To mark his re-election as Mayor of London, Liberal England offers you the chance to win a Boris Johnson finger puppet. Many thanks to Rubbish for their generosity in donating this prize for Liberal England's latest quiz. To win the puppet and have BoJo on the end of your finger as often as you want, just email me the answers to the following five questions: 1. Which magazine did Boris Johnson edit between 1999 and 2005? 2. Which Westminster constituency did he sit for between 2001 and 2008? 3. What did Johnson call "an inverted pyramid of piffle"? 4. Which ...
Today has been a terrible day for Liberal Democrats - particularly in Scotland and even more particularly in Edinburgh. So for the 14 Liberal Democrat councillors who lost their seats - and especially ex-council leader Jenny Dawe who will be hurting more than most tonight - here's Little Richard from 1966...
I just had the misfortune to see Conservative MP Peter Bone on Newsnight and what he said made me so angry that I felt like throwing things at the telly. Unfortunately Simon Hughes, who was also on Newsnight, was far too polite and well-behaved to interrupt Mr Bone when he started saying that Lords reform is unnecessary and that the majority of people are against it, but, if I could have got him to do so, here's what I'd have liked Simon Hughes to have said: "You're a liar. Mr Bone, you're a liar. You're right that Lords Reform should ...
It sets out my thoughts about last night's local election results for the Liberal Democrats and how there is hope among the rather disappointing results.
The Nottingham Post organised a debate about the Mayoral referendum at the Nottingham Playhouse on the 1st May 2012. The panel consisted of representatives from the Yes and No campaigns within the city. I was invited along to put our ... Continue reading →
It's not my fault, OK? It's all very exciting. Or something.
An intriguing piece on the Press Gazette website begins: Award-winning features writer Adam Wakelin has lifted the lid on life inside the Leicester Mercury newsroom and the reasons behind his departure from the newspaper earlier this year. Wakelin, who won features writer of the year at the 2011 Regional Newspaper Awards, was one of eleven editorial staff who left the Northcliffe title during its latest round of redundancies in March, which cut the number of journalists by a fifth. Writing exclusively in the May edition of Press Gazette, Wakelin said the "newsroom was running on goodwill, favours and professional pride ...
The 2012 election result for the Acocks Green council ward was as follows: John O'Shea (Labour) 2,170 Roger Harmer (Lib Dem) 1,993 Chris Whitehouse (UKIP) 269 Joe Edgington (Tory) 247 Amanda Baker (Green) 168 Stella Taylor (BNP) 166 Ben Rubery (Trade Unionists and Socialists Against the Cuts) 58 Alan Ware (SDP) 15 Labour majority: 177 The heavy rain that fell through much of the day led to a reduced turnout of around 25% compared with nearer 30% in 2011. My congratulations to John for his victory in what was a hard fought, but civilised campaign. Given the size of our ...
With 19 visits last month, Greenville USA showed a keen interest in Consett politics. Our visitor(s) spent longer on the site and returned more frequently than the average user. We'd love to know who you are, and what the connection is. Please do add a comment.
Keith Nevols does his best to be positive and suggests six silver linings for the Liberal Democrats that can be discerned in the dark clouds of yesterday's election results. One of these is a very good point - "UKIP doing well will help us in Con-Lib Dem marginals." And it may do so not just by splitting the Tory vote, but also by encouraging Tory candidates to follow their instincts and tack to the right, thus opening up the centre ground for the Lib Dems (and Labour) to occupy. But I see danger in the most substantial of those silver ...
An update to my earlier post, adding in the YouTube clip and reflecting a couple of other pieces of news, though still pre-London results. For the overall picture, see my views on BBC Breakfast from the amazing new Salford studios this morning: Beyond the headlines, six points in particular strike me: 1. It looks as if the party will keep control of all the councils that had Lib Dem majorities before Thursday. Cambridge is a technical loss, but the party will keep control on the Mayor's casting vote. Each of those Lib Dem council leaders and their teams deserve heavy ...
