Category Archives: LDV Awards

And the winner of our Liberal Voice of the Year award is… Mark Littlewood

By Stephen Tall | Sun 15th January 2012 - 4:31 pm

It’s a fortnight since we launched our search for the Liberal Voice of the Year with the aim of finding the individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in the past 12 months. This is LibDemVoice’s fifth such annual award, and as is our tradition, we looked beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems to find the liberal who’s most impressed our readers and is not a member of our party.

We unveiled the shortlist here on New Year’s Day. In total, 903 readers cast a vote in the past two weeks. Here are the results …

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Also posted in News | Tagged featured, liberal voice 2011 and mark littlewood | 67 Comments

Opinion: Why I’m backing the Occupy Movement as my Liberal Voice of the Year

By Daniel Furr | Thu 5th January 2012 - 6:27 pm

Yes, it is true. I, of all people, did indeed recommend The Occupy Movement as the Liberal Voice of the Year. My health is perfectly fine and operating at sufficient capacity; but regular readers of my blog are fully aware of my support for these protesters. Overt Marxist language and anti-capitalists rhetoric is, of course, not very liberal but the ability to comprehend the true nature of corporate welfare and its relationship with government is something liberals should be aligning with.

Free markets and capitalism are not the problem – corporatism is. Corporate monopolies deny competition and prevent new competitors …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberal voice 2011, occupy movement and vince cable | 15 Comments

NEW POLL: Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 1st January 2012 - 2:45 pm

Today’s the day we launch our search for the Liberal Voice of 2011 to find the individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in the past 12 months. This is the fifth annual award, and as is our tradition, we’re looking beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems to find the greatest liberal who’s not a member of our party.

The list of nine nominees appears below. These were sought from Lib Dem members via our most recent survey; 233 nominations were submitted, and each of those short-listed needed to clear a threshold of five.

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Also posted in News | Tagged ai weiwei, barack obama, featured, hacked off, hillary clinton, hugh grant, ken clarke, mark littlewood, Muhammad al Bouazizi, nick davies, occupy movement and the guardian | 25 Comments

LDV readers vote Aung San Suu Kyi your Liberal Voice of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th January 2011 - 12:28 pm

Congratulations to Aung San Suu Kyi, who has won Liberal Democrat Voice’s fourth annual Liberal Voice of the Year award – an award which publicly acknowledges the campaigning work of non-Liberal Democrats in promoting liberal values.

She gained a plurality of votes, with 22%; the runner-up was Prime Minister David Cameron (assisted by some right-wing push-tweets), with 20%, followed by fellow Tory Ken Clarke, with 12%.

22% (238 votes): Aung San Suu Kyi – for her courageous stand against political abuse in Burma
20% (216): David Cameron – for his commitment to forming the Liberal-Conservative Coalition Government

…

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Tagged Aung San Suu Kyi and liberal voice 2010 | 11 Comments

NEW POLL: Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 1st January 2011 - 7:45 pm

Earlier this week, in the dying days of the last decade, we launched our search for the Liberal Voice of 2010, to find the individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in the past 12 months. And as is our tradition, we’re looking beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems to find the greatest liberal who’s not a member of our party.

Our thanks to all who put forward nominations — here is the short-list of 12 (in alphabetical order):

Bob Ainsworth, former Labour secretary of state for defence, for his controversial public call

…

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Tagged liberal voice 2010 | 34 Comments

Who’s your Liberal Voice of 2010?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 26th December 2010 - 4:45 pm

LDV wants to find out who our readers think merits the title Liberal Voice of the Year 2010, and we’ll be running a New Year poll to find the individual or group which has most inspired you in the last year. But, as is our traditional little twist, we want to look outside the Liberal Democrats – and find the greatest liberal who’s not a member of our party.

So, who would you pick? It could be a member of another political party, or one of the majority of Britons who belong to no party; or a group of people, or …

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Tagged featured | 28 Comments

Peter Tatchell’s message to LDV readers

By Stephen Tall | Tue 19th January 2010 - 9:45 am

Yesterday we announced that Peter Tatchell had won LDV’s annual Liberal Voice of the Year award (open only to non-Lib Dems) in recognition of his fearless campaigning work for international human rights. We emailed Peter to let him know the news, and here’s the message he sent to all LDV readers …

Wow! What an honour. I’m chuffed. Thanks to everyone who voted for me.

What a surprise too. A socialist Green wins Liberal Voice of the Year.
It shows that your readers are non-sectarian and inclusive, putting
values and principles above party politics, which is how it should be.

