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Local Elections 2018: Polling day liveblog

22:00: ANNNND, we’re done! Congratulations to all the Labour activists who’ve absolutely maxed out their stepometers. We hope you enjoyed the live dog updates on your breaks.

Turn over now to our liveblog of the election results themselves with Sienna – I’ll be popping back in to help in the early morning and through to Friday!

Now grab some coffee and get going with the all-nighter.

 

21:52: And it’s all coming to a close in the key battlegrounds!

21:48: Sienna is gearing up for the night… A LabourList results liveblog is coming to a browser tab near you.

21:46: We thought it was all over! Still 2 dogs to report on here, voting for Dan Jarvis.

21:40: Polling doggos have become scarcer, so for my last of the blog, my favourite from the day:

Thank you to all the dogs who made this blog.

21:33: The final countdown in Wandsworth!

21:22: Ooooooh. Here’s pollster Marcus Bennett suggesting the Tories in Kensington & Chelsea do have something to worry about.

21:17: The heroes of the Campaign Centres and Committee Rooms are still rolling on, with under an hour to go.

21:08: Sadiq’s still at it! He’s got a motivational message, too.

21:00: An hour to go! Where are we now?

  • There’s been a major issue of voters being turned away in areas affected by new voter ID pilots. Ellie Reeves and Cat Smith have already spoken out. It’s likely Labour will bring this up again.
  • Labour activists have descended on marginals in huge numbers, with the Unseat campaign bringing huge rallies to the most contended seats.
  • The key battlegrounds to keep an eye on will be: Barnet, Wandsworth, Hillingdon, and Westminster in London. Outside of London: Dudley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Calderdale, Plymouth and Trafford will be key to a good night for Labour. Most will start to trickle in from 2am.
  • There’s been so many great doggos and cats. Well done all.

Not long now till you can have a cuppa. Keep going!

 

20:55: RAIN WON’T STOP FORMER LABOURLIST EDITOR MARK FERGUSON.

20:44: Emma Dent Coad and activists still pulling out all the punches in Kensington & Chelsea, with just over an hour to go.

I reported earlier that the Conservatives appear to be worried here. Some activists have been shipped in from Westminster to help amid fears regarding Brexit.

20:40: Blimey. Activists are hitting 40,000 steps. Not all heroes wear capes.

20:30: DOG! Link here is linking his owner up with democracy in Walthamstow (…sorry).

20:25: Cat news! Sarah Jones has befriended a cat called Lucky. Let’s hope that’s a sign.

20:20: It looks like EU citizens were turned away wrongly in Tower Hamlets, according to The Guardian.

20:17: Paul Waugh at the Huffington Post is taking his pup to the poll!

20:15: London Young Labour out and about in Balham ward in Wandsworth.

20:10: Jennie Formby and Seb Corbyn are helping Steven Saxby and the Westminster crew into the final hours.

20:06: Head down to Wandsworth, where there’s still a big crowd of activists with Sadiq.

20:05: Listen to Lammy. Keep going!

20:00: With just two hours to go, it looks like activists have accumulated some milage!

19:50: Dogs….canvassing other dogs!

19:40: Oh my God. This Committee Room in Sydenham has its own cat! He’s called Ted!

19:35: The Mirror has a good guide for what times to expect seats to declare tonight. Spoiler alert: most of the biggies will come flowing in between 2am-4am.

19:22: You know you’re getting into the final hours when the clock leaflets come out. Also: Neville Southall is doing GOTV.

19:20: There’s a video here from the Wandsworth rally by Artist Taxi Driver.

19:15: Young Labour groups have certainly been busy today. Still loads of activists out in the marginals of Barnet, Trafford, Kensington & Chelsea and Wandsworth.

19:10: The Labour leaflets in Barnet give you quite an indication for just how close it is. In Hale ward, there’s just a percentage point in it!

19:07: More all-star scenes in Wandsworth!

19:05: Ellie Reeves, MP for Lewisham West and Penge, has spoken to the Mirror on the ‘hugely unnecessary barriers’ put up by the voter ID pilots:

I’ve had reports throughout the day of queues at polling stations. It’s a much longer process than normal. You have people leaving the queues to get to work or pick up kids from school.