I am too tired to provide a substantive post today, least of all on the local council elections. Two publications, one of which is on-line, have asked me to write a piece on yesterday's events so I am not dodging the issue. When I do it I will either post it here or provide a link. For now I am just going to note the rather unusual outcome of seven Council leaders losing their seats. They represented parties from all parts of the political spectrum. Was this the result of a decapitation strategy on the part of their opposition or ...
Yesterday evening, just as the polls closed, an email arrived from Lib Dem HQ thanking members for their efforts in the campaign. That was a nice touch, but why wasn't the email signed by Nick Clegg? We must resist any notion that there is a contradiction between being the Deputy Prime Minister of the Coalition government and the leader of the Liberal Democrats. No Conservative leader has ever had a problem with being statesmanlike on some occasions and ruthlessly partisan on others. Nick should not have a problem with it either. If the use of Tim Farron's name on the ...
With Monday being a Bank Holiday, the Blyth area bin collections are all put back a day. So if your normal collection day is a Tuesday then next week it will be a Wednesday etc As a reminder it is a Blue Bin day next week (ie "Dry Recycleable" waste )
First up my Candidate Richard Hands who stormed home with a healthy majority against impressive opposition. Well done Richard! Birkdale - results Election CandidatePartyVotes% Richard Ronald Hands Liberal Democrats 1225 39% Elected Terry John Durrance United Kingdom Independence Party 707 22% Not elected Ged Wright The Labour Party 688 22% Not elected Nigel David Clifford Ball Conservative Party 555 17% Not elected Voting Summary DetailsNumber Total votes 3175 Electorate 9763 Num. ballot papers issued 3175 Turnout 33% Share of the votes (%) Richard Ronald Hands 39% Elected Terry John Durrance 22% Not elected Ged Wright 22% Not elected Nigel David ...
I've been a Liberal Democrat for more years than I can remember now but today was the straw that broke the camels back as far as I am concerned. Although events nationally have deeply troubled me and my disdain for Nick Clegg has grown, I have stuck with the party because of the shed pleasure ...
It was not a surprise that the LibDems took a beating in the local authority elections, but an indicative 4% in London mayoral race was a slight surprise. As we all knew, it is a Ken/Boris race – again. The LibDems ran, locally, an appalling campaign. Not a single bit of publicity arrived through our ...
Voters have expressed their cold feet at the direction of the coalition across the country. In one Edinburgh ward, a man dressed as a penguin - Professor Pongoo - gained more first preference votes than the Liberal Democrat candidate. Both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will need to assess where they go from here. Saying its down to mid-term blues after another drubbing won't do (Alex Salmond, the Scottish Emperor politician, was able to increase the number of SNP councillors whilst in government). Certain Tories will want their party to move further right to appease UKIP, whilst many Liberal Democrats will ...
Won by the Daily Telegraph for: Wombats as big as sheep found in Australia Wombat buffs may also enjoy: Treasury chief on wombat leave
The local election results were obviously another bad night for the Liberal Democrats - losing hundreds more councillors and having a less presence in local government than ever before is not something one can easily disregard. However in the fine traditions of spin, I have tweeted a few silver linings as follows. Silver lining 1: Liberal Democrats kept control of all seven councils (albeit one with Mayor casting vote). We were defending control of seven councils at his election. In Portsmouth, South Lakeland and Eastleigh we increased our numbers, and we kept control of Cheltenham, Three Rivers and Watford. While ...
This is something I've just seen someone post on facebook: "Seems the 'traitors to the people', aka Lib Dems, are loosing. Well that's what you get when you betray your word, your promises and your electorate!"If it's betraying your word to take over a million of the lowest paid out of paying income tax then I guess we've betrayed our word. If it's betraying your promises to invest billions in giving the poorest pupils better chances in life then we've broken our promises. If it's betraying your electorate to bring back the triple lock for state pensions to make sure ...
