East Belfast Peter Robinson DUP 9,149 28.3% Judith Cochrane AP 4,329 13.4% Chris Lyttle AP 4,183 12.9% Sammy Douglas DUP 2,668 8.2% Robin Newton DUP 2,436 7.5% Michael Copeland UUP 2,194 6.8% Dawn Purvis Independent 1,702 5.3% Brian Ervine PUP 1,493 4.6% Niall O Donnghaile SF 1,030 3.2% Philip Robinson UUP 943 2.9% Harry Toan TUV 712 2.2% Martin Gregg GRN 572 1.8% Ann Cooper BNP 337 1.0% Magdalena Wolska SDLP 250 0.8% Tommy Black SOC 201 0.6% Kevin McNally WP 102 0.3% Stephen Stewart Independent 46 0.1% Impressive comeback from the DUP and also impressive consolidation for Alliance who win two seats in the same constituency for the first time since 1982, having of course taken the Westminster seat here from Peter Robinson last year. Alliance gain from the PUP's former leader ...
Monday was a Bank Holiday, thanks to my grandfather. Tuesday, took part in a dinner hour debate on changes to the Immigration Rules affecting Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 (General) is abolished, and only 1,000 exceptionally talented people are to be admitted in the coming year. The qualifications needed for Tier 2, highly skilled workers, are raised, and also subject to a numerical limit. See Wednesday morning, Subcommittee F of the European Union Committee. We considered a draft report on the EU's Internal Security Strategy, and will probably finalise it next Wednesday. Afternoon, took part in Janet ...
One of the discs I have from LoveFilm at the moment is Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. Released in 1968 and featuring a distinctly superior soundtrack, the film was shot around the new town of Stevenage. This documentary on the town is one of the extras on the DVD. It is rather nostalgic for me as at the time I was growing up in another Hertfordshire new town, Hemel Hempstead. Indeed, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush is also nostalgic for me because it features exactly the same model of bus that we had in Hemel, right ...
"And instead of saying, 'Well, excuse me, you right-wing, reactionary xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave-it-to-Beaver-trip-back-to-the-fifties!' we cowered in the corner and said, 'Please. Don't. Hurt. Me.' No more." - Bruno Gianelli, The West Wing "By God, I'll show them the face of a radical." - Clifford Odets Yeah, that's what tanking feels like. It was a horrendous night at the polls for the Liberal Democrats, including me personally. Having said that though I was a paper candidate in the West Heywood ward of Rochdale, and I wish I could find all 219 people who voted for me so then ...
[IMG: George W Bush Monument_5] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: George W Bush Monument This cartoon by John Cole is my favourite summary of the US hunt for Bin Laden. It's a conclusion also expressed by this piece, which is doing the rounds of the cybernet: 10 years, millions of bullets, five hundred thousand rockets, ten thousand cruise missiles, a billion tons of bombs, thousands dead, invasions, tanks, helicopters & military satellites, stealth bombers, fighter jets, the SAS, SBS, CIA, FBI, MI5, MI6, Navy Seals, Trillions of dollars, and they finally found his house.
In my final House Points column for the party newspaper, I urged my fellow Liberal Democrats to enjoy being in government. But my impression is that most are still not that happy about it. Why is this? According to an email from Nick Clegg sent to party members yesterday: The BBC estimates that we are implementing 75% of the policies of in our manifesto, compared to just 60% of the Conservative manifesto.(Matthew Harris has reproduced the whole message - and I hope that whoever sent it out will note that "thank you" is two words.) So why aren't we more ...
The election is over and the referendum is finished. For better or for worse the electorate has spoken and we live with the decisions. Watching the count yesterday I was struck by how many people ranked their choice of candidates 1,2,3 and wondered if it was a statement about their approval of AV or because they thought that if they voted Yes in the referendum they had to put it into practice.
It was always going to be an emotional meeting of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Executive this afternoon in the wake of the worst election results in 30 years in Scotland. I expected emotion as we were all very sad, but I never expected that it would be in any way uplifting. I guess we Liberal Democrats are used to challenging circumstances. The meeting was conducted in a realistic, honest and very positive way. I've never been in a room before when a leader has announced his resignation. I got a bit emotional, and I'll never forget the shock and genuine ...
Across the country, bleary eyed progressives have sat down in front of their computers over the last 24 hours to share their analysis of what went so very wrong with the referendum on moving to a fairer voting system. It's possible, I suppose, that some good may come of the collected outpourings, informing future campaigns on other issues. But for many of us, I suspect it's just cathartic. When disappointed - and that's a mild word for knowing that I will now never cast a vote in a fair UK election - it's easy to lash out at others. And, ...
Thank You to all the people in Barton Mills, Freckenham and Worlington who went to the polls and gave it the highest turnout in the district at nearly 53%. It is an honour to have had earned the support of so many people It is a great honour to serve these villages on Forest Heath District and I look forward to fighting their corner on Forest Heath for the next four years.
I was called this afternoon by a salesman wanting to sell me a burglar alarm linked into their control centre – for a bit over a grand, including their discount. I said no, and I'd advise anyone receiving a similar call to think very carefully before taking it up. First the salesman told me that burglaries were on the rise in my area – not true. We have few burglaries around here and the number's falling. Second, there's a lot you can do with a thousand pounds and – if you want to spend it on home security. If you're ...
There are already plenty of post-mortems on the AV referendum result. I don't propose to add much to that growing body of discussion. In fact, Mark Thompson has already said most of what I would want to say on the topic. And he's said it better. Not for the first time. The one comment I ...
Writing got slightly derailed today by a longish discussion about local party matters after watching a rather nondescript episode of NuNuWho (definitely the fourth best Doctor Who story about pirates, unless I'm missing one), but will have 7S post up tomorrow. I've got to go back to work on Monday, but I really need a ...
