From Examiner.com: On Friday, Spencer Davis of Los Angeles County collected his $250,000 prize from California Lottery after purchasing a winning Black Scratchers ticket. In a press release issued by officials, Davis has been part of the rock n' roll group The Spencer Davis Group since the 1960's. "I don't even bother scratching the entire ticket. I just scratch what I have to and run it through the check-a-ticket machine," Said Davis. "When it said I won $250,000, I called a lady over to look at it, assuming the machine was broken, but it wasn't, I really had won that ...
We have lost many good councillors, and clearly the electors are handing out an equal share of the blame to Liberal Democrat candidates as to Tories for the way Messrs Cameron and Osborne are going about the task of eliminating the deficit. We have been given no credit for mitigating the worst effects of Tory-inspired legislation on health, welfare and the justice system, or for LibDem-inspired ideas like the Pupil Premium and the reduction of taxes on low-paid workers, because people aren't aware of the role we have played in the Coalition. We have tried to explain it, but the ...
David Cameron Backs Down From Gay Marriage Promise To 'Appease Tory Backbenchers' is the headline on Huffington Post. What can I say except the draw the logical assumption that Cameron has traded his spine in for a slightly used one extracted from a jelly fish, should this headline be true! As they say, watch this ...
Is it possible that the almost combined political will of Europe is leading us down the austerity path has failed? The French electorate have kicked Sarkozy out. The local council elections in the UK clearly gave Cameron and Clegg a black eye. Can the coalition survive until 2015? Will Clegg still be the party leader ...
We are all now resigned to the fact that we are stuck with Boris now for another 4 years and it is time to go away, lick our wounds, and come out a fighting, campaigning party WITH a direction and clear policies next time around. However, we have four years in which to hound Boris ...
After 17 years in waiting, French socialists are celebrating in France (and beyond) the victory of François Hollande in the presidential elections. Whilst the predicted 51.9% vote in favour of Hollande is not a landslide, it certainly is a win, with an estimated 80% electoral turn out. 80%? Something that we, here in the UK, ...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] This was the most visited blog posting this week according to the Lib Dem Bloggers aggregator! For details click on the box 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 ...
The days following an election are like no other. The frenzy, the mania and the sheer energy of the campaign is suddenly exchanged for the exhaustion, the solitude and the quiet contemplation that follows. I was greatly proud to have been formally re-elected as the County Councillor for Rhyd-Y-Fuwch ward on Ceredigion County Council in the early hours of Friday morning to serve for a 3rd term. Since that declaration, I have spent a quiet weekend looking back at the campaign and looking at the results from across the country. It has been a bittersweet experience because whilst I have ...
I am neither for, nor against, the exploitation of Britain's shale gas. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I think the issue is more complicated than the way it was put by Chris Huhne in The Guardian this week. There's the question of whether shale gas is a lower carbon fuel than coal. ...
Four countries were holding national elections today (sorry, I have no views on Schleswig-Holstein or the Italian local councils). In Armenia, President Sargsyan's party has got 44% of the votes, up 33% from the 2007 election, and will presumably stay in power with their coalition partners who got 29%, though I suppose they could take their pick of partners from the three parties which craped into the parliament with 5-6% of the vote. Shout out to my former colleague Levon Zourabian, who was running the campaign for former president Ter-Petrossian's party, which came third with just over 6%. In Serbia ...
The only good thing about the London election count for Greenwich Liberal Democrats was that, thanks to real time electronic counting, we were able to prepare for the disappointment hours ahead of the declaration. It even reduced the number of gleeful and snide remarks from Labour Party members at Excel who thought it not worth the effort to ...
İt was odd to go straight from the London elections to an academic conference on multiculturalism in İstanbul, organised by the İslington-based Dialogue Society, but at least London was the subject of the paper İ presented at it at Fatih University. The precise topic was 'How successful a multicultural model is London?' I showed how London ...
I'm going to spoil you this week with to Sunday Sounds, both taken from last night's episode of The Voice UK. First up is Max Milner with what I think is an incredibly special version of Tom Petty's Free-fallin', which was already one of my favourite songs. Max imbues it with real Soul and Emotion - the performance of the night for me: Whilst that may have been my personal favourite from last night, I also really liked Vince Kidd's rendition of Always on My Mind. I love both Elvis' and the Pet Shop Boys' versions; and I was pretty ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 272nd weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (29 April-5 May, 2012), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Details of ...
