Guardian April 30th 2010 The paper stated: “…This time …..the more people who vote Liberal Democrat on 6 May, the greater the chance that this will be Britain’s last general election under a first-past-the-post electoral system which is wholly unsuited to the political needs of a grown-up 21st-century democracy..”
Will 05/05/2011 mark the beginning of the end? The expected announcement today that the referendum on AV is to be scheduled for the same day as the Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly and English local elections produces the prospect of another Super Thursday when the whole country will be going to the polls. What effect will that timing have? The stated aim is to increase the turnout and it’s likely that there will be more people vote in the referendum if…
Will Liam ever be allowed to forget his famous letter? What’ll this do to his future career? MS
Does his career still have a Big Moment left? In some ways, it’s been a good year for Vince Cable. Most obviously, he’s become one of the first Liberal / Lib Dem cabinet ministers for over 60 years. The problem is that success in politics is a relative business and isn’t measured solely by office. During April he underwent a remarkable transformation from John Maynard Keynes II to Mr. Has-Been, all the more galling for it being largely unnoticed. In fact, the…
Picture: Lembit Opik’s post defeat interview on election night. I thought that this was one of the most gracious of the night. If Lembit could stop playing the fool he would be quite a formidable politician. – MS
It will mostly be open threads In a few hours time we’ll be heading for Portsmouth to take the 24 hour car ferry to Santander. During my time away PB will not operate as normal. I might pen the occasional piece but won’t be following the ongoing news narrative. I have no idea what the internet connectivity will be like at our holiday cottage over-looking the Minho river on the Spanish-Portugese border. There are some guest slots ready and members…
Can she really beat Ken AND then Boris? I’ve been taken to task by a couple of people within London Labour for my contention in several recent posts that Ken Livingstone is a near certainty in this summer’s race for the party nomination to take on Boris in the next London mayoral election. This will be voted on by individual party members and trade union levy payers in September’s postal ballot that will run alongside the Labour leader ship election…
Can we now rule out a second 2010 election? In spite of all the pre-VAT vote speculation only two Lib Dems MPs voted with the “Noes” in last night’s commons division on the plan to increase the rate to 20%, outlined in last week’s budget and the measure went through with a majority of 76. Judging by some of the pre-event build-up this rebellion was much smaller than was being suggested and, no doubt, both Clegg and Cameron will breathe…