I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone in the West End who voted for me yesterday and for re-electing me so decisively as councillor for the West End for the next five years. This was my fourth election and I am so very grateful to all who have supported me over the past 11 years. I polled better than last time - in spite of the national swing - and I will continue to work hard for all in the West End over the coming years. I would like to particularly thank my team of West End ...
It appears that Labour's Andrew Dismore has beaten Brian Coleman and the others in the race to be London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden. Chris Richards has been a very fine candidate for the Lib Dems. I have already congratulated Mr Dismore, with whom I am acquainted as he whooped my arse in Hendon in the 2010 General Election (Matthew Offord won then for the Conservatives). I blogged recently about the many reasons why I was not casting a tactical vote for Mr Dismore against Mr Coleman. I stand by that piece, including the bit about shedding no ...
Irwell Riverside Candidate Party Votes cast Coen, Stephen Labour Party 1,208 Lewis, David Barry Conservative Party 150 Middleton, Steve Liberal Democrats 158 Tumulty, Gary British National Party 202 Elected: Stephen Coen Electorate: 9,441 Votes cast: 1,718 Turnout: 18.39% Majority: 1,006 Void votes: 16 Status: Labour hold
I often read newspapers the following day, since as I frequently work nights I don't buy a paper until late afternoon, as I forage for food in tesco for dinner. That has nothing to do with this post I just read this morning however that Tony Blair is to return to the UK political scene with a view I understand to haveing discrete chats to former colleague's, still since much of the Middle East has gone up in flames since he became Peace envoy or whatever, I fear for the worse, that he might be trying to sleeze back into ...
Let me tell y'all what it's like Being male, middle class and white It's a bitch, if you don't believe, Listen up to my new cd, shamone -Ben Folds, "Rockin' the Suburbs" First off, I apologise to Mr. Folds for using his song about nu metal bands in a blog post about racism. A common meme in the political systems is that "racism is over", because Barack Obama was elected in 2012. It's pretty patently bullshit, though, because Obama is subject to a lot of racist shit that Bush, Clinton, Reagan, et cetera, did not receive as President, and it's ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week 'Brand Clegg' continues to out-poll 'Brand Miliband': what it means for the Lib Dems (39 comments) by Stephen Tall David Cameron's jibe at Dennis Skinner: forget the ageism, it was just badly done. (25 comments) by Stephen Tall The Weekend Debate: Who'd get your 2nd preference after Brian in the race for London Mayor? (30 comments) by Stephen Tall Opinion: I don't think Jeremy Hunt should resign (31 comments) by Richard Morris Tom Brake MP writes... A ...
On 18th October 1963 in Baden Baden, West Germany the IOC clearly voted for Mexico City to host the Games in 1968. Securing 30 votes in the first round was enough to defeat Detroit with 14, Lyon, France on 12 and Buenos Aires with 2. So for the first time the Games came to a Spanish speaking nation and for the first and only time took place largely at altitude. In 1966 however the Mexican Government decided that due to difficulties the Paralympics which intended again to be run alongside the Olympics could not be held in Mexico City. The ...
Before Labour get too cock a hoop about their local election gains they should remember the word 'Respect'. Nobody will deny that the local election results represented a strong backlash against the Coalition but they were not a ringing endorsement of Labour. The apparent ease with which George Galloway can chew up a Labour heartland should be a great worry for them. When it comes to arousing passions Galloway & Alex Salmond are streets ahead of Cameron, Osborne, Miliband & Balls, yes & indeed Clegg. Thatcher gave impetus to the 'Prime Minster as President' style of politics & was ably ...
Fri 4th
16:35
Light the cycleway! Online petition to be presented to Conservatives at Shire Hall 22nd May
With the backing of colleagues at Cambridge University Press where I work, my trade union UNITE and fellow Liberal Democrats, I am running a petition for lighting on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway and shall be presenting it to the Conservative Cabinet of Cambridgeshire County Council on 22nd May. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway was a long time a-coming and has been extremely controversial since its inception. But - love it or hate it - its less contentious collateral has been the cycleway running alongside it. This is well used and provides many cyclists and pedestrians with a welcome safe route away ...
