or does it? good luck lib dems everywhere down with corruption up with the people keep the faith
Wed 5th
23:50
Pollwatch Day 30 #GE2010 - Lib Dems at 26-29%, neck-and-neck with Labour, in final polls (UPDATED)
Okay, well this is it – the final polls of the campaign are published tonight. Here's what's in so far: YouGov in The Sun ... CON 35%(nc), LAB 28%(-2), LIB DEM 28%(+4) Opinium in the Express ... CON 35%(+2), LAB 27%(-1), LIB DEM 26%(-1) TNS BMRB ... CON 33%(-1), LAB 27%(nc), LIB DEM 29%(-1) Populus in The Times ... CON 37%(+1), LAB 28%(+1), LIB DEM 27%(-1) Angus Reid for PoliticalBetting.com ... CON 36%(+1), LAB 24%(+1), LIB DEM 29%(nc) Harris in the Daily Mail ... CON 35%(-1), LAB 29%(+3), LIB DEM 27%(-1) ICM in the Guardian ... CON 36%(+3), LAB 28%(nc), ...
Dear fellow resident I want to start by thanking everyone who has supported my campaign over the past few weeks. Irrespective of the final result, it has been an honour to be your Liberal Democrat candidate in this most unpredictable of elections. I will be back in touch to report on the result, but for ...
With apologies to the Daily Mash. Here are some of the headlines you can expect to see tomorrow (or if you're surgically attached to the internet, tonight): HUNG PARLIAMENT WILL CAUSE GREEK-STYLE CHAOS! BRITAIN TO GO TO IMF, SAYS MAN! CHAOS AND DEATH AS LIB DEMS OFFER ALL EXPENSES PAID HOLIDAY AND NICE CUP OF ...
So, a few weeks ago, I got a couple of text messages from friends, fiancés and colleagues who had gone through Canning Circus on a bus and noticed a bedsheet with writing on it hung over a baclony. So I went to take a picture myself. [IMG: Wow. Zoom in to read banner. They're facing a house with Tory posters.] It's a little tricky to read, so here's a closeup: [IMG: banner-clip] . I think the banner was there in response to a house over the way that had gone a little bit mad with Tory correx boards that dotted ...
I really must get some sleep soon, been tweeting and FBing and emailing after a full-on day of politic-ing, and I've got to be up in a few hours for the Good Morning leaflet drop. But I'm still high on adrenaline after another tremendous day in the constituency – the polls have bounced right back ...
Let's face it, there are too many polling organisations doing political work. But this year, one of them is definitely going to get it right (and by that I mean within 1% on each party) because of the wide spread of results. You pays your money, and you takes your choice. As you can see ...
So many people have said to me that they feel let down by Labour, and have no appetite for the Tories - they remember what it was like when they were in power. The answer is to vote Liberal Democrat. Not voting will not achieve anything. Every vote for the Liberal Democrats will be a vote for greater fairness - for fair taxes, for a fair start for every child, for a greener, rebalanced economy, and for cleaner politics too. Britain needs real change, not the blue rinse it'd get from the Tories. In that polling booth, as you hold ...
Got in only 1/2 an hour ago and have to be up in 4 hours to go out campaigning again, so an incredibly brief one today. When you go to the ballot box, just remember: Tories Section 28. Poll tax. Criminal Justice Bill. Provoking further conflict in Northern Ireland. Sinking ships that were retreating. Destroying ...
Before coming home to do my eve-of-poll delivering, I went to a meeting about the setting up of the Welland Rivers Trust: The natural character of the lower river was lost centuries ago when the Cambridgeshire/Lincoln Fens were drained for agriculture and that of most of its middle reaches destroyed in the 1960s by an excessively robust land drainage engineering scheme which widened, straightened and lowered the river bed to enable the floodplain to be converted to intensive agriculture, as had most of the sloping land already. The recreation of naturalness and the reconnection of water, people and nature has ...
It's election week. Because of a combination of other factors I am also working a 6 day week at the day job. My daughter has been to her grandad's funeral today (my ex's dad). My cousin Geoff died this morning. And it's the time of the month. Anybody else got anything they'd like to throw at me? Oh yes, about a billion Lib Dems want me to help them with their campaign, like I'm not busy enough with my own and Hilary's on top of everything else... Is it Friday yet? Please can it be Friday soon...
No one knows what will happen in the general election tomorrow- not the pollsters, not the politicians, and probably not the voters. There is an opportunity to make a radical change in the way our country is run. There is an opportunity to turn away from the destructive political culture, rooted in the vested interests of the two party system. There is an opportunity to create a more open political system which can look more widely for talent to tackle the problems that we face- experts with real experience well beyond the political bubble. The question is will the British ...
"This is my personal guarantee that I will use all the support you give me on Thursday to deliver fairness in Britain. "We need a fairer tax system. I will use your votes to cut taxes for those at the bottom and in the middle and close the loopholes for those at the top. "We ...
Been out all day canvassing and leafletting all over the constituency. Home now, shattered, a glass of white wine, and some mushroom risotto, which co-incidentally Jamie "Geezer" Oliver is making. Bish, bash, bosh. Ready for the final push ...
A final post before you all go out to vote. Before you place an X against the Candidate or Party, I thought I would like to remind you of the Liberal Democrat Four main pledges: Fairer Taxes that put money back in your pocket. You will pay no tax on the first £10,000 that you earn - cutting most tax bills by £700. A Fair Chance for every child. Smaller class sizes, more money into schools and abolish university tuition fees. A Fair Future: Create jobs by making Britain greener. Invest in public transport, renewable energy and energy efficient homes. ...