19:00: Three hours to go! Treat yourself to a cuppa then get right back out there to pick up those after-work voters! The last hours are crucial for turnout.

18:57: Cat alert! This one looks like it’s won the award for most keen to vote Labour.

18:55: More great scenes from Unseat in Wandsworth:

18:50: There’s been a rally in Battersea in Wandsworth with Sadiq Khan, Diane Abbott, and Owen Jones. Again, huge crowds, which is a feature of the day. With just a fifth of the membership, that clearly hasn’t been replicated by the Conservatives today.

18:45: Matt Zarb-Cousin raises both a very valid point about the Thursday sesh at the pub, but also suggests Labour have a reason to feel good if it can get out the vote.

Keep going!

18:43: A whole new swathe of Labour activists are about to hit Wandsworth for the final few hours of GOTV. Just over 3 hours to go!

18:38: Looks like the Conservatives could be worried about Kensington & Chelsea. Luke Francis, a candidate in Courtfield ward, was approached by a Tory activist apparently shipped in for fear of a Brexit backlash, though the activist put it far cruder.

A lot of London Tories and those in Remain constituencies are worried about their national stance on Brexit impacting their local results.

18:30: If Labour are to have a good night, Barnet should be a winnable target. It’s also been severely impacted by cuts and bad housing priorities under its Conservative council. Barnet Labour have tweeted some pretty incredible statistics.

18:18: Diane Abbott has joined Ash Sarkar and the Unseat campaign underway in Wandsworth this evening.

18:10: The BBC team appear to have an enviable stash of all-nighter snacks for tonight. Highly recommended for everyone staying up for results.

18:05: Tom’s provided an ample amount of great cats today. This one is no exception.

18:00: Here’s another young candidate! Charlotte Higgins in Sutton Coldfield has just turned 18!

17:53: Looks like GOTV is going well for the Tories. This email was sent out by CCHQ just now.

17:40: A very sweet thing:

17:30: Kerry McCarthy may have identified a new cat phenomenon.

17:20: There’s a very red Campaign Centre in Southampton!

17:15: ….and a fantastic dog, too.

17:10: I’ve received a cat alert. A woke cat at that.

17:05: The BBC’s got a handy guide to your night of no sleep whatsoever. Bar keeping LabourList‘s liveblog in front of you!

17:00: Dan Jarvis is also up for election today as South Yorkshire’s Mayor. Looks like there’s been plenty of activists out for all the mayoral contests.

16:55: Check out those crowds in Westminster!

16:51: Looks like there’s no issue of under-doing it with Labour’s GOTV today, huh?

16:50: Sadiq has joined Jennie Formby, Karen Buck, Ayesha Hazarika and others amongst the many activists campaigning in Westminster.

16:40: The pledges going out from Kensington & Chelsea Labour. London Young Labour are also mobilising in the borough:

16:33: The Committee Rooms currently being enjoyed by Islington and Emily Thornberry have certainly baked up the goods…

16:20: Jeremy tweeted out a reminder of one of Labour’s most eye-catching policies – free bus travel for under-25s. It will be interesting to see if Labour can turn out the youth vote in local elections.

16:18: Looks like a huge army of activists have turned out for the #Unseat campaign in Westminster!

16:10: Have seen a whole splendour of Young Labour activists out on the doorstep. A handful are very young indeed!

16:05: Tom Copley sends me news of a cat.

16:00: Back from my break to go and vote, I also took a detour to create some original dog content with a Labour Dog of my own.

Now back to your content!

15:10: To make the mix of animals today even more eclectic, here’s a horse and cow.

15:05: Activists are also out in Sunderland, which will likely be the first (or one of) to declare tonight.

15:00: A good reminder from BritainElects here. There’s no exit poll tonight. First results will start dripping in from midnight up till 5am. Better get on that coffee.

14:55: More good Labour Dog content, with a vote-switching owner!

14:50: Dawn Butler shared a lovely photo of her dad, urging a vote for Labour and expressing Labour’s solidarity with the Windrush generation.

