At this time in one of the most exciting election battles in years, getting our message out to young voters is crucial. Two weeks ago we saw four first year Godalming Students, who are not yet able to vote, join our campaign. They prove that you don't have to be 18 to participate in politics, ...
Began the day in Penrith, helping out at the Penrith litter pick. Encountered a slightly bizarre situation when the Conservative Leader of Eden District Council refused to let me use one of their litter grabbers because I was wearing my party rosette! Fortunately I was able to use my hands (!) and we filled the best part of a bag from the bus station area. Good job that several Lib Dems turned up as I didn't spot a single councillor from the other parties. Then on to Brampton's Energy Fair. A fascinating event with a series of vendors all providing ...
A busy day today. I was out in the city centre in the morning flying the flag with my colleague Dr Judy Evans, speaking with voters and asking them to sign our petition for more NHS dentists in the city. I then sat on a pink inflatable sofa and chatted with constituents about a range of issues - tax, facilities for disabled children, and class sizes. It was all organised by Power2010 (you can check out their website HERE), which campaigns for better politics and deep political reform. I sat there with my Green opponent and the Ukip candidate standing ...
There is a real danger in my poll projection methodology at the moment. The huge highs recorded in the Lib Dem share are estimating that the figure for "Others" could go as low as 6%, which is never going to happen. At the last election the three main parties achieved 90% of the British vote. ...
Cllr David Dixon has created a new Page on Facebook so that you can quickly and easily follow the work that he is doing for the residents of Walcot. You can visit http://tinyurl.com/cllrdixon and follow his activities from your Facebook feed!
That was good. That was actually good. For the first time since about half way through the Eccleston series, an episode of the Welsh series has felt to me like a proper Doctor Who episode. For the first time since Dalek, I'm wanting to watch it again straight after seeing it. I'm far from convinced ...
Yesterday Michael Garrard came over and we drove to Susan Kramer's campaign HQ in Richmnd, then went out canvassing on a long road of mainly large detached houses, at first sight Conservative territory but as it turned out with quite a few LibDem supporters. The residents all agreed that Susan was a hardworking and effective MP. But as we all know, the personal qualities of a candidate very seldom outweigh the general swing, and normally one would expect that to count against us in Tory-LibDem marginals. In Richmond Park, however, there should be some tactical voting by former Labour supporters ...
Bad ideas for party election broadcasts, number 1 in a hopefully very infrequent series: Borrowing the concept of Dr. Pepper adverts, we go for 'vote Liberal Democrat – what's the worst that could happen?' I guess we need to wait till the final week for the Daily Mail to do their 'welcome to Nick Clegg's Britain' ...
Just one today: In a post which is surely destined for the shortlist for Lib Dem Blogpost of the Year, James Graham utterly destroys Polly Toynbee's argument for tactical voting in order to achieve the ultimate goal of electoral reform.
'The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.' - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty To begin at the beginning. I'm a lifelong Liberal because I believe in liberty. I believe, like Mill, that a person's freedom should only be curtailed if it will harm others. The Wiccan Rede sums this up nicely; whenever I'm asked to list my top ten beliefs, I quote it: 'An it harm none, do what ye ...
I'm about to attempt a series of twelve blog posts, one per day, between now and the election. They'll be on the subject of why I'm a Liberal Democrat and why I support the party. I'm making them because I've left a number of comments in various journals over the past few days that touch on this, and I felt the need to set out my stall a little. What this isn't is an exhortation to vote Lib Dem. Everyone reading this will have different priorities from me, different backgrounds and different political cultures. There's no reason at all why ...
In vintage form, Quaequam Blog! tells Polly Toynbee what she can do with her clothes peg. Why did Nick Clegg do less well in the YouGuv poll conducted for Sky News after the second leaders' debate? Easy, says Craig Murray. It was taken before Nick had made his closing statement. PoliticalHackUK considers the Conservatives' smearing of their general election opponents. Labour candidate Gloria de Piero is refusing to appear at any hustings in the Ashfield constituency she is trying to win, including one arranged for the regional slot of the Daily Politics. Alex Foster has the story on Liberal Democrat ...
In the car and off across the country once again, this time to Northampton North. The sun is shining and all is well, and before long we are in the East Midlands. Suddenly, realisation dawns. I am near Rushden, where Rushden and Diamonds are at home to my beloved Luton Town in the last regular fixture of the Blue Square Premiership. The result doesn't matter too much, in that both sides are guaranteed a play-off slot, but it might be nice to look in. Liberal Democrats or Luton Town... what to do? But my loyalty to the Party kicks in, ...