Dear Fraser This is my personal guarantee that I will use all the support you give me on Thursday to deliver fairness in Britain. We need a fairer tax system. I will use your votes to cut taxes for those at the bottom and in the middle and close the loopholes for those at the top. We need to support our children. I will use your votes to ensure extra funding for schools, to cut class sizes and give all children a fair chance. We need to clean up politics. I will use your votes to reform Parliament, to deliver ...
Across our city, people are turning to the Liberal Democrats ...
Wed 5th
21:58
Betting predictions update at 9:35pm on eve of polling: Con:317, Lab:217, LD:86, Oth:30
If you've been following my numbers so far on my earlier posts, you'll see that the betting markets have predicted this so far (as of Tuesday): Tory: 325 Labour: 205 LibDem: 86 (including 21 wins from Labour, 2 losses to Tories) Others: 34 TONIGHT'S PRICES I've checked the prices tonight and things have moved slightly ...
Let's cut to the chase Economics No doubt Gordon Brown feels aggreived – he did the right things over the financial crisis, and was right in allowing the deficit to rise to accommodate private sector dissaving. LeftOutside has a collection of quotes from leading US economists wondering aloud about why we would ditch a premier, ...
Tomorrow morning at 7am polling booths across the country will open. By ten o'clock at night they will shut and the ballots will be transferred to polling stations where the count will begin. Depending on the uniform swing, it has been possible to have a fair idea of the result by around three in the morning. That was in the past. This time, the race is so tight that it may not be clear until sometime on Friday. Even then, we just might see politicians from the parties attempting to negotiate some sort of agreement. This is unusual for British ...
The General Election looms tomorrow. Knackered? Footsore? Your brain turning to cheese at repeating that you agree with Nick's Four Fairnesses seventy-three times a day? Then here are three songs to perk you up. They're all from the 1990s - no, not Things Can Only Get Better; too much like intruding on private grief - and include, for me, the '90s' two greatest pop anthems. The first is foot-stompingly Liberal; the second, a total fake (and not quite the proper song, either); the third wasn't a big hit, but it's difficult to find a bigger hitting out at the Labservatives. ...
The political rhetoric of this election offers very little hope and courage. Cameron and Brown, in particular, have only votes in mind, not politics. Their words are uninspired and uninspiring. They only reaffirm our fears instead of overcoming them. It is not our society that is broken but our politics.Of course, I shall not be voting because, not being a British citizen, I'm not entitled to
I think I've missed a trick in this campaign. The other week a landlord in Warwick told me how much he liked our policies on pubs. This evening a landlord in Leamington asked me about them. Not that I have spent the entire campaign in the pub you understand, yet it seems having a quick read to refresh my memory I could have done a lot worse. I especially like the part about relaxing the rules on Live Music and I think overall our policy to support this great British institution is spot on. Liberal Democrats have a proud history ...
Another very busy time in the final two days - I have visited Rodmersham Primary School and Westlands School to answer questions and provide material for their mock elections, spent many hours delivering leaflets, handed out leaflets at Sittingbourne and Newington stations, much more canvassing and more leafleting, co-organise the final arrangements for the campaign headquarters and the team - and devoured an eve of poll fish and chips. Early to bed tonight and up early tomorrow to get going. It will be a long day - lots to do. The BBC and Meridian will both be attending the count ...
Political betting has all the polls and a quick calculation of the average of those published so far puts us in second place -just. Angus Reid has Labour down at 24% Angus Reid/PoliticalbettingMay 5May 1 CONSERVATIVES 36% 35% LABOUR 24% 23% LIB DEMS 29% 29%
This is a short message, written on the night of the 5th May to say firstly THANK YOU to everyone who has pledged support and come to help throughout my campaign. Secondly, I know we will all be going out there to win Liberal Democrat votes all over Kensington, because politicans in this part of London have taken voters for granted for far, far too long and we are ready to do things differently. Thanks again
Change. This is Cameron's central argument. "We have changed". Well no, they haven't. They are still the same old Tories, and they will do everything they have done in the past again. They want to rebuke our civil rights, even though they claim to uphold them - they oppose almost any liberal value, arguing they ...
Thursday May 6th is Polling Day. The election is why I've gone a bit quiet here, but the amount of stuff going through doors should explain a lot of this. This election has been like no other I can remember. A breakthrough for the Liberal Democrats looks very possible. I hope that in Gorton North people will elect Rob Copeland to join Wendy and I on the Council. In the General Election, I hope that people vote Liberal Democrat wherever you might be. We really do need a fair and proper change.
As we count down the hours until the polls open at 7:00am tomorrow, all three parties in North East Cambridgeshire have been out delivering last-minute leaflets today. Steve Barclay's final effort for the Tories holds a grim postscript for its readers. "P.S. A hung parliament would cause indecision, weak government and a paralysed economy. This would mean higher costs for families, higher fuel prices and higher mortgage payments"it intones. Of course, that's what he wants residents to think, but unfortunately for him, his scare stories aren't borne out by the evidence. A national newspaper report reveals that "Fears of an ...
As the battlebuses pull into their last stops, and the last hordes of activists run through ever-darkening streets to push that one last leaflet that might make the difference through that one last letterbox, the election finally gets handed over to the voters. Yes, at last we'll get the answer to the question that's been ...
I think I have pre-election nerves. This is a very strange feeling. Back in 2005, I was voting for the first time, but I was voting in a safe Tory seat and everyone knew that despite the lies of the Iraq war, Labour would win another enormous majority nationally thanks to the vagaries of our electoral system. This time around I have a considerable personal stake in the matter, having worked for the hitherto incumbent MP in this constituency and hoping to work for the new Lib Dem MP should he prove victorious in the small hours of Friday morning. ...
