The Council winning a bid to block #AsylumSeekers staying at Bell Hotel in #Epping creates an extremely dangerous precedent as rent-a-mob will now move onto to another hotel or perhaps many

I predict #Runcorn will be in uproar within 48 hours

Are we moving toward civil war?

#Runcorn's #Reform SarahPochin said she'd CCTV footage of "late-night knife & drug crime" & had crime ref nos

In her maiden speech, Pochin said there were a number of "illegal immigrants" in Runcorn & HMOs were "breeding grounds for organised crime gangs

Cheshire Police said it was "not aware of any issues or concerns relating to homes of multiple occupation in the Runcorn area"

It said it received 8 reports of incidents at 1 HMO between May & Nov. 5 were burglaries: 3 were no crime occurred

Here's a great analysis of the Runcorn by-election from @CherylMorgan which seeks to correct various misapprehensions about why Reform won, whose votes they gained, and why Labour (and the media) are drawing the wrong conclusions.

And its admirably concise for a busy Saturday morning.

#politics #runcorn

h/t @Naich

https://www.cheryl-morgan.com/lies-damned-lies-and-the-british-press/

Crossing my fingers, but without much hope, for a Lib Dem win on Hull & East Yorkshire. Lib Dems have the best ground game of any party but Reform have had a decently good night and are the favourite there.

The Reform candidate there actually is the least worst Reform candidate I've seen but … you know … Reform. Still don't want them to succeed.

#RuncornAndHelsby #Runcorn #LocalElections #LocalElections2025 #UKPolitics #UKPol

@Geri

#Labour will deduce that they aren't fascist enough to compete with #Reform

#Runcorn #ukpolitics

Elsewhere the mayoralities have similarly bad results to Runcorn but as they're mostly nominally Labour holds they'll be treated differently.

FPTP also very nearly caused a disaster in the West of England mayorality. A Labour hold on 25% of the vote. Reform second, because five parties all reasonably viable.

#RuncornAndHelsby #Runcorn #LocalElections #LocalElections2025 #UKPolitics #UKPol

Oh, great, Reform won Runcorn. By a sliver but still, the government's going to learn the wrong lessons from that. I was fearing worse but this is still bad.

Also Lincolnshire now has a Reform metro mayor. But that's Lincolnshire. I feel bad for Lincoln, reportedly a fairly normal place, but the county is ground zero for the far right. So this was priced in.

#RuncornAndHelsby #Runcorn #LocalElections #LocalElections2025 #UKPolitics #UKPol

The number of votes by which #Labour lost the #Runcorn by election to Reform ltd was almost certainly lower than the number of #trans voters who switched their vote from Labour to another party. And that's not to mention all the allies who hopefully also switched to a more progressive party.

I hate Reform ltd, but there is some poetic justice here.

Also, you can't appease fascists. Will they ever learn this?

Andrea Jenkyns "we are going to have Britain where we put Britain and British people first, a Britain where put British people at the front of the queue"

Nationalism is a scorge

#Runcorn
#NaziParty

“#Labour need to understand that if people want #Reform’s policies then they will vote for Reform - and if they can close the gap this much in 11 months, imagine what it might be in five years.

What should terrify Labour strategists in #Runcorn is that the #Green vote went up – even though Green voters knew this might let Reform in. Labour is simply not progressive enough to win even tactical support.”

Neal Lawson, Compass

#Runcorn didn't fall to Reform by a handful of people choose to vote Green/elsewhere but due to disillusionment. A turnout of just ~46% (-~14%) speaks volumes, that people have lost engagement. We must repair our voting system so that people have a voice. FPTP is at fault.

#UKPolitics #RuncornByElection #ProportionalRepresentation #UKLabour

General impressions are that the ##GreenParty is outperforming the #Liberals

For example #runcorn

GREENS 2314
LD 942

Nazi Party win in #Runcorn by just 6 votes!

I see Runcorn have voted for the Facscist Grifters Party.

That's disappointing.

#Runcorn #UKPolitics

REFORM GAIN RUNCORN AND HELSBY by SIX VOTES.

#Runcorn #ByElection