A great day out in the lovely weather today. Early doors and it was time to pop into the street surgery in Swalwell, which was being held on Milton Road. The Whickham North team hold regular surgeries like this and we got a good reception, with lots of offers of cups of tea! A few people wanted to talk about the issues at the general election so I was pressed into service. I had a lot of feedback that people saw Nick Clegg (or the "fresh one" as one person put it) and liked what they saw. I also spoke ...
Is it just me but doesn't the whole "big society" rhetoric seam very utopian? Many of the aspects seam to involved statements that seam to suggest that once X happens then it will lead to Z happening (and this will be achieved by reducing the state). Take crime and alcoholism. Part of the Big society ...
Well, that headline should get a few more readers, but don't get excited – the revelations won't come until after I'm elected as MP for Westminster North... First of all, another great day's canvassing, delivering and everything else involved in running a campaign, with yet another record turnout of helpers. While visiting a newsagents in ...
Granddaughter Charlotte asks the Mayor of Oldham how she can become Mayor of Redcar as Howard Sykes looks on. What's this MP guy doing in the way? Roy Bardsley (in wheelchair) beside the sign he fought for. The bungalow on the left is in Lancashire. The one on the right is in Yorkshire.
After a day campaigning in Dundee West, it was back to the joy of pasting John Barnett's polling day boards, with Janet and younger son on doing stakes for LibDem poster boards. Oh joy ... but all done now! If anyone has any doubt about the momentum of the Liberal Democrats - chap on a few doors in Dundee West!
Attended a 'Meet the public' event outside KFC in Brixton this evening. It was a very interesting experience to hear peoples' questions and have a chance to answer them. I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of young people who showed up and took an interest in meeting their candidates, and by how well informed they seemed about current issues!It was also great to get a real feel for the public's enthusiasm following Nick Clegg's success in the televised debates!!
Glynis and Charlotte are pictured with Howard Sykes at the Lancashire boundary signOver the years local authorities have been extremely difficult when it comes to erecting boundary signs for real Lancashire and Yorkshire but when Saddleworth White Rose Society stalwart, Roy Bardsley, wrote to Councillor Howard Sykes, Leader of Oldham Metropolitan Borough, six months ago, he got a very positive response. Lib Dem Howard said YES and today we travelled to Grains Bar at Saddleworth to witness the unveiling of the first of what we hope are many West Riding and Lancashire signs at the historic boundary. The signs, paid ...
Campaigning for the general and local elections has pretty much taken over my life at the moment. Yesterday I was out at 6.15am delivering target letters, so I thought I deserved a break. Working on the assumption that a change is as good as a rest, today I turned my mobile phone off and spent most ...
I've spoken to a lot of people recently – British people who can vote, and indeed who have voted in the past – who don't understand some very basic things about our political system. They think, for example, that the party that gets the most votes always has to form the government, or that we ...
For more about the Liberal Democrat campaign for Harborough, visit Zuffar Haq's website.
How I'm SICK SICK SICK of Polly Toynbee and her cowardly articles urging everyone to vote Labour (but utilise an item from the peg basket) GET REAL Polly – you're nothing special – in fact you're PART OF THE PROBLEM PART OF THE ESTABLISHMENT. What gives you the right to be a top paid journo/correspondent/commentator ...
Montrose Academy held a mock election on Friday, run magnificently by Ian Watt. It was great to see Sean Massie, the Liberal Democrat candidate win the mock election. Congratulation to Sean and his class who ran an excellent campaign. I've had to ask Sean for a copy of his stump speech, as it included some key points I hope to use. I really appreciated being invited to attend a hustings after the vote, between the Angus parliamentary candidates. During the discussion, Angus SNP candidate, Mike Weir admitted that there are three parties whose candidate could be elected, saying: Whoever gets ...
It is possible that the Tories are planning to put up VAT to a whopping 20 per cent. The Institute of Fiscal Studies has argued for a big increase in VAT to go someway towards meeting the fiscal black hole. But VAT is widely seen as a tax that impacts the poor far more than the well-off. Does that make it an unfair tax that we should rule out on the grounds of social justice? Left Foot Forward has done some number-crunching to demonstrate that this would hit the least-advantaged much harder than any other income group. And that's true. ...
My SNP opponent Tam Smith has just posted a very familiar image on his blog. Familiar because it is my image used on my blog on 12 April. Also wrong as Tam himself admitted in the radio debate on Thursday, which airs next week on Central FM, that three of us in our contest are opposed to wasting £100bn on replacing trident. So he is trying to gain political capital out of a deliberate distortion of the facts which he's even admitted in public. As for Michael Connarty's letter to me yesterday, as I blogged yesterday he wrote to me ...