Feet tired, aching, sore from so much delivery? Canvassed so much you've forgotten the candidate's name (and you are the candidate)? Your home a tip, full of surplus leaflets and un-done housework? In case you needed any further reason for keeping going til you drop for just one more day, here's a reminder from polling firm ComRes's Andrew Hawkins: ... some 38% of adults say that they may well change their mind before tomorrow. The party whose supporters are most fickle are the Lib Dems, making their impact especially hard to call. Also of interest in this final poll is ...
I have just written a letter to electors on my blog on the website of the Hendon Times; I do hope that you might read it. Well, here we are on the eve of polling day. With the Hendon Times reporting signs that the Lib Dems could do well here, I'll leave you to make up your own mind what to do in the polling booth on Thursday. As you ponder your decision, I would invite you to consider: I am a community campaigner, as shown by my having held First Capital Connect to account over Thameslink. I will do ...
Wed 5th
19:37
Make a real difference in Norwich South - A genuine two horse race between the Lib Dems and Labour
Some really intelligent people here speaking about politics in Norfolk and Norwich. Being serious for one moment, it is clear that Norwich South has, despite the claims of the Tories and Greens, become a tight contest between Simon Wright and Gordon Brown's Labour Party. The only way to get real change in Norwich South is to vote Lib Dem and support Simon Wright. P.S. In the video I am not looking around in in a deliberately deranged way, instead I am lookig at the two people I was talking two when the video person asked me to speak. You can ...
Nick says, Change has never been more essential. For 65 years our government has been handed back and forth between two old parties whose only interest is in securing power for themselves. In these last hours of this election campaign, people have a choice: to settle back into the old habits or to choose something new. This election boils down to a choice between change with the Liberal Democrats and no change at all with the two old parties. Think about it. How do you want to feel when you wake up on May 7th? Do you want to feel ...
Lib Dem Voice will be providing as comprehensive as possible a results service on the night of 6th May, right through into Friday. We'll bring you the latest news, tweets, photos, reaction etc as soon as we have it, and for as long as we're awake. You can also follow us on Twitter or via Facebook. Our best source of information about how the Lib Dems are faring up and down the country will be you, our readers. Please let us have your latest titbits and tips no matter where you are in the UK. You can contact us in ...
The frenetic campaigning is drawing to a close; tomorrow we do our democratic duty and as a community deliver our verdict so it seems a good time to pause and reflect. In my politics and ministry, I have always been challenged and encouraged by the following words of wisdom from Thomas Merton's LETTER TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST. Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and achieve no result at ...
The frenetic campaigning is drawing to a close; tomorrow we do our democratic duty and as a community deliver our verdict so it seems a good time to pause and reflect. In my politics and ministry, I have always been challenged and encouraged by the following words of wisdom from Thomas Merton's LETTER TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST. Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and achieve no result at ...
I've always said that Nick Griffin and co. are incompetent clowns. This rather confirms it. Their webmaster quits on the election eve, taking the BNP website with him (for a few hours) and posting a vituperative statement against the BNP leadership, particularly focussing on their disastrous use of the Marmite image: There is no one on the top table in the party who have any idea of what they are doing, that goes for all of them Jefferson, Wingfields, Collett, Butler, Dowson. The only thing they have, is they're in Nicks clique. All they do in the Euro office is ...
Jean Jacques Rousseau Once wrote that "The English think they are free . They are free only during the election of members of parliament." So enjoy your last day of freedom, though I'm sure many activist and candidates will dispute how free they have been these last few weeks!
I noticed Tory Landlord has come up with his election prediction. He believes Tories: 36%, Labour: 29%, Lib Dems: 25% Others: 10%. Here are my prediction. The Conservatives will win the election with a minority government short by say 10 MP's with 37% share of the vote. The Conservatives will not work with the Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats will not work with them due to a disagreement on voting reform. Labour will have an even worse day at the polls then currently predicted and will get 27% share of the vote. Liberal Democrats share will be about 26% ...
With just over 12 hours until polls open, it's time to launch the LDV election prediction competition to our readers: enough of the speculating it's time to pin your colours to the mast. What do you think will happen in the 2010 general election on 6th May? All you have to do to be crowned LDV's 2010 soothsayer is give your answers to the following four questions: 1. What will be the shares of the popular UK vote recorded by the three main parties in the general election? 2. How many Lib Dem MPs will be elected? 3. Who will ...
I have been campaigning like crazy for the Lib Dems in Ealing and Central Acton. It is fun, for the first time in my life, to live in a marginal constituency. I am pretty confident this will be a Lib Dem gain. The local candidate, Jon Ball, is a good man, not least because he quite voluntarily, and before I moved into his constituency, came to one of my lectures! The Tory candidate, Angie Bray, is a PR professional from Cameron's "A-list." Thanks to George for digging up this puff piece about her from the Financial Times, which cheerily informs ...
The final day of the election campaign in Blaydon has been something of a whirlwind. A team was sent into Birtley this morning. I went with another team to Chopwell to deliver our final leaflet there. This afternoon teams were sent to Winlaton, Whickham and Dunston Hill. I went with another team to Rowlands Gill where 6 of us delivered much of the town. Then on to Highfield. There we saw (and
You only have to look at the news to see that all the main parties are concentrating on visiting and speaking with voters in their marginal seats, some being visited more than one. Unfortunately this is what is so unfair with our electoral system that 'safe' seats don't see much activity.So how surprised was I to receive an email informing me that the Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has
Niall Ferguson is forever determined to be ignorant about differences between countries. Amazing for a global historian of such repute. UPDATE (had to write that in a rush). What distinctions might he consider if he was not the sort of thinker who just thinks screaming DEBT!!!! is an argument? One, as Richard notes below, the ...