I heard Evan Harris on Radio 5 earlier referring to us suffering as the party of government being punished by the electorate because we are making unpopular decisions. I read on the internet that we are suffering "an inti government backlash". Let's stop glossing over some basic facts. This is NOT an anti government backlash.It is an anti Lib Dem backlash. The Tories, who LEAD the government MADE NET GAINS ! This excuse, parroted by Lib Dem MPs on TV and radio does not hold water. The simple truth is that Tory voters like what the government are doing, so ...
I have literally just got in from the Scottish Liberal Democrats' Executive meeting where Tavish Scott tendered his resignation as Scottish leader. I can honestly say that I have never been so proud to be a Liberal Democrat. The day after a set of incredibly painful election results, the Executive and new Parliamentary party, much diminished in size, gathered to discuss things. The atmosphere was full of mutual consideration and respect. We knew how bad we were all feeling and all wanted to look after each other. I'd asked on Facebook this morning for people to let me know if ...
I shall be leaving this gallery up forever. I'll add to it every time I find another one. If you have any more, please send them in to steve@steveboswell.org.uk [IMG: 468113] [IMG: i_voted_lib_dem_tshirt-p235594951786484637tdh0_325] [IMG: images] [IMG: LDLYINGHERE] [IMG: Lib Dems Page 3] [IMG: lib_dem_diamond__col_-1] [IMG: lib_dem_diamond__col_] [IMG: lib-dem-last] [IMG: Lib-Dem-logo] [IMG: lib-dem-poster-in-recycle-bin-12-04-10-1803] [IMG: lib-dem-spoof-001] [IMG: lib-dem] [IMG: LibDems Losing Here] [IMG: liberal-democrats-logo] [IMG: liberal-democrats-shit] [IMG: new-lib-dem-logo] [IMG: Increase in tuition fees] [IMG: A-student-holds-a-placard-011] [IMG: cuts8] [IMG: image-13-for-student-fees-protest-gallery-511424764] [IMG: LPN-Student-Fees-Protest-Manchester-JGO-23] [IMG: manchester-sign_1774899i] [IMG: PF-student-fees_1370727c] [IMG: student_fees_@hannoir_twitpic_k] [IMG: student_fees_protest_dublin01] [IMG: student-fees-150x150] [IMG: Student-Fees-outrage-continues-London_517853] [IMG: Student-Fees-outrage-continues-London_517887] [IMG: student-fees3] [IMG: student-protest-image-2-542495864] [IMG: A student ...
Well, Thursday was an absolute disaster. Losing a third of our councillors and the AV referendum 62-38. So where did we go so wrong? The meltdown was inevitable. It's pretty much a "midterm effect": after a realigning election, the new government suddenly becomes a lot more unpopular because they can't sweep away the cobwebs they said they'd get rid of. This happened to the American Democratic Party in 1994 and 2010, but not to the Republicans in 2002: because 2000 was a steady hand-over instead of the landslides of '92 and '08. A new liberal force in politics was bound ...
The Slut Walk has bounced into the world of the internet as the latest outrage at perceptions of guilty victims in rape cases. The premise that women are "asking for it" is once again being challenged by a rising youth population in America, a genuine civil liberty protest movement challenging ubiquitous concepts around rape and responsibility. I do not like the name. But the principle is sound.
Here in their pomp are the Who with 'Won't get fooled again'. It's for all Liberal Democrat ministers who as a result of the party's mauling at the polls will hopefully take a slightly more sceptical view into negotiations with the Tories. It's also for everyone who isn't bothered about how hard their MP works or if their seat is so safe they can fiddle their expenses with ease. Enjoy.
I doubt it needs to be said but... being a liberal, Folkestonian, unionist electoral reformer has not been a very pleasant or comfortable experience these last two days. But now the feelings of sadness, depression and disgust have calmed to a mere numbness, it's time to see where we go from here. (Note I may not actually suggest where we go from here and may just get distracted by ranting....) Shepway What I'd hoped wouldn't happen has happened. The Liberal Democrats have been wiped off the council , and the only opposition to the triumphant Tory administration are two People ...
Nadine Dorries MP, she who is the devil incarnate to the Twitterazzi Liberal Intelligentsia, this week proposed a return to heterodoxical sex education. In line with the standard conservative approach to hegemony, Nadine Dorries suggests that girls should be taught the right to say no as a core and integral part of their education. The Feminist PerspectiveAs Jane Martinson observes in The
During the last General Election, I was lucky enough to be part of the team that managed some of the Cleggmania as I set up high profile media events for the Liberal Democrat leader around the country. During the last couple of months, I have been back on the road again setting up the same sort of things but in very different circumstances. One thing that hasn't changed in the last twelve months is Nick Clegg. He is still the same person, saying the same sort of things in more or less the same sort of way. He is very ...
Yesterday, I made the point that I predicted the Lib Dem meltdown 12 months ago. So I'd like to summarise, without links, what my arguments were last year. 1) Junior coalition partners always get punished without PR I made clear that we would be the Tories scapegoat, we'd take the flak , and the Tories would get off scot free. In that, I've been proved right. The argument people gave last year was that "Of you believe in PR, then you believe in coalition". Indeed I do believe in PR, and accept that this may lead to coalitions (but not ...
The AV result has been a huge blow. There is no doubt that the British public, rightly or wrongly, have rejected AV. So where do we go from here? Well, first of all there's the post-mortem. A major blow to our chances of victory was David Cameron deciding to throw the entire weight of the tory party's powerful electoral and fundraising machine behind the No campaign. The decision of the No campaign to engage in deceitful campaigning of the worst kind didn't help either. However, the biggest problem we faced was the central Yes campaign itself. This campaign started out ...