So Lib Dems across the country are coming to terms with a second year of punishment at the ballot box. Labour have indeed capitalised on the triple-threat of a traditional mid-term slump, anger at the depth and scale of cutbacks across Government, and, if we are being honest, ongoing disappointment in the Liberal Democrats. That Labour fought the 2012 local elections on national issues almost to the exclusion of everything else is instructive. Labour have to make sure that Lib Dem local activists and Councillors are tainted by association with national Coalition. Labour must also simultaneously present Labour as the ...
Despite a strong showing in some held councils, Liberal Democrats are today reflecting on another bitterly disappointing set of local election results with the number of Lib Dem councillors likely to fall below 3000 for the first time ever. It ... Continue reading →
Time moves on, there was I time when, the concept of grandchildren was somewhat distant, as was the possibility that one day everyone would have a mobile phone, even the idea of home computing, the internet or I'd that I'd find myself routinely working around London on the railway. Anyway I'm much pleased to announce that while on the drive to a job, last week I heard the news that my grandson had arrived, courtesy of my mobile, (hands free) and was able to share the moment with a much excited Mrs Flaig. What a marvellous moment, the following day, ...
Writing over on his work blog, The Voice's Mark Pack has been crunching the numbers on the media performances of Liberal Democrat ministers ahead of a likely reshuffle: No surprise that the top five places are taken by the five Liberal Democrat Cabinet members. Her push for equal marriage reforms has helped put Lynne Featherstone top of the list of non-Cabinet members, whilst Health Minister Paul Burstow's mid-table ranking is a mixed blessing. He may be a minister in a hugely important area, but given the level of controversy attracted by Andrew Lansley and the Health and Social Care Act, ...
David Laws has been writing for This is Cornwall. He says: When Bill Clinton fought to become the US President, one of his staff put up a poster on the wall of the campaign headquarters. The poster read: "It's the economy, stupid!" It was a blunt reminder to his staff to focus on the big issue of the election, and nothing else. For the British Government, and for people in our region, it is still the economy which is the biggest challenge facing us. Last week, we received the grim news that the UK economy shrunk in size in the ...
I came third. BUT I got more votes than I got last year in H&L AND more votes than last year's candidate in Brighouse got. Mat came fourth. Overall we held up fairly well; although I am sad that Olwen and Christine and Stephen didn't win their seats, Olwen in particular got a very impressive vote share, beating the sitting Tory into third place. And we held Calder ward, and Greetland and Stainland is back with us (can't really call THAT a gain)... So, you know, it's bad, but it's not awful. The big story, as nationally, is low turnout. ...
Above are the results of last nights elections for Kew ward. Our candidate Maureen Fearn regained her seat with a majority of 228, representing 37% of the vote. The turnout was a very low 30% despite the good weather. I'm sure that I will return to this topic when I've recovered from a long campaign and a 3am finish to the election night. Once again Southport Liberal Democrats bucked the national trend, gaining 2 extra seats at the expense of the Conservatives. We welcome Councillors Tony Dawson and Pat Keith to our group. Unfortunately the bad news is that labour ...
Over the past four years, I have served as your local councillor in Kings Hedges. Unfortunately last night, I failed to retain my seat on the City Council. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the ward, those who voted for me, and those who didn't for making it an amazing four years. It has been a honour and a pleasure to serve as your Councillor, one which I will never forget. I am confident that Cllrs Andy Pellew and Simon Brierly will continue to work hard for the ward, and will champion Liberal Democracy where ...
