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Come on Nick. You have posted a log on Labour, the Lib Dems and the BNP but I don't see a post on the Tory gains. I don't wish to be overly critical but saying the Labour losses were as bad as they expected is a spinning way of trying to create something positive out of a bad night. They lost over 200 seats only a year after winning a General Election, that is bad however you try to spin it out. I suppose the Tory's had a bad night because they only gained over 200 seats...

No where do you publish the % vote a as whole and compare with previous voting %

0617 - 2200 is nearly 16 hours where I live Nick, maybe you need 2 bananas!!!

Does our license fee buy our favourite Political Editor a comfy sofa bed?

I wonder if the powercut was Brown catburgling number 10 to find out what's happening in the resuffle?

Nick, we ( the general public) need you to expose these politicians for what they are, and you do a great job. I did think you missed a great opportunity with Tessa Jowell though! When David Dimbleby asked her about her own financial phopas's effect on the election the reaction was venonous and DD backed down, I just wish you had taken her to task on it.
Keep up the good work

The Lambeth result may seem against the grain but local issues obviously played a big role here with big questions on maladminisration, the future of the leisure centres and concern over the parking contractors who rip off the the car-using public at whim.

Did you get any sleep last night? and what takeaways did you order? I like your blog, and your recent analysis of the situation. I thought that Mr Snuffles was still plotting world supremacy over the ´óÏó´«Ã½, but I suppose you will have to ask Mr Marr for his opinion on that. I am sure I would not be allowed to call him Andy. I think that Tony Blair is in a bit of a corner, and major sackings will leave some powerful politicians brewing forment in darkened corners. I still believe that Blair may have leaked the news about John Prescott, in order to bury other news, or more stories about the Home Office. Mr Prescott manages create more trouble than he is worth. My own experience of him tells me that he is a bully, and very full of his own self importance. I think Blair would be well advised to get rid of this 'minder', if he's not too scared of him.

Nick

There is an important aspect of the parties' performance in the local elections that you broadcasters seem oblivious to: these were ENGLISH local elections and at the last General Election the Labour party had already lost its position as the leading party in England. The question that you should be asking of all politicians is whether they are prepared to support the inequitable distribution of Westminster seats which may secure a Labour 4th term through the inbuilt Scottish majority. Perhaps you might ask Gordon Brown how he justifies the government of nearly 60m English people by a rump of Scottish MPs representing 5m Scots. There is a constitutional crisis in the making when the Dark Prince of Dunfermline takes the Crown of a fragmented kingdom.

Hi Nick,

I come from the crowd who believe that ´óÏó´«Ã½ is institutionally New Labour. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the presentation of New Labour's losses on the front page.

If New Labour had gained many seats, I believe there would be a picture of Blair on your front page.

But with New Labour losses, we have a picture of a councillor unfamiliar in the image of New Labour.

Is this yet another example of ´óÏó´«Ã½'s New Labour centre-leftness subtly engulfing ´óÏó´«Ã½ news coverage?

Nick,

I'm getting very confused at the suggestions I've heard on the radio that Blair will use this reshuffle to move Charles Clarke away from the Home Office, in an attempt to kill the foreign prisoners story.

I thought the only reason we were given for allowing him to stay in his job was that he "had to stay there to clean up the mess he'd made". If he's managed to sort out the whole situation already, maybe he's far more capable than anyone gave him credit for!

Nick.

Not only are these local election results bad for Labour, they are bad for the country and for anyone who believes in fairness and freedom. Because of the shambolic handling of the released prisoners Labour have played into the hands of the far right, who have made some significant gains in a number of volatile constituencies. The governments shambolic handling of a number of significant issues is the best campaign the far right could wish for. Shame on the government!

Tony Blair after these devastating results will have to make bold surgical cuts in his cabinet reshuffle. Failure to remove the embarrassing thorns from his cabinet will only cause deeper outrage and erode vital support. Though to err is human, the two cabinet ministers have cost the Labour Party dearly and the PM will have to relegate them to lesser ministerial posts or exclude them from the cabinet entirely. Perhaps the PM has to inject new blood
and show that Labour has still the capacity to give the Conservatives a dribbing at the next elections. Of course course the PM has to hand the
baton to Gordon Brown in a smooth transition.

Bananas are good as are Mars bars. Don't however opt for a muffin and some black coffee to go with it or else you'll be in the lavatory in no time at all :-)

A bizzare night indeed. Saw 'Dave' on Breakfast this morning looking very pleased with himself. Whilst its clear that the Tories have done pretty well in the local elections, 40% of the popular vote translates into not very much when you consider that the turnout was something pitiful in the low 30s. I suppose we'll just have to wait to see how the Tories can consolidate their position (with apologies to Ming Campbell who seems to be using that phrase a lot recently) and translate it into a general election.

By the way, I thought Jeremy Vine's comparison of the Tories and the rise of modern man was inspired. I'll never look at John Major in the same way again - from ex PM to knuckle grounding neaderthal in one fell swoop!

Nick,

Great work keeping your log going alongside trying to tease things out of various ministers and politicans during the night - and all without any power in the studio!

Especially enjoyed the way you seized on Geoff Hoon's slightly smug reference to 'going to Downing St first thing on Friday'. I was thinking exactly the same thing!

Nice one - look forward to an early steer on the reshuffle...

Alex

Brilliant coverage, Nick - on air and on line. Keep going!
PS Was the PM actually watching last night? I'd love to know the inside track on what was being said/done behind the doors of No 10 during the results if you ever find out. Was Gordon round for a beer or two?

Doesn't Tony Blair's sacking of his Home Secretary smack of opportunism of the most horrendous kind. Clarke offers to resign a few days ago - Blair refuses to accept his resignation saying he needed to stay in the job to sort the mess out!! Yet today, when it suits Blair politically he axes him! Incredible - no wonder Blair has nosedived in popularity recently...

Nick,

all those bananas have a fairly high G.I - plenty of suger for a quick release if needed for strenuous activity. Could I recommend oat cakes with houmous, almonds and maybe a couple of bran muffins to keep you going and alert until thgis is all over?

I have not heard or seem to be able to find details of the turnout in these elections. I would have thought that given the concern about voter apathy this would have been a main discussion point.

Well done to Margaret Beckett in her new post. "Question time" was another example of how well she holds herself together in times like this.

I feel for Charles Clarke who is having to take a fall for larger reasons outwith his brief.

As a side issue, Anyone noticed how many red headed women are moving up the govermental ranks these days. :)

(Red head myself)

What has Jack Straw done?
Has Prescott got more lives than a cat? He certainly comes away today licking the cream.

i may be harsh here. but the blair legacy...disorder in uk society and chaos in the criminal justice system.

and of of course the invasion of
iraq.

i think tony has lost his nerve. this was evident at pmq's today.
and the one thing that might have hit it, was the deaths in iraq , of the helicopter crew.

its all turning into a tragedy.