If there is one 'lesson to learn' from Thursday's various polls it is this: there is no 'progressive majority' in Britain. Let us be in absolutely no doubt whatsoever - as if we didn't already know it - that Labour ... Continue reading →
I'm really not too sad about losing the referendum on AV. Nick was right - AV is a miserable little compromise, better than FPTP but not hugely so. I am more sad about losing the opportunity to get a proper debate a vote on voting reform that really works. I am also very sad about the losses of councillors we suffered yesterday. My own district council, having been LibDem run for some time, and well run, is now Tory. Oh boy. But we live in the real world, and I think Tim Farron got it right yesterday - this is ...
My thirteen years membership of Uttlesford District Council came to an end on Thursday. I knew it was going to be a tough fight for I had only retained the seat by 16 votes in 2007. I decided against doing a chicken run to the other safer Stansted ward. The result was John Salmon Conservative 777 votes Jo Rich Conservative 707 Geoffrey Sell Liberal Democrat 654 Melvin Caton Liberal Democrat 538 Eric Davies Labour 122 I polled more votes than 2007 but the turnout was up. Labour intervention and the referendum being held on the same date were not helpful. ...
South Down Margaret Ritchie SDLP 8,506 20.4% Caitriona Ruane SF 5,955 14.3% Jim Wells DUP 5,200 12.5% John McCallister UUP 4,409 10.6% Willie Clarke SF 3,882 9.3% Karen McKevitt SDLP 3,758 9.0% Naomi Bailie SF 3,050 7.3% Eamonn O'Neill SDLP 2,663 6.4% Henry Reilly UKIP 2,332 5.6% Cadogan Enright GRN 1,107 2.7% David Griffin AP 864 2.1% I had thought that one of the two Unionist seats here was vulnerable to demographic changes, but in fact there was sufficient residual strength - with transfers from the UK Independence Party - to ensure no change in party strength. Strangford Michelle McIlveen ...
Lagan Valley Edwin Poots DUP 7,329 20.7% Basil McCrea UUP 5,771 16.3% Trevor Lunn AP 4,389 12.4% Paul Givan DUP 4,352 12.3% Jonathan Craig DUP 4,263 12.0% Brenda Hale DUP 2,910 8.2% Pat Catney SDLP 2,165 6.1% Mark Hill UUP 1,482 4.2% Mary-Kate Quinn SF 1,203 3.4% Lyle Rea TUV 1,031 2.9% Conor Quinn GRN 592 1.7% Sinn Féin lose a seat to the DUP, thanks to boundary changes; an impressive performance by the DUP, helped by woeful balancing from the UUP who could have had two seats here if they were capable of discipline. North Antrim Paul Frew DUP ...
Like my Yes to AV balloon, the Lib Dems are in a sorry state. Thursday's results were extremely poor for the party across the UK, but they could have been worse. For a start, Dave Hodgson won his re-election as mayor of Bedford for the Lib Dems, and our vote in the Leicester South by-election ...
As a first-time Campaigner, who failed to get elected under the Lib-Dem banner in Thursday's local elections, I must now go on record as saying that the Coalition for me is not working.The Lib Dems have been used as a shield to allow the Tories to make unpopular choices and cuts that have under-mined the public sector in particular and allowed unscrupulous private sector employers to revert to the 'big-stick' method of control seen so often under the dreadful Thatcher years. The party, and Nick Clegg in particular, has also taken all the flak for a tuition fee policy that ...
East Londonderry Gregory Campbell DUP 6,319 18.2% Cathal O hOisin SF 4,681 13.5% George Robinson DUP 3,855 11.1% David McClarty Independent 3,003 8.6 John Dallat SDLP 2,967 8.5% Bernadette Archibald SF 2,639 7.6% Adrian McQuillan DUP 2,633 7.6% Thomas Conway SDLP 2,222 6.4% Barney Fitzpatrick AP 1,905 5.5% Boyd Douglas TUV 1,568 4.5% Lesley Macaulay UUP 1,472 4.2% David Harding UUP 1,458 4.2% The UUP's deselection of sitting MLA David McClarty proved a serious mistake, as he stood and won his seat back as an independent. Fermanagh and South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew SF 9,110 19 Tom Elliott UUP 6,896 14.4 ...
Hello? Is this thing still working? Can anyone still hear me? Testing... testing... Ahem. Hi. I'm back. It's been a long time. How are you? Me? Well, for the past nine months I've been working for Yes to Fairer Votes and, by mutual consent, it was agreed that it might be better if I suspended my gobshite-related activities for the duration of the campaign. Needless to say, those restrictions no longer apply and so I'm free to resume my blogging activities. I have to admit that it feels good to be able to express myself again, although I'm still finding ...
Interesting article by Julian Astle in his Daily Telegraph blog. Broadly he says there's the Clegg approach so far - we own everything the government does -, the Toryphobic approach - we hate everything the government does - or there's Chris Huhne's third way - critical support. He warns that this approach must not damage the good reputation of coalition politics. We must break the perceived
The Independent View: How to implement full Lords reform, now that the referendum is lost
Rupert Read, the Green Party Co-ordinator – East of England, writes: Dear LibDems It was good to work with you, and with LabourYes, with UKIP, with people from all parties and none, during the referendum campaign just concluded. We – the YES side – have been defeated by a farrago of money, lies and the worst of propaganda. What to do now? The answer, surely, is that it is time to press hard for real full Lords reform, with PR as the electoral system. That would be a true prize. It is the very least the Tories can deliver for ...
I'd been trying to keep myself to myself today after receiving a shed load of abuse on Twitter for not getting elected as ward councillor. I deleted my account cause of it. So imagine what it's like to awake from a ... Continue reading →
UPDATE - I have been informed by the Scottish Director of Campaigns, Andy Reeves, that Charles Kennedy is not eliblge as he is not an MSP. Which is really disappointing and I wonder why we have different rules than the SNP? Anyway, I think that since Charles can't stand then the party could really use the energy and passion of Willie Rennie right now. Dear Charles Like all of us involved with the Scottish Liberal Democrats I am sure that you are hurting from the election result on Thursday. To have so many of those who had previously supported ...