Car insurance prices for Houghton Regis must be among the highest in the country. Compared to last year my current insurer wants to hike up my fully comprehensive insurance premium by a staggering 50%. Yet none of my details have changed. Entering my details into a price comparison website this weekend I quickly found that I could get insurance for about the same as I paid last year. So that brought a small smile to my face. But when I discussed this with someone living in Hertfordshire they were still wondering why my lowest quote was so high. So, just ...
WARNING: If you are French don't read this. It's illegal in your country until the polls close. Sarkozy is toast. So say the exit polls reported by Swiss and Belgian media. From Talking Points/McClatchy: French Socialist Francois Hollande appeared headed to victory over President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to exit polls of voters released by Swiss and Belgian news media. Those polls showed Hollande with 52 to 53 percent of the vote in an election that turned on solutions for Europe's economic crisis amid record unemployment in France. French voters were still headed to cast their ballots when the exit polls ...
I am currently fixated with this theme music. The series isn't bad either. ...Although Dr. Isles gets on my nerves a bit. You can overdo turning every daily event into a scientific seminar. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
The other day I had to give a 10 minute summary of my take on the housing challenges we currently face. I don't claim any great originality in what I covered. But I thought it might be useful to set the points out here. The next stage is to draw up some thoughts on what we might do to address these challenges. Market volatility Since the financial crisis very little action has, in reality, been taken to dampen the amplitude of the housing market cycle. There has been some limited increase in regulatory oversight of the mortgage market, but any ...
The British Council has just released an archive of 120 short public information films from the 1940s which you can watch online. They recreate another age - although I have to keep reminding myself that this was what life was like for my parents when I was born. This film explains local government, at a time when Councils controlled far more services than they do now. That really was localism. See if you can spot the shots of Kingston's Ancient Market and the Guildhall, when the current building was only a few years old. Local Government (1943) from British Council ...
I'll deal with my embarrassing and pathetic result again another time but this blog will just be about the other races and thoughts on the results from across the borough. Let us start with the races that weren't even races. Chalkwell, Eastwood Park, Leigh, Shoeburyness, Thorpe, Victoria and West Leigh all went comfortably as expected elected Tory, Tory, Lib Dem, Indy, Indy, Labour and Tory councillors respectively. None of these results were ever in too much doubt. St. Laurence saw the Lib Dems attacking for the only time in the borough and they gave Mark Flewitt a bit of a ...
Received earlier today Statement from Bob Bayford Leader, TDC Conservative Group "It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death this morning of Councillor Brian Goodwin. Councillor Goodwin represented Westgate on Sea ward since 2003 and cared deeply for the area and its residents. He will be greatly missed by all his friends and colleagues in the Conservative Group at Thanet District Council and in the wider Thanet community."
Those ignorant of history are bound to repeat its' mistakes, the saying goes. And it is rarely so true as now because Boris Johnson's victory in London was due, in no small part, to the absence of a grassroots alliance ... Continue reading →
You hardly have to be an experienced politician, or even a novice politician, to know that if you turn up for a major TV interview having announced a set of policies, there's a good chance you will be asked how much they are going to cost. That's in the good times and it's all the more so currently. And even more all the more so if you are a Labour politician, given all the arguments over their fiscal record. And if you are called Ed Balls? Well it's more likely that you will be asked about the cost than it ...
As I posted yesterday, the recent local elections were bad for the Liberal Democrats, the party for whom I am an activist. But if there's any cheer to be had, it comes from looking at the behaviour of the other parties. Labour have reason to be cheerful, but the results contain a trap. Their party has lurched to the left, going back on Tony Blair's legacy. They want more spending, and more taxes to pay for them. This is a good line for motivating activists, many incandescent over the Coalition's cuts, which they consider to be unnecessary and ideologically motivated. ...
Last winter I was doing surveys around the ward to meet residents and find out what problems affected them. People were friendly and responsive. Then, the campaign started and everything changed. I had a first-hand experience of 'anti-politics'. I picked up a significant dislike of the Lib Dems, which had nothing to do with specific policies, but a sense of betrayal. People wanted to protest. I
Scene opens on a nondescript room somewhere in Whitehall, 9th May 2015. Labour Lead Coalition Negotiator: "Well, thank you all for coming today. Obviously it's been a fairly gruelling election campaign but the fact that no party managed to achieve an overall majority has led us to this point. If we can come to some agreement over the next few days then we have a chance to form a majority coalition." Lib Dem Lead Coalition Negotiator: "Absolutely. We very much hope that we can reach such an agreement between our parties. I have with me a document which forms our ...