I will be on LBC again from 8pm this evening as part of Petrie Hoskin's political panel. I'm not sure who the other guests are going to be although I expect they will be of Labour and Tory persuasion. On the night before the General Election it should be a good one! You can listen to it on 97.3 if you're in or near London or via this link online if you aren't.
Just a few hours away before the polls open up and the voting begins. Its been an interesting election and no one really knows what the outcome will be. We have had TV debates, Hustings, name calling and even a bigoted woman! However the fact remain this country needs fairness on a national level and a local level. Not only will we decide the country future tomorrow we will decide in England the local leaders too. My advice to any one reading this blog this evening or any other time for that matter is vote Liberal Dem on May 6th ...
On Tuesday evening Don Foster and a large team of Liberal Democrats visited the whole of the Whiteway estate calling on residents and building support for Don. The reception was warm and positive and everwhelmingly for Don Foster with a few UKIP households. Don can only win if you turn out and vote for him. Please vote.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has topped a UK poll defining the ideal prime minister. According to research conducted by chartered psychologist Professor Alex Linley, Nick Clegg should be the next prime minister as he has four of the five key personality strengths of a perfect leader. Conducted over the past three weeks, this research found that the top five strengths that the UK's next prime minister should have are: Judgement: the ability to make the right decisions;Personal responsibility: holding themselves accountable for their actions;Resolver: tackling problems head on and resolving them;Compassion: helping and supporting people in difficult circumstances;Improver: having ...
Michael Gove is a banana. I'm not being rude, he confessed as much this morning on Radio 4: "If that's democracy then I am a banana". This in reference to the potential for a Lib-Lab coalition brought about by our archaic first past the post system. Well, he might not be a banana, but I should imagine that he would rather argue that he is, indeed, a particularly yellow type of fruit, than admit that our democracy is a sham, perpetuated only by a broken electoral system. For the Conservatives to admit that FPTP should be changed would be a ...
Another two examples of flytipping in Rosewarn Close have been reported by us to the cleansing department and we have asked them to clear them up.
Wed 5th
16:15The 2010 Election: politicians and voters united in deferring the reality of savage cuts
Cross-posted from the International Business Times: If I were one of the legions of undecided waverers up and down the country still making up my mind who to vote for I would feel just a little cheated by this election campaign. For almost four weeks the politicians from all three major parties have argued and debated and discussed, but still none has answered the fundamental question: how is the UK going to cut the deficit over the course of the next parliament? For sure, all have talked a good game. Lib Dems, Labour and Tories have all declared that their ...
I don't think even our most politically obsessed reader would be able to complain about the quantity of election coverage over the past month. Quality's another issue, of course – and yes I am looking at you BBC1's This Week, with your ridiculous Abbott and Portillo pantomime. But there is one area where this election has found TV severely lacking: intelligent political comedy. True, there's Have I Got News For You, still (amazingly) fresh and funny after 21 years on screen. But such has been the pace of this election campaign, that its weekly appearances have nearly always been playing ...
Countries can control immigration as much as they can control an ash cloud. If the wind is in favour, meaning there aren't any jobs, migrants will go somewhere else. I'm not sure this is an enviable position to be in. The level of immigration is generally an indicator of economic growth. Britain has been blessed with skilled immigrants, and this has been key to economic success; yet nobody has
Right, the man responsible for this – amongst so many other crime against music – has come out for the Tories today: And don't let it be forgotten that this man has been campaigning with David Cameron: And never let this man's Tory allegiances be forgotten: Meanwhile, this was created by a Liberal Democrat: And she agrees with Nick:
Obviously the economic forecast is not the best and the weather outside is cooler than you like, but life goes on, even after P45's have been dished out in the election tomorrow to some much deserving MP's. Here in Margate Tracy Emin unveiled here latest work, that neon sign, which could have been er .... but which complements Droit House and I've been listening to the recently launched local radio station Academy FM (107.8), which plays good music with not as many interruptions as other stations. [IMG: academy FM] Click here for the internet link
I have just asked a question of the Rural Affairs Minister about the imminent badger cull in North Pembrokeshire. I was particularly concerned about the Cilgerran Wildlife Centre which includes amongst its activities families watching badgers in their natural environment. The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, who own this centre have had notice that they are included in the cull area and that the badgers on their property will be trapped and shot. I asked whether there was a compromise that might be put in place here to test these badgers rather than destroy them so as to ...
This election has shaken up many people's conception of politics. For the time being, we as Lib Dems have succeeded in what we've always attempted to create - a political triangle of us, Labour and the Conservatives. As my first election - and indeed my first opportunity to experience politics as an adult - it's been an interesting campaign. But I'm not in my home territory of Accrington. I'm in western Wales, on the fringes of our island. I'm not fighting Red or Blue, because I'm fighting Green, or to put it another way, I'm fighting the Welsh Nationalists. And ...
From politics.co.uk A Conservative parliamentary candidate in the East Midlands has been accused of failing to take the complaints of parents seriously after he used a picture of their children without permission. David Tredinnick, the incumbent Conservative candidate for Hinckley and Bosworth, sent out campaign leaflets which showed him posing for a photograph with a group of seven children from the Battling Brook primary school. One parent, Claire Kettle, told politics.co.uk the first thing she knew about the photo being used in Mr Tredinnick's campaign literature was when another parent at the school approached her to ask if she was ...
Westminster Blog calls it Wonk Wars. Fair enough: this is wonky. But I think it matters. Nate Silver has shaken up psephology in the UK by proposing a different approach to uniform swing and instead going for 'proportional swing'. By this I mean: instead of, say, taking 5% off every Labour vote share in the ...