There are progressive people

…

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Tagged liberal voice 2009 and peter tatchell | 8 Comments

LDV readers vote Peter Tatchell your Liberal Voice of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Mon 18th January 2010 - 6:32 pm

Congratulations to Peter Tatchell, who has won Liberal Democrat Voice’s third annual Liberal Voice of the Year award – an award which publicly acknowledges the campaigning work of non-Liberal Democrats in promoting liberal values. Peter gained a plurality of votes, with 27%; the runner-up was author and journalist Ben Goldacre, with 20%.

Over 700 votes were cast, and the results were as follows:

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Tagged ben goldacre, liberal voice 2009 and peter tatchell | 2 Comments

LDV’s Liberal Voice poll: a two-horse race* between Tatchell and Goldacre?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 14th January 2010 - 8:55 pm

Five days ago, LDV launched our search for our annual Liberal Voice of the Year, open only to non-Lib Dems, with you, our dear readers, forming the electorate. Voting will close this Sunday, 17th January. Here’s how the votes currently stack up:

11% (69) – Guy Herbert, general secretary of NO2ID, for his campaigning work against the database state;
30% (180) – Peter Tatchell, for his tireless and fearless international human rights campaigning;
13% (79) – Joanna Lumley, for her campaigning for justice on behalf of Gurkha veterans;
2% (13) – Rory Stewart, for his straight-talking common sense on

…

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Tagged ben goldacre, liberal voice 2009 and peter tatchell | Leave a comment

NEW POLL: Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 9th January 2010 - 11:45 am

Ten days ago, in the dying days of the last decade, LDV launched our search for the Liberal Voice of 2009, to find the non-Lib Dem individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in this country in the past 12 months.

Our thanks to all who put forward nominations, all of which were considered carefully by the LDV editorial collective, which has agreed to short-list the following (in no particular order):

Guy Herbert, general secretary of NO2ID, for his campaigning work against the database state;
Peter Tatchell, for his tireless and fearless international human

…

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Also posted in Voice polls | Tagged #trafigura, alan rusbridger, ben goldacre, featured, gurkhas, guy herbert, henry porter, joanna lumley, liberal voice 2009, no2id, peter tatchell, rory stewart, terry pratchett and twitter | 24 Comments

Who’s your Liberal Voice of 2009?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 28th December 2009 - 5:22 pm

LDV wants to find out who our readers think merits the title Liberal Voice of the Year 2009, and we’ll be running a New Year poll to find the individual or group in British politics which has most inspired you in the last year. But, as is our traditional little twist, we want to look outside the Liberal Democrats – and find the greatest liberal who’s not a member of our party.

So, who would you pick? It could be a member of another political party, or one of the majority of Britons who belong to no party; or a group …

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19 Comments

‘Best of the Noughties’: LDV’s Polls of the Decade

By Stephen Tall | Tue 1st December 2009 - 12:55 pm

It’s December, folks, and the last month of the decade* we’ve never quite been able to bring ourselves to call ‘The Noughties’. In celebration of its passing, Lib Dem Voice will be running a series of polls for which we’re seeking your help.

What categories would you like to see polled? My draft list of 21 includes the following politics, media and culture ‘Best ofs’:

Liberal Democrat Politician of the Decade
Liberal Democrat Backbencher of the Decade
Conservative Politician of the Decade
Labour Politician of the Decade
Most Influential Campaigner of the Decade
Best Political Speech of the Decade
Best

…

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Also posted in Voice polls | 4 Comments

Local elections – Friday open thread

By Stephen Tall | Fri 5th June 2009 - 9:47 am

English local election results will be pouring in throughout the day. Lib Dem Voice will try and keep you abreast of what’s happening across the country, as we did throughout Thursday night with our open thread – many thanks in particular to those commenting who were able to break the good news that the Lib Dems had taken majority control of Bristol City Council amid disastrous results for Labour. Please do keep the news coming in from wherever you live.

As at 9.50 am, the BBC results scoreboard is telling me that the Lib Dems are the only party showing …

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Also posted in Conference, Europe / International, News, Parliament and Party Presidency | Tagged local elections | 130 Comments

LDV Awards 2008: Liberal Voice and Defining Moment of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Fri 2nd January 2009 - 6:20 pm

Many thanks to the 200+ LDV readers who took part in our end-of-year awards, which ran between 24th and 28th December. Voting was conducted via Liberty Research using the alternative vote method of ranking the nominees for each of the eight categories.

In the first two days, we revealed the winners of Lib Dem Politician of the Year, and By-election Performance of the Year; and Lib Dem Campaigner of the Year, and Most Desperate Press Release of the Year.

