Tag Archives: helen duffett

Blog of the Year Awards 2012: The Shortlists

By Helen Duffett | Sat 22nd September 2012 - 7:33 pm

Nominations for the Liberal Democrats’ Blog of the Year Awards 2012 closed on 14 September. Since then, the judges, Kirsty Williams (Assembly Member for Brecon and Radnorshire and Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats), Nick Thornsby (Lib Dem Blogger of the Year 2011), Tim Gatt (ITV News Digital Output Editor), Stephen Tall (Co-Editor, Lib Dem Voice), Alan Muhammed (Lib Dem Voice’s social media manager), & Helen Duffett (that’s me – Co-Editor (Associate) Lib Dem Voice) have been poring over the entries for the five categories.

It’s been a big task, and a fun one, to distil so many excellent examples of Lib Dem blogging and e-campaigning into lists of the best.

Congratulations if you’ve been shortlisted, but if you haven’t: remember that the shortlists are based on the judges’ subjective opinions. The awards are intended to be a fun way to celebrate the talent in the Lib Dem blogosphere, whilst introducing you to some blogs you might not have read before.

Next, a plug for the awards ceremony itself. If you’re at party conference in Brighton, do come along to the Pavilion Room, Grand Hotel, Brighton, from 9.45pm tonight, Saturday 22nd September.

Now, without further ado, here are the shortlists: (Drumroll, please)

Continue reading »

Posted in Best of the blogs and Conference | Also tagged 2012 Brighton Conference, alan muhammed, blog of the year awards, kirsty williams, lynne featherstone, nick thornsby, stephen tall, tim farron, tim gatt and twitter | 3 Comments

Tales from the Webinar: Lynne Featherstone on equalities and international development

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th September 2012 - 8:55 pm

When Lynne Featherstone first agreed to do an online webinar for party members, she was Equalities Minister. Then the reshuffle happened and now she is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of International Development. Last night she took questions for three quarters of an hour on both roles in an informative and lively session.

“Most of us never question our gender”

Lynne spoke with great passion about her work as Equalities Minister. She said we now had the best equalities law in the world. Her last act, at about 4:30pm on the afternoon of the reshuffle was to sign off …

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Also tagged lynne featherstone and webinars | 4 Comments

Less than 21 hours to get your BOTY nominations in…..

By The Voice | Thu 13th September 2012 - 8:35 pm

It’s almost two weeks since Helen Duffett invited us to submit our nominations for the prestigious Liberal Democrat Voice Blog of the Year. Nominations close at 5pm tomorrow so if you haven’t done yours yet, you had better get your finger out. You are allowed to nominate your own blog – and nobody will ever know that you did. All the relevant details and the categories are reproduced below. If you are at Conference, the winners will be unveiled at an every expense spared ceremony at Conference. Better get that tux dry cleaned….

Make your choices and get them in …

Continue reading »

Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged 2012 Brighton Conference, alan muhammed, blog of the year awards, kirsty williams, nick thornsby and stephen tall | 2 Comments

Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2012 – nominations now open

By Helen Duffett | Wed 29th August 2012 - 4:53 pm

The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their seventh year. As usual, they’ll be awarded in a ~~budget~~ lavish ceremony at the party’s autumn conference in Brighton.

Click on the following links to see last year’s Shortlist and the Winners.

This year’s awards are as follows:

Continue reading »

Posted in Best of the blogs | Also tagged alan muhammed, andrew reeves, blog of the year awards, kirsty williams, nick thornsby, stephen tall and tim gatt | 1 Comment

Nick Clegg e-mails party members: Queen’s Speech has a firm Liberal Democrat stamp on it

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 9th May 2012 - 5:59 pm

Nick Clegg MP sent out this e-mail to party members about the Queen’s Speech this afternoon. He is holding an exclusive web chat for party members only at 1:30 pm tomorrow. Places are limited but there is still space available. If you are a party member and want to take part, please e-mail party Internal Communications Manager and Lib Dem Voice Co-Editor Helen Duffett on [email protected] giving your name, address and party membership number. Here is Nick’s e-mail in full.

Today’s Queen’s Speech has again shown that the Liberal Democrats are punching way above their weight – and we can be proud of

…

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Also tagged internal communications, nick clegg and queen's speech | 5 Comments

Can’t host the Olympics? Host Liberal Youth Conference instead!

By Harry Matthews | Fri 2nd December 2011 - 10:25 am

It’s an exciting time for political activists. The Eurozone is melting down, the economy is stagnating and people are getting angry about pensions. Well, that last one perhaps doesn’t affect Liberal Youth members as much, but Liberal Youth Conference is a chance for young people to meet up, discuss policy and (perhaps most importantly) have fun along the way!