I've just heard from the count at Wokingham, where there is much good news for the Lib Dems and the Tories took something of a kicking on their record running the Council. Lib Dems held three seats where experienced and popular councillors Phil Challis, Jenny Lissaman and Stephen Conway stood down. We also won a seat in Winnersh from the Tories, who surprisingly lost Charvil to an Independent. Last year we lost in Winnersh and the two Woodley seats: this year we won all three on a textbook campaign on local issues. The Tories coming third in Bulmershe & Whitegates ...
It transpires that the W3 bus is the best means of getting from Alexandra Palace Station to Alexandra Palace itself. As I await said bus, I am not downcast. I am downcast by the weather, and would like to move from London, England to London, Ontario, where it is doubtless warmer and where they already have a Liberal Mayor. I am downcast by the fact that I cannot find my other mobile, which hopefully means that it is in the flat and not elsewhere. But I am not downcast by what appear to be disappointing election results. Sorry for those ...
Local band 'By The Second' were crowned winners of The Battle Of The Bands competition on Wednesday evening at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall. 'By The Second' will now open at the Chipping Sodbury Festival FREE 'Music In The Street' event on Tuesday 19th June with headline act 'Vegas'. Local street dance group 'Pure Dance Crew' will also be appearing at the event. Chipping Sodbury Festival runs from 15th to 24th June with a range of events for all ages. Full details at www.chippingsodburyfestival.co.uk More details about Vegas and other events during Chipping Sodbury festival can be found on www.chippingsodburyfestival.co.uk or ...
[IMG: Lib Dem News cartoon 04-05-12] By Howard Woodall, Lib Dem News * Mary Reid is one of the Day Editors on Lib Dem Voice.
Friday: Top Secret Government Strategy (for Tories who have yet to get with the programme) Step 1: Denude Westminster Government of as much power as possible - localise it, federalise it, devolve it, whatever. Step 2: Install House of Lords Club with enough teeth and mandate to stop future government ever undoing this. Step 3: Lose 2015 election, see Hard Labour stuck powerless in Whitehall taking the blame for a decade while we get back to what we're GOOD at - running local councils and actually making people's lives BETTER! Seriously, though, the Liberal Democrats exist to BE IN POWER. ...
I expected to lose the elections, so I'm not at all surprised I did. The turnout was down to 32% (in my ward, Grangetown), which means 68% are not interested in local politics. The predictable results across Cardiff were more an opinion poll on the national government than a choice of representatives on the Council. Indeed, on the doorstep I had many people saying they liked what we've done in
Chris White was re-elected to the district council last night to represent Clarence Ward. The results in Clarence Ward were as follows: Green 310 Con 494 Chris White Liberal Democrat 880 Lab 383 The results in St Peter's Ward were as follows: Con 454 Liberal Democrat 412 Green 719 Labour 485
90 votes. Wow that is a stunner – and not in a good way. I knew I wasn't going to win. We all knew that but to get just 90 votes. Still it could have been worse as originally I got just 65 votes but they had put one of my bundles of 25 votes in with the Greens. Sadly it was only one and not twenty bundles or so but hey such is life. The most striking thing is the apathy in the ward. A turnout of 21.92% is just woeful. Yes the weather didn't help but this wasn't ...
Following my adventures on polling day (http://www.thejc.com/blogs/matthewharris/im-kosher-pub), I now await a bus (if we still have buses under this current Tory mayor), to be followed by a train, which will take me to Alexandra Palace for the North London leg of the Mayoral and Assembly Election count. The train won't actually take me into the palace itself, as my life is not actually a scene from a Harry Potter film. I shall have to walk. For sixteen minutes, says the Internet. Actually, I am now on the bus, thanks to the excellent influence of Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker, ...
Last night's election results were bad for the Lib Dems in Bury. We lost another 3 Councillors. I am Chair of the local party, and here is a message I am sending to our members and supporters later today with my thoughts on the results: Dear friends, Election night in Bury was a bad night ...
