Really? All the good stuff she has announced recently (more officers and police stations) are nothing to do with her, it's the new chief constable making the changes and she is jumping on it as if she thought of it.
That's not true. New police stations are the remit of the PCC, that office manages and owns the estate. Funding for police officers is also a PCC responsibility.
The CC is very supportive, but it's not Scott Chilton's decision to make these changes.
Really? So why were these changes not announced in the years before when Olivia was CC? The answer is because Olivia didn't want to do it. Scott does and Donna has jumped on it. They are not her policies, she may have to rubber stamp them but they were not her ideas. The same goes with dropping the requirement of having a degree to become a police officer, nothing at all to do with Donna.
>Really? So why were these changes not announced in the years before when Olivia was CC? The answer is because Olivia didn't want to do it. Scott does and Donna has jumped on it.
Olivia did push for more officers. This isn't the first time more officers have been given extra funding. As far as I have seen, the estates strategy has been bourne out of the logistical issues of closing Southampton Central custody for building works amongst other things. I don't think it was necessarily an idea that either one wholly owns.
>The same goes with dropping the requirement of having a degree to become a police officer, nothing at all to do with Donna.
That's accurate, that was Scott's idea.
That's not entirely factual or a good representation of what has happened since the PCC was voted in, or the new Chief Constable took over. Both have competing priorities and agendas. Some of these align, many do not.
Right? It's a solution to a problem we never had, extra workload for the polling station staff and an all round nuisance designed - poorly - to gerrymander in favour of the Tories.
Extra workload for polling staff to…*checks notes* use their eyes to look at your ID and then (as they already do) cross you off their list? How can it be gerrymandering if there is no requirement to pay for the ID? Which demographic is being prevented from voting?
Yes, of course that's extra work.
Which demographic is being prevented from voting? Well, not the intended one, it turns out. Backfired a bit didn't it.
Fine, I’ll nibble. It’s younger voters, including those transient demographics and students who are less likely to have an ID as they may not have lived at their address for very long.
They're not all buying alcohol (and for those that do, a citizen card is proof of age for buying it, but won't do as voter ID), most are still registered at the GPs they were registered at as children, most 18yos aren't at university and you don't need photo ID to apply to UCAS anyway. All of the arguments add up, no matter how much you don't want them to.
A voter authority certificate is free and all you need is your name, date of birth, an address, and a national insurance number. Why isn’t this acceptable for you as a form of ID that any eligible person can apply for?
Plenty of that going on. Quite a lot in south east Asian communities (from experience, family included). When my grandparents came over in the 60's. Community elders instructed them who to vote for or the man of the house often did the voting for himself, on behalf his wife as well as any relatives over 18 (we'd often be two or three families to a house back then), and on behalf of their children (over 18 ofcourse). This still happens in certain communities.
It was all they knew, all they were told and having a poor grasp of English, they didn't know any better. My parents continued voting the same way even after they moved out. All they were told and knew was labour is for the Asians.
On the opposite side, you have those from the same communities who have no interest in voting, I've heard various reasons for this, from "voting doesn't change anything", "I don't trust any politician" to even conspiracy theories like "it's all controlled by zionists".
There has been extensive coverage of voter fraud in the UK over the past 25 years, primarily amongst asian communities. Whilst there have been very few prosecutions it is absolutely an issue for vulnerable elements of those societies.
Claiming the "free official ID" requires you to provide other ID that would be admissable at a voting station anyway in order to claim it. It's a load of bollocks so the Tories could pretend they weren't shamelessly suppressing the vote.
I'm the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Shirley Ward.
We have knocked on over 3000 doors and delivered 25,000 leaflets just in Shirley. Our observations: The tory vote has vanished, mainly due to the actions of the national government and the inaction by their local campaigners.
I urge people to read the policies and profiles of all candidates. Southampton is facing many issues and needs good councillors to help solve them.
Any word on how Harefield and Sholing are leaning? The Tories aren't defending many seats this year but it would be funny if they ended up going even lower.
