Late last month people across Nepal commemorated 2015's fearsome earthquake. That disaster shattered communities as well as buildings, yet the Nepalese have been pulling themselves together and rebuilding. Some of the old houses and temples in the Kathmandu valley will probably never be restored, but as Thomas Bell points out in his riveting account of [...]
So, I was the candidate. The forms were in, and I was official. So far, so good. But you can't just go out there and 'be the candidate', you have to be organised. So, I did some research and organised my diary, so that I could dedicate the required amount of time to the campaign - there were less than four weeks until polling day, so time is of the essence. My fellow Liberal Democrats weren't idle either, with a campaign group meeting called, whilst Ros put her vast experience to work on drawing up a strategy document. We gathered ...
Time for another outing for my occasional Campaign Against Cliched Democratic Pessimism with report of another positive turnout picture. Turnout for #LondonElects was 45.6% – just making it the highest ever for a mayoral electionhttps://t.co/LI7JRrBtwF pic.twitter.com/DfhcyI8JCD — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 6, 2016 As with the fact that turnout has risen for three general elections in a row now in the UK, you won't find the media completely covering up this fact. Just mentioning it only rarely, quietly and unobtrusively... and of course there's no chorus of welcome for record turnout from regulators, administrators or democratic campaigners despite their ...
Current Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) Walking on Glass, by Iain Banks How Loud Can You Burp?, by Glenn Murphy Last books finished Lila, by Marilynne Robinson Short Trips: Monsters, ed. Ian Farrington The Quarry, by Iain Banks Banewreaker, by Jacqueline Carey Heritage, by Dale Smith Next books Godslayer, by Jacqueline Carey George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt, by Lucy Hawking Where Angels Fear, by Rebecca Levene and Simon Winstone Books acquired in last week Bételgeuse v 4: Les Cavernes, by Leo
[IMG: Mark Williams - Lib Dem] Despite her stonking good constituency result, the overall loss of four Welsh Assembly members triggered Kirsty Williams's decision to stand down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. During coalition, she led the Welsh Lib Dems to one of the best election results for the party, holding on far better than the party did in almost every other election. Alas, 2016 did not see a repeat of such political gravity defying acts. Mark Williams, MP for Ceredigion and bearer of an excellent first name*, is the new Welsh Liberal Democrat leader. As the only ...
What a busy five years we've had outside of the normal elections. Amazingly in the last five years we've had 9 by-elections. This is when a councillor resigns whether voluntarily or because they've committed a misdemeanour. We've seen everything from a wife beater resigning, disquiet and resigning due to Labour housing policies, finding being a councillor hard work, the list goes on. And up to now they've all been Labour councillors resigning – all nine of them. A weird record! Sadly a Lib Dem councillor has now had to resign. In my personal opinion one of the best councillors from ...
Sat 7th
19:01
Proposals to transfer services from Shirehall to Ludlow pose the "Ludford Question" on council tax -...
Ludlow Town Council is considering a request from Shropshire Council to take on a broad range of services. These could cost an extra £1 million a year and hike the precept in the town from around £100 a year to more than £300.[1] The alternative could be closure of the library, leisure centre, visitor information... Continue reading Proposals to transfer services from Shirehall to Ludlow pose the "Ludford Question" on council tax - it's a toughie →
I'm rubbish at predicting elections. Always have been. Too many variables for my simple brain. What I do know is that working in politics puts you at the mercy of electoral ups and downs that can be weighted heavily against you at the drop of a box count. Beyond that, I leave the number crunching to those with better minds than this tragic idealist. For me, my 17 years in politics has been about believing in liberal values, sharing in those values with oddballs just like me and making firm friendships. Stunt sheep; overnight bulk buy balloons; a giant toothbrush; ...
There had been rumours that the sitting Conservative district councillor for Barking and Somersham was less than entirely happy. But, having been interested in politics for a long time, you learn not to get too excited. After all, David Card had only been elected last May. And then, on the Monday before the May Bank Holiday, word got out that he had indeed handed in his resignation. The next day, the notice of election was issued, with the closing date for nominations set as yesterday. And I decided that I should offer myself as the candidate. After all, it's important ...
