With the benefit of Hindsight

[Call Me Al]

Not that it really matters now.......

I always vote, and usually go for the candidate that can challenge Labour. This time I went Brexit as I genuinely thought they had the best chance of beating Mike Hill. Obviously I got that wrong, and I was surprised to see my party of choice the Conservatives get as many votes as they did.

So if the 10,000 plus voters who went for Mr Tice didn't have him as an option, where would those votes have gone? Would Hill have secured a bigger majority or would Houghton have wiped him out. The combined Brexit/Tory vote being 6,000 more than Hill got.

Also how much impact did the damage caused by ex Cllr Mincher and others in the C4 coverage have on the Brexit vote? I'm sure there will be many different opinions on this.

[akarjl2]

After channel 4 / Mincher, nobody with half a brain or any morals would have supported Brexit Party in Hartlepool . There is a glimmer of hope if sleazy Hill has the whip removed as a result of ongoing sexual assault investigation. Maybe- just Maybe then something may happen.

Maybe The Riddler ( as in.....I knew all about it but chose not to do anything about it) will stand - wouldn't that be a turn up for the books?

Standby for old images of screaming brexiteers in Wales........

[mr ben]

Labour cannot run a bath never mind the town!! Every year its the same boom and bust and sadly it will remain the same until the circus has left the town ....

[diSme]

I can't imagine any pro-brexit voter picking labour as a second choice over the Brexit party candidate, and I think the Mincher revelations were extremely damaging to the party's campaign, and probably lost it for Tice.

I myself voted for Tice, however I vote postally, and had already sent my vote before the media revelations, otherwise I would likely have gone Tory.

[Call Me Al]

akarjl2 I consider that I do have morals and more than half a brain, however I don't believe your comment was personal in any way.

I had already sent my postal vote for Mr Tice prior to the news breaking out. Yes I know that people like Mincher exist, and god only knows how he became a Councillor but then again there's a few you could say that about.

This election was a great chance to depose our ineffective MP. My original question was would this have happened had Brexit Party not targeted the seat.

[akarjl2]

Apologies no offence intended..

I understood the aim of your post.Yes if Brexit Party had been ignored maybe Hill would have had the smirking rabbit in the headlights lights look wiped off his face who knows....

Wait I know someone who thinks he does......the font of all knowledge.....

Standby for YouTube link.

[Inspector Knacker]

Hill won by accident. If the Brexit Party had pulled out after the revelation, it's likely the Conservatives would have won.
Hapless Hill will take his place on the opposition benches like Bagpuss, whiling away the day, our inert MP just waiting to be told what he thinks.

[Call Me Al]

That's what I feared, and I am ashamed to say I called it wrong. Clearly Blyth, Sedgefield, Durham, Bishop Auckland etc were no flukes.

Perhaps the high profile campaign of Mr Tice meant that our Tory candidate was overlooked.

[Inspector Knacker]

I understood the aim of your post.Yes if Brexit Party had been ignored maybe Hill would have had the smirking rabbit in the headlights lights look wiped off his face who knows....

Trouble is, you had the dilemma of who appeared to have the best chance, which after 'knuckle-dragger gate', was not the Brexit Party.  However, there was always a doubt that some wavering ex Labour voters would vote for the Brexit Party but not the Tories.
The perfect storm. The numbers were there, but in the wrong places.
So Hill doesn't want to get above his station, he got it by chance, a fluke. He is the most useless MP in my memory, an anonymous rake in a crumpled suit who has the charisma of a broken radiator and the communication skills of Quasimodo on an off day, but lacking Quasimodo's charm and dynamism.

[diSme]

No denying that Hill is as much use as a wet fart, and I am disappointed that we are stuck with him for now.

I'm also rather annoyed at the dumbf**kery of the local electorate for continuing to vote labour, despite the numerous reasons not to. It is literally a tradition for many people, but, I suppose they are entitled to vote as they please...

[Johnny Bongo]

If, for whatever reason, Hill resigns and an election for the town is called, will the Brexit party field a candidate again?  If not, will those 10k votes go to the Tories, Labour or split?  I never expected that the Tory candidate would get as many as he did.

[Call Me Al]

With each reply I am now more convinced that I was 'bought' by the Brexit candidates claim that only he could beat Hill. Like others I am slightly surprised at how many votes Houghton got, he could have campaigned better. Everything he did inferred that he was resigned to third place.
I hope we get a by election in the near future. What are the chances of that happening do we reckon?

[seaton]

Deep done the majority of the people who voted for The Brexit Party were either disillusioned Labour voters who couldn't bring themselves to vote conservative or on their views on Immigration. Bearing in mind The Brexit Party is more far right than the Conservatives with little or no policies.

[seaton]

With each reply I am now more convinced that I was 'bought' by the Brexit candidates claim that only he could beat Hill. Like others I am slightly surprised at how many votes Houghton got, he could have campaigned better. Everything he did inferred that he was resigned to third place.
I hope we get a by election in the near future. What are the chances of that happening do we reckon?

What would bring about a by election, wasn't Hill cleared of sexual harassment charges or are they still pending ?

[diSme]

With each reply I am now more convinced that I was 'bought' by the Brexit candidates claim that only he could beat Hill. Like others I am slightly surprised at how many votes Houghton got, he could have campaigned better. Everything he did inferred that he was resigned to third place.
I hope we get a by election in the near future. What are the chances of that happening do we reckon?

What would bring about a by election, wasn't Hill cleared of sexual harassment charges or are they still pending ?

Still pending. Under investigation apparently...