A few minutes ago, I had that very satisfying feeling of adding Helen Morgan to my Twitter lists of Lib Dem MPs and Lib Dem Parliamentarians. A wee thing, but an immensely satisfying moment. I am not at my best at the moment. It turns out that I'm not as good as I used to be at this staying up till 4:40 am then doing a day's work malarkey. But I can't stop smiling. This has been a very good day. And that bursting of the Boris bubble made me smile. I enjoyed it much more than the Blue Wall ...
Fri 17th
19:29
We have a new MP in Shropshire and she is not a Tory - it's the stuff of dreams and nightmares
Whoever thought that Shropshire would dominate the news headlines from before most people had woken today and will still be headlining when they went to bed. Who'd have thought that the Lib Dems could win one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, overturning a majority of 23,000 and racking up a majority of 6,000. It had been a Tory seat for nearly two centuries. This is the stuff of dreams. Sometimes dreams come true. And for some people, other people's dreams become a nightmare. Including for Boris Johnson. Helen Morgan's win in North Shropshire was not a one ...
To discuss Helen Morgan's stunning victory in the North Shropshire by-election, I welcomed Professor Tim Bale back to Never Mind The Bar Charts. We discussed what happened, its causes and the likely consequences. Here's what we made of it all: Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Helen Morgan wins.Alan Wager on tactical voting.Caitlin Milazzo on political leaflets.Sam Coates interview of Boris Johnson.Tim Bale on Twitter.Theme tune by Hugo Lee.New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Enjoy the show? Spread the ...
I've continued to feel more and more like my normal self. My blood oxidation is back up to a healthy 97%-98%, and I also seem to have lost a couple of kilos (down to 78 from 80, from 176 pounds/12 stone 8, to 172 pounds/12 stone 4). Most excitingly, the booster jabs are being rolled out in our area earlier next year and I immediately signed up for 6 January (which is 20 days from now, so will be in the next-but-one COVID update). I went into the office both yesterday and a week ago. Last week I was still ...
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The sensational byelection result in North Shropshire last night may well prove to be the final straw for the Prime Minister. The fact the poll was timed for the last day of the Parliamentary term may help him, but the list of distractions and side shows piling up on Johnson's negative ledger are growing daily and his future as PM does not look that bright. As the Guardian points out, in addition to losing Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire, and the backlash from the Owen Patterson sleaze vote, there is a fresh inquiry into his relationship with the tech ...
It is hard to underestimate the scale of the Liberal Democrats North Shropshire win last night. Turning a Conservative majority of almost 23,000 votes into a Lib Dem majority of 6,000 is no easy feat - and it has sent shock waves through the political world.John Curtice called the win an 8.5 on the political Richter scale - a devastating earthquake. Even the BBC - who have been so very cautious in their news reporting of late - are now asking questions like "Has Boris Johnson lost his winning touch?".Labour's equivalent by-election, in Old Bexley and Sidcup, is also a ...
Thu, 18:17: RT @Mij_Europe: The speed at which consensus has switched on @BorisJohnson - from Teflon/defies gravity to inevitability of his departure i... Thu, 18:42: The second paragraph of the third chapter: 2021 so far https://t.co/Gx3F2gIUIk Fri, 07:41: Christchurch 1993 was the only GB election I ever campaigned in, helping the Lib Dems get what is still (just!) the biggest Tory-to-Lib swing ever. Ironically I am now quite friendly with Rob Hayward, the losing Tory in that election! https://t.co/LDN5tywggK Fri, 08:12: RT @pmdfoster: As a Shropshire lad, born and bred, the #NorthShropshire result is completely amazing. Really didn't believe that ...
I decided not to stay up all night to await the result of the Shropshire North by-election but I waited until 1.30am to get an indication of how the count was going before heading to bed. That's when the Lib Dem prediction of a comfortable gain came through. Presumably, our people had finished crunching the numbers and were able to project the result. By then, a result much closer to home had
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey spoke to BBC reporter Justin Webb earlier this morning. He said he was proud of our party and our campaigners. We have brought hope to the whole nation by proving the Conservatives can be beaten anywhere. Brexit was not an issue in the by-election. Voters were more concerned about ambulances and GPs. Ed is cool on a pact with Keir Starmer for the next general election but confident that we can make more inroads into the Blue Wall. Here is the transcript. Ed Davey. This is a watershed moment in British politics. It was a ...
