please empty your brain below
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as there are only 9197 miles of road in London, for Dr Gammmon's claim about unused tunnels to be correct there would 216 miles under every mile of road.
But far more important than that is his previous music career.
Al__S | 06.04.21 - 7:35 a.m. | #
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I'm undecided whether or not it's a sign of a healthy democracy that there appear to be a greater number of cockwomble candidates this time around. Like Eurovision, maybe there ought to be a run-off on the red button to reduce the dross on the final show.
Frank F | 06.04.21 - 8:00 a.m. | #
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If the word cockwombleness didn't exist it would have to be invented to describe some of these ideas.
Alan | 06.04.21 - 8:18 a.m. | #
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If anyone hasn’t read Mr Gammons ludicrous claims on his website, I recommend it - we were in stitches.
“I have been called in by world leaders to resolve national crises and served as an adviser to several Prime Ministers, foreign Presidents and World Leaders.”
James Scantlebury | 06.04.21 - 8:19 a.m. | #
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Cockwomble: n. Someone I disagree with but can't be bothered to engage with their arguments.
Andy Riley | 06.04.21 - 8:39 a.m. | #
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So cockwomble isn't just aligned with Wimbledon then. Lovely word.
Petras409 | 06.04.21 - 8:44 a.m. | #
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On reflection, I can't be bothered to engage with that opinion.
Frank F | 06.04.21 - 8:47 a.m. | #
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Cockwombles by definition don't have arguments, they just have shouty assertions.
Sarah | 06.04.21 - 8:52 a.m. | #
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Brain Rose is a funny one. I'd like to know what he means when he wants to simultaneously put "Health First", "Science First", "Green First", "Education First", "Digital First", "Family First", "Transport First", "Housing First" and "Community First". Only one of those can be first, Brian!
There's also the allegations from various corners that he's a con man who's embezzled from an online fundraising campaign and that his online course thing he runs is a "sham".
Besides this the fact that his stated policies seem either meaningless or are just unworkable. It annoys me that such a poor excuse for a mayoral candidate can be accepted, let alone gain a not-insignificant level of media attention. But I suppose that's democracy in action.
Medford | 06.04.21 - 8:52 a.m. | #
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yay for Count Binface
Caroline | 06.04.21 - 8:52 a.m. | #
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Can "first black leader of a UK political party" possibly be true? As this list shows, there are a lot of UK political parties.
Wolf | 06.04.21 - 8:53 a.m. | #
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London will be a considerably worse place without The Monster Raving Loony Party contribution.
scrumpy | 06.04.21 - 8:54 a.m. | #
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Does the Rev Nims really want an electric London, or is that a typo for eclectic, and if so, whose?
Sarah | 06.04.21 - 8:55 a.m. | #
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I’m with you Caroline - Count Binface for me too. Got to have a good chance!!!
Dave B | 06.04.21 - 9:06 a.m. | #
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Just be lucky you only have 19 candidates, in 2021 General Election in the Netherlands we had 37.
Even if some of the ideas are a bit iffy, at least they were given a chance for the attention of the voter.
Michael | 06.04.21 - 9:08 a.m. | #
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Normally I'd vote Green/Labour, but this time Max seems tempting. Vote fosh to bash the fash, you can have that one for free.
toby | 06.04.21 - 9:14 a.m. | #
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THAT PETER GAMMONS IS AN IDIOT, EVERYONE KNOWS THOSE TUNNELS WERE BUILT SO THAT OUR LIZARD OVERLORDS TO MOVE ABOUT UNNOTICED.
STILL ANON | 06.04.21 - 9:26 a.m. | #
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To correct Michael from the Netherlands on my voting paper in the recent NL election there were more than 1000 candidates. He is confusing parties with candidates. Our voting system is certainly more democratic than the UK one forming a coalition afterwards takes months (hopefully will be completed before the next election).
Gripper | 06.04.21 - 9:29 a.m. | #
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With this number of candidates the voting paper will be long enough to have an alternative use eg as toilet roll. What beats me is the number of frankly weirdos who have £10k to waste. Suggestion to government: have a sliding scale of deposits to lose, the smaller your vote the more you lose. That would then be fairer on what one might call the weaker mainstream parties like the LibDems and the Greens.
