the Green Party came third, beating the Liberal Democrats down to fourth place.
Bolton results.
UPDATE: Oh yes, and in other news active Unitarian and Labour MP Peter Soulsby has been elected the first elected Mayor of Leicester.
It is positive that it was a reasonably high turn-out, higher than many expected. It was a reasonable turnout with a clear result, which is what you hope for in politics. The people did vote.
The issue was aired, though not as well as it should have been. I would have liked to have seen a BBC1 primetime debate, like the Prime Ministerial debates. I think the media has a responsibility to give this more coverage than they did.
I've heard that under 40-year-olds were much more likely to vote yes (been searching through the Internet and I've not found any reliable statistics on this yet though) which might mean that in another generation there might be more appetite for this, but for now, it's over. We lost. The people will continue with first-past-the-post.
I always like to give a very local twist when I talk about elections on this blog, so I'll briefly mention Bolton.
Bolton Council went from no overall control to a Labour majority. I don't expect that to terribly change anything happening in Bolton. Most people I speak to are pretty disillusioned with the council, whichever party is in charge. Obviously the Liberal Democrat vote collapsed in Bolton as in elsewhere, and in several wards in Bolton the Green Party came third, beating the Liberal Democrats down to fourth place.
Bolton results.
UPDATE: Oh yes, and in other news active Unitarian and Labour MP Peter Soulsby has been elected the first elected Mayor of Leicester.
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