Two fingers to the court: why right-wing criticism of the ECtHR is misguided Why Britain should support rather than undermine human rights. (tags: humanrights ) 13 Ways to Create a Cringeworthy Social Media Presence Aimed at marketing folks, but lessons here for us all! (tags: psychology internet socialmedia facebook twitter ) Saakashvili opponents seek fresh start for Georgia Excellent summary piece in Irish Times (tags: georgia ) Watching New Who: Human Nature/The Family of Blood Much more than what's in the title: informed comment from Australia. (tags: doctorwho )
With another appalling set of local election results and a near wipe out against Labour in the north of England - Liberal Democrat minds were turning to the future of Nick Clegg. But just like magic up pops Lembit Opik to call for his resignation. And in a stroke Clegg's future as leader of the party is assured.
Rupert Murdoch said he never asked favours of politicians. Well of course not. He never needed to. It was clear even to me,as humble member of the exploited idiots who work hard, pay our taxes & don't make a pain in the butt of ourselves, that politicians would always know what Murdoch wanted and would smooth his path accordingly. The current links between the Tories & News International which are being exposed are no closer than those between Blair & Labour were. Tony flew half way round the world (at taxpayers expense?) to pay homage at the Court of King ...
Local politicians are quick condemn Lord Foster's plans for the Grain HUB and there appears to be an epic battle for the high ground waiting for someone to slip and no one dares say anything positive for fear of being Politically crucified and losing votes! Its happened once, someone broke ranks and made clear an opinion and the opposition had a field day... A few weeks ago there was a meeting on Grain to discuss the plan but no one from Lord Foster's office, nor Boris Johnson's office or even anyone from DRINK were invited. I was informed it was ...
Did you know that you can to link to a specific Tweet on Twitter? The URL looks like this: https://twitter.com/#!/edent/status/197967209459499008 Pretty obviously, that's the user's name and the ID of their tweet. Simple, right? Not really, click on that link and you'll see this: [IMG: twitter bug screenshot] That's my name in the URL bar – but the Number 10 Press Office's tweet on the page. What's Going On?Have I retweeted that status? Nope! Am I a 1337 h4x0r who has hacked Number 10? No sir! Is the screenshot a fake? Nuh-uh. Check the link yourself. It's actually a curious ...
Just a quick note to thank everyone who gave us their support in yesterday's local elections in Prestwich and throughout Bury. Although our share of the vote was up in Prestwich from last year, regrettably this wasn't enough to stop Labour winning again in all three wards. The results were: Holyrood Ward Labour 1510 (up 3.4%) Vic D'Albert (Liberal Democrat) 1359 (up 4.3%) Conservative 260 (down 8.5%) English Democrat 186 (up 0.8%) St Mary's Ward Labour 1320 (down 0.8%) Mary D'Albert (Liberal Democrat) 956 (up 3.3%) Conservative 326 (down 4.8%) Green 196 (no candidate in 2011) Sedgley Ward Labour 1833 ...
Remember you have your friends, family & health. Everything flows from that.....
First up, the result here in Castle Ward was: Jo Hayes (Liberal Democrat) 861 Peter Lynn (Green Party 395) Shamim Rashid (Conservative Party) 382 Bob Fisher (Labour) 285 Ron Levy (UKIP) 206 Thanks to everyone who voted to make Jo our next councillor, and with a larger majority than me! Yet again, there was very little change in Colchester, with Wivenhoe Quay the only seat to change hands, with Labour gaining it from the Tories. The full results are: Berechurch: Labour 1084, Lib Dem 286, UKIP 219, Conservative 192, Green 52 Dedham and Langham: Conservative 596, Lib Dem 81, Labour ...
The count for the Mayor of London and the members of the London Assembly is now underway in Olympia, ExCel and Alexandra Palace. Once again, the electorate have had to cope with not one but three different voting systems. Mayor of London There are seven candidates for the Mayor of London, with Brian Paddick standing for the Liberal Democrats. Voters had the opportunity to mark a first and a second preference candidate on the ballot paper. If one candidate achieves more than 50% of the first preference votes then that person is elected. If, as is more likely, no candidate ...
