Author Archives: Paul Elgood

Opinion: It is time to get out of the Coalition

By Paul Elgood | Published 23rd December 2010 - 8:55 am

The time is now right for the Coalition to come to a natural end. It has given the country a period of stability in difficult economic times, however Tories and Lib Dems are not natural long term bed fellows.

We have done our duty in the national interest to pick up the economic mess left by Labour, which I agree was vital at the time.

My call comes in the light of comments by Ministers in the last few days, including Vince Cable. Here in Sussex, Norman Baker has spoken of the toll on his family being in government has taken. …

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LDVUSA: The mid-term view from Boston

By Paul Elgood | Published 3rd November 2010 - 7:50 am

Paul Elgood is a Lib Dem councillor in Brighton & Hove, but has been out in Boston, in the USA, watching closely observing the mid-term elections. Here’s his early morning dispatch…

Four years ago, Boston politics looked very different. Teddy Kennedy had just won what was to be his last campaign, Congressman Barney Frank romped re-election to make it 26 years in Congress, and new Governor Deval Patrick, backed by a then little-known Senator called Barack Obama won the State House, following on from Republican Mitt Romney.

Obama’s historic election followed just two years later, but so too did the …

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LDV USA: No surprises in Nov 3rd US state and city elections – Obama gets a bloody nose

By Paul Elgood | Published 4th November 2009 - 3:45 pm

In a followup piece to his preview of US Elections ’09, Paul Elgood updates us on the results of yesterdays voter ballots across America.

Somewhat predictably President Obama got a wake-up call last night in the 3rd November elections. Attention focused on a handful of contests, most notably for the Virginia and New Jersey Governor’s Mansions. Both unsurprisingly went to the Republicans – in Virginia by a wide margin, closer in New Jersey.

However, it wasn’t all bad news for the Democrats. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got an unexpected tougher ride, with a far closer than anticipated …

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US elections ’09 – a preview

By Paul Elgood | Published 18th October 2009 - 4:25 pm

In electoral terms, 2009 is supposed to be an off year in American politics, but there are still a number of intriguing races worth taking a look at ahead of the Nov 3rd elections.

Top of the list is the Governor’s race in Virginia. State Democrat Creigh Deeds faces Republican Bob McDonnell, in an increasingly heated, if not plain nasty race. McDonnell is ahead in a state Obama picked up last year. Interestingly, Deeds beat Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe in the primary, but his campaign is yet to shine in the run-up to election day. As they head into the final weeks, the GOP looking increasingly likely to win.

The New Jersey Governor’s race sees a similar pattern, except the Democrats might have hoped to fair better in the state as Democratic incumbent Jim Corzine is running for a second term.

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Our Man In Chicago: Paul Elgood reports back on that election night

By Paul Elgood | Published 6th November 2008 - 8:22 pm

Lib Dem councillor Paul Elgood was one of the 125,000 people celebrating Barack Obama’s election victory in Grant Park, Chicago, on the night of 4th November. Here’s his eyewitness report…

Chicago: Nov 4th 2008

It seems as if the whole world has come to Chicago. Planes full of the world’s press have descended on the city and were met by perhaps half a million party-goers hoping to celebrate the election results.

Barack Obama voted first thing this morning, having finished a final whirlwind tour of key states. He voted at dawn to make the point to his supporters to vote as early …

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