I have been unmasking the sleazy Murdoch propaganda vehicle that is YouGove, founded by the current Tory candidate for St Albans, and whose Chief Executive Officer is "Sleazy Stephan" Shakespeare, close friend and former PR adviser of Jeffrey Archer, failed Tory parliamentary candidate in Colchester (where he was unexpectedly beaten by the Lib Dem, explaining his huge bitterness towards them), and co-founder of Conservative Home website. Michael Crick has revealed how YouGove fixed the instant poll after the last leaders' debate. This was an internet poll taken between just 9.27pm and 9.31 pm. Which means that, voting opened immediately after ...
I have been very consciously trying to balance the content of this blog recently, because I know I have readers who come here for a variety of different things – some of you like Doctor Who, others my music posts, others the comic posts, others my views on politics or science, and so on. But ...
We had a terrific q&a session in Keighley last night. So firstly, thanks to Churches Together for organising and hosting the event. Secondly, thanks to all the more than a hundred people who turned up to hear the candidates. The questions were wide-ranging and thought-provoking covering topics such as abortion and euthanasia to the economy and Lib Dem tax policies. With the announcement that two far-right parties have joined the fray, I am more than glad that they weren't there last night. They are vile and obnoxious and not at all welcome in Keighley or anywhere else. Especially as yesterday ...
Four polls for the Sunday papers have already been published – they are as follows: ComRes for Sunday Mirror / Independent on Sunday ... CON 34%(-1), LAB 28%(+3), LIB DEM 29%(+2) ICM in the Sunday Telegraph ... CON 35%(+2), LAB 26%(-2), LIB DEM 31%(+1) Ipsos MORI in the News of the World ... CON 36%(+4), LAB 30%(-2), LIB DEM 23%(-9) YouGov in the Sunday Times ... CON 35%(+1), LAB 27%(-2), LIB DEM 29%(nc) There is also a OnePoll for the People showing the Tories and Lib Dems tied on 32%, with Labour way back in 23%; however, OnePoll, it should ...
I spent the afternoon campaigning in Clerwood and Drum Brae. Not long in I have just switched on the TV and the image of Charlton Heston playing Gordon of Khartoum flicked up onto the screen. It reminded me of the lady encountered during David Steel's winning by election who would not vote Liberal because Gladstone had failed to rescue Gordon of Khartoum! The by-election was in 1965! I was amused to read David Milliband taking a swipe at anti war demonstrators yesterday saying apparently that they had already punished Labour enough. I am sure he is hoping they have shorter ...
nick speaks let the establishment tremble
good news for modern man here mats laden with postal voting slips and happy lib dems voters queueing for the post box
Writing for the Financial Times, Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne exposes the Tories' scaremongering that a hung parliament will be a disaster for the economy. Here's an excerpt: [The Tory strategy] is to scare the voters witless about the prospect of multi-party democracy and a real change in our corrupt political system. All manner of pestilence is threatened to befall the British people if they vote other than Tory. ... Of the 14 countries that enjoy the top AAA rating for creditworthiness with all three rating agencies - Fitch, Moody's, and Standard and Poor's - 10 have coalitions ...
Saturday: Typical BBC [IMG: Posted by Picasa] It's another REPEAT [IMG: Posted by Picasa] So these must be the Type IV travel machines, then. Drone, Scientist, Strategist, Eternal (whatever that might mean) and Supreme. I've been putting off writing this review, using the election as an excuse and writing other, political, stuff because it turns out I've not really got a lot to say. So let's keep this short. It was great, like a sugar-rush, pressing all those fanboy buttons, bringing back the Daleks badder than ever, and... that's it, really. "The Power of the Daleks" is a terrific story, ...
Spot the odd one out: ICM/Sunday Telegraph: CON 35%, LD 31%, LAB 26% ComRes/Independent/Mirror: CON 34%, LD 29%, LAB 28% OnePoll/Sunday People: CON 32%, LD 32%, LAB 23% Ipsos MORI/NotW: CON 36%, LAB 30%, LD 23% Far be it from me to point out that the News of the World is, as I recall, a Murdoch-owned 'newspaper'... Obviously it's a bit worrying, for a Lib Dem supporter, to see any poll come out with figures like that. Ipsos MORI are generally a reputable pollster, too, so it remains to be seen whether this is a massive rogue, as it appears ...