Pausing between flights in Heathrow on my way home, I have time to type up the overall results. Apologies for the slight messiness below, but I think the details are clear. Democratic Unionist Party 38 seats (no change) 202,567 first prefs 29.2% (-0.8%) Sinn Féin 28 seats (−1) 166,785 first prefs 24.0% (−2.9%) Ulster Unionist Party 16 seats (-) 87,302 first prefs 12.6% (−0.7%) SDLP 12 seats (−2) 83,364 first prefs 12.0% (−2.2%) Alliance Party 8 seats (-) 48,447 first prefs 7.0% (−0.7%) Green 2 seats (+1) 18,718 first prefs 2.7% (+1.8%) People before Profit Alliance 2 seats (+2) 13,761 ...
[IMG: Mark Williams MP by LIberal Democrats] Ceredigion MP Mark Williams has been confirmed as the new Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader by the Welsh National Executive Committee. As the only other Parliamentarian after Kirsty Williams stood down yesterday in the wake of the election results, he is the only other person eligible for the job as the Welsh Constitution outlines: The Leader of the Party shall be elected from the Welsh Liberal Democrat members of the European Parliament, House of Commons and the National Assembly for Wales and shall become Leader of whichever Group they originate from. From the Welsh ...
Below are the brilliant results from Southport. Never before throughout the whole history of the borough have we won every seat. That goes back to the granting of the borough's charter in 1858! Lynne Thompson Liberal Democrats 1713 42% Elected Jamie Halsall Conservative Party 1149 28% Not elected Mhairi McLeod Johnstone Doyle The Labour Party 729 18% Not elected Duncan Browne United Kingdom Independence Party 394 10% Not elected Barbara Ann Dutton The Green Party 133 3% Not elected Birkdale - resultsElection CandidatePartyVotes% Richard Ronald Hands Liberal Democrats 1443 46% Elected Ged Wright The Labour Party 717 23% Not elected ...
So, April was not a month in which I made a lot of progress. Yes, I walked my ten thousand steps every day and yes, I kept my fluid intake nice and high, but I didn't lose any weight. And so, I've decided to get the program back on track in May by walking 12,500 steps each day, and watching what I eat a bit more. Nothing dramatic, you understand, and only for this month because, ultimately, it has to be sustainable. How am I going to walk those extra steps? Well, there's been a development...
In a previous post I said I wouldn't be shy about my own opinions on where we can improve, and I want to start straight away with the thorny issue of 'targeting', because it is such an important one for us to address as a party (and as individuals). This post is with particular reference to Wales, obviously, and what has happened here in the recent election, but the same issue applies within that party across the UK. Now I fully understand the need to target our resources most in the places where we have a realistic chance of winning ...
On Thursday, due to boundary changes Lincoln had an all-up election for the first time since 2007. Thanks to some brilliant new members the Liberal Democrats managed to stand 18 candidates out of the 33 seats that were up for election, which is good considering for the last few years we have struggled to fill [...]
[IMG: Ch1yjr-WMAA-xNf.jpg large] Click on the chart to enlarge it Across England the Lib Dems gained the most seats (37) – Lynne Thompson in Southport's Ainsdale Ward of Sefton Council being one of those 37 net gains. But look at the 'Residents' tag, it's plus 4 and 3 of those gains by independent resident groups were from Labour in Sefton Central Constituency. A badge to wear proudly for Pat O'Hanlon, Matt Gannon and Bob McCann. A badge Sefton Central Labour Party will very much not be wearing though as they contributed to Labour's net loss of 25 seats across England! ...
If the Daily Record's Ross McCafferty had followed Stephen Tall, he might not have said what he did in a wee bit of eve of poll banter: It all started when I tweeted about the Eve of Poll rally in Alex Cole-Hamilton's HQ: @caronmlindsay @MikeCrockart interesting. But ACH has been confident before. Failure to win it raises some questions — Ross McCafferty (@RossMcCaff) May 4, 2016 When Mike Crockart got involved, things got interesting... @RJMcL @caronmlindsay @MikeCrockart I'd bet my beard they don't win. And that's been 3 months hard growing — Ross McCafferty (@RossMcCaff) May 4, 2016 Then this ...
A MASSIVE thank you to the hundreds and hundreds of local residents who live in the Gunthorpe Ward (which includes parts of Werrington) for helping us make history on Thursday 5th May 2016, and electing all three Liberal Democrat candidates. We certainly worked hard during the campaign, but what people constantly said on the doorstep was [...]
