Browsed by
Month: June 2010

How much of this is down to “electoral bias”?

How much of this is down to “electoral bias”?

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General Election May 6th 2010 CON LAB Average electorate of seats won 72,435 68,612 Average turnout in seats won 68.4% 61.1% Average total votes in seat won 49,436 41,842 Seats won with small majorities 60 81 Votes in seats where party was third 28.4% 16.6% Will equalising seats sizes make much difference? This is the first of several posts I will be doing following the general election post mortem that took place at the University of Nottingham on Friday. I…

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Sean Fear’s Saturday slant

Sean Fear’s Saturday slant

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Why Weren’t Labour Routed? In common with, I suspect, most readers of this website, I expected Labour to suffer a defeat every bit as bad as 1983, if not worse, on May 6th. This was based partly on Labour’s dire poll ratings, but also on the utter despair that was emanating from the Party. Anonymous Cabinet Ministers were briefing newspapers that they were in trouble in seats like Harrow West, Stretford and Urmston, Streatham, and Wrexham, all of which they…

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The David Herdson Saturday Question

The David Herdson Saturday Question

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Does parliament need more youngsters? The 2010 parliament differs from its predecessor in many ways: 35% of its members are newly elected, there are a lot more Conservatives and there are nearly twice as many ethnic minority MP’s as before, to list three. In other ways, it’s more of the same: over three-quarters are men, an overwhelming majority have a white-collar occupational background and the average age of MP’s is about fifty. That average age is representative of adults in…

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Is Mili-D now unstoppable?

Is Mili-D now unstoppable?

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Has he been the only one campaigning seriously The big news tonight in the Labour race is a statement by Douglas Alexander, who was previously a strong Mili-Ed supporter, on why he has come out backing Mili-D. This follows the endorsement from Alistair Darling and it looks as though Alexander, a key figure, has worked out where this race is going and wants to be on the DM band-wagon. There have also been strong reports reports of how much more…

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Why are none of these standing?

Why are none of these standing?

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Remember the 2007 Labour deputy election? It’s a good political trivia question. Can you name the six prominent Labour figures who fought for the deputy leadership of the party in June 2007? They are lined up above for the deputy TV debate. They were, of course from left to right, Hilary Benn, Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Alan Johnson, Peter Hain and John Cruddas. All of them were returned to the commons on May 6 2010 and yet not one of…

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Will they be at each other’s special day?

Will they be at each other’s special day?

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How long can the coalition go on? There are two big questions in British politics at the moment – who is going to win the Labour leadership and how long can the coalition survive? Both, in a way, are interwoven because as we get closer to September’s voting in Labour’s election we’ll be four months on from the creation of the coalition and the key criteria for the movement will be which of the candidates is best placed to be…

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How big a threat is this man to Dave?

How big a threat is this man to Dave?

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Can Monckton attract the climate change sceptics? The is Viscount Monckton (Christopher) – the former Thatcher aide who has become one of the world’s leading climate change sceptics and from this afternoon, it is Tweeted, the new deputy leader of UKIP. Monckton, who has a hereditary peerage but does not have a seat in the Lords, is related to the former Tory Chancellor and fellow climate change sceptic, Nigel Lawson. He is an experienced political campaigner and will add much…

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Remember this from exactly a year ago?

Remember this from exactly a year ago?

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Did his dithering blow Labour’s election chances? The first Thursday in June exactly a year ago was one of the most significant days in the history of the Labour government when one man, David Miliband, had to make probably the toughest call of his political career. Should he join the Works and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, who resigned at precisely 10pm as soon as voting in that day’s local and EU elections came to an end or should he stay…

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