Hosting Liberal Youth Conference is a great opportunity for your local party: 30, or even more, willing young activists to get out there and help you on a delivery round (at the last Liberal Youth Conference in Colchester, delegates delivered 2000 …

Continue reading »

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged graham watson and liberal youth | 3 Comments

Join the Liberal Youth invasion

By Harry Matthews | Fri 30th September 2011 - 12:26 pm

After a very successful Federal Conference earlier this month, Liberal Youth will hold its Autumn Conference on 22nd & 23rd October. It’s in the Roman town of Colchester* (home to the UK’s oldest market on record).

Conference, as all Liberal Democrats know, is a fantastic opportunity for party members to shape policies and hold elected officers to account – and Liberal Youth is no different.

Along with all the usual reports from officers (and the odd constitutional amendment), there will be policy debates on the Arab Spring, MMR jabs, Women’s Rights & Bank Shares. As we have seen from this year’s conference with the Employment and Support Allowance motion, Liberal Youth policy can become federal policy – and might now even become Government policy. This is a brilliant opportunity for young Liberal Democrats to get involved with policy making and gain experience in public speaking!

Continue reading »

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged bob russell, colchester, evan harris, graham watson, liam burns and liberal youth | 1 Comment

Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2011 – nominations now open

By Helen Duffett | Fri 19th August 2011 - 1:26 pm

The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their sixth year. As usual, they’ll be awarded in a ~~budget~~ lavish ceremony at the party’s autumn conference in Birmingham.

Click on the following links to see last year’s Shortlist and the Winners.

This year’s awards are as follows:

Continue reading »

Posted in Best of the blogs | Also tagged blog of the year awards, david allen green, katie razzall, martin tod, olly grender, richard flowers and stephen tall | Comments Off

Blog of the Year Awards: The movie

By Helen Duffett | Mon 27th September 2010 - 12:08 pm

The BOTYs were quite simply the glitteringest event of the whole Liberal Democrat conference last week, and Lib Dem councillor and blogger Jonathan Wallace was there to film them.

If you look carefully, you might just spot the tail feathers of the last flamingo, as it was startled away by popping flashbulbs. Alas, the heat of said flashbulbs also melted the ice sculptures before Jonathan could film those too, but the video’s well worth watching for the great speeches from winners and presenters alike:

Continue reading »

Posted in Best of the blogs and Conference | Also tagged alex folkes, andrew hickey, blog of the year awards, charlotte gore, iain roberts, Jo Swinson, jonathan wallace, Mark Pack, millennium elephant, nick barlow, nick thornsby, richard flowers, sara bedford, stephen tall, sue garden and will howells | 1 Comment

So how was it for you……..the highlights and lowlights?

By Linda Jack | Fri 24th September 2010 - 8:00 pm

As I mentioned earlier, conference is always a mixture of emotions, but none more so than this year. I thought it would be fun if we could do a meme in the comments thread and answer the following questions:

The funniest moment

The saddest moment

The most embarrassing moment (OK, so I know its only me has them!)

The most challenging moment

The moment I will remember most

And please feel free to add to the list.

My answers? You’ll have to wait until the end of the day for those!

And to start with I’m tagging Helen Duffett

Posted in Conference and LDV meme | Also tagged guest editor and linda jack | 9 Comments

Lessons from the disappearing phone boxes for the internet and politics

By Mark Pack | Tue 10th August 2010 - 3:20 pm

A new report about the internet and the 2010 general election (not headlined some variant on “was it an internet election?” thank goodness) has just been published by the Hansard Society. It contains some excellent contributions from across the political spectrum and, er…, one by myself.

A phone box Will Straw from Left Foot Forward has blogged about his own contribution here and The Voice’s very own Helen Duffett was one of the speakers at the launch event.

My own piece looked at ‘Lessons from the disappearing phone boxes for the internet and politics’ which tries to get at why people so often ask the question ‘Will the next election be an internet election?’ followed shortly after by’Well, that wasn’t an internet election’ – and yet the use of the internet has become so pervasive in politics:

Does the rhetoric and analysis of Joe Trippi and Clay Shirky or the reality of the mobile phone more accurately foretell the future impact of the internet on British politics? That isthe central question for anyone looking to predict how technology may change politics andcampaigning over this new Parliament…

Here’s the report in full, including my piece:

The internet and the 2010 election: putting the small ‘p’ back in politics?

Continue reading »

Posted in Online politics | Also tagged featured, hansard society and will straw | Leave a comment

Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2010 – nominations now open

By Helen Duffett | Mon 26th July 2010 - 10:20 am

The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their fifth year. As usual, they’ll be awarded in a ~~budget~~ lavish ceremony at the party’s autumn conference in Liverpool. (There’s further information on the event over at the Lib Dems’ Flock Together site). Click on the following links to see last year’s Shortlist and the Winners.