Wed 5th
14:11
BBC have tracked me down on campaign trail in Great Baddow to record a piece to camera for their rep...
BBC have tracked me down on campaign trail in Great Baddow to record a piece to camera for their report on #chelmsford
Wed 5th
14:10LibLink: Jonathan Freedland - Trust me, I'm Nick Clegg: How the also-ran stole the show
There's a fascinating on-the-campaign-trail profile of Nick Clegg by Jonathan Freedland in today's Guardian highlighting quite how extraordinary has been the Lib Dem leader's breakthrough in the 2010 general election, completely outshining both Gordon Brown and David Cameron: In little over three short weeks, Clegg has gone from a face barely recognised outside the Westminster village to a phenomenon. Where once his party had to beg for attention, he now has to fend off questions not just from a British press pack at last treating the Lib Dems with respect, but from CNN and a clutch of other foreign reporters, ...
I today pledged my support for the CPRE's Manifesto for Surrey. As someone who has campaigned on environmental issues for many years, I am pleased to support them and their valuable work, which aims to protect green belt land in Surrey today and for future generations. The Manifesto pledges to protect the life and protection of ...
Take a look: l.html
I have been a Lib Dem and b4 that a Liberal activist for some 25 years. This has been my first time watching from the wings in a GE as it were.I was thinking how the world has changed, politics that long ago was not so much of a dirty word I was proud to stand up and be counted as a liberal and a social democrat even the paddy pants down jokes and in the late 80's name changes I could laugh
I was delighted to recieve this letter the other day: Dear Jacky, Yes, you're right: you are the only party capable of beating the Tories in South Norfolk, and we need to clear out the present incumbents so that fresh attitudes can be nurtured. Your letter was well-worded and sensible without any ridiculous promises and the attendant hysteria, and my wife and I shall certainly "lend" you our vote this time. If the parliament is hung this time - as the whole nation seems to hope - then you must get proportional representation in place BEFORE the next election, which ...
Please accept my apologies that many of you have still not received my key election communication, the Election Address. My election addresses should have been delivered around the 20th April and when they did not appear we made enquiries and discovered that the printing firm had not kept to the Royal Mail's guidelines and as a result the Royal Mail refused to deliver them. It took a few days of constant wrangling with the printer to get them to accept the blame for this mistake and rectify the problem at their own cost - which they have thankfully now done, ...
Dating back to times when unscrupulous campaigns issues fake poll cards directly people to the wrong places to vote, the law says: No person shall for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of any candidate at a parliamentary election issue any poll card or document so closely resembling an official poll card as to be calculated to deceive (1983 Representation of the People Act) Although the original motivation for that legislation is now long in the past, it's still the law in force – and so the law campaigns have to follow. As The Times has pointed out, ...
High opinion poll ratings are enjoyable to see. Big turnouts at meetings can give you a real buzz. New offers of help can warm the heart. But what really matters is voters and seats. You certainly don't have to hold elected office to make a difference in your community, but the possibilities that come with winning elections provide so many routes to change your local community and our country. For all the fun of the last four weeks, it's the election results that roll out tomorrow night and Friday morning which will really shape the future of our government and ...
Is the Clegg/Cameron friendship cooling off before it even got going? Well, certainly a neat analysis (from Millward Brown) of the language employed during the last leaders debate would seem to suggest that it might be. Clegg and Cameron had the smallest pool of common words by some way- just 13, compared to 27 shared between DC and GB, and 20 between NC and GB (see chart). Considering that almost a quarter of their shared terminology was unlikely to be complimentary ("Gordon", "Brown" and "Labour"), and the only meaningful phrases they shared was "council" and city" (both issues upon which ...
Reason 6: Vince Cable has a doctorate in Economics, what more could you want in a chancellor Reason 7: The Lib Dems have a whole section of their manifesto dedicated to young people and students.
Alan Johnson, 4th May 2010: "They would have an amnesty for illegal immigrants, they would allow asylum seekers to work, which is utter, utter madness." [source] Alan Johnson, 24th May 2007: Mr Johnson was asked by the Mirror if he supported an amnesty and replied: "Yes. We need secure borders but also to be pragmatic about people already living here." [source]
Over at ShortList.com, there's an interview with Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable, which notes that his winning appearance on Channel 4's Ask the Chancellors helped start the Lib Dems' 2010 election bandwagon. Here are just a couple of the questions asked and answers given: So, did you enjoy the first chancellors' debate? I didn't enjoy it - that's not the word I'd use. I felt increasingly confident as it went on. I felt I had the right arguments and the audience was on my side. It is quite tricky, trying to concentrate on the other two and what they're ...
Just before the start of this general election I wrote "Gay marriage: The Dream That'll Never Be?". Have I changed my mind on the hopes for marriage equality following a month of politicians campaigning? I have to say... no I haven't. Thanks mainly to Pink News readers pushing the question with the party leaders, we now are clear on where they stand. Clegg: The number one question submitted by our readers was on whether Nick Clegg and his party support gay marriage. Mr Clegg said last month he supported civil partners calling themselves husband or wife but would he change ...
Philippa Stroud has hit some headlines, though notably not those of the Murdochracy, or of the BBC, which is apparently too frightened of the Murdochracy to run it. The nub of the issue is her practice of praying for homosexual people to be released from the demons which so obviously infect them. The response so far has been fourfold: a) a denial from Ms Stroud that she believes homosexuality is an illness. Which is an accusation nobody has put to her. b) silence from her on the issue of whether homosexual people are possessed by demons. c) a rapid disappearance ...
