Latest news with #SingleTransferableVote
Time of India
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
VP Polls On Sept 9: Who Will Be India's Next Vice President? These Names Are Doing The Rounds
/ Aug 03, 2025, 09:51AM IST The Vice-Presidential election will be held on September 9, 2025, following Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden resignation midway through his five-year term. Elected solely by MPs through a secret ballot using the Single Transferable Vote system, this election has major political implications. With the NDA's strong numbers, their nominee is likely to win — but Dhankhar's abrupt exit has triggered intense speculation. From alleged snubs and judicial friction to a potential Nitish Kumar shuffle, theories are flying fast. Key names are already doing the rounds as frontrunners emerge. Watch the video for a full breakdown of the election process and political undercurrents.#vicepresidentelection #jagdeepdhankhar #indianpolitics #electioncommissionofindia #vicepresidentofindia #rajyasabha #loksabha #nitishkumar #rajnathsingh #shashitharoor #toi #toibharat
India.com
22-07-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Jagdeep Dhankhar Resigns: Who will be the next Vice President of India? How will the new VP be elected? Complete election process here
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar Resigns from his post New Delhi: In an unexpected move, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday evening resigned from his post citing health issues. In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, he said his resignation will be effective immediately — 'to prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately, in accordance wills Article 67(a) of the constitution,' his letter read. In March, Dhankhar was admitted at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences following 'cardiac-related ailments'. Last month, he had fainted while attending the Golden Jubilee celebrations at the Kumaon University. Jagdeep Dhankar Resigns: In his letter, he thanked the President 'for her unwavering support and the soothing wonderful working relationship we maintained during my tenure'. 'I express my deep gratitude to the Hon'ble Prime Minister and the esteemed Council of Ministers. Prime Minister's cooperation and support have been invaluable, and I have learned much during my time in office,' the letter read. It is important to note that Jagdeep Dhankar's resignation comes at a time when the Monsoon Session of Parliament is underway. In such a situation, it becomes important to understand how the Vice President is elected. Vice President's Election: To elect the Vice President of India, only Members of Parliament from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha participate. Nominated members also take part in this election. In contrast, during the Presidential election, voting is done by Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs from all state assemblies. Vice President Elections: Eligibility To contest the election for the post of Vice President, a person must be a citizen of India. They must be over 35 years of age Fulfill all the qualifications required to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha. A candidate contesting for the Vice President's post must also deposit Rs 15,000 as a security deposit. This amount is forfeited if the candidate loses the election or fails to secure one-sixth of the total votes. How is voting conducted in the Vice Presidential election? In the Vice Presidential election, members of both Houses of Parliament participate. 245 members of the Rajya Sabha and 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Among the Rajya Sabha members, 12 are nominated MPs who also take part in the voting. The Vice President is elected through the Proportional Representation System using a special method called the Single Transferable Vote System. During voting, each voter casts only one vote, but they are required to rank the candidates in order of preference. On the ballot paper, the voter must mark their first preference as 1, second as 2, and so on. Jagdeep Dhankar is the third Vice President to resign before completing his term. Earlier, VV Giri stepped down from the Vice Presidency in July 1969 to contest the presidential election following the death of President Zakir Husain. After being elected as president, R Venkataraman resigned as Vice President in July 1987. He had served as Vice President from August 1984 to July 1987 and went on to hold the presidency until July 1992.
