Embed from Getty Images Those of us who wondered what the Lib Dem had received for standing down in Brighton Pavilion have received an answer. The Richmond and Twickenham Times has announced that the Greens will not be fielding candidates in either Richmond Park or Twickenham. The former is being defended by Sarah Olney after her victory in last year's by-election. In the latter Vince Cable is trying to regain the seat he held between 1997 and 2015. The paper quotes Richard Bennett, Richmond and Twickenham Green Party co-chair: "We are proud to be at the vanguard of a growing ...
The story from Mid Suffolk is a familiar one in the aftermath of yesterday's County Council elections, and you could describe us as being the national picture in miniature I've had a quick look at the results, division by division, and to put them into perspective, compared them with 2013. This is what you get; Bosmere - 987 votes, 38.9% (up 136 votes, +5%)Gipping Valley - 1,030 votes, 40.1% (up 317 votes, +8.1%)Hartismere - 258 votes, 8.7% (up 129 votes, +3.5%)Hoxne and Eye - 470 votes, 14.5% (up 332 votes, +9.4%)Stowmarket North and Stowupland - 181 votes, 6.8% (up 112 ...
Blog post deleted, as what was meant as a process post apparently made some stuff look offputting.
I'm sure everyone's ready for another hot take after yesterday's elections (yes I know, I should keep it to myself) but seeing as we have just a month to go till the General Election there isn't much time to reflect and I thought I'd just post it here. Especially important we pick ourselves up and...
If the local council elections were poor for the Liberal Democrats, they were worse for Labour but disastrous for UKIP. In fact the Liberal Democrats can find some positives from the results, as can Labour (at least in Wales if not anywhere else. For UKIP however it appears to be game over. As the Guardian reports Ukip is embroiled in acrimony after disastrous local election results saw the party win just one council seat and former key supporters declaring it finished as a political force. The party's sole council win was a gain from Labour in Lancashire; otherwise, by 4pm ...
It's that time on the day after an election where you know it's not long until you can go to sleep. Your feet ache. Your eyelids feel like they are about to slam shut any second and there's nothing you can do about it. When I've finished writing this, I'm going to have a glass of wine, something to eat and go to bed. We would have liked Rallings and Thrasher's predication of gains to be right. After all these years of traumatic election nights during the Coalition years, we just wanted to catch a break. We didn't want to ...
Though the UK media are mainly focusing on Conservative gains in yesterday's county council elections, in many ways the more remarkable story is the complete collapse of UKIP. The party lost every seat it was defending except one and one can't help but wonder how long the sole victor, in Lancashire, will last. Of course, [...]
Frank Little, secretary of Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats, said: After being deprived of representation there for the last five years, Welsh Liberal Democrats will now have a strong voice on Neath Port Talbot council. Helen Ceri Clarke, who has proved to be an effective champion for her local community for the last nine years on Coedffranc Community Council, has been elected our first woman councillor at county borough level. Overall, our near doubling of our vote over 2012 did not lead to any other gains, but a consistent increase in membership over that period holds out promise of further ...
To all those of you who put your trust in us both, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Responding to the government's draft air quality plan and consultation published today, Liberal Democrat former Energy and Climate Change Secretary and candidate for Kingston Ed Davey said:"This is not a plan, it's a cop out. "Instead of bold commitments to improve air quality, the government is hiding behind yet another consultation and passing the buck to local authorities."The Conservative government is shamefully failing in its duty to tackle deadly pollution that is claiming thousands of lives a year."This shows why Britain needs a strong opposition that will hold the Conservatives to account."
What to make of the Liberal Democrat performance in the 2017 local elections? Here are six parts of an answer to that: Good/bad news for @LibDems #1 good news – doing much better in places which voted Remain; bad news – limits party's scope for gaining MPs — Mark Pack (@markpack) May 5, 2017
The Bird of Liberty is still flying and still fighting I don't like to say, "I told you so" but.......! In an earlier blog I said that a number of things would happen in the General Election: Tories will win ... Continue reading →
Congratulations to Sarah Hill for retaining her Market Harborough East ward on Leicestershire County Council in spite of unfavourable boundary changes and Photogate. The result: Sarah Hill (Lib Dem) 1911 Conservative 1662 Labour 375 Green 165
Fri 5th
16:16
Lib Dems up to 18% nationally (BBC), performing well in key target general election seats
Embed from Getty Images The BBC are reporting that the Liberal Democrat projected national vote is 18%, up 7 points compared to 2015. The Lib Dems are just 9 points behind Labour. The Conservatives are up by just 3 points. This is confirmed by Professor John Curtice and Britain Elects: Projection national vote share: CON: 38% (+3) LAB: 27% (-2) LDEM: 18% (+7) UKIP: 5% (-8) (via John Curtice) Chgs. w/ 2015. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) May 5, 2017 A party press release reads: The party is on course to make scores of gains at the general election and establish ...