J. | 06.04.21 - 9:35 a.m. | #
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A shame the lockdown skeptics are either right-wing or useless businessmen. A London mayor probably wouldn’t make any difference anyway.
JS | 06.04.21 - 9:41 a.m. | #
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One thing I've found very annoying about this election are the adverts on YouTube from various YouTuber candidates that keep interrupting longer videos. I can now appreciate why any British politician on a US chat show is guaranteed a huge ovation if they mention that paid political advertising on TV is banned here.
"Mandu is the first black leader of a UK political party"
I've seen her make this claim and variations on it before but it's not true. There have definitely been previous black leaders of parties. I don't just mean single character parties like Unity/Unity in Action but also groups with more substance such as the Christian Party who were founded and initially led by the Rev George Hargreaves. And for all the online hype that the WEP gets its electoral performance rather firmly puts it in the same category.
At one stage she was claiming to be the first ever BAME/ethnic minority leader of a party. Even leaving aside the Jews Don't Count problem with this claim it again dismisses others such as Salma Yaqoob of Respect 2005-2012 or Ram Gidoomal of the Christian People's Alliance 1999-2004.
Kelleher "His SDP isn't the mild-mannered 80s incarnation"
It claims to be and has a clear lineage. When the old SDP voted to merge with the Liberals in 1988 a group based around David Owen carried on claiming that it wasn't possible to take someone's political party away. Later in 1990 the "Continuing SDP" was outpolled by the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in a by-election and Owen threw in the towel. However once again a group argued to carry on and so the "Continuing Continuing SDP" carried on with a few councillors in assorted places. In recent years it's had an influx of members and got a bit of publicity when a Ukip MEP joined them in 2018.
Tim Roll-Pickering | 06.04.21 - 9:42 a.m. | #
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Shaun Bailey looks like his mother made him put a shirt and tie on for his first day at school but didn't bother to show him how to tie it properly.
Johnny Topaz | 06.04.21 - 9:46 a.m. | #
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Just watched Gammons' Youtube video. Apart from his weird idea about tunnels and disagreeing with him about lockdown, I actually believe the rest of what he says is quite sensible and not 'unfit for public office'. Give it another viewing.
J. | 06.04.21 - 9:46 a.m. | #
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Raise the deposit and use it as a source of income. The taxpayer says thanks.
commonliner | 06.04.21 - 9:49 a.m. | #
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I can't quite work out why Sadiq Khan is so popular, and I rather feel the others are going to lose rather than him actively win.
Few of the fringe candidates have managed to get anything of their message across to me without me actively looking for it, which makes them standing seem fairly pointless as most people won't go looking. They could pay for physical or online adverts promoting their cause without having to stand for Mayor, and avoid the risk of losing their deposit.
Andrew S | 06.04.21 - 10:18 a.m. | #
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Screaming Lord Sutch would be disappointed there wasn't a candidate from the Monster Raving Loony Party, but luckily there are enough cockwombles to suit every taste. Sadly no religious ones this time, as I enjoy tearing up their party leaflets more than any of the others.
Alex McKenna | 06.04.21 - 10:27 a.m. | #
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This is easily the oddest ballot I’ve ever seen for an election in this country. Some seriously strange candidates. Shawn Bailey’s the sort of clueless type who would normally be an independent at the bottom of the sheet, not someone representing the country’s ruling party. Absolutely baffled that they haven’t stood someone reasonable, though I’m certainly grateful the city won’t be ruled over by the Tories again.
Sean | 06.04.21 - 10:56 a.m. | #
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It's my understanding the OMRLP have generally decided that standing for Mayor is too costly and time consuming (normally you need 10 signatures from each of the 32 boroughs + the City; this year it's been reduced to 2 each as a one off) for the benefits it would bring them. Apparently it's been a contentious issue in some of their internal rows.
Tim Roll-Pickering | 06.04.21 - 11:07 a.m. | #
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Brian Rose clearly has too money cos he keeps bombarding me with adverts despite the fact I live in Manchester.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 06.04.21 - 11:20 a.m. | #
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Sarah: Nims's official website says "I will step up and work with professionals and practitioners to make our city safe, affordable, ELECTRIC and prosperous." (emphasis added) So make of that what you will..
