…can always be relied upon to throw up a few surprises and may not accurately reflect the voting intentions of a constituency as a whole in a general election setting.
There are many reasons for this, one of them being that well known and well liked local people are more likely to put themselves forward as a candidate in this situation.
These people generally attract good support because they are a familiar face on the streets of the area they wish to represent and have excellent knowledge of the locality. Therefore, they feel that their voice will make a difference to the way things are run in their area. Its all done with good intention, but when they find themselves in a room with many other elected representatives who all want some of the available money for projects in their catchment area, their efforts can be futile. Unless, that is, they become part of one of the many groups which are formed in order to push through a particular issue.
This doesn’t sit well with many councillors who stood solely to gain benefits for their own area.
Suddenly they find themselves voting on issues which are far removed from their agenda, in order that the people who’s issues they voted for will vote favourably for theirs when the time eventually comes. Meanwhile the electorate are impatiently waiting for election promises to be fulfilled, most of which never are , due to the painfully slow nature of council business and pecking order. Many first time councillors are discouraged and don’t stand at the next election.
Surprises usually come in the shape of an unlikely party winning a seat in an area where there was thought to be no possibility of it doing so, and new parties gaining their first seats. One such party is ” The Rubbish Party “, who are totally new to the scene, winning their first seat after running a successful campaign based on cleaning up the streets.
Surprises also came in a couple of unlikely Tory wins in places where, one would have thought, angels would have feared to tread, far less a Tory candidate. 
Of particular personal interest was Ferguslie Park in Paisley where the Tories won for the first time ever. I canvassed there in a Parliamentary by election for an SNP candidate back in the 80’s, along with 2 other activists and apart from one altercation , we were given safe passage and allowed to witness one of the most deprived areas in Britain at the time. However, we knew that our presence wasn’t welcome and we didn’t overstay. So it was with some amusement that I read the news that a Tory candidate had been successful there. Things change and I sincerely hope that it has changed for the better for the people of Ferguslie.
Other results were much as predicted, with Tories gaining seats across Britain in what were once Labour strongholds. This gives an indication of how things may pan out in the June election, but nothing is set in stone. 
However, our Prime Minister must be sighing with some relief, as her totally unnecessary decision to hold an election, might be vindicated. However, there are still some hurdles to be overcome regarding election fraud and a report on Tory abuse of human rights to be published by the United Nations, which can be found here.
Tomorrow’s French election will be the deciding factor in which way Europe will be progressing for the foreseeable future. I don’t wish Macron upon France nor anywhere else, but should he be elected, it may give the British electorate a timely reminder of what is coming their way. I’m almost sure that half of the population are suffering from a type of Stockholm Syndrome.
I honestly hope that we can avoid the future which is preordained for us, but I fear that we have left it too late.
more to come…
An Ex Drunk's View From The Driving Seat 