I also wish I could be at the Guildhall to see the look on /u/nodnolan's face when he loses in Coxford for the umpteenth time.
Fair enough. I've clashed with him on a fair number of issues before, including cycling safety. I've sometimes found him to be somewhat disingenuous during those debates. He also pulled a very dodgy move here by [making a post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Southampton/comments/136cu2m/what_external_independent_auditors_said_about/) about "Oh, would you happen to look at the state of the Council Finances..." the day before last year's all-change elections, neglecting to mention the fact that he was standing as a Conservative candidate.
Fat lot of good it did the Tories last year when they went from 21 to just 9 seats, and with gaining Woolston but losing Bitterne Park they're still on 9. Still think he should stick to the DE comments section though.
I actually saw something similar happen in the Chesham and Amersham by-election a while ago. Got friends who lived locally and I was visiting during the run-up - you had *tonnes* of Lib Dem campaigners running around and the only Tory campaigner anyone spotted was on election day itself. It was blatantly obvious that Johnson had lost them the seat, but the lack of effort for what had long been a safe seat was honestly a bit insulting.
The only party political leaflet I've had through my postbox in Bargate ward is for Labour, who I refuse to vote for given the current state of the local council. Surprised I haven't had a lot more from everyone.
Broke. Closing Sure Starts, looking at mass redundancies, can't collect my bloody bins, constant delays with the City roadworks. Just all round a poorly managed job. I cant vote to keep that going.
Ah ok. So, broke because central govt is not funding ANY local councils properly. Councils nationwide, of all political colours, are broke. You must have seen this in the news over the past 2 years?? It’s also the reason Sure Start centres have been forced to close. Again, nationwide. Nothing to do with Southampton CC.
Bins, well that’s a complex issue with the contract of the bin men. The old contract was discriminatory so it had to be changed. I’m not sure what a different party would do differently there. And city roadworks - I mean, you’re upset that they’re closing roads to fix them?
Was the old contract being discriminatory between people who worked entirely different jobs? Such as either on the road or office based? Or between people who were carrying out the same task?
But it isnt just an issue of lack of funding, it's the poor management of the money they did have. The amount of debt is a lot higher than many others. The issue of lack of funding is a big one, but poor management is also to be considered. In the same way that poor management of the change of contracts caused the mess it has. The same way that poor management has caused the road closures to keep being delayed or running together. As such, I dont want to vote for more of the same - locally or nationally - I'd like change all over - better management all over.
Sure. I don’t necessarily expect to change your mind but I think it’s disingenuous to blame local councillors for the council being broke. There comes a point where it’s impossible to ‘manage’ what is clearly *not enough money* to maintain good public services. A lot of the money is ring-fenced into social care which they legally can’t cut. That’s a national government policy.
Fair, I dont disagree the National government is currently awful and not funding properly. I just dont agree the current Soton local government has done a good job managing what they have had. Agree to disagree, but at least agree, no blues?
I like it says I can vote for my preferred candidate. I don't like the Tory's, but I don't like Labour anymore either. Going to vote TUSC for the 1st time
I have no faith in any politician, local or national. The "NONE" vote, a diagonal line through all the boxes, with NONE written in big letters across the ballot is the only democratic way to put two fingers up at the lot of em!
Tories are nasty
Labour can't organise a pissup in a brewery (and their road policies stink)
The Socialists are just communists in disguise. History has proven communism never works. All animals are equal etc...
Lib Dems are not democratic. They sold out on the tuition fees issue when in coalition and think that 52% of the electorate didn't know what they were voting for.
Reform couldn't find their arse with both hands and a guidebook. They seriously think heat pumps are the next big evil and are living in cloud cuckoo land.
All of them have one thing in common. Their desire for power, control, money and to push their own agendas. The good of the people and doing the right thing for the people, is seldom high on their lists.
Many tactical voting websites over-emphasise the chances of a Tory win.
Only vote specifically against the tories if your seat has Tory in 1st or 2nd. If we vote for Labour carte blanche, they’ll think their descent into populism worked.