14:45: Meanwhile, in Conservative land, a non-ironic but definitely cringeworthy meme has taken shape. Like biting into lemon.

14:30: A big team in Heathrow out with John McDonnell look as though they were rewarded with a big feast!

14:25: Wonderful Labour Dog content here.

14:18: Cat Smith has spoken out on the Voter ID pilots:

This was always going to be a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The Electoral Commission found that out of nearly 45 million votes cast in the local and general election in 2017, there were only 28 cases of alleged voter fraud. That’s less than 0.00007% or one case for every 1.6 million votes cast. And out of those 28 cases, there was only one conviction.

“But instead of listening to the experts and the vast evidence base, the Government decided to implement a mistaken policy with the full knowledge that voters could be disenfranchised.

14:15: Absolutely splendid sighting by Melanie Onn here.

14:10: LABOUR DOGGO.

14:05: It seems there’s some luxury Campaign Centres with canteens of amazing food! There’s a new competition afoot.

14:00: It’s been a while since I posted a dog or cat. Anyway, here’s a tortoise.

13:50: Chingford continues to recruit volunteers. Wes Streeting has joined the forces there. We will find out who will take on IDS for the next general election shortly after these local elections.

Heck, there’s even an Unseat IDS Festival coming up!

13:45: Kensington & Chelsea residents are voting today, where the impact of Grenfell continues to be profoundly felt and the sitting Conservative council faces urgent questions on re-homing survivors.

13:40: Voting is also underway today for mayors in Newham, Watford, Hackney, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets. Sheffield City Region is also electing its first ever mayor.

13:15: Sadiq’s tour has landed him in battleground Barnet (rings well, doesn’t it?). A good night for Labour would see us toppling the balance here.

13:09: Activists are also out and about in Chingford, Iain Duncan Smith’s patch. With an ever-decreasing majority, it’s become more and more of a target. Winning wards here today would be a great sign and cause much worry for IDS.

Also…DOG!

13:05: Not only has there not been enough information on new ID pilots so that people are being turned away, there’s a bureaucracy that seems to be demotivating for would-be-voters:

13:00: The voter ID pilots continue to cause problems at polling stations. Here’s Professor Chris Hanretty questioning the logic:

12:50: I’ve been blessed with more Labour Dogs in the DMs.

12:45: Another very important phenomenon of the Labour Doorstep is undoubtedly the letterbox struggle (#LetterboxStruggle, if you want to make it a thing…)

A favourite intervention was from Karen Buck from yesterday:

12:40: Cat alert! Gosh, it looks like the battle between cats and dogs today is closer than we thought.

12:35: This is pretty cool. You can drop a pin on WhatsApp to get people to their nearest polling station. Labour’s got its A-game with social media today!

12:31: Sadiq has a message from the doorsteps of London, with a particular emphasis on protecting EU citizens and preventing an ‘extreme’ Brexit:

12:20: Margaret Greenwood has commented today on new benefit cut statistics here.

A thousand more households had their housing benefits capped for the first time last quarter and single parents with at least one young child under the age of 5 were by far the biggest single group affected.

Even more motivation to get the vote out for Labour wins in local communities today.

12:16: Some fantastic Labour dogs coming my way. Keep them coming in my DMs!

12:10: Diane Abbott writes for LabourList on standing up today to the callousness of the Tories in the wake of the Windrush scandal, their continued commitment to cuts, their reluctance to tackle the housing crisis, and the damage they continue to inflict on local councils and public services:

The Windrush scandal has been yet another example of May’s heartless policies that consistently leave our society worse off – but this isn’t the only area where the Tories are failing. Wherever we look the Tories are holding us back. Our NHS is in crisis, the housing crisis is deepening and we face more cuts to our policing and other essential community services, plus further squeezes on the budgets of local authorities. Over the last eight years, this Conservative government has cuts councils’ budgets in half, and one Conservative council has already gone bust.

12:00: These local elections have seen a lot of young Labour candidates putting themselves forward, like 18 year-old Aisha Malik-Smith. Shelly Asquith talked to a few of them on why they decided to represent their communities here.