A pot hole has been reported to the the council approx 50 yards from Harvester car park heading from roundabout towards Rush Hill
Let's start with the facts.... Overall turnout was down to 38%, from 45% last time. Two Liberal Democrat Assembly members elected, compared to three in 2008 and five in 2004. Mayoral vote was 92,000 (4.2% – and deposit lost), compared to 236,752 (9.8%) in 2008. Our Assembly list vote was 150,447 (6.8% – just over the threshold), against 275,272 (11.4%) in 2008. The Greens "pushed the Lib Dems into fourth place": actually their Assembly vote flat-lined at 8.5%, although their Mayoral vote was up a bit, from 3.2% to 4.5%. First off, a big thank you to Brian Paddick, his ...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I can't quite believe it but this is my 700th post on the widow's world. It's been just under three years and, I'm pleased to say, I'm enjoying blogging more than ever! To celebrate this little milestone, I decided to write a piece of fiction. I also decided to discipline myself to compose a story in just 700 words. It is the first piece of fiction I've published here and I'm not sure whether to promise more or not. You may not even want more in any case! Anyway, enough rambling, here it is - my 700 ...
Local elections over the last two years have been grim watching for me as a Liberal Democrat. We're not used to facing mid-term blues - or to be more accurate we've usually benefited from them as people turn away from those in power, and so we have built an impressive base in local government. As a result local communities have been served by some out-standing people, some of the same outstanding people who are this week-end staring at an empty diary - paying the price of belonging to a party in power. Next year it's County Durham's turn to vote, ...
Sun 6th
14:35
"A stoical and resilient lot" - Andrew Rawnsley's verdict on the Lib Dems. Here's what I think...
The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley has a well-balanced and judicious write-up of last Thursday's local elections for all three main parties — noting that 'two out of three of the main parties have responded in a rational fashion. The exception is the Conservatives.' Here's what he has to say about the Lib Dems: Catastrophic is not too strong a word to describe what has just happened to them. They went into these elections thinking that at least they could not possibly suffer as badly as they did last year when fury with Lib Dem "betrayals" was at its most intense. In ...
Royal Mail and the Post Office are two of our most recognisable and most trusted brands. For hundreds of years the post office has been at the heart of our communities - with a value that goes beyond mere economics to the social and the symbolic. Royal Mail, meanwhile, is a service that covers every part of the country and reaches every part of society. The public, quite rightly, is fiercely protective of both institutions. Sadly previous governments left them both in a mess. Labour opened up the postal market, thereby exposing Royal Mail to the full force of competition. ...
Whilst I was trying to be connected to the Inside Politics studio at BBC Radio Ulster I heard the chair of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party, Irwin Armstrong, say that nobody wants Lord's reform. It was a sentiment also expressed by Nadine Dorries MP on ConservativeHome earlier today. May I just refer them and all other members of the Conservative party who think like that to page 67 of the Conservative Party Manifesto in 2010.b Where it says: "We will work to build a consensus for a mainly-elected second chamber to replace the current House of Lords, recognising that an ...
Reblogged from Andrew McFarland Campbell: One year ago today Michael and I formed our civil partnership – that is to day we went through a process of signing paperwork in the presence of witnesses that made our relationship official in the eyes of the law. Had we been an opposite-sex couple, it would have been ...
Another one of "those mornings"..... from Fr Peter Thompson Filed under: Anglican, christian, Church of Ireland
After another round of Local elections the Libdems have again taken another blow. For the first time since the joining of the SDP and Liberals we've fallen below 3000 Councillors. Control of Cardiff and Birmingham councils where they were jointly run with Plaid Cymru and Conservatives (respectively). The party were expecting 16% of the votes, the same as last year but in the North where there were fewer Conservative Council votes the anti-government vote turned against us, we lost remaining seats in 14 town halls, nine more seats in Sheffield (except Hallam- Nick's seat where we won all five!) Many ...
Friday was truly awful. In the local elections the Lib Dems suffered serious reverses across the UK. This was played out most spectacularly here in Edinburgh where we narrowly avoided wipe out losing all but three of our seats. I was one of the three and live to fight another day. I am joined by old stager Robert (Dobbie) Aldridge and new face Alistair Sheils, all West Edinburgh Councillors. A lot of good councillors fell on Friday among them Jim Lowrie, Marjorie Thomas, Gary Peacock, Tim McKay, Gordon MacKenzie and our leader Jenny Dawe. It was a bitter blown losing ...
Reblogged from Andrew McFarland Campbell: One year ago today Michael and I formed our civil partnership – that is to day we went through a process of signing paperwork in the presence of witnesses that made our relationship official in the eyes of the law. Had we been an opposite-sex couple, it would have been ...