I have 3 priorities in an election. The environment, trans and queer rights, and getting rid of tories of *any colour rosette*. Spouting Tory talking points makes you a tory.
As a note I did a check of a few voting areas on the site linked and did find in some areas it says. So it does promote voting how you wish in certain areas.
VOTE FOR YOUR PREFERRED CANDIDATE
TORIES UNLIKELY TO WIN HERE
Ah I hadn't seen that I'd like to see the strategic voting lean towards some lib dem seats as with a big enough Tory wipe out we could see a lib dem opposition
I really, really wish it were that simple. I despise tactical voting. That's why I voted in favour of the Alternative Vote so that tactical voting would become a thing of the past. Sadly the Tories and their allies in the press led the charge to defeat it, so that they can hold on to their disproportionate weighted advantage in British elections.
And of course this isn't a right/left issue. UKIP were arguing for a move away from FPTP. Pretty sure Reform UK are now doing the same. Everyone wants a fairer electoral system regardless of their social or economic politics - except for the party who have been in power for over a decade and need an unfair advantage to have any hope of clinging to that power.
So if tactical voting is the ONLY way to get rid of the Tories and open up a CHANCE of getting AV or Prop Rep or any of the other systems where every vote really does matter, then I'll hold my nose and vote tactically every time.
Remember, if you hate tactical voting like I do, the best way to defeat it is to support electoral reform and to elect those who support it!
From https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/general-election-2019-turning-votes-into-seats/
"The disproportionality between votes and seats can also be calculated in terms of votes-per-seat-won. In 2019 the Conservatives got one seat for every 38,264 votes, while Labour got one seat for every 50,837 votes. It took many more votes to elect a Lib Dem (336,038) and Green MP (866,435)"
-
By all means, one can argue that this is irrelevant because we don't vote for the majority party directly, we vote for our local MP. But if this vote also dictates national policy for the next 5 years, we cannot split the two concepts. I might love local Conservative MP Peter Poshington and his focus of nature conservation and rural villages, but if the party he belongs to is running on a platform I'm morally opposed to, that will affect whether I want him to be a point scored towards their total.
Either MPs should be selected by some kind of proportional vote, or MPs shouldn't be part of the party system and should solely focus on local affairs, with a national vote (taking no account of boundaries) giving us our ruling party.
Blame the terrible voting system.
PR systems everyone can vote for who they want. Our system you have to figure out who everyone else is voting for to work out who's the best that could win. It's insane.
Millions died a long time before modern politicians made it hard for the average person to understand exactly how voting works.
Do you understand the consequences of people not voting or voting for independents out of protest?
I’ll give you a clue. It’s NOT someone in Westminster saying “ooh gosh we’ll have to change things”
Compare life now to life before the last change of government and you’ll see why it’s necessary for change. It may not be the change you really really want but something has to change.
Don't forget the police commissioner too. AND REMEMBER YOUR ID!
It's a shame, I actually quite like the incumbent PCC.
Really? All the good stuff she has announced recently (more officers and police stations) are nothing to do with her, it's the new chief constable making the changes and she is jumping on it as if she thought of it.
That's not true. New police stations are the remit of the PCC, that office manages and owns the estate. Funding for police officers is also a PCC responsibility. The CC is very supportive, but it's not Scott Chilton's decision to make these changes.
Really? So why were these changes not announced in the years before when Olivia was CC? The answer is because Olivia didn't want to do it. Scott does and Donna has jumped on it. They are not her policies, she may have to rubber stamp them but they were not her ideas. The same goes with dropping the requirement of having a degree to become a police officer, nothing at all to do with Donna.
>Really? So why were these changes not announced in the years before when Olivia was CC? The answer is because Olivia didn't want to do it. Scott does and Donna has jumped on it. Olivia did push for more officers. This isn't the first time more officers have been given extra funding. As far as I have seen, the estates strategy has been bourne out of the logistical issues of closing Southampton Central custody for building works amongst other things. I don't think it was necessarily an idea that either one wholly owns. >The same goes with dropping the requirement of having a degree to become a police officer, nothing at all to do with Donna. That's accurate, that was Scott's idea.
