It would be fair to say that, as election cycles go, it's been pretty quiet in my rural idyll. In terms of the County Council election, without a Liberal Democrat of my own to vote for, my choice comes down to Labour, Conservative or Green. So, what have they done to attempt to lure me into voting for them? Labour did put out a leaflet, one which included a pen picture of each of the candidates across the entirety of Mid Suffolk. Given that they don't hold any County divisions in Mid Suffolk (or any District wards, for that matter), ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy

Well...I might be a bit weird, however I am really excited about tomorrow! Why? It is an election day, which gives us ALL another wonderful opportunity to shape our local communities by electing District and County Councillors. There are also significant elections in Scotland, to the Scottish Parliament and in Wales, to the Welsh Assembly. Tomorrow will be a busy day for voters and quite a nerve-wracking day for all the candidates! We often don't realise but it is very true that even the smallest elections to the parish council affect the way we live our lives. I often wonder ...

Posted by Michal Siewniak on Liberal Democrat Voice

Second paragraph of third chapter:You will not find it now - no, not even its gate with the lion-headed knocker that roars silently out at the night, nor its open courtyards hung with silk, or hot kitchens bursting with steam, no, none of it, nothing to see - but then it stood in one of those little streets that have no name near San Pantaleone, just north of a short stone bridge guarded over by three brothers, for there are only two things that Venetians value more than family, and those are their bridges and their wells.I've generally loved Claire ...

Due to the legal secrecy requirements around voting, the Electoral Commission does not want people taking selfies when they are voting.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The Chesham & Amersham by-election, following the death of Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan last month, will be held over the summer, although no date has been announced yet. In the General Election we came a solid second, so we will be fighting this with all the energy we can. Congratulations to Sarah Green who has been selected as our candidate. Sarah is a training and communications professional, and many of you will have come across her at party training sessions. Here's how you can help. * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice

Ed Davey has issued this message to everyone who will be voting tomorrow: Covid has reminded all of us just how important our local community is, and by electing a Liberal Democrat, people will be choosing a hardworking local champion for their community. People also appreciate now more than ever their local green spaces and their community's wider environment so I'm proud how Liberal Democrats have always led the way in putting the environment at the heart of our campaigns. Across the country Labour and the Conservatives too often sit on their hands while our green spaces are sold off ...

Posted by NewsHound on Liberal Democrat Voice

Sad news about long-standing Liberal Democrat, former councillor, Parliamentary candidate and party office holder extraordinaire, Jonathan Davies.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Wed 5th
11:00

My tweets

Tue, 12:22: RT @Glasgowin2024: May the fourth be with you! https://t.co/TwI0QiISEt Tue, 14:12: RT @UKPoliticalNews: Few people know as much about #NorthernIreland politics as our colleague @nwbrux, here's his take on Arlene Foster's d... Tue, 16:05: RT @thesweetcheat: @ratherbeapear This is a decent list in reading order of all the novels published before the relaunch, with the original... Tue, 17:11: RT @DoctorWhoPN: A review of Peter Davison's book 'Is There Life Outside The Box? An Actor Despairs' "I've read a lot of celebrity memoirs... Tue, 17:12: RT @MichaelLCrick: @PickardJE And in the 2004 by-election in Hartlepool the Tories came FOURTH ...

Section 66 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 bans the publication of exit polls before the close of polls in an election - and that can cover retweeting how someone else has voted.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

We don't say "Thank You" enough to our Lib Dem councillors, all 2600 of them. We don't show our appreciation properly in normal times, but especially over the last 12 months, when they have been dealing with unprecedented levels of disruption and stress. A particular shout-out to those councillors were planning to stand down in 2020 but have been forced to serve an extra year – enjoy your retirement. We don't say "Thank You" enough to our 50 Elected Mayors, Council Leaders and Deputy Leaders who have had to take on huge responsibilities for the wellbeing of their residents during ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov
Wed 5th
08:30

Whoniversaries 5 May

i) births and deaths 5 May 1937: birth of Delia Derbyshire, whose arrangements of Ron Grainer's theme for the title music of Doctor Who were used on TV from 1963 to 1980. 5 May 1939: birth of Terry Walsh, stuntman supreme especially during the Pertwee era. 5 May 1957: birth of Richard E. Grant, who played the 'first' Tenth Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death (1999), the 'other' Ninth Doctor in Scream of the Shalka (2003) and then Doctor Simeon/The Great Intelligence in The Snowmen (Eleventh Doctor, 2012), The Bells of Saint John (Eleventh Doctor, 2013) and The Name ...

After the trauma of the last year under the pandemic one would have thought that the UK government might show some signs of valuing the health and social care workers who have helped us get through it. However, that sort of gratitude appears to be beyond them. First they decide that health workers are worth no more than a one per cent pay rise and now it seems that they have now postponed much needed reform of the social care sector. The Independent reports that charities and campaign groups have reacted angrily to news ministers are expected to delay an ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

I have over a period of time received concerns from residents about the poor performing floodlights in the Miller's Wynd car park that have not been functioning properly. I have raised this with the Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport, at the City Council, who has now updated me as follows : "My colleague from the Street Lighting Partnership went out to the Miller's Wynd car park to assess the situation. He reported that while there is power to the lighting column that holds the floodlights, it is difficult to access because of the trees and therefore almost impossible to ...

Embed from Getty ImagesJames Graham has written a cracking post looking back at the referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote for British general elections. This took place on 5 May 2011 and its staging formed part of the Coalition agreement. Unfortunately, it turned out that no one had any idea how to argue for AV because, as James confirms, no one much believed in the system. I can't remember a single poster or slogan from the pro-AV campaign. I can't even remember voting in the referendum, though I suppose I must have done. Anyway, here are a few highlights from ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England