Andrew | 06.04.21 - 11:20 a.m. | #
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Thanks Tim, I enjoyed your post
>At one stage she was claiming to be the first ever BAME/ethnic minority leader of a party. Even leaving aside the Jews Don't Count problem...
Ah yes, B.Disraeli, minor figure in Victorian...hang on a minute... :-)
mark addy | 06.04.21 - 11:21 a.m. | #
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As the voting system is the "Supplemental Vote" system whereby you get 2 choices, ranked 1 and 2, you have the option to choose an outsider as your first choice, followed by one of the mainstream candidates. And given that Sadiq is going to win whatever happens, savvy non-cockwomble voters don't even need to choose Sadiq as their mainstream option if they prefer Luisa or Sian.
StephenC | 06.04.21 - 11:24 a.m. | #
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Binface gets my vote too. A respected opinion poll shows him in the lead. Sadiq better watch out, not fall into the complacency trap.
Strabismus | 06.04.21 - 11:28 a.m. | #
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What an uninspiring list of candidates, not helped by lockdown delaying things and causing some original candidates like Rory Stewart to pull out.
Mikey C | 06.04.21 - 11:33 a.m. | #
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"I can't quite work out why Sadiq Khan is so popular, and I rather feel the others are going to lose rather than him actively win."
Very much so, I believe. It seems a tragic waste that Sadiq played it so safe that he achieved basically nothing, only to have Shaun Bailey put up against him. He could've reached for something altogether more impressive, safe in the knowledge that he'd still win against that halfwit. We're seeing the same thing with Sir Kier, Labour afraid of being Labour, and it's a horrible state of affairs.
Count Binface's manifesto reads quite a lot saner than most of the others'. They may very well get my first vote.
Chz | 06.04.21 - 11:34 a.m. | #
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"Cockwombleness" is an unappealingly long synonym for bolx.
Ian | 06.04.21 - 12:10 p.m. | #
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I agree StephenC, it feels like a missed opportunity to put red or blue as your first choice as they will almost certainly be in the final run-off. Supplemental vote allows you to pick one candidate closest to your principles before aligning behind the least bad main option.
About 100,000 people though managed to vote for both Khan and Goldsmith at the last election, I guess they would be pretty happy either way.
TomH | 06.04.21 - 12:49 p.m. | #
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I wonder how close the besuited candidate will get to the spending limit. Although of course all his advertising expenditure before he "officially" became a candidate is excluded, which seems unfair to the less wealthy candidates.
ADS | Homepage | 06.04.21 - 12:58 p.m. | #
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Getting more votes than Laurence Fox is probably not that hard because there are effectively two of them (+ that other Corbyn) competing against each other.
Patrickov | 06.04.21 - 1:14 p.m. | #
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Khan will win by default, not because he has achieved anything at all other than plastering his name all over everything. Complete waste of space and the kind of office-holder who gives succour to those who would abolish the office.
David | 06.04.21 - 1:18 p.m. | #
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>>all his advertising expenditure before he "officially" became a candidate is excluded<<
Depends when you count the "officially" as starting. My understanding is that it's from when you say publicly that you are standing for the post, not when the nominations close. In Brian Rose's case, that was quite some time ago - his adverts have been turning up on a US-based messageboard I visit, for quite some weeks or even months now. Turns out that behind all the "[every good thing] FIRST" sloganeering is old-school "no limitations on cars" ideology.
Autolycus | 06.04.21 - 1:43 p.m. | #
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According to the guidance, the "regulated period" in which there is a spending limit begins on the day after the date one officially becomes a candidate which is the earliest of:
* 22 March (nomination open) if you have already announced your intention to stand
* The date after this when you announce you are standing
* The date when you are formally nominated
Some candidates will aim to sort out the nomination paperwork before making an announcement; others will announce first.
There used to be no earlier limit to when a candidacy could commence and this led to the confusion of the "Prospective" candidate who didn't get formally adopted until the day before nominations closed or the candidate suddenly becoming the named editor of a newsletter. I think it was in the 2000s that a more clearly defined period of restricted spending was set down in law that abolished the need for such legal fiction.
Tim Roll-Pickering | 06.04.21 - 2:23 p.m. | #
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No, David, Khan will win because he will get the most votes.