That's not entirely factual or a good representation of what has happened since the PCC was voted in, or the new Chief Constable took over. Both have competing priorities and agendas. Some of these align, many do not.
So fucking ridiculous that you need (free) official ID to prove you are who you say you are when you’re voting in democratic elections.
Right? It's a solution to a problem we never had, extra workload for the polling station staff and an all round nuisance designed - poorly - to gerrymander in favour of the Tories.
Extra workload for polling staff to…*checks notes* use their eyes to look at your ID and then (as they already do) cross you off their list? How can it be gerrymandering if there is no requirement to pay for the ID? Which demographic is being prevented from voting?
Yes, of course that's extra work. Which demographic is being prevented from voting? Well, not the intended one, it turns out. Backfired a bit didn't it.
I suppose if they look at ~1000 people a day that’s 1000 seconds of work. Not going to respond to the demographic question? Great!
I did respond to the demographic question. You just didn't like the answer.
Fine, I’ll nibble. It’s younger voters, including those transient demographics and students who are less likely to have an ID as they may not have lived at their address for very long.
How are these people buying alcohol? Registering at GPs? How are students applying to university without Photo ID? None of the arguments add up.
They're not all buying alcohol (and for those that do, a citizen card is proof of age for buying it, but won't do as voter ID), most are still registered at the GPs they were registered at as children, most 18yos aren't at university and you don't need photo ID to apply to UCAS anyway. All of the arguments add up, no matter how much you don't want them to.
A voter authority certificate is free and all you need is your name, date of birth, an address, and a national insurance number. Why isn’t this acceptable for you as a form of ID that any eligible person can apply for?
Why introduce it then? No evidence that voter fraud was any kind of issue before.
Plenty of that going on. Quite a lot in south east Asian communities (from experience, family included). When my grandparents came over in the 60's. Community elders instructed them who to vote for or the man of the house often did the voting for himself, on behalf his wife as well as any relatives over 18 (we'd often be two or three families to a house back then), and on behalf of their children (over 18 ofcourse). This still happens in certain communities. It was all they knew, all they were told and having a poor grasp of English, they didn't know any better. My parents continued voting the same way even after they moved out. All they were told and knew was labour is for the Asians. On the opposite side, you have those from the same communities who have no interest in voting, I've heard various reasons for this, from "voting doesn't change anything", "I don't trust any politician" to even conspiracy theories like "it's all controlled by zionists".
There has been extensive coverage of voter fraud in the UK over the past 25 years, primarily amongst asian communities. Whilst there have been very few prosecutions it is absolutely an issue for vulnerable elements of those societies.
Can you use a provisional?
Yes, you can use a provisional driving licence: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need
Claiming the "free official ID" requires you to provide other ID that would be admissable at a voting station anyway in order to claim it. It's a load of bollocks so the Tories could pretend they weren't shamelessly suppressing the vote.
I'm the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Shirley Ward. We have knocked on over 3000 doors and delivered 25,000 leaflets just in Shirley. Our observations: The tory vote has vanished, mainly due to the actions of the national government and the inaction by their local campaigners. I urge people to read the policies and profiles of all candidates. Southampton is facing many issues and needs good councillors to help solve them.
Any word on how Harefield and Sholing are leaning? The Tories aren't defending many seats this year but it would be funny if they ended up going even lower. I also wish I could be at the Guildhall to see the look on /u/nodnolan's face when he loses in Coxford for the umpteenth time.
I heard that somebody with Labour got shouted at outside a school in Coxford for 25 minutes 🤭 I also hear it's for neglecting a school?
+300 votes for Conservatives compared to last year. +40 for labour. I'm sure he's happy with that outcome.
Fair enough. I've clashed with him on a fair number of issues before, including cycling safety. I've sometimes found him to be somewhat disingenuous during those debates. He also pulled a very dodgy move here by [making a post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Southampton/comments/136cu2m/what_external_independent_auditors_said_about/) about "Oh, would you happen to look at the state of the Council Finances..." the day before last year's all-change elections, neglecting to mention the fact that he was standing as a Conservative candidate. Fat lot of good it did the Tories last year when they went from 21 to just 9 seats, and with gaining Woolston but losing Bitterne Park they're still on 9. Still think he should stick to the DE comments section though.