MP's Pay and Pensions May 2012 Survey on how much MPs should be paid - fill it in! (tags: ) Dunny on the Wold Election result (tags: politics ) Conservatives to discuss plan to censor the internet after campaign in right-wing press - Online - Media - The Independent OFFS. (tags: ) Science and politics: chalk and cheese? | Adam Smith | Talking science to power | Science | guardian.co.uk Except for Huppmeister J, obvs. (tags: ) Doctor Who Official on Tumblr - Shoes and Relative Dimension in Space We... I WANT DALEK SHOES!!! (tags: ) 'The Avengers' Movie Poster ...
Yes, the coalition parties got a drubbing. Yes, Labour won back lots of seats. But that's not the big story, and Labour would do well to resist the urge to rub Lib Dem faces in it (not that they are resisting, of course...). The big story of what happened yesterday was turnout. In most places it was less than 30%. LESS THAN 30%! This is not a ringing endorsement of the Labour party, this is a big two fingers up to ALL politicians. It explains the Green wipeout in Cambridge when they had net gains overall, and came close to ...
In Hastings, near where my father lives, we've just had the district council elections. We Liberal Democrats were hoping to take Castle ward off of Labour. But we didn't. Nor did we win Maze Hill, our other target ward. This is a real shame as it means that we no longer have a presence on the council - which is bad for Hastings as well given that the Labour and Conservative council groups tend to spend much more time bickering with each other than looking out for the interests of Hastings. Looking at the positive side, however, this was the ...
While the parties go on TV and explain why the national picture has affected the local vote (always very unfair on local candidates as it doesn't reflect their work). Perhaps they should pay attention to the biggest vote of all in this years elections, Apathy! People believe that nothing will change no matter who they vote for, and to a certain extent they are right, after all there is limited funding at a local level due to the government debt. Personally I blame the leaders at the top of the parties, all parties seem to have to many people who ...
From @libdemvoice > Simon Hughes calls for independent inquiry into Jeremy Hunt http://t.co/q5n9OVon # From @libdemvoice > Good news as Charles Taylor found guility http://t.co/KPHBAXbe # From @libdemvoice > Six reasons the Interception of Communications Commissioner has failed http://t.co/0Kukj9jN # From @libdemvoice > Lib Dems hold Waterside, North Norfolk – From the Norfolk Evening News: The Liberal Democrats ha... http://t.co/YldGRgNg # From @libdemvoice > LibLink: Paddy Ashdown I understand why many voters on the progressive wing of politics are st... http://t.co/sOFqz03W # From @libdemvoice > PMQs: Miliband hits barn door twice – Britain back in recession, embarrassing emails about gove... ...
Results are still coming in, but the overall picture of this year's local elections is clear: this has been a second successive disappointing result for the Lib Dems. Here's a topline summary: National vote share: The projected currently projected share of the national Lib Dem vote is 16%, with Labour on 39% and the Tories on 31%. This is the same share of the vote for the party as in 2011. So while the anger on the doorstep against the party may have lessened compared to 12 months ago, we've fallen a long way short of translating that into enthusiasm ...
[IMG: 20120504-074721.jpg] All, Just in case you haven't heard the results already: Shipston - Turnout 42.7% Richard Cheney (Lib Dem) – 752 Elected Jacqui Jones (Green) – 61 Jeffrey Kenner (Lab) – 501 Abdul Shahid (Cons) – 423 A good result for Richard and my former party, on a high turnout (compared to the rest of the District). Jeff Kenner has clearly done well with his pro supermarket but anti housing campaign – much as that's one of the silliest campaigns (in my view) in recent times. (The supermarket comes with over 180 homes – 50 if you exclude the ...
If you have just joined us after a heavy night at the count, or watching the results on TV, then welcome. LDV readers have been reporting and commenting on the results all through the night, so please join in the discussion on the local elections open thread. Later this morning we will be starting a London elections open thread to reflect on the results at City Hall. * Mary Reid is one of the Day Editors on Lib Dem Voice.