Adam Bienkov has the story which involves, surprise, Conservative London Assembly member Brian Coleman: Boris Johnson's fire chief was questioned by police this week after a woman accused him of a threatening and "intimidating" phone call. Independent candidate Linda Edwards, who runs a charity linked to Barnet council claims Brian Coleman warned it would: "suffer after the election" because of her candidacy and added it is "now open season for everyone to have a knock at you and [your charity] The Larches will suffer..."After the call I felt he was trying to get me to pull out and not stand ...
So, this week in Blighty we had the Leaders second debate. The day started with the Tory newspapers spreading muck and lies about Nick Clegg. It was such an obviously orchestrated campaign, that just about everyone of the readers probably saw right through the plot. What a bunch of Tory plotting losers! As if they think their newspapers can decide the winner. The people will vote. The people will decide. Not the newspapers and their financiers, Mr Murdoch. Meanwhile, the Mail Online is running a poll. Who won the 2nd debate between Brown, Clegg, and Cameron? Being the Mail, they ...
News from the Ashfield constituency, where yesterday I was delivering in a street with a most unusual name. It appears that Labour's parachute candidate, TV's Gloria de Piero, is so frit of her lack of local links that she has pulled out of all hustings engagements, including a piece arranged by the regional TV slot of the Daily Politics. Gloria De Piero had previously said she would attend hustings on the BBC politics show (25th April), a chamber of commerce breakfast hustings (22nd April), a Nottingham Evening Post hustings (28th April) and Sutton-in-Ashfield churches together hustings (29th April) but has ...
Fairly near the top of my list of things to look forward to after the election is the new Twilight Saga movie, Eclipse, out on June 30th, which is coincidentally the day Anna breaks up for her Summer holiday. Eclipse is my favourite book in the series, and contains a lot of narrative and back story about how the Cullens became vampires. I did initially wonder how well it would transfer to the big screen. A new trailer was released yesterday and it is truly fantastic. Excellent cinematography, fabulous werewolves, great effects, beautiful scenery. In fact, when I saw it ...
I rarely read Liberal Conspriacy these days; I find it barely liberal, and far too much of a conspiracy, but for some reason a recent post caught my attention. But it's not the post itself I want to highlight here but my response to a particular comment. The commenter to whom I am responding is well known for his endless complaints about the tactics of other parties (notably the Lib Dems) that he says negatively affected his own chances. He may well be right. I... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, ...
[IMG: Dilbert.com]
I have now lost two stone since buying a digital camera last May. Studying this blog I find had lost a stone by 5 September and a stone and a half by 13 February. Apologies for using this blog as a virtual WeightWatchers, but I think there is a lot less chance of a relapse if I record my progress here.
The hustings event on Thursday evening at the Hough End Centre was an absolute success and I would like to thank Peter Davidson from Unlock Democracy and the South Manchester Reporter for putting in all the hard work to arrange it. I was especially pleased that North West Tonight's Jim Hancock was able to come ...
From a party news release: Luton Liberal Democrats arrived to start their days campaigning to discover the frontage of their offices being vandalised. The offices had been sprayed with 'Voting Shirk' and plastered with postcards advertising the fundamentalist group's website and message. Qurban Hussain, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, commented on the incident: 'I have always said that extremists and fundamentalists have no place in politics or religion. We are disappointed that our offices have been targeted but this is just another indicator that things are going well for us here in Luton South. We are very clearly rattling cages.'
I doubt I will make many friends here by linking with some measured approval to this Matthew Parris column, which may be partly wishful, but surely contains some true insights. Discussing Brown's 'moronic' remark about Clegg being 'Anti American', Parris writes: The expression that briefly stalked the Liberal Democrat leader's normally bland face, however, betrayed ...
Think this election is different? Think the polls are showing this election has become a three way race and that the Lib Dems are insurgent? Allow Polly Toynbee to disabuse you. For Polly, we are in a political Groundhog Day. 2010 is the new 2005. You remember 2005, don't you? While Labour's illegal Iraq invasion was ...
Real danger of double dip recession - CableCommenting on today s GDP figures showing 0.2% growth between January and March this year, Vince Cable said: These figures show that the promised recovery is barely visible. There is a real danger of the UK going into a double dip recession. Liberal Democrats turn heat on George Osborne over Nick Clegg smears Danny Alexander said: "George Osborne needs to come clean as to whether he himself was personally responsible for this negative smear campaign, which is now backfiring spectacularly with the voters. Tory claims that hung parliament would cause meltdown are dismissed ...