A quarter of the votes in this area have probably been cast by post already, including mine, and tomorrow everyone else will have the chance to make their choice. I never make predictions about election results, but it is clear that this is going to be the closest contest since I first cast a vote back in 1974. Bristol East Liberal Democrat Candidate Mike Popham has had a great response on the doorsteps, and we seem to have got more information through people'd doors than either of the other parties. If your still undecided, please remember that only the Liberal ...
[IMG: murdoch] This election campaign, has for me highlighted the way in which the media in this country operates when reporting news, on the one hand radio and TV tend to report facts in a largely unbiased way, whereas most of the popular British press is nothing if not biased in the way it reports political issues. Because the broadcast media, is regulated, the elections leadership debates, have given the British people, a fair chance to assess, what our politicians actually stand for, which not surprisingly has given the Liberal Democrats a big boost as both Cameron and Brown did ...
Wed 5th
11:20Nick Clegg writes ... It may be just a small cross on the ballot paper but it is a big opportunity
The ballot boxes are being put in place, the polling stations are being prepared, and voting starts in less than 24 hours. But this election is still wide open. We have before us the most incredible opportunity to transform our country for the better and to put fairness back into our society. So in these last few hours, let me say to everyone who has felt that sense of excitement in the last few weeks at the idea that real change might be possible: we have to turn excitement into votes. Change is coming, but only if you choose it. ...
Not time for a long blog post (I hear there's an election on and I should be out and about), but I and others were wondering what was causing the massive traffic queues on Dartmouth Road so I asked TfL whether they'd rephased the lights. Here's what they have to say: The traffic signals at ...
Two planning applications that will have a major effect on Stapleton were passed at the end of April. A refurbishment of Stokecliiffe house on Park Road has been welcomed, but not the new houses planned to encroach on the valley. In Lynn Road a previous application was rejected, but an amended scheme has now been approved, this will also impact on the valley which slopes steeply form Park Road down to the River Frome (see picture). Both applications were opposed by local residents, the local Conservation Society, and local Liberal Democrat Councillors. what this appears to show is the need ...
Saw lots of commuters earlier, many wishing good luck. Then chatting to shopkeepers
Local residents were somewhat relieved to see work starting on the Stapleton Traffic scheme. The traffic islands are now in place, and we hope that local people will see an improvement shortly.
Ed Fordham and the Liberal Democrat team will no doubt be busy telling Conservatives in Hampstead & Kilburn what today's Daily Mail says: Oscar-winning Glenda Jackson's poor Westminster attendance and lacklustre campaign have drawn criticism. Although technically a three-way contest, Conservatives can engineer a Labour defeat by switching to Lib Dem Ed Fordham. The Daily Mail also recommends votes for the Liberal Democrats in Oxford East, Islington South & Finsbury and Aberdeen South,
The Tories' love affair with the ruthless and obtuse right-wing press has led them to the crazy idea of dumping the Human Rights Act (1998). The Human Rights Act enabled law courts in the UK to ensure human rights are respected without having to go to the European Court of Human Rights. The Act was a fundamental step in constitutional reform in the UK protecting citizens' rights and liberties
Reason number two for my support of the Lib Dems is their abiding concern with concentrated power. In Vince's policies it is about dissolving the power of banks and other monopolies. In education it is about moving power down to where headteachers and local authorities can make decisions. In electoral reform it is about ensuring ...
Labour embarked on an odd campaigning trick yesterday. Two of Labour's most senior (and tribally partisan) figures – Ed Balls and Peter Hain – called publicly on Labour voters to lend their support to the Lib Dems in those seats where the choice is Lib Dem or Tory. It's inconceible that Ed Balls in particular would do so without the explicit consent of Gordon Brown. In public Gordon Brown makes the case for a "maximum Labour vote" – how could he do otherwise as party leader? Yet the mixed signals will have given their cue to many Labour voters – ...
D-Day minus 1, then! And thus it means it's time for a poll of my readers, as is becoming traditional. Would that similar results applied out there in meatspace, where I fear the electorate are taking the cheap options of choosing between offal and mince when they could have prime cut. View Poll: Election time again! On the subject of polls, here's rather a neat and accurate little one from the Who Should You Vote For? people, courtesy of aldabra; Who should you vote for? Political Leaning quiz Left wing 54 Utilitarian 17 Idealistic -17 Right wing -54 Your political ...
From the Daily Mash: The prominence given to Cowell's thoughts has left the pound teetering on the brink of total and irreversible collapse as the White House made an urgent call for Britain to be suspended from Nato and the country's permanent seat in the UN Security Council handed to Robert Mugabe.
... if you think the country needs a Strong Conservative™ government, elected by just 35% of the electorate, representing no more than 20% of the population, and awarded 100% of the power because of a totally flawed system that no one has ever voted for. In my eyes, the First Past The Post electoral system ...
I've just finished a great day campaigning in Liverpool, Glasgow and London. Everywhere I go, and especially in our key seats, it is obvious our support is growing by the day. Volunteers are walking in off the streets to offer to deliver leaflets, knock on doors and make phone calls - doing their bit to make change happen. Experienced campaigners across the country are telling me this is an election like never before for our party. The old rules have been torn up and we are rewriting the election script. Everybody knows it has been an amazing campaign for us. ...
[IMG: beckett] Photo: John Haynes It was a surprise and a pleasure to read Nick Clegg's interesting and considered article about Samuel Beckett in the Guardian over the weekend. Quite apart from the specific author he chose to write about, it makes a refreshing change for a political leader to talk convincingly about a genuine artist. I hate to make party political points, as you know, dear reader, but compare and contrast Clegg's eloquence with David Cameron's predilection for Benny Hill as exposed on Desert Island Discs, and Gordon Brown's close relationship with the reprehensible Simon Cowell, and draw your ...
