Tag Archives: brent central

The perils of projecting the impact of boundary changes from previous election results

By Mark Pack | Published 6th June 2011 - 10:35 pm

There’s been an understandable flurry of interest in The Guardian’s reported projections of what boundary changes might mean for the parties, but there are two major caveats about the nature of such projections.

From what I’ve seen, Lewis Baston (as I would expect) has done the numbers well, but not only do we not yet have the actual boundaries on which to make projections but also projections based on looking at previous election results have a decidedly ropey record when it comes to Liberal Democrats MPs.

That is because the party’s voting support is far less polarised demographically than that of …

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Wrong ballot papers supplied on polling day in Brent

By Mark Pack | Published 6th May 2010 - 8:56 am

Not a good start to the day in Brent Central, where ballot papers for the wrong Parliamentary constituency had been supplied to all three polling stations Willesden Green ward. Result? Proper voting didn’t actually start until nearly two hours late.

UPDATE: Another problem, this time reported from York: polling cards issued which said polls were open 7am to 10am (i.e. for just three hours). Ooops:

Poll card error - York

Posted in Election law | Also tagged | 2 Comments

Dawn Butler apologises for calling Sarah Teather a “hypocrite” over MPs expenses

By Helen Duffett | Published 20th April 2010 - 11:53 am

Labour Minister Dawn Butler has issued a legal apology to Sarah Teather for calling her a hypocrite over MPs’ expenses. Butler made the accusation while the running of Sarah Teather’s office was under investigation. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner later dropped the investigation because there were no grounds to suspect any wrongdoing by Ms Teather.

From the letter (signed by Dawn Butler as well as councillors and senior officials from Brent Central Labour Party):

We accept that statements made in those [leaflets] falsely suggested that you are a hypocrite when you speak on the issue of MPs’ expenses because your own expense

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Sarah Teather cleared, mystery of forged letters remains

By Mark Pack | Published 30th March 2010 - 7:40 pm

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has cleared Sarah Teather of allegations that she broke Parliamentary expense rules. You may remember those claims being enthusiastically hawked around by Tory Bear and others as if they were copper-bottomed fact; actually their claims were more like a rusty colander.

As the local newspaper reports of the Commissioner:

He discontinued the inquiry because he had no grounds for believing that claims Ms Teather made from parliamentary funds for her office provided support to the cost of the Lib Dem party…

Brent Liberal Democrats said the party contributed over and above its usage of the office, as approved by

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Opinion: Today is a good day to be a Lib Dem

By Jack Holroyde | Published 18th March 2010 - 11:35 am

As dawn broke over Bronte House, South Kilburn, I realised.
I realised that with this beautiful sight (the dawn, not Bronte House!), change was coming.

My local MP will soon cease to be Sarah Teather (Lib Dem, Brent) and soon will be Ed Fordham (Lib Dem PPC, Hampstead & Kilburn). Boundary changes mean that the tiny triangle of estate that I call home is being cut and pasted into the new Hampstead & Kilburn constituency. So, it feels a little like moving home.

But looking at the wider picture – change is coming.
Let …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , | 5 Comments

Will £66,000 expenses claim sink Dawn Butler?

By Mark Pack | Published 16th March 2010 - 8:07 pm

So asks Ross Lydall over in the Evening Standard:

How many voters are ready to turn against their MP over the expenses scandal? A fascinating battle in a hotly-contested north London constituency looks set to provide some answers.

On one side is Labour whip Dawn Butler. On the other is Lib-Dem MP Sarah Teather. They have been thrown together in a new seat as a result of boundary changes, and there is now a fight to the death to see which one returns to Westminster after the election to represent Brent Central…

What Ms Teather, described as a “saint” by one newspaper

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Posted in Opposition watch | Also tagged , , | 8 Comments