Scotsman
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Edinburgh by-election: Lib Dems consider council power play after winning Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart
The winner of the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election for Edinburgh City Council has been announced. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Liberal Democrats have clinched a surprise victory in the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election, further weakening Labour's position running the council. Newly elected councillor Kevin Joseph McKay said he would strive to 'make Edinburgh great again' and would look to focus on roads, pavements and active travel at the city chambers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Liberal Democrat Kevin McKay emerged as victor in the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election | TSPL And following the result confirmed on Friday morning, which came after a close race with the Labour and Green candidates, the council's Lib Dem leader said an attempt at taking control of the local authority was not out of the question. Cllr McKay, a retired water scientist, emerged the winner in what turned out to be a close three-horse race. He narrowly squeezed out Labour and the Greens to win in a ward where the Lib Dems had finished fifth at the last council elections in 2022. Their victory gives the party 14 councillors – more than the 11 of the Labour minority administration, but still behind the SNP, who have 17 councillors. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Asked about launching a power grab for the council, Lib Dems group leader Ed Thornley said: 'We had a conversation after the [last by-election]. We will do the same this time.' The result marks a resounding boost for the Liberal Democrats in the ward, after the party only captured 7.1 per cent of the vote in the 2022 council election. When it came to counting the votes, Labour received the most first preferences, with the Lib Dems second. Cllr McKay was elected thanks to the transfer of votes from other candidates as they were gradually eliminated under the Single Transferable Vote system. Following the result, Cllr McKay said: 'I am feeling happy. And I want to get started. I've been a long time in the community council and I've been frustrated by some things that happened in the community council.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The by-election was called after the sudden death of Labour councillor Val Walker in April. Party sources across the council almost unanimously said the result would be hard to predict between the five parties in the chambers. Edinburgh City Chambers. | Getty Images Cllr McKay, now a pensioner, was formerly a scientist working in water treatment and has lived in Edinburgh for the past 11 years. Born in Dunfermline, he said he moved around during his youth and spent time in New Zealand during his professional life. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said he called Ms Walker a friend and they knew each other through their time in the community council. Cllr McKay was elected after 13 rounds, with Labour candidate Catriona Munro being the last competitor to be eliminated. Shortly before the win was announced, Liberal Democrat councillors and supporters started screaming and hugging each other in the council canteen. A few metres away and a few minutes later, council chief executive and returning officer Paul Lawrence announced Mr McKay as the winner of the by-election. Final turnout 33.1 per cent (6,264 of 18,945 registered electors in ward) Final first preference votes Bonnie Prince Bob – Independent: 36 Derrick Emms – Independent: 9 Lukasz Furmaniak – Scottish Libertarian Party: 25 Mark Hooley – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party: 857 Richard Crewe Lucas – Scottish Family Party – 857 Q Manivannan – Scottish Green Party – 1,133 Kevin Joseph McKay – Scottish Liberal Democrats: 1,269 Catriona Munro – Scottish Labour Party: 1,293 Gary Neill – Reform UK: 489 Mark Rowbotham – Independent: 25 Murray Visentin – SNP: 905 Steve Christopher West – Independent: 39
Scotsman
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Lib Dems win surprise victory in Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election for Edinburgh council
The Liberal Democrats have won a surprise victory in the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election for Edinburgh Council. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Retired water scientist Kevin McKay emerged the winner in what turned out to be a close three horse race. He narrowly squeezed out Labour and the Greens to win in a ward where the Lib Dems had finished fifth at the last council elections in 2022. Mr McKay, who is treasurer of Craiglockhart Community Council, said he wanted to 'make Edinburgh great again' and named potholes and parking as two of the key issues which people were concerned about in the ward. Liberal Democrat Kevin McKay emerged as victor in the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election | TSPL Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The by-election followed the death of Labour councillor Val Walker, who was convener of the council's culture and communities committee. And Mr McKay paid tribute to Cllr Walker, whom he had known through the community council, saying it was a by-election nobody had wanted. His victory means the Lib Dems, already the second biggest party on the council, now have 14 seats to the SNPs 17, Labour's 11, and the Greens and Tories on 10 each. Lib Dem group leader Ed Thornley said: 'This is the best result the Lib Dems have ever had in this ward. I think this speaks to what happens when you stand a local candidate with a record of delivery in the area - eight years on the community council, a well-known figure in Craiglockhart, Kevin has been out on the doors rain or shine and spoken to hundreds and hundreds of people.' Asked whether there was a case for the Lib Dems taking control of the council, he said the group had had a conversation about that following their victory in the 2023 Corstorphine/Murrayfield by-election. 