Fresh from trying to compare its own poll to a previous one by ITV Wales, despite the fact that they were done by different companies, had different methodology and sampled different numbers of people in different parts of Wales, the Western Mail publishes another unbelieveable claim this morning. It is one of many in this election and nearly all of them have rested on an incomplete understanding of statistical analysis. In other words opinion polls are a dangerous tool in the hands of the media, who use them to make the most bizarre assertions and often misinterpret them to fit ...
Tomorrow see the long awaited General Election.This month has been busy for me, as you would expect, delivering leaflets and speaking to residents. My apologies to anyone I have not called on. I am always available on email or phone if you have any queries. It goes without saying that I am backing the Lib Dem candidate Tom McCann. This election offers, for the first time in over sixty years, the opportunity to break the old, tired, confrontational political system in this country. The idea that Labour and Conservatives should take turns failing is no longer acceptable. We have an ...
Just imagine this election campaign with only Brown and Cameron in the spotlight. No life, no hope, no vision. The national mood would now be sour, depressed and despairing, with press excitement concentrated on whether various extreme factions would cause upsets. Imagine the Parliament we are about to elect so constructed that Cameron and Brown manage to re-impose the pretence that they (or their successors) are the only legitimate political forces. After the life of the campaign, once more political constipation. After the real fresh foods of real and relevant issues breaking onto the menu, once more the cold porridge ...
Put a backbench MP and a ruling group councillor together and they'll often tease each other about who really has the more power – with the councillor often coming off the better. "I'll see your ministerial questions and raise you a £500m budget" and so on. So we certainly shouldn't forget the other elections on Thursday: All the seats in the 32 London boroughs One third of the seats in the 36 Mets One third of the seats in 20 unitary authorities Half the seats in 7 district councils One third of the seats in 70 district councils Four Mayors ...
So thanks to my favourite labour saving invention of all time, the postal vote, the 2010 General Election is a done deal for me. Caveats: I'm not really a "tactical voter". I find it difficult to bring myself to vote for people/policies that I do not agree with. Obviously I don't agree with anybody on 100% of the issues so I have to base my vote on who I agree with the most. I'm a Liberal Democrat member, but I'm not going to pretend I have always voted Lib Dem in the past nor in the future. I have a ...
There are plenty of candidates for Reason Number 1, but perhaps the best of all was demonstrated by the ferocious reaction from the right wing press after Cleggmania. It is hard to calculate how deeply set is the corrupt nexus between press coverage, fundraising, the ability to swing marginal seats in our potty electoral system, ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] [IMG: Choose]
I've spoken to the man in charge of Freepost election leaflets at the Leeds sorting office this morning and he's doing his best to track down our missing Ilkley and Addingham ...
I Would never dare to assume that the actions of one party representative, even if they were high up, meant that the whole organisation was guilty of the same action. Unfortunately this seams to be an honour that has not been returned to me. I noticed on twitter that someone from one of the local ...
There are rumours circulating that Ed Balls might lose his seat at the General Election. Apparently the bookies now have his Tory opponent as the narrow favourite. I don't normally like these "decapitation strategy" campaigns. I think they are often misguided and more to the point they rarely work. However in the case of the odious Mr Balls I could make an exception. One of the things that will keep me going on Thursday night/Friday morning (along with the Red Bull) is that in the same way as I was "up for Portillo" in 1997, the hope of being "up ...
I've been an enthusiastic member of Team Rennie in Dunfermline for over 4 years now. The spectacular by-election which saw him take the seat from Labour in 2006 gave West Fife a dedicated, hardworking and likeable constituency MP who has fought tirelessly for his constituents ever since. While Labour spent decades taking the area for granted, Wille has spent his time knocking on thousands of doors, visiting local businesses and supporting them during the recession,feeding back how the banks were refusing to lend to viable businesses, which prompted Vince Cable to include compulsory lending targets in our manifesto and fighting ...
As the campaign enters its last hours we continue to canvass and leaflet on the ground, slightly oblivious to the air war going on in the media. At the end of each day we have returned home late and absorbed the impact of such news as there is. The Tory press are in overdrive: spinning so wildly for their chosen party that it is almost comic. The latest earth shattering news is that Simon Cowell has- apparently- endorsed the Conservatives. Hmm... So a perma-tanned multi-millionaire who has built his rather questionable reputation on the most tawdry and manipulative television supports ...
So - the election is nearly upon us! Main things to remember about voting: Polls are open 7am to 10pm. You don't need your poll card to vote, but you must go and vote in the right (local) polling station. If you're not sure where this is, contact Haringey Council or email me (with your address) on lynne Also contact me if you'd like a lift to the polling station and back home again. If you have a postal vote and not returned it yet, you can still either post it today (Wednesday) and the Royal Mail should return it ...
After Manish Sood, the Labour candidate described his own party leader (Gordon Brown) as the "worst Prime Minister in history", and another Norfolk based candidate who was standing in Cambridgeshire South East was stripped of his official candidacy because of lewd details being published about his private life, you'd imagine that we might have had our fill of candidates putting their foot in in in Norfolk. But it appears not. This morning local news media are reporting that the UKIP candidate for Norwich North, Glenn Tingle, has issued an apology for writing that we should blow up Iran and for ...
Older readers will remember Michael Ignatieff as an arts broadcaster in Britain in the 1980s - "the thinking woman's crumpet". Today he is leader of the Candadian Liberal Party. A reader has alerted me to an article from the Globe and Mail which shows that he is also a kinsman of the British Liberal leader Nick Clegg: Both men descend from Russia's old Tsarist nobility. Their families fled to the West after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Barred from their former homeland for class and political reasons for nearly a century, they share a history, which includes a branch of ...