Sat 24th
14:24
Really great morning on the 'soap box' in the High Street. Then talking to people in High Chelmer sh...
Really great morning on the 'soap box' in the High Street. Then talking to people in High Chelmer shops. Now off to Galleywood.
Here on The Voice, Mark Pack previously wrote about how Labour MP Joan Ruddock is claiming to have been more opposed to the Iraq war than she actually was. Now one of the Lib Dem local council candidates, Max Calo, has returned to the story on Comment is Free: Questions have to be asked about what has moved Joan Ruddock to write a letter to voters trumpeting her record on the Iraq war. In a personally addressed letter to electors, she wrote: "I have always acted with integrity and stuck to my principles - voting against the government going to ...
I received my postal vote this afternoon and as the song goes, I have signed, sealed and delivered it.It would come as no surprise to you I have voted Liberal Democrat for my local candidate in the district election and Liberal Democrat for our next MP. As Nick Clegg said 'exactly what it says on the tin', vote Lib Dem, get Lib Dem.
Dear Ian, I'm a bit confused by your article about hung Parliaments in the Telegraph, where you wrote: The last time a British election failed to produce a decisive result, in February, 1974, the FTSE All Share Index - a broad measure of the stock market - fell nearly 15pc in a month and ended the year more than 50pc below where it began. The piece even has a graph starting in January 1974 and going through to late 1974. Why does this leave me confused? Well, I'm sure on most financial matters you know far more than me. But ...
The Times reports today that: "Gordon Brown is to gamble on a last-ditch revamp of Labour's campaign as he fights to prevent the election becoming a two-horse race between David Cameron and Nick Clegg."I don't often say this, but Gordon Brown is right - this is becoming a two-horse race between the Tories and the Lib Dems, with Labour third in lots of polls. This is starting to be reflected in what people are saying to me in Hendon. Lots of people say that they are undecided between my party and the Conservatives, lots say that they are planning to ...
Not a happy time for the Conservatives in Wokingham where not one but two party members are standing as independent candidates against John Redwood. I'd already highlighted how (ex) Conservative Town Councillor Robin Smith was standing against John Redwood (see more details in the Reading Chronicle). As pointed out in the comments, there is in fact a second Conservative running against John Redwood – Mark Ashwell, who has criticised John Redwood for being too right wing. The Lib Dem candidate is Prue Bray.
Gulp. [IMG: Two kittens on their way]
behind Cameron's slipping smile. Tory controlled Aylesbury Council has just banned an anti-racism carnival while giving permission for a racist march through town by the "English Defence League". Incidentally, I see that the opposition Lib Dem leader on Aylesbury Council is my old friend Alan Sherwell. We were on the national exec of the National League of Young Liberals together back in 1976!
Recent letters to the Manchester Evening News' 'Postbag' about the great institution that is the British pub have given me cause to reflect once again on the industry's important role and future. The correspondence was from a publican and former publican, discussing one of the key issues facing the future of communities in Manchester Withington ...
Send my regards to Nick. That was the response from one of the local residents when I was out delivering our next leaflet in Buckhurst Hill this morning. Nick's excellent performances in the leaders' debates seem to be inspiring people to listen to what the Liberal Democrats are saying.After delivering, a quick breakfast then home to work on some more literature. I may even work on the literature
For many years I've been a quiet Lib Dem, helping out where I have time but not going to any major effort. Watching the last week to ten days has been very interesting for me. First came the launch of the Lib Dem manifesto, better organised and easier to watch than the previous Labour or Conservative launches and full of policies that are have been honed and developed of a long cycle of policy refinement. The only thing missing was a serious commitment to investing (or find a way to invest) in the telecoms infrastructure but one omission (admittedly one ...
It's not often that a keen amateur photographer such as myself gets a photo published in the press. But when I was asked to take some photos of Lord Rennard's visit to Islington last week to see our campaign for Bridget Fox, I naturally accepted immediately. I had no idea there was gong to be ...
Sat 24th
11:32
Thoughts from the Train: If the BNP want me to leave, where would they suggest that I go?
Funny really, I mused, on hearing that the BNP are quite relaxed about me staying in this country if they form a government - do I get my citizen's assault rifle? - given my non-standard ethnic origins. However, I presume that I fall into the category of 'people who would be offered incentives to go home'. Ah yes, home. Home is a complex subject for me. You see, for me home is the family base in Mumbai, from whence the Valladares family spring. No matter where we are in the world, Auckland or Toronto, Boston or London, my generation have ...