We've all read the newspapers when they say that Nick Clegg will be bludgeoned if he stands again in 2015. We've all read that he has no hope of keeping his seat of Sheffield Hallam as everyone hates both the Lib Dems and him personally. We've all heard from the Labour activists who say that Clegg is just finished and that even if he waved a magic wand he wouldn't be able to survive. His future in Westminster politics is more over than my endless and fruitless pursuit of women but is the rhetoric accurate? Well let us look at ...
Michael asks if the member of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland will allow Anti-Gay resolutions from the Bishop of Down & Dromore and the Archbishop of Dublin to be heard this week.
David Davis tells The Observer: "I think if you ask the man on the street what his priorities are, House of Lords reform and gay marriage would not be among them. It would be jobs, cutting taxes, prosperity, growth. It is the economy, stupid." This from a man who, in the middle of an economic crisis, resigned from the Shadow Cabinet to promote his (laudable) opposition to the over-lengthy detention without trial of suspected terrorists - an issue about which his "man on the street" surely cares as much (or as little) as he cares about Lords reform and gay ...
I am sure all you groovy young people remember Dubstar having a hit with their dance remix of Not So Manic Now in 1996. This is the original version of the song, recorded by the Wakefield band Brick Supply, which has since evolved into The Boy Tate: The Boy Tate write about circumstance, contradiction and typically human relations, adding their own gritty twist to proceedings. The band members are inspired by such a diverse range of artists including; the Carpenters, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, the Fall, Counting Crows, Bach, James Taylor, the Smiths to name but a few.More about the band ...
We're looking for businesses across Stockport to join the Greater Manchester Cycle Challenge and get more employees cycling from 14th May to 5th June 2012. It's easy – just sign up at http://www.tfgmcyclechallenge.org.uk and get cycling. You can have a try-a-bike session organised for you at your workplace and there's even a prize – a hot air balloon trip for two – on offer.
There now follows a public information film... During the 1940s, the British Council produced more than 120 short films 'designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played'. They're now available online, and here's the wonderfully of-its-time feature on local government — or, as it's described in the British Council Film Department Catalogue: 'A simple description of English Local Government, showing the areas into which England is divided, the system of election and finance, and the many services administered by the local authorities.' Hark back to a time when local authorities had power over all manner of local ...
Interesting: Social fabric means all.Must wake up before coming apart more.That includes closing tax loopholes for rich people and companies. — Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) April 29, 2012
Sun 6th
10:47
SHOCK NEWS: A bill that wasn't going to be in the Queen's Speech isn't going to be in the Queen's Sp...
The plan wasn't for an equal marriage Bill to be in this Queen's Speech, so the news that there will not be an equal marriage Bill in the Queen's Speech is hardly news – even if some on the Tory right (unenlightened wing)* are trying to turn this into a story about how the government is backing down on the issue. As Lynne Featherstone, Minister for Equalities, puts it on her blog: In the aftermath of a tough set of election results for both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - I couldn't help but notice a few naysayers popping up in ...
As the final results of the 2012 local election were tallied and reported, London was the place to be. I hadn't planned nor scheduled it this way: it was a mysterious happenstance that meant that just before Boris Johnson's re-election as Mayor was confirmed, I was making my way back to my hotel in the ...
On Thursday night I tweeted about the Newcastle polling station which had Labour leaflets on display. The issue is now being pursued, but for the record here is a photo taken inside, showing three Labour leaflets on display: The polling station was at MERA Hall, Wyndley Place, Montagu Estate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 4QR and the photograph was taken just before 9:30pm on Thursday 3 May 2012 (i.e. the clock in the photo was accurate!). Photo taken by Andrew Emmerson.
Here's an interesting bit of local history for you all, going all the way back to when I was born in 1972. This was a year of many interesting events, and also the 1972 Local Government Act which brought about wholesale changes to the way large parts of the country were governed. It brought in the two-tier system of local government (counties and districts/boroughs) that's been continually tampered with since, and also carved many new counties out of the old borders. I grew up in Redditch, so was under the auspices of the county of 'Hereford and Worcester' for a ...
Nine out of the 10 English cities asked on Thursday if they wanted their councils to be run by a directly-elected mayor said no. Only Bristol opted for change, while Doncaster overwhelmingly voted to retain its elected mayor. The status quo, as so often in conservative Britain, won. Oxford's mayoral referendum: May 2002 Ten years ago, on 2nd May 2002, Oxford also voted on whether to change to an elected mayor. This city, too, rejected the idea, 55%-45% — notwithstanding the vocal support of the local paper, and (re-reading it today) a quite astonishingly leading question: "Are you in favour ...