Yesterday, we turned our attention to the first two non-Lib Dem categories – Political Journalist/Broadcaster of the Year and Political Programme of the Year; and today we name our Defining Moment of the Year, and the name of the coveted (well, maybe) non-Lib Dem Liberal Voice of the Year…

Defining Political Moment of the Year

There was no doubt in LDV readers’ minds what was the defining moment of the year – the election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the USA. A whopping four-fifths of you chose it, against 14% opting for the near-collapse of the west’s world banking system; the other three contenders were also-rans.

1% – Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report;
3% – Gordon Brown for his “we not only saved the world…” gaffe;
1% – Hazel Blears’ launch of the Sustainable Communities Act;
14% – The collapse and subsequent nationalisation/recapitalisation of the banks in the USA and UK;
81% – The election of Barack Obama as President of the USA.

Liberal Voice of the Year

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3 Comments

LDV Awards 2008: Political Journalist/Broadcaster and Political Programme of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Thu 1st January 2009 - 6:20 pm

Many thanks to the 200+ LDV readers who took part in our end-of-year awards, which ran between 23rd and 28th December. Voting was conducted via Liberty Research using the alternative vote method of ranking the nominees for each of the eight categories. In the last two days, we have revealed the winners of Lib Dem Politician of the Year, and By-election Performance of the Year; and Lib Dem Campaigner of the Year, and Most Desperate Press Release of the Year. Today, we turn our attention to two non-Lib Dem categories:

Political Broadcaster / Journalist of the Year

17% – Andrew Rawnsley (The Guardian);
29% – Evan Davis (The Today Programme, BBC Radio 4);
27% – Keith Olbermann (MSNBC);
5% – Nicky Campbell & Shelagh Fogarty (BBC Radio 5 Live);
14% – Robert Peston (BBC);
8% – Simon Mayo (BBC Radio 5 Live).

Eventually, after excluding Nicky & Shelagh, Simon, Robert and Andrew, it came to a run-off between…

62.5% – Evan Davis (The Today Programme, BBC Radio 4);
37.5% – Keith Olbermann (MSNBC).

Congratulations to Evan – I suspect this story may have given him a helping hand among LDV readers.

Political Radio / TV Programme of the Year

12% – Any Questions? (BBC Radio 4);
14% – Newsnight (BBC2);
17% – Saturday Night Live,for Tina Fey’s impressions of Sarah Palin (NBC);
6% – The Daily Politics (BBC2);
47% – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central);
4% – This Week (BBC1).

After the elimination of This Week and The Daily Politics (LDV readers are not fans of Andrew Neill, it seems), and redistribution of their votes, the final result was:

13% – Any Questions? (BBC Radio 4);
18% – Newsnight (BBC2);
20% – Saturday Night Live,for Tina Fey’s impressions of Sarah Palin (NBC);
51% – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central).

A pretty definitive win, then, for Jon Stewart’s acerbic, irony-laden Daily Show. In honour of which, can I take this opportunity to replay the most famous Stewart clip, when he takes on the horrendously smug Crossfire (CNN) and totally destroys its co-hosts, Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. Really quite scinitillating stuff.

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Tagged andrew rawnsley | 1 Comment

LDV Awards 2008: Lib Dem Campaigner of the Year & Most Desperate Press Release of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Wed 31st December 2008 - 6:20 pm

Many thanks to the 200+ LDV readers who took part in our end-of-year awards, which ran between 23rd and 28th December. Voting was conducted via Liberty Research using the alternative vote method of ranking the nominees for each of the eight categories. Yesterday, we announced the winners of Politician of the Year, and By-election Performance of the Year. Today, the next and final two Lib Dem categories:

Liberal Democrat Campaigner of the Year

There were four very strong contenders in this category. In particular, can I highlight Neil Trafford, a Lib Dem councillor in Manchester and the party’s …

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Tagged lembit opik, neil trafford and ros scott | 3 Comments

LDV Awards 2008: Lib Dem Politician of the Year & By-election Performance of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th December 2008 - 6:20 pm

Many thanks to the 200+ LDV readers who took part in our end-of-year awards, which ran between 23rd and 28th December. Voting was conducted via Liberty Research using the alternative vote method of ranking the nominees for each of the eight categories. We’ll be revealing the eight winners over the next four days. (Not that we’re tying to pad things out over the holiday season; no, of course not).

First, let’s unveil the winner of LDV’s first ever Politician of the Year award. Let’s face it, though, there’s zero sense of anticipation as we all knew full darn well …

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Tagged camden council, chris huhne, lynne featherstone, steve webb and vince cable | 2 Comments

Have you voted in the LDV 2008 Awards yet?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 27th December 2008 - 6:09 pm

To see out the old year, and usher in the new, Lib Dem Voice is asking you, our readers, for your votes in our special 2008 awards. So far, over 160 of you have spared a moment to express your views.