Well now the election results across most of the Country are known it's been pretty clear that the Liberal Democrats haven't had a good night, the fact that the Conservatives haven't had a good night either isn't really that much of a consolation. Here in Cambridge City we lost several good Councillors including my ward colleague Cllr Neil McGovern who was part of the Cambridge City Executive and who has worked very hard for King's Hedges residents but unfortunately it wasn't enough to turn back the Labour Tide. The full results for the City elections are available on the City ...
The final paragraph of Resolution 8A at the General Synod in Dublin this week is the most nasty of all. For it is the one that will legitimise witch-hunts against gay clergy; it is the one that will allow gay people to be excluded from Holy Communion; and it demeans the relationships of remarried divorcees.
On Monday 23rd March 2012 the Cabinet of Hertfordshire County Council decided: not to challenge the Traffic Penalty Chief Adjudicator's decisions, not to fight any appeal made to the Adjudicator, to cancel all Penalty Charge Notices issued and unpaid, to send a letter in respect of each penalty charge that has been paid stating that the Council will refund the charge provided an Application is received no later than the deadline given in the letter to pay any penalty charges that are unclaimed or claimed after the notified deadline to charity to give the person who paid the penalty charge ...
John Dodd has been successfully re-elected as a local councillor for Meols Ward, representing Churchtown, Crossens and Marshside. The full result, which was declared on Thursday night at the Southport count at Dunes Leisure Centre is: John Dodd, Liberal Democrat 1,327 Conservative 600 Labour 560 Southport Party 489 UKIP 372 The results for every ward in Sefton are available on the Council's website.
Thank you to everyone who supported me in the local elections yesterday – whether by voting for me or helping the campaign. The final result was: Candidate Party Result % FALL Alexis Conservative 442 26.9% FOX Nigel Labour 300 18.3% TOD Martin Liberal Democrat 899 54.8% It was a mixed night – with some excellent colleagues losing their seats – and some other excellent colleagues winning seats that we lost as recently as last year. Loads to do, and more tomorrow, but right now I need to go to bed!
Well, no surprise, as befits a regional target with significant outside resources thrown at it, Labour now has an overall majority on Reading Borough Council. Poor Reading. I shall post in more detail later, but it has to be said that Labour's behaviour at the count was thuggish and (on one occasion) violent. The tone was set before most party workers had arrived, where in the 'election management' area at the centre of the hall, reserved for staff only, the Labour Agent was holding court in a place he should absolutely not have been. I pointed this out to a ...
there are seven seats in the Southport parliamentary constituency and for the first time ever Lib Dems took six including two gains:one by Pat Keith and one by Tony Dawson. It was amazing. In this town it was the Tory Vote which was in free fall. In Birkdale ward the Conservatives came fourth. In Cambridge ward Pat Keith romped home with a massive majority in a seat we failed to win last year. The two Fearns-Ronnie and Maureen-comfortably saw off the Labour Challenge. John Dodd got an amazing 700+ majority in Meols Ward. In Ainsdale Lynne Thompson kept our second ...
Congratulations to Cllr Keith Holloway – the Lib Dems have gained Cheadle & Gatley from the Conservatives with a majority of 260. The votes were: Keith Holloway (Lib Dem): 2030 (42.5%, +2.5%) Mick Jones (Conservative): 1770 (37.1%, -1.2%) Colin Owen (Labour): 974 (20.4%, -0.8%) Total votes cast: 4774 Turnout: 41% Lib Dem majority over Conservatives: 260 Thank you to everyone who supported Keith and the Lib Dems, and made us feel welcome as we knocked on thousands of doors around the ward over the last year. We look forward to working with everyone to improve our villages further.
Omar is a dog who is not standing for Mayor of London, but the poster for him in a shop window near Waterloo station makes grim (if amusing) reading for Lib Dem hopeful, Brian Paddick...
