Is “YES to AV” a proxy for government dissatisfaction? This week the NO campaign will focus its attention not on the issue that’s on the ballot paper but on Nick Clegg. The aim is to make the May 5th election a referendum on the Lib Dem leader. Ads have been drawn up with the headline “Say No to President Clegg” together with their claim that a switch to AV will cost £250m – a figure that has been attacked from…
Has the SAS come to the aid of government? So far the early headlines look pretty good for ministers with the SAS rescue in Libya capturing the imagination of several headline writers. There’s something about the SAS that runs very deep in the British psyche and the reports that their heroism has yet again helped sort out a potentially difficult situation will be devoured eagerly at home. After a tricky week or the government this could not have been better…
Irish Times FG set for government, FF for meltdown, Labour for coalition? Links: RTE live RTE constituency map One of the world’s longest election counts is now underway, with unofficial (but normally very accurate) vote tallies coming in from all over Ireland. Most first counts won’t be declared until mid-afternoon or even early evening, and it’s likely to take well into Sunday for the counting to near its finish. What is already clear is that this will be a historic…
Are the Arab Revolutions the first sign of its true potency? Every major new medium challenges and often revolutionises how politics is done. From the invention of printed books through to newspapers, radio and television, each has challenged the elite of the day both to adapt their skills to the new technology but also to handle how the populations respond to the increasing availability and usage of each new medium. The internet – still a very young and growing technology…
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Why not switch mayoral elections to FPTP? On May 3rd next year more than one in eight of UK adults will be able to vote in what is the biggest election before the general election. At stake is a position that arguably has more political power than anyone apart from the prime minister. With Ken bidding to return to his old job and Boris trying to hang on in less than clement conditions for the blues this will be a…
Would it have been better under Coulson? It’s half term, parliament’s not sitting, and most people in the Westminster village, it seems, are taking a short break. But does that explain the total Horlicks that the government’s PR machine is making of current events. There’s a massive global story with strong British links and the government operation should, surely, appear as though it is handling things competently. Most people, I’d suggest, appreciate how challenging it must be dealing with Libyan…
Yes – No – Quick Quick -Slow It is part of Britain’s unwritten constitution that referendums are held whenever there is a constitutional issue at stake that crosses party lines. So this begs the question why the Welsh Powers referendum being held on March 3rd is being held at all. This referendum is not on a major constitutional change as Wales has had primary law-making powers since 2007, and the issue at stake is only a technical one as to…