What conventions apply?

The Cabinet Office has a paper on conventions which may be relevant in the event of a hung parliament. It is available at -

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/343763/election-rules-chapter6-draft.pdf

Election - the last hour

Polls close at 10pm. Already we have reports of long queues at certain polling stations - which is very unusual in the UK. Darkness has now fallen - so campaigners are now returning to committee rooms. Those who will be "counting agents" (representatives of the parties, who are monitoring the counting) are preparing to make their way to the conference centre at Milton Keynes Stadium.

Political Humour

There have been some very amusing pieces satirising the election - much of it very partisan. Facebook has many collections of rewritten posters. A friend pointed out this video. Very funny, terribly partisan - and I'm afraid some of the language is "inappropriate" - but I hope you enjoy

Committee Rooms

This video shows Cllr Steve Coventry, who is running the Labour Party's committee rooms in Coffee Hall, Milton Keynes [Milton Keynes South], explaining what happens during the day.

Election Day

The dawn is breaking on election morning. Polling Stations throughout the country open at 7am (in 100 minutes) and close at 10pm. Already political activists are up and ready for "the longest day". Many including myself, will go straight from Get Out the Vote activities to "the Count" - with the results being declared in the middle of the night.

I will spend the day in Milton Keynes - where there are two key battleground seats. There has been intense activity for some time. Next door, in Buckingham, John Bercow, "the Speaker seeking re-election" is, contrary to traditional practice, fighting for his seat. UKIP have broken the convention that the Speaker does not face a concerted campaign to unseat him. Most of the buses in Milton Keynes carry (paid for) adverts on their rears for the UK Independence Party.



The results will be counted for the two Milton Keynes seats, in the new Milton Keynes Stadium - which if England win their bid for the 2018 World Cup - will be one of the stadiums used (I hasten to add that we will be counting in a conference room - not in the middle of the pitch! It has been rather windy of late - and the ballot papers - though long by historic standards - are small and flimsy. All candidates and their counting agents spend election evening in the same place - and will be there when the result is announced - unlike the American practice of candidates waiting at separate locations.



Well - I have to get ready, and go out to deliver the last few "eve of poll" leaflets - before turning up at the "committee rooms" where I will be based until polls close. I expect to spend the day encouraging our supporters to come out to vote - by telephone and later on the doorstep. Last night the lists of "promises" (voters who indicated that they would vote for us) were delivered to each of the committee rooms set up in homes around the constituency.



So here goes.....

Results will be published on the BBC website, available here.