The NHS and social care would receive an extra £6bn a year from the Liberal Democrats, it has been announced. The new funding is the first of the party's election manifesto commitments and will be paid for through an immediate 1p rise on all rates of
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link above Items found in the tunnels We had a trip down the famous tunnels a while back. Here's a link to my previous posting:- The tunnels are well worth visiting.
This is the fifth and final part of an interview which took place during the Party's Spring Conference in York. Events have somewhat overtaken it, as you will realise when you get to the end... The first part of the interview can be found here, the second part here, the third here and the fourth here. As I'm sat opposite a prominent Scottish Lib Dem, I must ask you about the recent call by the SNP for a second Scottish independence referendum. What are your views on independence for Scotland and is Theresa May right to refuse to hold another ...
They may remain the underdog, but the Liberal Democrats are still the real opposition to the Conservatives... Last night 4,851 Council Seats were contested and 6 New Mayoral Contests took place. As I write, the results were still coming in but the trends are... Read More ›
Thanks to everyone who voted for us. Viv Parry, Tracey Huffer, Richard Huffer and myself have been re-elected with large majorities. Thank you for voting for us. Thanks also to our tireless support team. More details later...
Picture the scene. You're enjoying a pleasant afternoon stroll along the coast path. You have the sun on your face and the sea breeze in your hair. The only sound you can hear is the gentle lap of waves against the ... Continue reading →
I translated *that* German article concerning the May-Juncker dinner everyone's been talking about. Useful for those of us who don't speak German. weekly_food_challenge | Challenge 17 is Rhubarb Yes, yes, I forgot to post it on Wednesday, I am a bad Jennie. weekly_food_challenge | Revisiting old challenges: aka my lunch was yummy and I want to post the recipe This is what I did with Asparagus for my lunch. #DogsAtPollingStations: Britain's favorite election day tradition returns Lots of lovely Doggos :) #DogsAtPollingStations: Exercising paws and voting rights More lovely doggos. Instagram photo I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden baby ...
Even for someone like me who was expecting the locals to go very, very well for the Tories and very, very, very badly for Labour, the picture that is emerging exceeds even my expectations. As of this second, the Conservatives have gained 163 seats overall, Labour have lost 127 (!), the Lib Dems have lost 29 – and UKIP have lost all 41 seats they have had in play thus far. So what does this tell us? 1.The Tory landslide is well and truly on In recent days I have gone back and forth on whether the Conservative victory on ...
One area I have campaigned on in the past and would intend to campaign on after the election (whether I win or not) relates to the judicial system. There are particular problems within the Family Courts. As it currently stands the courts rely for public family law proceedings on expert opinion. That expert opinion is provided mainly by employees of the local authority. Additionally from time
What's this about? The Tory controlled City Council has now announced a daily two-man hit squad "will target areas that are consistently blighted by litter and fly-tipping" and daily street cleaning will occur in the area focused around Gladstone Street and other nearby streets with a mechanical sweeper with a driver and operative. They've also announced [...]
The problem is best summed up in a tweet by lovely Neill Cameron:People grab at authoritarianism in times of uncertainty, meaning the worse the tories fuck everything up the more they are rewarded.We Lib Dems have gained a little, but not enough. The Labour voters who deserted Labour for UKIP haven't gone home to Labour, they've voted Tory. Labour activists telling everyone who disagrees with Corbyn to "fuck off and join the tories then" have been more successful than they could have known. UKIP have been "wiped out" by having the Tories adopt their policy platform wholesale, which is not ...
The Liberal Democrats have selected award-winning senior councillor Jo Roundell-Greene for Yeovil. From Somerset Live: Paddy Ashdown, Chairman of Yeovil Liberal Democrats said: "David Laws and I are delighted that the flame passes to Jo Roundell Greene who has been an exceptional councillor and champion for our area. "I know that she will be a brilliant hardworking and effective Liberal Democrat MP who will fight for all, especially the most vulnerable in our communities." Jo Roundell Greene was named amongst the best councillors in the country at the Local Government Awards in 2016. She is a wife, mother and grandmother, ...
Terrorism is that rarest of things: a social problem that goes away if we simply ignore it. Yesterday, I wrote at some length about how badly we have overstated the risk of terrorism. 80% of American voters told pollsters that they considered it a "very important" issue. Many politicians and public intellectuals have declared 'radical [...]
Implementing Brexit: Immigration @instituteforgov: "A new immigration system will not be ready by the time we formally leave the EU." (tags: brexit ukpolitics eu migration ) The Eurosearch Song Contest - Google analysis Brilliant stuff! (tags: eurovision internet ) Reflections From the Bid Chair The origin of the @Dublin2019 Worldcon. (tags: sf worldcon )
This weekend, with technological help, three runners will try to break the two-hour marathon barrier. This is a good time to ask who technology is for This weekend in Italy three elite athletes sponsored by Nike, the athletics company, will, conditions permitting, attempt to break two hours for running a marathon, 26.2 miles. The current world record is 2:02:57, set by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya in Berlin in 2014. Shaving three minutes from the marathon record would be an incredible accomplishment. The previous drop of three minutes has taken about 16 years. Nike's Breaking2 project is more than just a ...