All you have to do to vote in the LDV 2008 Awards is click here.

If you want to find out a little more about the nominees, simpy click here.

I’ll let you in on a couple of secrets…

Vince Cable is in the lead to be named Liberal Democrat Politician of the Year (with Chris Huhne, Lynne Featherstone …

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4 Comments

LDV 2008 Awards – last chance to nominate…

By Stephen Tall | Fri 19th December 2008 - 4:06 pm

Last week, we announed the categories for this year’s Lib Dem Voice 2008 Awards – both the party ones, and the non-party ones. The short-list will be drawn up over this weekend, so if you have any further nominations to submit, leave them in the comments box asap (please make clear in which category your nominations belong).

A reminder of the eight awards up fro grabs follows:

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3 Comments

LDV 2008 Awards: the non-Lib Dem lists – your nominations, please!

By Stephen Tall | Sun 14th December 2008 - 11:38 am

Yesterday we announced that the LDV end-of-the-year awards are back, seeking your nominations for four categories relating directly to the Lib Dems: Politician of the Year, Campaigner of the Year, By-election Performance of the Year, and Most Desperate Press Release of the Year.

Today, we’re seeking nominations for the following four categories:

The LDV 2008 Awards

Liberal Voice of the Year
Please nominate the individual, group of people or organisation which you believe has best promoted the cause of liberalism within the past year. NB: we are reserving this award for non-Lib Dems, so please do not nominate a known party member/supporter.

Political

…

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9 Comments

LDV 2008 Awards: the Lib Dem lists – your nominations, please!

By Stephen Tall | Sat 13th December 2008 - 11:22 am

Last year, we asked Lib Dem Voice readers to nominate, and then vote for, your Liberal Voice of the Year: the winner was Shami Chakrabati. This year, the LDV end-of-the-year awards are back, and they’re bigger and better than ever before.

In total, there are eight categories for which we’re seeking nominations; the LDV Collective will draw up and publish the short-lists; and then seek your votes via a poll run according to the single transferable vote. How impeccably liberal can you get?

Today, we’re seeking nominations for the following four categories which relate directly to the Liberal Democrats:

The LDV …

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Shami Chakrabarti is our Liberal Voice of 2007

By Richard Huzzey | Sat 12th January 2008 - 7:08 pm

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti was the clear winner of our Liberal Voice 2007 poll, taking 101 votes (a third of all votes cast). Her only serious opposition was Radio 4′s The Now Show, who took the lead for the first day but came second with 72 votes (24%).

The other candidates were: John Bercow with 18 votes (6%), Samuel Brittain 15 (5%), Al Gore 30 (10%), Simon Jenkins 20 (7%), Philippe 10 Legrain (3%), Bob Marshall-Andrews 18 (6%) and Craig Murray 21 (7%).

It’s perhaps no clear surprise that Sharmi won, given the number of nominations we got for her to …

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Barcharts ready… vote for Liberal Voice 2007

By Richard Huzzey | Mon 7th January 2008 - 8:39 pm

Voting has topped the 100-ballot-mark in voting for Liberal Voice 2007 (see the sidebar to the right). Radio 4′s The Now Show stormed into an early lead, but is losing momentum as Shami Chakrabarti’s civil libertarian base gets motivated. There could still be time for the second-tier candidates yet, though. Make sure you vote… polls close this Saturday.

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Vote on the Liberal Voice of 2007

By The Voice | Sun 6th January 2008 - 2:18 pm

Lib Dem Voice’s poll for Liberal Voice of 2007 opens today. We’re asking you to vote on who your favourite public champion for liberal values in Britain was over the last year. What ‘liberal’ means is up to you to decide in the vote.

There’s a twist to the contest, too. While we are all likely to judge the Liberal Democrats and its parliamentarians are the best champions, we decided to make things different. We’ve picked a shortlist of people outside the Lib Dems, mainly with the intention to spark some debate on which non-party or rival party figures are …

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Tagged Liberal Voice 2007 | 18 Comments

Who’s your liberal voice of 2007?

By Richard Huzzey | Mon 24th December 2007 - 3:32 pm

Lib Dem Voice want to find out, and we’ll be running a New Year poll to find the liberal voice in British politics which has most inspired you in the last year. But as a little twist, we want to look outside the Liberal Democrat party – and find the greatest liberal who’s not a member of our party.

So, who would you pick? It could be a member of another party or one of the majority of Britons who belong to no party. It could even be someone who isn’t British themselves, but has had a big impact on liberalism …

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Also posted in Polls | Tagged Liberal Voice 2007 | 70 Comments