Hence my comment for today's Independent: There was little sign of a co-ordinated attempt to oust Mr Clegg. But he will face intense pressure from MPs to spell out more clearly the party's differences with the Tories. The moment of maximum difficulty for him is likely to be the party conference in September. The Liberal Democrat blogger Mark Pack insisted: "The party has been in a worse state before and come back." But Benjamin Ramm, editor of The Liberal magazine, said: "This is not a gradual erosion of support but a collapse. The Lib Dems are no longer a national ...
Even before the results of Thursday's various polls were known, there was quite a bit of chatter about how energy secretary Chris Huhne is positioning himself to become Lib Dem leader. Unfortunately, much of this chattering was carried out by people who clearly don't know very much about the Liberal Democrats – or at least pretend not to – and consequently much of the analysis was almost certainly wrong. One person who does understand the Liberal Democrats is Julian Astle, former advisor to Paddy Ashdown, and here's a sample of his take on Huhne's recent behaviour on his Telegraph blog: ...
I am saddened to learn that Tavish Scott has decided to step down as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Tavish has been an excellent leader of the party and the bad, very bad, result on Thursday is not of his making. I've texted him this afternoon to pass on my personal thanks to him for his service as party leader - Tavish visited Dundee on numerous occasions and, as I said to him, the party owes him a great debt of gratitude. There's one other person I have sent a text to this afternoon - Willie Rennie, new MSP ...
Eugene Onegin, lyrical scenes in three acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Performed at the Gothenburg Opera, 4 May 2011. By reviving a successful production from 2008, the Gothenburg Opera no doubt imagined they might be able to sell out four ... Continue reading →
Friday: Well, THAT went well, didn't it. {...tumbleweeds... ...tumbleweeds... ...tumbleweeds...} Okay, how about this then: I've never really GOT poetry, but today made me think of this: "Between the idea "And the reality "Between the motion "And the act Falls the Shadow" We KNEW this day was coming, was inevitable really, as a consequence of the position we were left in at the end of the last General Election. But there's a difference between "knowing" that and the reality of it actually happening, the difference, the "shadow" that we put between ourselves and the abyss staring us in the face. ...
My Congratulations go to Janet Finch Saunders AM for winning this seat, she worked hard and fought a clean fight. Janet Finch Saunders Conservatives 6,888 Iwan Huws Plaid Cymru 5,321 Eifion Wyn Williams Labour 5,206 Mike Priestley Lib Dems 2,873 I raised the vote in Aberconwy for the Libdems by 5% and contributed to assist Aled Roberts in his election for one of the four Regional seats. I supported Aled to become our number one for the list and feel that he will make an excellent AM, Congratulations also go to him. In the current circumstances with the national picture, ...
I called into the BBC's Any Answers? programme to say something about the local elections...If you want to hear what I said, I'm about ten minutes, ten seconds in.
Well wasn't that interesting? Greater minds that mine will draw conclusions from why the Lib Dems had such a terrible election night but here are some of my initial thoughts: Many probable Lib Dem voters in Scotland felt that we had committed the cardinal sin of going into coalition with the Tories and genuinely believed ...
Well done Mike!Mike Booth wins again in Kew Ward.
On a miserable night, the Scottish Liberal Democrats were particularly glum losing 12 of 17 seats in the Scottish Parliament and falling below 8% of the vote. The elected members can now fit in a McTaxi. One, the Leader Tavish Scott has just resigned and is likely to be replaced by super-campaigner Willie Rennie. Most of this is down to the general trend against the party. Some of it is local. Like the Welsh party, who performed relatively less poorly, it is hard to see what is compelling and distinctive about the Scottish party. It is not clear that the ...
I guess it's about time to squat on the scorched earth of our referendum disaster and pick ghoulishly at the corpse of the Yes to AV campaign. Here's why I think the AV campaign failed. ED MILIBAND Ed Miliband is a weak leader. While he was willing to put his neck out for reform, he ...
Today, Cameron looks like the brilliant strategist, although we might call him something else. He's the cat-that-got-the-cream and Libby's gilded-cage looks more like iron bars (and a meal for later). Miliband is chuffed that Labour is winning back peoples trust, and we might choke whilst trying to understand how Labour get away with saying that whilst using 'no-cuts' rhetoric in the face of such a deficit. And the No-to-AV campaign face, Professor Robert Winston gleefully looks forward to a return to two-party politics, and it makes me want to scream! And I, for one, am regretful of my support for ...
The votes are in, and counted. The wait is over but for the YES camp it's the bad news we've been dreading, and reform of Westminster elections is now lost for many years at least. So what does a NO vote mean for the future? For the Liberal Democrats as a party, it's undoubtedly a bitter pill to swallow having carried the flag of electoral reform for years. The referendum on AV was the jewel in the crown of the coalition concessions, the final offer that made coalition possible. For many activists a change in the voting system has seemed ...
There was some consolation here in Leicestershire among the gloom of Thursday's local elections. The Liberal Democats retained control of both Hinckley & Bosworth and Oadby & Wigston district councils. In Hinckley & Bosworth we lost one seat, as did Labour, and the Conservatives gained two. This means the make up of the new council is: Lib Dem 18, Conservative 15, Labour 1. In Oadby & Wigston we gained two seats from the Conservatives making the balance of the new council: Liberal Democrats 23, Conservatives 3. It is also worth noting that the BNP lost their two seats on North ...