It is so good not to feel completely crap on the day after an election. Sure, there has been some heartbreaking news from Wales in particular which we can't forget about, but for the first time in years, there is more good news than bad. If I had any talent for graphic design at all, I'd make this into a bar chart, but I don't, so you just get the figures from the BBC website: [IMG: Summary of 2016 English local elections] Gaining more seats than any other party in England is not a bad result and shows that we ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie says that opposition to the SNP at Holyrood must be on a range of issues far broader than a narrow Tory agenda. For a start, I'd suggest, neither Tories nor SNP are known for their commitment to civil liberties. The absence of a commitment to fight the Tories' Snoopers' Charter in the SNP manifesto is significant. Before you say "that's Westminster", note that the manifesto talked a lot about Trident. It's notable that when SNP MPs had a chance to kill off the Snoopers' Charter a few weeks ago, they bailed. Since the election ...
Jeffro Johnson, a rabid puppy nominee for "best" related work, has discovered the blog post where, in response to his nominated work, I called him "a very, very, very, stupid but harmless man". Mr Johnson seems to consider this an ... Continue reading →
After 6 weeks roaming around the force area of Avon and Somerset Police area the votes have been cast and congratualtions to Sue Mountstevens who won. I learnt a lot during these elections – First – I was reminded what a fantastic area we live in Second – there is very little public support for the role – outside Bristol which had local elections the turnout was about 20% – if the Government wants these positions to be important to the public it must support them more than this time when there was no freepost for the candidates. Third – ...
Embed from Getty Images Yesterday a stonking 22,189 Liberal Democrat Voice pages were viewed by readers. We feel privileged and honoured that Liberal Democrat supporters turn to us in such numbers for news of elections. Thank you!
Crossens Saturday, 14th May, St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens, between 11am and 12 noon. Churchtown Thursday, 26th May at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with Preston New Road, next to Boots) Churchtown, between 10:30 am and 11:30 am.
Sat 7th
12:13
Liberal Democrat County Council Group Press Release on Teaching Assistant termination & re-engag...
Liberal Democrat councillors in County Durham are shocked and disappointed that the council has decided, without proper consultation or explanation, to pursue the draconian step of terminating the contracts of Teaching Assistants and their re-engagement on terms which will enforce a pay cut of 10% or more on the vast majority of them. Liberal Democrat councillors do not believe that all avenues have been explored. There has been no previous report or explanation to scrutiny committees or full council setting out how this issue has been tackled by other councils, comparison of pay rates with other councils, or detailed analysis ...
I tend not to write pieces for political websites as I don't consider myself a great writer and often shy away from the challenge. However, I couldn't resist an opportunity to talk about, and thank our many volunteers, for the excellent results we had in Liverpool on Thursday night and Friday morning. First, a bit of context. When I became Chair at the end of 2014, the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool were facing an enormous challenge. Once the largest Lib Dem groups in Europe could soon face having just one councillor left with Erica Kemp CBE. As brilliant as she ...
Groundhog day in Gateshead is now gone. In 2014 and 2015, no seats changed hands. The polling day repeats were at an end. In 2010-12, we suffered losses to Labour in the borough. The Lib Dem team on the Council was cut from 24 to 11. We have to go back to 2008 for the last Lib Dem gain in Gateshead. So the elections on Thursday saw us breaking the recent mould. We gained Pelaw and Heworth from
I tried to drop a line to Liberal Democrat Councillor Ian Patterson of Gateshead, elected back onto Gateshead Council on Thursday after a gap of four years. The message I got back was: Mail to the recipient cllr.ipatterson@gateshead.gov.uk could not be delivered. cllr.ipatterson@gateshead.gov.uk is not authorised to send and receive internet mail or there is an error in the address. No mistake. Gateshead Council is going to have to get used to the fact that things are changing. #libdemfightback
Thanks to those who voted Lib Dem in Liverpool last Thursday from the Liverpool Lib Dem Council Group Andrew Makinson, Richard Kemp, Mirna Juarez and Malcolm Kelly On Thursday the election results for our City were poor. Joe Anderson was ... Continue reading →
Police investigate claims Tories 'cheated their way to power' and may have breached election spending rules RT @MrHarryCole: Coppers probe Tory 2015 election spend as government accused of "cheating its way to power": Instagram Last not-general-election-year I got 103 and came 5th. I'll take this result for a ward where I didn't do much actual work Instagram A terrible calamity has befallen Blue: Triggered - The Boston Globe Everyone who thinks that trigger warnings are censorship needs to read this: (Obvious content note is obvious) Free Comic Book Day 2016: where to go in the UK | Books | The ...