Sunday's People newspaper had a poll showing Lib Dems ahead of all the other parties on 32% with Conservatives on 30% and Labour down at 21% support. Take a look at this link in Politics Home : ...
(Note: This blog is actually posted on Wednesday 5th May, the day before polling. I have not yet discovered how to make the apparatus default to the UK time-zone, as instructed.) This will be my last post for over a week. Tomorrow I shall be busy and on Friday I leave for a week's walking holiday in the Isle of Wight with an Anglo-French group. (This is the result of thoughtless planning: the holiday was booked some months ago when it did not occur to me that this was the likely date of the election. As a consequence I shall ...
We are now counting down the hours until the most exciting election of our political lives. No one could have predicted what we have seen over the last four weeks, and no one can predict what will happen between now and Friday morning. All we do know is that people are ready for something different, and that means that all bets are off. So Liberal Democrats are fighting for every single vote. We are working around the clock to make sure people know that there is a party out there that shares their values and that will stand up for ...
A new poll by ITV Wales makes it more likely that Labour will lose seats on Thursday. Gordon Brown's party are at 35%, up 2 on last month but down 7.7% on the share of the vote they gained in 2005. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have settled down to 23% of the vote, six down on the previous ITV Wales poll but this is still 4.6% up on what they achieved at the last election, putting them in a good position to gain seats as well as to hold onto what they already have. The Tories are up 4 to ...
Haven't yet made up your mind about how to vote? Come tonight Wednesday 5th May at Lewisham Bridge Primary School, Elmira Street, SE13 for the hustings organized by Action for Lewisham. The event starts at 5:30pm and ends at 7pm. Confirmed participants are: - Richard Proctor (Lewisham People Before Profit) - Paul Oakley (Conservatives) - ...
Two contracts with leisure operators to run almost all the leisure centres of the borough are to expire soon and Lewisham Council is now advertising a major long term contract to run them all on a long term basis. The London Borough of Lewisham is seeking a partner to enter into a contract to manage, ...
I've not been in any state to blog recently (as those of you who saw the rather embarrassing linkblog the other day will know) because a roller-coaster is nothing to an election campaign. The human body simply isn't built to withstand the constant adrenaline shocks to the system – "Oh god, we're 1% down on ...
Cant sleep?...been campaigning too much?...missing out on the gossip? Enough of me..Here's a bit of light relief ... As a classical liberal I get that there are things we might want /argue for/demand of the Lib Dems....... And yes, we will agitate from within. But here are two good reminders why we are liberals under the Lib Dem banner and should think twice before we wander off into the hinterlands.... Yes, I know, many will have seen one or the other of these...but hell if the BBC can fill its schedule with re-runs....who are we to buck convention (ok maybe ...
Wednesday: That's the choice that faces you tomorrow. Will you vote for a superficial facelift on the Labservative in Number Ten, or will you vote to blow the doors right off the box? For the Liberal Democrats, there are our four key principles; for Mr Balloon there's his "big tent society". Look around for the kind of changes Mr Balloon thinks his "big tent society" will make, you see him squawking from posters everywhere: "let's bring back national service", "let's cut benefits for the poor", "let's roll up the drawbridge". That sounds like a CHANGE all right. A change BACK ...
What did Newsnight start
The Liberal Democrats have a fantastic array of local candidates standing for the council on Thursday. I am trying to cover our candidates in predominantly student areas as I don't have the time to give them all justice. Park Ward is the area area Wokingham Road, including the roads behind the parade of shops where lots of students live. Alex Kirke is the Liberal Democrat candidate and fighting to replace a Labour incumbant. Alex graduated from Reading University only last year and has lived in Park ward since 2007. He understands what it is like to live in Reading as ...
The dates for the public meetings, which form part of Bath & North East Somerset Council's Secondary school consultation, have now been set. The meetings form part of the wider consultation where parents, teachers and pupils have the chance to have their say on proposals outlined in Bath and North East Somerset Council's Secondary Review. Dates for public meetings are as follows: Keynsham Tuesday 11 May, Wellsway School, 7pm Tuesday 18 May, Broadlands School, 7pm Wednesday 26 May, St Keyna Primary School, 7pm Bath Tuesday 12 May, St Mark's C of E School, 7pm Wednesday 19 May, Oldfield School, 7pm ...
Just watched my last edition of Newsnight before the election (won't have time tomorrow night) and am sitting here thinking about the next couple of days. I'm thinking about conversations over the past few days: The elderly farmer whose decided to vote Liberal Democrat for the first time in his life. Because he likes our policies, because he wants to back the local man and because he is so impressed with what my colleague Tim Farron has achieved in neighbouring Westmorland. The charity worker who has seen Liberal Democrats working locally and not just talking about what they are going ...
Besides pounding the mean streets of Market Harborough, I have been helping the Lib Dem cause in this election by emailing the odd idea for Nick Clegg's speeches to Cowley Street. I provided a similar service for Paddy Ashdown in 1997. In fact, there was one evening when every extract from Paddy's speeches on the late-night Radio 4 round up from the hustings was written by me. It was a little like having your work read out in class, but I was rather pleased of the way I likened John Major's attempts to keep the Tories united on Europe to ...
At the hustings meeting on Sunday a member of the audience commented that the EU closed our post offices (where was the UKIP candidate?). Now I knew that the Post Office had given arguments for closure on economic grounds. I knew that UK post offices were closed and Westminster was blamed. I knew that Adam Crozier was brought in to make the business more efficient. I didn't know that the EU was to blame so I came home and made enquiries and the best place to look is This document states that I am not to quote from it ...