This morning's Independent reports that the Prime Minister will not support Nick Clegg to force through Liberal Democrat plans to create an elected House of Lords, despite a commitment to reform in the Coalition agreement to do so. They say Mr Cameron has "no intention" of allowing Lords reform to become "his Hunting Act" and he will not throw his party's weight behind it. He is also not prepared to "clog up" the rest of the Government's legislative agenda by protracted debate on Lords reform: His hardline position is difficult for Mr Clegg as further constitutional reform was a key ...
Yesteday I blogged why the line being spun - 'it's what happens to parties in government in mid term elections' - was nonsense. Today a new front has been opened. I don't like today's approach much either... The new line is, basically, 'everything that happened to the Lib Dems on Thursday was the Tories fault, they're a disgrace'. This is best summarised by Vince's attack this morning - he calls the Tories 'ruthless, calculating and very Tribal'. And various others have taken their cue from this and joined the bandwagon, notably Jenny Tonge. Now while this line seems to be ...
Well, yes and no. A kicking it certainly was. Where people saw the benefits of voting Liberal Democrat as the best party to represent them in their area, the effects of the decision to go into coalition with the Tories were somewhat cushioned. This is my take on what happened in Woodley, for example, where people wanted to see Liberal Democrats standing up for their area as they do a good job; but some voters who hated the Tories wanted to see them get in nonetheless, as they voted Labour. The results in the North were jaw-droppingly awful. They won't ...
South Belfast Anna Lo AP 6,390 19.8% Alasdair McDonnell SDLP 4,527 14.0% Jimmy Spratt DUP 4,045 12.5% Alex Maskey SF 4,038 12.5% Ruth Patterson DUP 3,800 11.8% Conall McDevitt SDLP 3,191 9.9% Michael McGimpsey UUP 2,988 9.2% Mark Finlay UUP 1,394 4.3% Clare Bailey GRN 889 2.8% Brian Faloon PBPA 414 1.3% Paddy Meehan SOC 234 0.7% Nico Torregrosa UKIP 234 0.7% Paddy Lynn WP 135 0.4% Charles Smyth PROC 29 0.1% I stuck my neck out here last night, predicting that McDevitt could hold onto the SDLP seat with various lefty transfers despite his party being outpolled by the ...
It's not every day you see an escalator on the back of a lorry, is it? This one was being delivered to the new Debenhams in Park Way, Newbury on Thursday.
Courtesy of @Chrisjenkinson I thought I would add my comments to his post on Political Phrases I'd Rather Not Hear.His political phrase in question is "We're making tough decisions" As Chris observes, the truth of the statement is; We're cutting project X because the country's deficit is comparable to Greece's. Because we're cutting X, which Greece's politicians didn't do, we aren't being bailed
So, I have become a statistic. I have spent the last six weeks fighting against strong Tory opponents who have canvassed my ward and fought on local issues. It was all to no avail, as the ward was won by Labour. What is sad is that Labour did not put out any literature about local issues. Instead it was just standard, cynical 'let's punish the Lib Dems' national messages. I am not alone, of course. This has happened to hundreds of decent hard working councillors all over England, and to some extent other parts of the UK. Of course, every ...
"We're making tough decisions" I've been thinking about this for a while, but I felt it was time to write something after hearing the news of our ministers and spokespeople talking about and trying to defend our poor election results. I know that once you've accepted the (correct, in my view) position that there needs to be significant spending cuts and tax rises you have to decide how to allocate the remaining resources, and that there are hundreds of incredibly deserving government projects (not always in delivery, but often in principle) which are facing major reductions if not closure altogether. ...
Thank you to everyone who supported the Liberal Democrats in the Wycombe District Council Elections. In Wycombe Constituency we lost 2 and gained 3 so considering the national picture we did ok. In Booker we gained a seat from the Conservatives who slipped to bottom of the poll as their vote was decimated because of their plan to build upon Green Belt Land. Congratulations to our candidate Simon Parker who has led the opposition to these plans. In Micklefield we gained 2 seats, one from Labour and one from the Conservatives. This was a fantastic victory for the Micklefield community ...
With the election over, I got to return to one of favourite evening pastimes (after canvassing, of course) – shouting at the TV when Look East is covering politics. Firstly, they clearly have an issue in getting accurate information about what's going on. Last night, their political editor reported that the Bedford mayoral contest wasn't looking good for the Liberal Democrats, about an hour after the result of the first preference votes had been announced, showing that Dave Hodgson was leading the race, and about five minutes after I'd seen the first mentions on Twitter that he'd won re-election by ...
The Electoral Commission has published the voting breakdown area by area for Thursday's 'alternative vote' referendum. Just 10 of the 440 areas voted in favour of ditching our current voting system. Here, in order, are the areas which believe in pluralist politics, where they believe the public is intelligent enough to understand how to rank candidates in order of preference: Hackney — 60.68% Yes; 39.32% No (Turn-out: 34.11%) Glasgow Kelvin — 58.78; 41.22 (40.49%) Islington — 56.92%; 43.08% (35.68%) Haringey — 56.62%; 43.38% (35.62%) Lambeth — 54.69%; 45.31% (33.07%) Cambridge — 54.32%; 45.68% (48.15%) Oxford — 54.11%; 45.89% (38.98%) Southwark ...
Waking up after a long post-election lie-in this morning, I found myself confronted with sad news. No, not the defeat of the AV vote in the referendum because that was a pretty much a forgone conclusion. No, it was the sad, sad news that Severino Ballesteros has passed away at the age of 54 that filled me with immense sadness this morning. RIP Seve Seve Ballesteros was one of the most loved and charismatic golfers and indeed sportsmen, the world has ever known. He died after a long and couragous fight against cancer and the great shock to me was ...
It has undoubtedly been a difficult couple of nights for the Liberal Democrat party, just one year after they secured a million more votes than they had ever done before at a general election. Members up and down the country undoubtedly woke up this morning a bit bleary eyed and disorientated, after losing over 700 ...