Way back in the days of the Alliance, there were those in the SDP who really understood what liberalism was about, expecting and celebrating diversity and non conformity and respecting individuals, and there were others who just didn't, feeling more comfortable in a more authoritarian set up where everyone's expected, like sheep, to stick to the party line. When the merger came, the more liberal leaning ones stayed with the new party, and the more authoritarian ones didn't and many ended up backing the New Labour project. Polly Toynbee was one of those who headed back towards the Labour Party ...
What Ken Clarke has been sent out to do (FT.com – requires registration) – and has been willing to do – diminishes him. It can hardly diminish his party. Ken Clarke is a fervent European but he has been willing to return to the frontline of Tory politics. No doubt he believes he has done a deal...and he has calculated that he can hold back the forces of Euro-scepticism in the Tory party. The gag he is now prepared to wear, on European matters, is a measure of how unsound his judgement has become. He has a point when he ...
I, sadly, missed Samson and Delilah recently shown at the Filmhouse. This is the Australian drama not the Cecil B DeMill epic starring Victor Mature (left). It reminded me of the hilarious Matt McGinn tale of and encounter between a wee boy at a school in Lanarkshire and a Schools Inspector. Well worth a listen! www.we7.com/track/Samson?trackId=3603720&m=0 Two things spring to mind - Samson's beef was a bad hair cut! Oh to have other peoples problems! Secondly being stuck in a room with the walls falling about you must be what it feels like to be in the Labour Party at ...
Are you a Parliamentary candidate? Do you know one? If so here's a handy reminder: TheyWorkForYou.com has sent online surveys to nearly 3000 candidates across the UK, including most of your party's candidates. If you don't know it, TheyWorkForYou is probably the largest politician transparency website in the UK, with about 3m visitors last year. The survey we've sent is a rigorously neutral attempt to clarify candidates positions on many of the biggest national and local issues at the election. It is also a long-term document – the data that comes from candidate responses will be viewed millions of times ...
Sad news from Yorkshire: John Boakes, UKIP candidate for Thirsk & Malton, has died. This means the election will be delayed with polling now taking place on 27 May. During to the change in law following a similar tragedy in 2005, existing nominations roll forward but UKIP is permitted to nominate a new candidate.
[IMG: Kendrick Road hotel hmo] Following my post earlier this week about the local campaign we led against plans to convert a hotel on Kendrick Road into an HMO (house of multiple occupation) as we shared the concerns held by locals about the impact this could have on the unique character of the area I'm pleased to say the Planning Applications Committee agreed with officers and rejected the application at their meeting on Wednesday evening. This is great news for local residents. Kirsten, Glenn and I get a lot of satisfaction from representing the views from the people we were elected to serve. On the back of this ...
The problem for Labour is that they just seem quite old-fashioned. There's a sense that people want a change from the control and command political economy. It speaks volumes that Gordon has decided to meet real voters at last. Well, it is all of 12 days before an election – so might as well make ...
Desperate times for Labour it appears. Sky News and the BBC are reporting that Gordon Brown will today start having a higher profile in what has been dubbed a "relaunch".
In a remark that could seal New Labour's fate, David Miliband whinges "you've punished us enough about Iraq". I don't have to reply. The rotted corpses of tens of thousands of Iraqi women and children speak, and always will. Miliband is a really nasty piece of work. He has continued to fight through the courts to try to cover up Britain's involvement in torture. Miliband has also intervened to prevent the Freedom of Information Act release, and I am tipped off from within the FCO will continue to do so until after the election, of one of my Ambassadorial ...
I've often written about my scepticism of excited comments about 2010 being the first internet general election both because they miss how much at the organisational level has already been altered by the internet over the last two general elections and also because people looking at the internet's impact on the external side of politics spend far too much time looking at the national scene when instead they should be looking at the local scene. After the first TV debate you could already imagine the election post mortems headlined, "First internet election? Or first TV election?" Old-fashioned TV has shaken ...
Last week Ed, Katherine and I were interviewed by local community website stroudgreen.org about our election campaign. Its not quite the Leaders debate – but I think its a great development that allows people to find out more about the people who are standing to be their local councillors. It was great fun to do – and certainly was a nice change from knocking on doors and delivering leaflets. Enjoy:
The election still has scarcely touched Whitehall Gardens - just one lefalet and no canvassers. The leaflet is a Tory one. It features eight photos of the Tory candidate, Angie Bray, and five photos of David Cameron. Presumably printed in the days when they thought he was a vote winner. The big slogan is "Vote Angie Bray For A Local Voice in Politics." But the text says "I have been the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the past three years, which has given me plenty of time to get to know the constituency". That would not meet many people's definitions of ...