Johnny Topaz | 06.04.21 - 2:24 p.m. | #
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Really hope the London SV electoral system isn't made FPTP; London and EU votes were always 'fun'/meaningful, as one could vote for someone you actually want/believe in.
I explained the Mayoral elections system to friends (it's an interest of mine but all the different voting systems do seem to confuse some) as:
1st choice: dream
2nd choice: reality
Jonathan | 06.04.21 - 3:14 p.m. | #
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Is Kam Balayev's "Renew" Party the new name for Farage's Continuity Brexit Party?
dg writes: No, that's Reform UK (which isn't standing)
Nick | 06.04.21 - 3:42 p.m. | #
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If they wish to vote Khan back in then so be it. They can only blame themselves when it turns even worst than it is now. London is emptying as people choose to work from home, but also move their offices out of London. He can only tax Londoners and those who travel into London before people move out or don't want to travel there. Hes running out of things to sell off too, so it will become like New York was in the 1970s.
david s | 06.04.21 - 4:14 p.m. | #
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FPTP will just deliver one party rule in London which might change every 4 years on not depending on how unpopular the govt is at the time. Its a retrograde undemocratic move by one of the most venal and corrupt govts in living memory.
Andrew Jarman | 06.04.21 - 6:53 p.m. | #
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>>One thing I've found very annoying about this election are the adverts on YouTube from various YouTuber candidates that keep interrupting longer videos.
Have a look at the add-ons available for your choice of web browser. There's guaranteed to be one that will block Youtube ads. There certainly is for Firefox and it works fabulously :)
>>Ah yes, B.Disraeli, minor figure in Victorian...hang on a minute... :-)
Disraeli converted to Christianity when he was 12 and remained a Christian until his death, so he doesn't count.
Agent X | 06.04.21 - 7:06 p.m. | #
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Indeed - use a browser that also blocks cross-site trackers. I get hours of uninterrupted viewing on Youtube and my browser says it has blocked 855,872 trackers and ads to date.
I rarely get sites that ask to disable the blocker to view it. When I do, I open a separate browser.
NickW | 06.04.21 - 9:00 p.m. | #
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I have the ads blocked on the browser but watching longer videos on the Firestick brings them out in force.
Tim Roll-Pickering | 06.04.21 - 10:24 p.m. | #
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Disraeli is ethnically Jewish, his subsequent religion is irrelevant.
Mikey C | 06.04.21 - 10:58 p.m. | #
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Another Binface 1 here (on the dream/reality basis), if only to aid the cause that he gets more votes than Fox.
tops | 06.04.21 - 11:01 p.m. | #
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Every authority the Conservatives found they were no longer able to win has been abolished - the LCC, GLC, ILEA and Metropolitan Counties. I suspect the mayoralty and GLA will follow suit.
Kim | 07.04.21 - 12:23 a.m. | #
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This is an interesting read on Brian Rose, who is clearly a fraud and a charlatan.
David | 07.04.21 - 8:45 a.m. | #
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Latest poll
Sadiq (Lab) 47%
Shaun (Con) 26%
Sian (Grn) 9%
Luisa (Lib) 7%
Lozza (Cock) 4%
Brian (Real) 3%
diamond geezer | Homepage | 07.04.21 - 3:30 p.m. | #
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Non Londoner here, but despite being a Tory teenager, if I had the choice I wouldn’t vote for either Shaun or Sadiq as both of them terrible, highly irritating individuals. The stuff they say is pure madness. I’d probably give Max Fosh the vote if I’m honest. Might not be a serious candidate but at least he’s raising awareness that there is an election and encouraging a different group of people to vote
Luke | 07.04.21 - 4:20 p.m. | #
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>>Disraeli is ethnically Jewish, his subsequent religion is irrelevant.
Is it? I suspect that there are people born into the Jewish faith who have converted to other religions who might disagree.
If you don't follow the Jewish faith then you're not Jewish no matter that you might have bee born one.
Agent X | 07.04.21 - 7:46 p.m. | #
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Cockwomble is such a phallocentric term of abuse. Would you consider Madame Cholet a "cockwomble"? No, you bloody wouldn't. Smash the patriarchy!
Arlu | 09.04.21 - 10:56 a.m. | #
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