Great news from Thatcham. The Liberal Democrats have remained in control of the Town Council beating the Tories at least 12-6, subject to a recount. I say "at least" because on Monday evening at 7.30pm there will be a recount of Thatcham South. But at the moment, declared so far, are 4 LD seats in West, 3 LD 1 Con in Central, 2 LD 2 Con in North. South looks could be LD 3, Con 3 or it could be LD 4, Con 2 dependent on the recount. This is actually an improvement (since the last general council election) for ...
The Independent writes It was in Clegg's moment of triumph that the seeds of disaster were sown which highlights strengths in Nick Clegg, which will be rare in the coming days but certainly worth highlighting The subsequent simplistic accusations of betrayal that were applied to Clegg were wide of the mark. He is a committed ...
The sun is shining, the birds are still singing, and I'm still a Parish Councillor for my small, but perfectly formed village. Admittedly, I'm not the District Councillor, but it was always a bit of a longshot. However, I do find myself with a bit of a dilemma. Ros and I have been together for nearly four years now, and have been campaigning for all of that time, and find ourselves at a bit of a loose end. Actually, that isn't really true. Ros has her work in the Lords, of course, and as a member of the House of ...
Looking forward and rejecting recriminations, what the country needs now is a New Deal. What the party needs now, within the Coalition and after the deal-breaking of the last few weeks, is also a new deal. As might have been expected, the economy is flat lining. The bounce that the optimists thought would spontaneously follow a period of recession has not occurred. We are on the verge of a round of public expenditure cuts that will further depress the economy and destroy the life chances of millions. The justification for accepting deeper and earlier cuts to public expenditure said more ...
A little ray of sunshine on a pretty dark day – Haringey voted Yes to AV! YES: 30,310 (57%) NO: 23,223 (43%) Turnout was 35.7% – above the London average. But the country has spoken – and that's that!
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members have responded, and we're currently publishing the full results. Tuffrey set to beat Opik for London mayoral nomination LDV asked: It's thought that there are two names who may stand for the London mayoralty as the Lib Dem candidate in 2012: Lembit Opik and Mike Tuffrey. Who do you think you are most likely to vote for? 10% – Lembit Opik 56% – Mike Tuffrey 18% – I ...
What people think after not so cool reflection. A small selection. Matthew Taylor (Chief Executive of the RSA not the ex-MP) analyses why the YES campaign got it wrong.Tom King noted on Facebook that 32% voted Yes, but 35% voted Labour in 2005, and they got a 66-seat majority. Explains why Labour loves the unfair FPTP.David Allen Green asks in his New Statesman blof, "What the Liberal Democrats
'I am angry because you lied and got my vote and then delivered policies without mandate. Voted LibDem all my life-now have joined Labour.' -Quote taken from a Twitter post on 6 May. This, basically, sums up why we were delivered a 'bitter blow' by the electorate. Fistly and foremostly, my heart goes out to the approximately 700 councillors who have lost their seats eventhough they have worked tirelessly for many, many years. Some of these councillors have been in their seats for decades. They paid the price for our Coalition policies despite the fact they are wonderful and hard ...
800 seats councilors lost, AV rejected and the SNP marching towards a possible secession from the Union. Regardless of what Labour announce in the next few days it cannot be hidden: Ed Miliband had a bad night, too. The local ... Continue reading →
South Antrim Paul Girvan DUP 4,844 15.1% Mitchel McLaughlin SF 4,662 14.5% Trevor Clarke DUP 4,607 14.3% David Ford AP 4,554 14.2% Danny Kinahan UUP 3,445 10.7% Thomas Burns SDLP 3,406 10.6% Pam Lewis DUP 2,866 8.9% Adrian Watson UUP 2,285 7.1% Mel Lucas TUV 1,091 3.4% Stephen Parkes BNP 404 1.3% The first change in party strengths in a completed seat. SDLP lose to DUP, really as a result of boundary changes - I make their performance an improvement on both last year's Westminster result and the adjusted 2007 figures, but it wasn't enough. NB another young woman newly ...
Like most Lib Dems in East Grinstead, I was a victim of the nationwide rout of the Lib Dems. In many discussions on the doorstep over the last few weeks, I have stressed that the voice of the people has to be listened to. The local results have been decisive and clearly the people are not persuaded by the Lib Dem message. My commiserations to my fellow candidates in Herontye: Tony Joannou-Coetzee and Steve Barnett. They have been great to work with. My congratulations to my East Grinstead Lib Dem colleagues who did get elected. Catrin Ingham, Bob Mainstone and ...
I'm a bit late with this but I felt it was worth taking the time to get a bit of perspective. Clearly the result last night was very disappointing: those of us who were out campaigning for fairer votes were defeated by a margin which was not only decisive but was almost cruel. So where does this leave us? Firstly, we need to work out what went wrong. I received direct mail from the No campaign, but not from the Yes campaign. Why was this? I saw advertising billboards for the No campaign - several of them - but none ...
It's Malcolm's fault. Not only has been going on and on (and on) about how fearsome the coal road would be, but when we went for a recce, he (accidentally!) missed out the loop which would include it. The coal road links Dentdale with Garsdale. The primitive mines above Dentdale were abandoned after the railway brought cheap coal from farther afield. But the old name remains and the Coal Road is a testing focal point for northern cyclists. It is also at about 70 miles and 5 big hills in, on the ride many of us from the Cappuccino Club ...