Yesterday The Independent profiles the contest in Liverpool Wavertree between Colin Eldridge and Luciana Berger: Crash landing for Labour candidate parachuted into Liverpool When London-born Luciana Berger was chosen as the Labour candidate to fight the seat of Liverpool Wavertree three months ago she was tipped as a rising star with a future ministerial career ahead of her. Unfortunately it was not long before things started to go horribly wrong. There had already been rumblings of discontent within the local party at the imposition of an all-female shortlist for this eminently retainable heartland seat. Then the Labour leadership in London ...
This morning's Guardian Weekend magazine has one of those questionaires in which a series of politicians are asked impertinent questions and give answers which they hope will make them look human. They have collated the best answers by question so that we are able to compare and contrast. Personally, I enjoyed the answers to the question 'Who would play you in the film of your life?': Yvette Cooper - Jodie Foster Alistair Darling - Clark Gable Andy Burnham - the bloke who plays Kevin Webster on Corrie Caroline Lucas - Samantha Morton Chris Huhne - George Clooney David Milliband - ...
Andover's Lib Dem town council candidates will be in the High Street today to introduce themselves and their program to you. The full list of candidates is as follows ALAMEIN: Barbara Carpenter, Kevin Hughes and Andrew Whiteley HARROWAY: Linda Gates, Kate Nigthingale, Alan Sweetman and Peter Wilson MILWAY: Rod Bailey, Liz Byrne, Dave Campbell and Judy Sweetman ST MARY'S: Katherine Bird, Peter Mather, Mike McGarry and Vince McGarry WINTON: Janet Evans, Tony Evans, Phil Joyce and Barbara Long All of these candidates are standing as Liberal Democrats because only the Lib Dems and a Lib Dem town council can really ...
You can now download you own "I Agree With Nick" and "Liberal Democrats - Winning Here" Posters from http://www.libdems.org.uk/posters.aspx
Nick Clegg was in Newcastle yesterday and visited the Aviation Academy with Lib Dem candidate Ron Beadle. Here's the video.
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] Having had a look through various party manifesto's I have to say that the Green Party policies on taxation are a little odd, and feel a bit 'Lib Dem-Light'... I'm going to try and hold back from saying "uncosted"! Here are a few which caught my eye: Reintroduce the Tory/Labour fuel duty escalator, increasing fuel duty by 8% per year (That could work out to an extra 1p per litre on fuel each month.). Sounds great on paper if you want a better environment, however, this would lead to a massive rise in costs for everyday basics, like ...
So David Miliband thinks in today's Guardian it is anti-political to stand up against the social injustices, the political corruption, stand up for our planet, economy and children. That is in essence what he is saying erroneously "Nick Clegg is only clear what he is against." Anyone who has encountered the Liberal Democrat manifesto and it is clear that David Miliband will know that isn't true. There are plenty of constructive, progressive policies in there. There is also a big thrust to sort out the regressive nature of things that the Labservatives between them have managed to mess up. The ...
The Tories' attempts to orchestrate their allies in the rightwing press on Thursday to smear Nick Clegg backfired seriously, generating more publicity (and a fair deal of sympathy) for Nick, starting the worldwide-trending Twitter irony-meme #nickcleggsfault, and leaving the old media looking desperate and out of touch. And it also inspired some spoof posters – here are three of the best I spotted, courtesy the wonderful folk at We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office! and their 140,000-plus creative members ... And here's one of the unintended consequences of the Tories' ...
That is according to the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales. Ten out of ten to Pink News for spotting this one. Speaking to a climate change conference President Morales said; "The chicken we eat is loaded with female hormones. So, when men eat it, they tend to deviate from their manhood."He added that he only eats non-genetically modified chicken to avoid becoming gay or effeminate. And wait for it, it gets better. President Morales also argued that eating treated chicken could also turn men bald. "Baldness, which seems normal, is a disease in Europe. Almost everyone is bald and it's ...
Play here.
Not a metaphor for the Tory press pack. Some voters in MK are showing displeasure at getting canvassed by the LibDems by letting their dogs speak for them. Others swear when they see us, other doors slammed in our faces. But the great majority of residents seem pleased to see us and many actually want to talk on the doorstep (which does slow down progress of course). The negative people do seem to be Tories. Many also seem to be angry at their own party - after the first debate we were told 'Cameron has let us down!'. Lets see ...