As I sat working in the window of my front room this morning, I became aware that loads more people than usual were waving, giving me the thumbs up and smiling. I thought that this was a bit of overkill ... Continue reading →
The last time the constituency of North Shropshire returned an MP who wasn't a Tory was in the famous 1832 General Election, when Whig John Cotes successfully secured the second available seat. Even then, he didn't top the poll. Since that time, aside from a brief period between 1904 and 1906 when Liberal Allan Heywood Bright held the Oswestry seat and a few years in the Blair era when Labour came a reasonably close second, North Shropshire has been the kind of safe Conservative seat in which electoral contests are about as competitive as the Ashes. But something happened last ...
The Liberal Democrats have declared 'the party is over' for Boris Johnson after their sensational by-election win in North Shropshire tonight. North Shropshire was the 58th safest Conservative seat in the country, with former Conservative MP Owen Paterson having a majority of almost 23,000 votes in 2019. This represents the second biggest majority overcome in a modern by-election, after Christchurch in 1993. Liberal Democrat candidate Helen Morgan received 17,957 votes, representing a swing of 34% from the Conservatives and giving her a majority of 5,925. The stunning Liberal Democrat win follows their success in Chesham and Amersham in June, when ...
Fri 17th
07:00
Good news on St Joseph's and Victoria Park primaries school crossing patroller #dundeewestend
Residents will recall my update in September expressing concern about the proposal to decommission the school crossing patroller point in City Road at Milnbank Gardens - something I, parents and carers felt would be seriously detrimental to the Victoria Park PS and St Joseph's RC PS pupils crossing here and completely unacceptable. I had made clear to the City Council my strong objection to any such proposal and I am pleased to say that this - and the objections of parents and carers - has led to a rethink and it has been agreed to pause the process until the ...
Just before the Batley and Spen by-election (1sr July) the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey issued the following public statement: "Voters are far smarter than people give them credit for. Liberal Democrat voters may well notice that this is a Labour-held seat with the Tories in a close second, and they'll draw their own conclusions. But that shouldn't be stitched up in a back room by party leaders." The voters took Sir Ed's hint, the Liberal Democrat vote fell to a miserable 3%, and Labour narrowly held the seat. Had Sir Keir Starmer made a similar statement before yesterday's ...
What a victory! Nearly six thousand majority. There are huge implications for the government and Boris Johnson. We'll cover those in later articles. In her speech, she told the prime minister, Helen said: Our country is crying out for leadership. Mr Johnson, you are no leader. She told the voters in North Shropshire: Your amazing efforts have delivered a gift of hope to our country, just in time for Christmas... I promise I will work for you and only you. I will always put local people and our communities first. Helen said the NHS in Shropshire is teetering on the ...
March the brass bands. Beat the drums. Sound the trombones. Honk the horns. Dance through the streets. Silence the soothsayers, those that thought this by-election couldn't be won. We won this by-election and won it well. Turning a 22,949 "unassailable" vote for the Tories into a stonking win for us. A Tory majority of 17,957 votes transformed into for the Lib Dems. A swing to us of 34%, giving us a majority of 5,925. Helen Morgan won this by-election. The team supporting her won it. The hundreds of Lib Dem activists from around the country won it. Ed Davey won ...
What Helen Morgan has just achieved in North Shropshire should have been impossible. But it has really happened...
Responding to the new UK-Australia trade deal, Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: "This trade deal fails to protect our farmers in the long-term. "The Conservatives make promises of transitions, but all that means is delaying the inevitable - our farming communities being undermined by imported food that is produced to lower standards of animal welfare and environmental protection. "Liberal Democrats back British farmers, we're calling on the government to back my bill forcing them to publish the impact assessments of this deal on our farming communities and to give Parliament the final say."