BBC News - Top Gear presenter James May meets his virtual self (video) This is really cool, and has James May in it as a bonus. (tags: ) Remember to walk your dalek and feed it regularly (tags: ) If River Song had only had a female friend to talk sense into her... (tags: ) Intersectional Doctor Who (tags: ) Hair! (Not the Musical) On what it's like, as a woman, to stop shaving. (tags: ) Maureen Johnson, WHY DO WE PHOTOSHOP PEOPLE? Because people want to sell us stuff, so they have to make us feel bad about ourselves ...
The Spin Doctor column in today's Wales on Sunday has a bit of a laugh at my expense by quoting my colleagues' playful ribbing of me during last Wednesday's Plenary debate on local government:. Finally, much of what we believe is termed "banter" in the Senedd last week, as a ludicrous Liberal Democrat-called debate on the brilliance of Liberal Democrats councils degenerated into discussion of their finance spokesman Peter Black's ties and sense of humour. "I must say that when I saw the motion I had already come to the conclusion, with respect, that my colleague's sense of humour is ...
Like many Liberal Democrat activists I received an e-mail from Nick Clegg yesterday entitled "Our values remain strong". The e-mail started 'Dear -name--,'! At least I am a name and not a number.
The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that's fine, we're grateful for people taking the time to read the site. You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways: 1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there's something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you're an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or ...
I mentioned a month ago I was standing for election to Oxford City Council, the first time my name had appeared on a ballot paper since 2004. So I thought I ought to finish the story, and let you know how I got on... Headington Hill and Northway Electorate: 4,882, Ballot papers issued: 1,232, Turnout: 25.24% Greens 156 Labour 589 – ELECTED UKIP 97 Conservatives 273 TALL Stephen Joseph (Liberal Democrat) 110 Ah well. On the up-side, the ward I helped work — Headington, where I was a councillor for eight years — stayed true to the Lib Dems, with ...
Last night, there were grumblings on Twitter after an e-mail went out to party members from Nick Clegg addressed to Dear -name-. I felt that the complaints about an obvious mail merge muck up were a bit unfair given that it was done by someone who's doubtless worked stupid hours and needed to be sleeping. That tired person also had little influence on the content of the e-mail, which I would suggest was its real problem. What the Party needed was a cuddle, an indication that our leader understood how we were feeling after a bruising set of results. What ...
In an email to members, ALDC's Tim Pickstone wrote, "Winning elections as a Liberal Democrat is never easy ... Winning those elections when you're also in Government is even harder." Well Tim, what you say is true, but if we console ourselves with these thoughts we are doomed to become a party which, like the Saxons of Hereward the Wakes's time, is holed up in a few isolated corners and crevices of the land, where our flag is carried by an MP and a council group, well resourced, skilled and of sufficient mass to evade destruction, but unable to link ...
You probably think that French voters get a ballot slip handed to them today, go behind a curtain and mark "x" against Sarkozy or Hollande. Wrong. As BBC News have just shown, there are two piles of "bulletins" or tickets on a table. One pile has printed on it "Sarkozy" and the other says "Hollande". The voter picks up a ticket or tickets and they are given a blue envelope. They then go behind a curtain and place the appropriate ticket in the envelope. They then come out and place the envelope in a glass box in front of the ...
In the aftermath of a tough set of election results for both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats – I couldn't help but notice a few naysayers popping up in the media and uttering dire warnings about a government that needs to concentrate on core issues rather than same sex civil marriage. For goodness sake – it's not either / or. The economy is clearly the No 1 priority – but the Coalition can multi-task! There will be no u-turn on equal marriage – we are committed as a government to legislate by 2015
Yesterday (with thanks to Dr Iliyan Stefanov for organising!) we held a thank you party - at the University of Dundee Chaplaincy Centre in the West End - for our superb team of helpers for the Dundee LibDem council election campaign. In challenging times, I was delighted to be re-elected by such a wide margin and am very grateful to all 1453 West End folk who gave me their first preference vote. My colleagues Craig Duncan in the Ferry Ward and Iliyan Stefanov in Strathmartine also performed extremely well. Anyway, here's a photo from yesterday - and very many thanks ...
On the book that made Alex Wilcock a Liberal and Gary Russel a writer (insert joke here) Tagged: me elsewhere
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 ...