Newry and Armagh Conor Murphy SF 9,127 19.6% Danny Kennedy UUP 8,718 18.7% Dominic Bradley SDLP 7,123 15.3% Cathal Boylan SF 6,614 14.2% William Irwin DUP 6,101 13.1% Thomas O'Hanlon SDLP 3,825 8.2% Mickey Brady SF 3,254 8.2% Barrie Halliday TUV 830 1.8% David Murphy AP 734 1.6% Robert Woods UKIP 98 0.2% James Malone Independent 90 0.2% Least unexpected result of the election - same six MLA's elected as in 2007 from an all-male ballot paper. Upper Bann John O'Dowd SF 6,649 15.7% Sydney Anderson DUP 5,854 13.8% Stephen Moutray DUP 5,645 13.3% Johnny McGibbon SF 0 4,879 11.5% ...
A brief post to say thank you to anyone who voted Liberal Democrat (and to all those who voted) in Bidston & St. James ward. As I live here, unlike the other candidates in the election I'll be sticking around for a good while yet! Thank you to all those who wished us good luck. ...
I recently read Andrew Grill's post about being a QR Code Sceptic. I agree with some of his points about crap QR code adverts – I've blogged about many of them – but I believe the fundamental business case for QR codes is still strong. Many people on the blog and on Twitter have asked for case-studies proving how efficacious QR is. Case-Study comes from the Latin phrase casum stutitius which literally translates to lies told by marketing drones to get you to buy their product. We get the occasional self-reported statistic – QRazyStuff say their newspaper campaign had 1,200 ...
My friend Craig Harlow was being philospohical this morning and remembered this quote from the great Libearal and Lib Dem, Russell Johnson. "You can stand at the bottom of a mountain, look up and say: "This is so high and precipitous, so rugged and intimidating that I can never dare to challange it." Or, you can begin to climb. And, if you do, one day you may see the summit. And if you do not, its peak will be forever hidden in the mists of vanished opportunity. Today we can begin to climb..." Last May as Liberal Democrat we appeared ...
On being a Lib Dem amidst the "victorious crowing of Lab/Con supporters for the next month" (tags: libdemmery)
here, starting in five minutes, going through until after lunch (2.15 I'm told but maybe longer).
The Egyptian revolution of 1919 helped bring about independence, whilst that of 2011 may well bring about democracy. Events of 2011 took place with heavy use of the internet, yet those of 1919 took place before the electronic computer had even had its début. So is talk of the internet's role in 2011 over-hyped? One reason for scepticism is that half-way point that Egypt is even now still at. A dictator may have been ousted, but it was as much military coup as popular uprising, for it was the army's initial unwillingness to try to stop the protests and then ...
In amongst all the bad results, it's understandable that news from two of the best candidates I've had the pleasure of working with over the years has been mostly overlooked. But it's worth highlighting that Dave Hodgson won re-election as Mayor in Bedford, whilst Zuffar Haq held on to second place in Leicester South. Congratulations to them both and to their teams. Here are the result details: Leicester South Jonathan Ashworth (Lab) 19,771 (57.8%, +12.2) Zuffar Haq (LibDem) 7,693 (22.5%, -4.4) Jane Hunt (Con) 5,169 (15.1%, -6.3) Abhijit Pandya (UKIP) 994 (2.9%, +1.4) Howling Laud Hope (Monster Raving Loony) 553 ...
Well, that was a thoroughly depressing day! All chances of voting reform for a generation down the pan, and the Lib Dems knocked for six by the voters. That's democracy for you, I guess... Perhaps, after all, liberalism's concern to stick up for oppressed minorities is more to do with rational self-interest than enlightened altruism. To save myself from such musings of doom, I spent last night watching Pete Doherty play the Oxford O2 instead. It was a pretty surreal experience. I had expected the concert to be sold out, and it was. What I hadn't expected was the audience ...
Yesterday, as it became clear that the Referendum on the Voting System had not been a YES, Andrew and I said YES in May once more to each other in a very special way: I solemnly promise that I will protect you, N., my brother, with my utmost care, that I will honour and cherish ...
I am moving house soon to the Forth Ward in Edinburgh (see, already thinking about the council elections next year). So I will no longer be the Midlothian Liberal. And I am going to examine my own position to independence for Scotland. Following the defeat of the AV referendum I am now minded to seriously consider & explore the idea of an independent Scotland. This is because I want to live in a country with a voting system that is fair and reflects the true desires of the electorate. An independent Scotland would have an more proportional voting system, perhaps ...
i) births and deaths 7 May 1908: birth of Valentine Dyall, who played the Black Guardian in 1979 and 1983 and Slarn in Slipback (1985). 7 May 1964: birth of Craig Hinton, author of several Who novels and a Big Finish Who audio, and inventor of the work 'fanwank'. ii) broadcast anniversaries 7 May 1966: broadcast of "Don't Shoot the Pianist", second episode of the story we now call The Gunfighters. The Doctor is mistaken for Doc Holliday, with potentially fatal consequences for Steven. 7 May 2005: broadcast of The Long Game. The Doctor, Rose and Adam visit the far-future ...
John may have sadly lost the election this week (thanks Clegg), but he has picked up a consultation prize. Apparently one of Simon Young's main Labour activists has taken a shine to him. James Heppleston describes Fredriksen as a DILF on twitter. It took me a while to click, but I get it, this is the male equivalent to a MILF. Being a Liberal I'm sure Fredriksen will see the funny side of this. Share this: [IMG: Share this page via Email] [IMG: Share this page via Stumble Upon] [IMG: Share this page via Digg this] [IMG: Share this page ...
What the hell happened? That's undoubtedly going to be the question on everybody lips who is a LibDem over the next few weeks. I should imagine that just about now, some of you are, sitting there at your screens going "wait ... Continue reading →
The Cheadle Festival family fun day runs from 11am to 4.30pm on Saturday 4th June 2011 at the Together Trust on Schools Hill. Entry is £1 for adults and 50p for children, so come along and have fun for a good cause. Here's the flyer – click on it to view it full size.
Enjoy.