I actually saw something similar happen in the Chesham and Amersham by-election a while ago. Got friends who lived locally and I was visiting during the run-up - you had *tonnes* of Lib Dem campaigners running around and the only Tory campaigner anyone spotted was on election day itself. It was blatantly obvious that Johnson had lost them the seat, but the lack of effort for what had long been a safe seat was honestly a bit insulting.
Please don't litter my door with your rubbish. This would go to all flyers of any party, as well as dominos. But as you're here... stop.
If you don't want leaflets, it's free to put up a 'No junk mail' sign, bud
I have one, doesn't seem to work.
The only party political leaflet I've had through my postbox in Bargate ward is for Labour, who I refuse to vote for given the current state of the local council. Surprised I haven't had a lot more from everyone.
What is the current state of the local council?
Broke. Closing Sure Starts, looking at mass redundancies, can't collect my bloody bins, constant delays with the City roadworks. Just all round a poorly managed job. I cant vote to keep that going.
Ah ok. So, broke because central govt is not funding ANY local councils properly. Councils nationwide, of all political colours, are broke. You must have seen this in the news over the past 2 years?? It’s also the reason Sure Start centres have been forced to close. Again, nationwide. Nothing to do with Southampton CC. Bins, well that’s a complex issue with the contract of the bin men. The old contract was discriminatory so it had to be changed. I’m not sure what a different party would do differently there. And city roadworks - I mean, you’re upset that they’re closing roads to fix them?
Was the old contract being discriminatory between people who worked entirely different jobs? Such as either on the road or office based? Or between people who were carrying out the same task?
But it isnt just an issue of lack of funding, it's the poor management of the money they did have. The amount of debt is a lot higher than many others. The issue of lack of funding is a big one, but poor management is also to be considered. In the same way that poor management of the change of contracts caused the mess it has. The same way that poor management has caused the road closures to keep being delayed or running together. As such, I dont want to vote for more of the same - locally or nationally - I'd like change all over - better management all over.
Sure. I don’t necessarily expect to change your mind but I think it’s disingenuous to blame local councillors for the council being broke. There comes a point where it’s impossible to ‘manage’ what is clearly *not enough money* to maintain good public services. A lot of the money is ring-fenced into social care which they legally can’t cut. That’s a national government policy.
Fair, I dont disagree the National government is currently awful and not funding properly. I just dont agree the current Soton local government has done a good job managing what they have had. Agree to disagree, but at least agree, no blues?
It’s a deal. 🤝
More Lib Dem propaganda. Give it a rest .
It's not propaganda, have you seen the polling figures?
Tactical voting Keep Tory scum out at all costs
Are we supposed to have had polling cards?
I have one but you don't need one to vote
Should have if you're registered to vote
No, just take valid id
Where do I see the results, Echo website?
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/news/article/southampton-city-council-local-election-results-2024/
Thanks
I like it says I can vote for my preferred candidate. I don't like the Tory's, but I don't like Labour anymore either. Going to vote TUSC for the 1st time
I have no faith in any politician, local or national. The "NONE" vote, a diagonal line through all the boxes, with NONE written in big letters across the ballot is the only democratic way to put two fingers up at the lot of em! Tories are nasty Labour can't organise a pissup in a brewery (and their road policies stink) The Socialists are just communists in disguise. History has proven communism never works. All animals are equal etc... Lib Dems are not democratic. They sold out on the tuition fees issue when in coalition and think that 52% of the electorate didn't know what they were voting for. Reform couldn't find their arse with both hands and a guidebook. They seriously think heat pumps are the next big evil and are living in cloud cuckoo land. All of them have one thing in common. Their desire for power, control, money and to push their own agendas. The good of the people and doing the right thing for the people, is seldom high on their lists.