For what should be fairly obvious reasons of being busy and having my attention firmly fixed elsewhere, I've not posted here for a little while, but I wanted now to post my reflections on what has happened in the recent election in Wales. I've stayed quiet for a day or two before saying anything, just to allow the dust to settle in my own dusty data banks. What has happened in Wales is, I believe, nothing short of a tragedy for the people of Wales, and to the Assembly - to lose the dedicated public service of Aled Roberts, Eluned ...
I wasn't up for election in my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside this year, but my colleague John McClurey was. Alas, my record majority (for recent years) of 1199 votes was smashed by John. He added a whopping 7 votes to our lead! But he did notch up 63% of the vote, 13% up on my share at the local elections last year (which coincided with the general election). There was no campaign or
[IMG: Justin%20Trudeau%20book] After becoming Leader of the Liberal Party in Canada, Justin Trudeau wrote an autobiography "Common Ground". The early chapters cover his life as the son of a Prime Minister, then his career as a bouncer, ski instructor and high school teacher. The book moves on to how he became a non-party political activist, then a Liberal candidate and (by just a few hundred votes) an MP in 2008, then party leader in 2013. To me, a very interesting part of the book is that which deals with events after 2011. In 2000 the Liberal Party was in government ...
Two members of the LDV team were standing for election on Thursday. Joe Otten has faced the electorate two years running. He was up for election at the end of his four year cycle last year and Sheffield had all-ups this year after new boundaries came in. The result was impressive: [IMG: Joe Otten result] The three Liberal Democrats were 2000 votes ahead of their nearest Labour rivals. That's a vote of confidence if ever there was one. Joe wasn't so lucky in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections, but he put up a good, liberal, sensible fight and retained ...
I posted some time ago about what I dubbed 'Exit Bootle' as HMRC announced that a huge number of Civil Service jobs were to be taken out of Bootle/Netheron and for some of them then to be relocated within Liverpool. My original posting is available via the link below:- The devastating effect of these job losses on the fragile Bootle economy has indeed been completely ignored and therefore not taken into account by the those planning the move, this has been admitted to. Government seems to have adopted the stance of 'this has nothing to do with us, it's ...
Britain voted, I hapzardly analyse. THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS NEED TO REALISE WE ARE STILL AT RISK OF EXTINCTION A yr ago today I woke up devastated post-election. I vowed to get stuck in and joined the @LibDems. Today I wake up as a Councillor. — Caroline Warner (@carolinejwarner) May 6, 2016 Yesterday was a novelty [...]
One of our neighbouring authorities, Perth and Kinross Council, has changed its definition of a pothole. Previously a repair team would be sent out if a fault in the road had a depth of at least 40mm, or 1.5 inches. But now, it will not be fixed unless they are 60mm - 2.36 inches - or more. Perth and Kinross Council expects the new criteria to save £120,000 a year. As constituents have queried with me our council's policy, I asked Dundee City Council's Director of City Development and he has responded as follows :Dundee does have criteria for when ...
The local elections were nowhere near as bad as many (myself included) had predicted for Labour. The 150+ losses never materialised. Labour lost seats in England, but far below anyone's expectations. Well, except for Jeremy Corbyn who had told the world that the party would lose no seats at all, but he's usually a special exception in regards to these sorts of issues. Wales wasn't bad at all either for Labour. Some Friday morning projections had Labour losing as many as eight seats, with UKIP winning as many as fifteen. In the end, Labour lost a mere one seat while ...
The first preference votes are now in, and over half the 108 seats have now been allocated. There has been no dramatic shift of support from the parties, and at least 11 of the 18 constituencies will return the same mix of MLAs as they did in 2011. But two themes are emerging for me. First, the vote for all of the established parties is down. Down only slightly, 0.7%-0.8% for the DUP, UUP and Alliance, who will each return with (probably) the same number of seats as in 2011 but will have to struggle in some cases. Down 2.2% ...
