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Elections: Don't expect too much...

Dr John Parkinson, Department of Politics and International Studies, warns there is not enough motivation for people to turn out and vote in the elections today.

He said: ‘Don’t expect much turnout. Largely because of the nature of the seats being fought, there are few motivating factors here – few local controversies whose solutions are in local hands, a lack of proper competition in many areas and a related information vacuum.

‘This means that people will be voting either to express identity and solidarity with a national party, or to send a national message of frustration. Combine all that with the nature of the seats being fought, and I don’t expect radical change. The Conservative vote will fall; Ukip will do well in terms of overall vote but won’t take control anywhere; the Lib Dems will do fine in traditional heartlands but very poorly elsewhere; and Labour will make only patchy in-roads. If these elections featured more city and fewer county councils, the story would be very different.”