(This post is actually being written on the morning of the 24th April, but the system thinks it is around 23h00 on the 23rd. As my own computer shows the correct time I think the fault must lie with blogspot.) Yesterday lots of people were displaying the St George's Cross in one form or another. I wonder what they felt they were celebrating? Some years ago, in response to a demand from Gordon Brown that immigrants should adopt "British values" someone with a foreign-sounding name wrote to the Guardian saying: "Yes, certainly. Which British values would you like us to ...
I spent yesterday afternoon laid up at home with a dodgy ankle injury which gave me quite a bit of time to catch up on paperwork and e mails. It also gave me time to give some thought to the last two weeks. For me, one of the interesting things about this election has been the apparent rise of social media. Twitter, Facebook and blogging have been exploding with information, comment assertion and counter assertion. In small but significant ways these sites are changing the way the election is being fought. At an individual level I have been in discussion ...
So following on from the hustings at Knaphill Baptist Church this week where Jonathan Lord tried to pull up Liberal Democrat Rosie Sharpley on alleged 'inaccurate literature' pointing out that Woking is his third choice for his parliamentary career, I thought I would remind Jonathan Lord and his friends within the Woking Conservatives about HIS ...
listening to Tom Miller and Jonathan Lord in their summing up at the Knaphill Baptist Church Hustings the other night, you would think that they were both whiter than the driven snow with regards to their candidacy but all it's not as clean and white as they would have you believe as my research will ...
I was sent this by a friend at work and its bloody hilarious. I think the LibDems should use this in the campaign. Filed under: general election, General Rantings Tagged: common people, david cameron, pulp
On Wednesday evening i took part in a hustings at Christ Church in Woking Town Centre. All the candidates were interviewed prior to the event. You can watch the interviews below:
I went to my first two hustings this week (hence the radio silence on the blog) and it was my first chance to see all the candidates up against each other in a live environment. I had heard bad things about the FSB hustings at the Lightbox so wasnt sure what to expect. I got ...
How much worse can it get for Labour? The trend in the polls looks pretty awful for them, and there is clearly no atmosphere of peace and love in their campaign either. Judging by the ground war, Labour seem very short of money and very short of activists. There is a real chance that Labour will come third in votes already. The question that is going to be asked pretty soon is whether the scale of the Labour collapse gets so big that they start to lose a large number of seats. This asks two more questions: which seats and ...
So roughly a third of the British electorate would like to see a Liberal Democrat Government or so at least the opinion polls seem to indicate at present. Roughly the same amount want a Tory Government and slightly less would like to see a Labour Government. According to the UK Polling report calculator a result ...
Nick Clegg was in Newcastle this morning visiting the Aviation Academy near the airport with Ron Beadle, candidate for Newcastle North. Here are a few of the photos I took.
I was out canvassing in Stamford Road this evening. Along the way we met several Southport FC supporters. We have all been waiting for the outcome of the appeal launched by Fleetwood FC against the scrubbing of the points gained against Farsley Celtic who have now folded and withdrawn from the league. At about 6.30pm I came across a supporter who was able to put us out of our misery-the FA had turned down the appeal. All Southport have to do tomorrow is to win at Eastwood to be champions. No pressure then lads. It is amazing that it has ...
Take a look
There have been lots of shocks in this General Election but I was rocked by Cameron's interview with Paxman. He directly threatened the public sector jobs that are concentrated in our borough. If I was a betting person I would be placing a wager on Richard Clein the Lib Dem candidate in Sefton Central. There is a very high level of public sector jobs there and if Cameron is going to target such places for cutbacks I wouldn't fancy being the Tory candidate.
I want to write one more blog about UKIP because I am amazed at the number of votes that they get when compared to the message they send out. Last year I met a former UKIP MEP who did not know that the county council dealt with education. The last two blogs have been about the way their leader leads. His poor awareness of UKIP policy and politics in general is there for all to see. It seems that a lack of knowledge of policy at all levels is a prerequisite. Today I will mention the UKIP leaflet that came ...
Two new polls tonight: Harris in the Mail ... CON 34%(+3), LAB 26%(nc), LIB DEM 29%(-1) YouGov in the Sun ... CON 34%(nc), LAB 29%(nc), LIB DEM 29%(+1) This makes it one full week during which the Lib Dem surge has been maintained, with the party polling consistently in the high-20%s right up to the mid-30%s. The Tories appear to be stuck in the low 30%s, while Labour is consistently pegged in the mid-to-high 20%s. Amusingly the Mail has headlined its poll – showing a 5% Tory lead over the Lib Dems – as follows: Cameron regaining the ground he ...