Many younger readers will never have seen the Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros at his peak. They may well have seen Seve linked to by video link looking like an old man unable to move very much on Sports Personality of the Year from time to time. However what that man could do with a golf club was unbelievable at times, bold and outrageous but always spectacular when he was on his game. He won the Open three times 1979, 1984, 1988 and The Masters twice 1980 and 1983 (the first of which made him the youngest ever winner until Tiger ...
Thank you, fellow Bartonians, for voting on Thursday and in particular for those 456 of you who voted for me, your local Lib Dem candidate. Sadly for me, it wasn't enough. I came in second after Ian Shingler, a former Lib Dem councillor and Bartonian, who is now your independent representative on the council. I have enjoyed my two years on Central Beds Council enormously. It gave me a good insight into and understanding of public service in general and the internal workings of this unitary authority in particular. The work to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness will continue and ...
Here is my further post on the result for Bidston & St. James. The number of ballots counted in this election did not match the number of votes cast. Unfortunately some spoilt ballot papers (for example people voting for more than one candidate) were added to some candidate's totals. I am therefore unable to say ...
And that's the damn truth of it. I was awoken at 6am this morning by one of the loudest claps of thunder I have heard this side of the atlantic and am now sat here bleary eyed at my laptop trying to ... Continue reading →
It's great to be back after six months not posting on this blog. Although the last couple of days haven't been a great day for the Liberal Democrats across the UK. The reason for my absense from this blog over the last six months was of course because I was working with so many people ...
The British upper crust, who continue to dominate British politics, love sporting allusions. Hence party business managers in parliament are called "whips" (though in my view hounding dumb animals hardy qualifies as a sport.) It struck me yesterday as I watched the counts in several of our local elections that the only time the selection of a people's representative actually has any resemblance to a horse race is the final stage of each count, when they put the bundles of counted ballot papers for each candidate in rows on a long table, and you can see which one is ahead. ...
calapine: Vid: The Adventure (Doctor Who) Lovely fanvid from the ever excellent calapine! (tags: doctorwho) Two months on - Charlie's Diary What really happened at Fukushima: "there appears to have been no public health impact due to radiation (stress and fear are another matter), and no plant workers were exposed to more than 250 millisieverts — the raised limit for emergency nuclear responders, equal to five years' regular working exposure, but insufficient to cause a serious health risk." (tags: nuclear) The "Hooker Teacher" tells all - Prostitution News | Prostitutes, Gigolos, Sex Work - Salon.com "Sure, I knew I was ...
It's at times like this that I take inspiration from Zombie Mr Grimsdyke. Unfairly blamed for the ills of the neighbourhood, and character assassinated by his rich snobby neighbour, Mr Grimsdyke ends up in a box and six feet under. Everybody thinks it's the end of him, but it's not. He rises up and seeks justice (with bad poetry). Zombie Mr Grimsdyke is up there with Batman and Dredd in my pantheon of superheroes. He didn't let a little thing like death stop him. He stood up and did what was right, and damn the grave moldering. Why yes, I ...
So what does the future hold for the Liberal Democrats? Nothing good I'm sad to say. We will remain in coalition until 2015, we have to, we signed a deal to do so. If we break that deal, see the tuition fees example of what happens. We will be beaten to a pulp by the electorate at the next general election. This is coming, we cannot stop it, we cannot lessen the beating. We will be lucky to keep any seats after the next election. Remember to buy some lube in 2015, it will help to lessen the pain. We ...
East Belfast: Alliance to gain second seat; not clear if it comes at expense of UUP or (ex-PUP) Dawn Purvis. Probably PUP transfers determine the final count; anecdotally I'm told they won't forgive Purvis for leaving the party. If so, this is DUP 3 Alliance 2 UUP 1. (Though I wonder about the anecdotes.) North Belfast: DUP take three, somewhat to their own surprise I think, and UUP's Fred Cobain loses. DUP 3, SF 2, SDLP 1. South Belfast: A lot of my friends think DUP will take one of the SDLP seats. I don't see it myself, I think ...
I hate everything. Seven Soldiers tomorrow. Links. A site that collates online streamable Doctor Who videos in one place. Obviously you should buy the DVDs, but some of them aren't out on DVD. Warning – contains Dimensions In Time. Lib Dems who are already in a depressed state should avoid this as it may lead ...
I wrote last year that we wouldn't get AV. I was right. I wrote last year that we would be the whipping boys, taking the pain for the Tories. I was right. I don't like always being right.
There's no point in beating about the bush. Today has been one of unrelenting bad news for Liberal Democrats. In this region we've not only lost control of Newcastle, but also lost some excellent councillors whose only mistake was to be on the wrong end of a political current which as individuals they were powerless to resist. There cam't be a Lib Dem councillor in my position who isn't relieved that they weren't up for re-election this year, and I take my hat off to those who managed to stand against the tide. The problem is I don't know which ...
The bin Laden situation is still in flux but it looks like a lot of the things we were first told are untrue. The senators who said they had seen multiple photos of the dead bin Laden now admit that they only saw one of the faked photos. There was never any live video being watched by the President. There was a staged photo session in which the President and Secretary of State and others sat around laptops with blank screens, (plus hundreds of other sites and newspaper front pages) is directly contradicted by So, wouldn't it have ...
Here is the result from the Leicester South by-election, which was declared earlier this evening. The count took so long because there were also the City council and Mayoral elections and the AV referendum to count in the city. Jon Ashworth (Labour) 19,771 Zuffar Haq (Lib Dems) 7,693 Jane Hunt (Conservative) 5,169 Abhijit Pandya (UKIP) 994 Howling Laud Hope (Official Monster Raving Loony) 553 In the context of yesterday's other results, Zuffar Haq did well to hold on to second place. It is also good to see UKIP's candidate doing almost as badly as he deserved. I am reliably informed ...