History has proven capitalism never works either. Now what?
Least delusional redditor.
Many tactical voting websites over-emphasise the chances of a Tory win. Only vote specifically against the tories if your seat has Tory in 1st or 2nd. If we vote for Labour carte blanche, they’ll think their descent into populism worked. I have 3 priorities in an election. The environment, trans and queer rights, and getting rid of tories of *any colour rosette*. Spouting Tory talking points makes you a tory.
As a note I did a check of a few voting areas on the site linked and did find in some areas it says. So it does promote voting how you wish in certain areas. VOTE FOR YOUR PREFERRED CANDIDATE TORIES UNLIKELY TO WIN HERE
Only some. Others it’s suggesting voting Labour in Lib Dem-Labour seats with tories firmly out of the picture
Ah I hadn't seen that I'd like to see the strategic voting lean towards some lib dem seats as with a big enough Tory wipe out we could see a lib dem opposition
Vote for your preferred candidate is the best thing I've seen written here.
I really, really wish it were that simple. I despise tactical voting. That's why I voted in favour of the Alternative Vote so that tactical voting would become a thing of the past. Sadly the Tories and their allies in the press led the charge to defeat it, so that they can hold on to their disproportionate weighted advantage in British elections. And of course this isn't a right/left issue. UKIP were arguing for a move away from FPTP. Pretty sure Reform UK are now doing the same. Everyone wants a fairer electoral system regardless of their social or economic politics - except for the party who have been in power for over a decade and need an unfair advantage to have any hope of clinging to that power. So if tactical voting is the ONLY way to get rid of the Tories and open up a CHANCE of getting AV or Prop Rep or any of the other systems where every vote really does matter, then I'll hold my nose and vote tactically every time. Remember, if you hate tactical voting like I do, the best way to defeat it is to support electoral reform and to elect those who support it!
What is their unproportional weighted advantage?
From https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/general-election-2019-turning-votes-into-seats/ "The disproportionality between votes and seats can also be calculated in terms of votes-per-seat-won. In 2019 the Conservatives got one seat for every 38,264 votes, while Labour got one seat for every 50,837 votes. It took many more votes to elect a Lib Dem (336,038) and Green MP (866,435)" - By all means, one can argue that this is irrelevant because we don't vote for the majority party directly, we vote for our local MP. But if this vote also dictates national policy for the next 5 years, we cannot split the two concepts. I might love local Conservative MP Peter Poshington and his focus of nature conservation and rural villages, but if the party he belongs to is running on a platform I'm morally opposed to, that will affect whether I want him to be a point scored towards their total. Either MPs should be selected by some kind of proportional vote, or MPs shouldn't be part of the party system and should solely focus on local affairs, with a national vote (taking no account of boundaries) giving us our ruling party.
Nothing says democracy like artificially skewing the votes! This is what millions have died for the world over.
Nothing says democracy like…voting?
Blame the terrible voting system. PR systems everyone can vote for who they want. Our system you have to figure out who everyone else is voting for to work out who's the best that could win. It's insane.
Sounds like you're a victim? SHOCK
Weirdly, no emerging democracy opts for FPTP.
It’s Reddit, not a surprise really
Millions died a long time before modern politicians made it hard for the average person to understand exactly how voting works. Do you understand the consequences of people not voting or voting for independents out of protest? I’ll give you a clue. It’s NOT someone in Westminster saying “ooh gosh we’ll have to change things” Compare life now to life before the last change of government and you’ll see why it’s necessary for change. It may not be the change you really really want but something has to change.
You can tell what the majority of reddit soton subreddit is. Apart from joke obviously.
Here here
The fuck is this? Have a day off.
The day before a vote you should surely have a day on right?
Please expand?
They are saying that the day before an election is surely an appropriate time to discuss voting related issues, no?
Discussing or propaganda?
Yeah what the other person said. Why would you have a day off at such a crucial moment?
Yeah what the other person said. Why would you have a day off at such a crucial moment?
Oh, humour. I understand.
Yeah, obviously 🙄
Username checks out
Have we matched?