11:57: Labour doorsteppers have been blessed today with good weather after days of miserable rain. Both good for activists and hopefully good for turnout.

11:45: An important update in the battle between cats and dogs on polling day from Tom Copley here:

11:18: I’m sure Jessie here is just excited to vote Labour.

11:13: Sadiq just took his dog, Luna, to her first polling station!

11:11: Jeremy’s voted! And he looks very happy about it.

11:07: These are surely the best dogs so far. I’ll keep an eye out for competitors.

10:56: Sadiq’s repping red on the town in Wandsworth. Reporting high volumes of buzz.

10:49: Steven Saxby, the Parliamentary Candidate in Westminster, is rallying the troops in the key battleground.

Steven wrote for LabourList on the Westminster constituency’s character after his selection. It’d be an amazing night if Labour made progress here tonight.

10:47: Erm, #PenguinsAtPollingStations?

10:40: A meme-savvy activist has sent a new favourite leaflet as part of an operation to get the students to vote in Cambridge.

This one’s hard to beat, in my opinion. I’m open to persuasion if you see any other leaflets as good as this.

10:35: Owen Jones has also found a great dog in Barnet.

 It’s also a pretty big day for the #Unseat campaign.

 It’s something of a Labour London Marathon! (I’ll see myself out.)

10:28: Some positively splendid Labour dogs for #DogsAtPollingStations emerging.

10:25: And ICYMI, here’s Sienna’s take on the campaign, including key battlegrounds across the country.

In London, Barnet must turn red. A very good night would see Wandsworth come under no overall control and Labour make historic gains in inner-city Westminster and Zone 6’s Hillingdon.

Leave-voting Dudley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Calderdale and Plymouth will be difficult but gains there would show Labour’s appeal stretches beyond metropolitan areas. Swindon will be even tougher to crack as it trials compulsory voter ID.

Remain-votingTrafford, aka the posh bit of Manchester, is where Jeremy Corbyn launched the campaign. It’s a Momentum and Labour target, but may be a stretch too far this time.

I’d get working on that stepometer, guys.

10:17: Labour has created a rather handy widget to find your nearest polling station.

 No excuse not to nudge everyone you know to the polls…

10:15: A great source sends me thoroughly amazing pictures of #LabourCats from Grimsby:

Got cats or dogs you’re eager to share? Slide into my DMs. 

10:00: London Mayor Sadiq Khan has written for us today on the 5 reasons to vote Labour in London today.

He’s emphasised the close battles in the key battlegrounds.

The latest polls are showing that it is going to be an incredibly close race with the Tories in some key London battlegrounds, including Barnet, Wandsworth, Westminster and Hillingdon.

That is why we need to get as many people as possible out today to vote Labour.

It will be Labour’s hard-working supporters who could really make the difference in the final hours leading up to the polls closing.

He outlines the 5 key reasons people should vote Labour today: stopping an “extreme Brexit”; tackling the housing crisis; tackling rising crime; rejecting the Hostile Environment; and rejecting Tory austerity.

He says:

During this local election campaign, Labour supporters have shown exactly the kind of energy and optimism needed to win control of more councils in London and across the country.

With one final push, I believe we can make a real difference to the lives of the many, not the few, win more Labour Councils and pave the way for a Labour Government, with Jeremy Corbyn, in Number 10.

Make sure you use your vote today and tell your friends, family and colleagues to vote Labour too.

09:50: New rules being piloted that people must bring ID with them to vote are causing much upset at polling stations.

Cat Smith wrote for us on this here. 

09:4o: You can catch up on everything on the local elections at LabourList here, in a handy guide to the day and night.

09:38: The dogs were already out bright and early today for #dogsatpollingstations. Dachshunds were dashing to vote (…sorry).

09:30: Hello! Welcome to Polling Day 2018! It’s Jade Azim here, on a takeover of LabourList until Sienna takes it back. I’ll be updating you on what’s happening on the ground via news and the best tweets of the day until the official liveblog of the night’s results.

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