'We will do the same this time - it would be foolish not to.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ahead of the result, no-one was willing to predict the outcome of the by-election because the 2022 result had been so close, with the Tories, SNP, Labour and Greens all within six per cent of each other. When it came to counting the votes, Labour received the most first preferences, with the Lib Dems second. Mr McKay was elected thanks to the transfer of votes from other candidates as they were gradually eliminated under the Single Transferable Vote system, As the electronic count progressed, all eyes were on the screen displaying the first preference votes accumulating against each candidate's name. Labour's Catriona Munro was narrowly ahead from an early stage, with the Lib Dems and Greens competing and overtaking each other for second place, the SNP a little behind and the Tories firmly in fifth place despite having come first in the 2022 council election here. The turnout was low. Just 33.1 per cent of eligible voters took part in the election - 6,264 out of 18,945 - marginally better than the 31.9 per cent turnout in the last council by-election, in Colinton/ Fairmilehead in January, but below the 37.4 per cent in the same ward in November. A total of 13 candidates stood in the by-electon First preference votes Catriona Munro, Scottish Labour Party. 1,293 Kevin Joseph McKay, Scottish Liberal Democrats. 1,269 Q Manivannan, Scottish Greens. 1,130 Murray Visentin, Scottish National Party (SNP) 904 Mark Hooley, Scottish Conservative and Unionist. 857 Gary Neill, Reform UK. 487 Marc Wilkinson, Independent. 111 Steve Christopher West, Independent. 38 Bonnie Prince Bob, Independent 36 Richard Crewe Lucas, Scottish Family Party. 34 Lukasz Furmaniak, Scottish Libertarian Party. 25 Mark Rowbotham, Independent. 25 Derrick Emms, Independent. 9
Scotsman
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Labour prospects of 10th councillor at by-election look slim
At the moment Labour heads a coalition administration in the City Chambers despite only having nine councillors in its group The electorate of Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart will have the opportunity tomorrow to elect a councillor to fill the vacancy brought about by the untimely death of the sitting Labour Councillor, Val Walker. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... However, Labour's prospects of filling the vacant position are in some doubt to say the least. Last time around in May 2022, the Conservative candidate Christopher Cowdy came first in the Single Transferable Vote election and the Tories are confident that their candidate in the current contest will do likewise. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad At the moment Labour forms the administration up in the High Street despite only having nine councillors in its group. Edinburgh City Council is comprised of 63 councillors and after tomorrow's election that number will be restored, but Labour, unfortunately for them, are unlikely to increase their number to ten. Of course, it is remarkable that they form the administration in the first place and only do so with the support of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative groups who banded together to thwart the aspirations of the SNP/Greens who had the combined total of 29 councillors, just three short of an outright majority. The SNP and Greens assumed that they, and not Labour, would form the administration – with some justification I might add. So why did the Liberal Democrats and the Tories decide to use their combined forces to catapult Labour into power and block the SNP's bid for the spoils? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It has been said that both those parties are 'Unionist' and so would naturally want to limit to the role of a party of 'Independence' to that of a by-stander but there would seem to be more to it than that. After all, when I was fortunate to lead the SNP group in the City Chambers, I successfully negotiated coalition deals with first the Liberal Democrats in 2007 and then Labour in 2012, with both coalitions lasting their full term of five years. So it would appear that the reluctance to allow the SNP to run the council along with the Greens was borne out of resentment at the way they were treated by the SNP when it formed the previous administration with the Labour Group. Accusations of arrogance and failure to consider proposals from others were cited as examples of how some SNP members in that particular administration dealt with members from other groups and the Liberal Democrats and Tories did not fancy more of the same, thank you very much. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad So, the outcome of tomorrow's by-election will have no bearing on who runs the council because that ship has already sailed and the only way that it can be sunk is if the Labour Group scuttle it by so incensing their two political allies, the Lib Dems and the Tories, to the extent that they jump ship. Even the current Labour group, inexperienced as it is, surely cannot be so foolish as to jeopardise its position – after all the opportunity to run a council with nine members out of a total of 63 doesn't land in your lap every day!
