Antifrank: Hanging tough – the Conservative intake of 2015

Antifrank: Hanging tough – the Conservative intake of 2015

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Antifrank looks at the new members of the Tory parliamentary party. Despite relatively few seats changing hands in May, more than a fifth of Conservative MPs – 74 in total – were not in the last Parliament.  They will have a big influence on the dynamics of the Conservative party in government.  What do they look like?  Well, here they are: I’ve ploughed through MP websites, interviews and newspaper articles to find out more about them.  In the course of…

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David Herdson says “Set the BBC free and let it flourish”

David Herdson says “Set the BBC free and let it flourish”

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We wouldn’t debate the ‘purpose’ of any other media organisation In all the debate about the terms of the BBC’s renewed Charter, one question seems to have gone unasked, never mind unanswered: why does the BBC need a Charter at all? The political reason why it has one is that it’s the flip-side of being funded by a tax, enforceable in law and if it has that right then it must equally have certain duties. The current debate about what…

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Harriet: I’m a fan but you got it wrong

Harriet: I’m a fan but you got it wrong

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A message for the acting LOTO from Don Brind I was proud to have been a member of Team Harman that won the deputy leadership of the Labour Party for Harriet in 2007. I admire her as a consistent campaigner for radical causes, championing feminism, equality and diversity in and out of government. Her politics is rooted in London communities – in North West London where she was legal adviser to the Grunwick strikers in the 1970s and in South…

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Full results from this week’s local by-elections

Full results from this week’s local by-elections

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Greystoke and Hesket on Cumbria (Con defence) Result: Conservatives 635 (55% +2%), Liberal Democrats 518 (45% +22%) Conservative HOLD with a majority of 117 (10%) on a swing of 10% from Con to Lib Dem NB: UKIP vote in 2013 split 92% Liberal Democrat, 8% Conservative Gorleston St. Andrew (UKIP defence) and Mile Cross (Lab defence) on Norfolk Gorleston St. Andrew Result: Conservative 876 (43% +16%), Labour 773 (38% +2%), United Kingdom Independence Party 285 (14% -23%), Liberal Democrats 66…

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Gains from both CON and LAB plus other good local results on Tim Farron’s first night as LD leader

Gains from both CON and LAB plus other good local results on Tim Farron’s first night as LD leader

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Tim Farron won the Lib Dem leadership on the strength of his election successes and was very much the choice of the activists. With only eight MPs at Westminster Farron would dearly love there to be a parliamentary by-election. But who knows when one of those is going to come up? So in the meantime the emphasis will be going back to its roots by seeking to build up the party on a local level. Next May’s elections are nearly…

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Two interesting UKIP defences, one against CON the other LAB, in tonight’s local by-elections

Two interesting UKIP defences, one against CON the other LAB, in tonight’s local by-elections

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Greystoke and Hesket on Cumbria (Con defence) Result of council at last election (2013): Labour 35, Conservatives 26, Liberal Democrats 16, Independents 7 (No Overall Control, Labour short by 8) Result of ward at last election (2013): Conservative 723 (53%), United Kingdom Independence Party 331 (24%), Liberal Democrats 312 (23%) Candidates duly nominated: Judith Derbyshire (Lib Dem), Thomas Wentworth (Con) Cumbria is impossible to get a majority on and part of the reason can be found in the Eden district…

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