This year’s awards are as follows:

Continue reading »

Posted in Best of the blogs and Conference | Also tagged andy williamson, blog of the year awards, costigan quist, featured, Jo Swinson, jonathan calder, lee chalmers, mary reid, prateek buch, ros taylor and ryan cullen | 1 Comment

Havering Council flirts with breaking election law

By Mark Pack | Wed 21st April 2010 - 12:20 pm

Until yesterday, Havering Council was telling residents that it would reject any rolling registration applications that were not made on the council’s own form – despite the fact that such rejections would be a breach of the law. In a bizarre twist, it also meant that Havering Council was telling people who had filled in an electoral registration form via the Electoral Commission’s heavily advertised website, AboutMyVote.co.uk, that those applications were invalid.

As one resident who used the Electoral Commission’s site reported, he received a letter from the council saying,

We do not accept internet forms.

and warning that unless a second …

Continue reading »

Posted in Election law | Also tagged electoral commission, electoral registration, havering council and romford | Leave a comment

Make authoritarian MPs pay at the ballot box

By Mark Pack | Wed 10th March 2010 - 10:03 pm

There’s only one place to be at 8pm on Friday. It’s in Hall 8b at the Birmingham ICC for the latest in the legendary series of Lib Dem Voice fringe meetings*:

Many MPs have a record of repeatedly voting for authoritarian measures in Parliament. But will they suffer for that at the ballot box?

Come and hear how we can make authoritarian votes in Parliament a vote loser for MPs on general election day – and see the new Liberal Democrat Voice website which will help do just that.

Speakers:
Paul Burstow MP (Chief Whip)
Bridget Fox (PPC Islington South and Finsbury)
Mark Pack (Co-editor, Lib Dem Voice)
Alex Wilcock (Former Vice-Chair, Federal Policy Committee)

Chair: Helen Duffett (PPC Romford, Lib Dem Voice Contributing Editor)

Continue reading »

Posted in Conference | Also tagged alex wilcock, bridget fox and paul burstow | 6 Comments

Daily View 2×2: Wednesday 10 February

By Iain Roberts | Wed 10th February 2010 - 7:41 am

Pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio and TV this morning and there’s only one story filling up the front pages and the airwaves…

Continue reading »

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged alex dingwall, barack obama, bertha joseph and homophobia | 4 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 2 February 2010

By Sara Bedford | Tue 2nd February 2010 - 9:38 am

Today is Groundhog Day, but I’ve resisted the temptation to simply give you yesterday’s Daily View again. It’s also the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc, which symbolises the turning point of winter towards spring.

Twenty years ago today President FW de Klerk began to dismantle apartheid in South Africa, announcing that he had lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress and the South African Communist Party. De Klerk also committed to release jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela, who was freed nine days later. Commenting on the news, Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “He has taken …

Continue reading »

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged alternative vote, austin mitchell, chris huhne, david cameron, desmond tutu, economy, electoral reform, fw de klerk, gina ford, gordon brown, groundhog day, imbolc, nelson mandela, plymouth, stuart bonar and twitter | 1 Comment

#ldconf podcast: The BOTY recording

By Alex Foster | Mon 21st September 2009 - 7:45 pm

Whilst the LDV team is out tonight enjoying, in our various abstemious ways, the Liberal Drinks event at Bournemouth’s Goat and Tricycle tonight, we thought we’d bring you the tape of last night’s BOTY ceremony.

Sadly the audio version can not to justice to the range of visual feasts the evening provided. Stephen’s milliner will be most disappointed; the ice sculptors know their art is fleeting; and we have really only just rounded up all the flamingoes.

jgraham

But it was a striking evening for a number of reasons, as we hope the …

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:14 — 29.5MB)

Continue reading »

Posted in Conference and Podcasts | Also tagged alan window, blog of the year awards, bournemouth 2009 conference, brian robson, charlotte gore wuz robbed, costigan quist, james graham, Jo Swinson, Mark Pack, mark thompson, mary reid, pachyderms4justice, slugger o'toole, stephen tall, sue garden and tom brake | 3 Comments

Sweetly misguided he may be, but…

By Alix Mortimer | Sun 20th September 2009 - 3:29 pm

…top marks for Sunder Katwala of the Fabians for this, reported by James Graham:

When Cameron claims you can’t put a cigarette paper between the Tories and LDs, it makes you wonder what he’s smoking.

Meanwhile, twittery excitement is growing about this afternoon’s debate on civil libs. Richard Dawkins is speaking to his amendment in about half an hour:

@bengoldacre #ldconf there’s also dawkins doing amendment on libel in civil liberties session at 4pm, main hall, we’re going thru his speech now

But never mind the mere intellectual giants and dishy sci-geeks of our age. What could possibly be …

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Also tagged bournemouth 2009 conference | Leave a comment

Conference: fringe guide available #ldconf

By Alex Foster | Sun 6th September 2009 - 4:41 pm

Just a quick reminder that all the main documents relating to Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth – now less than fortnight away – are now available directly from the party’s website.

These include the main hall agenda, the policy papers to be debated and fringe and training guides.

Find them all at this handy link.

It’s also worth noting and commending that the information is available in a variety of formats, from the printed books, the PDFs of those, and also simply as plain text – which is good and accessible for those with disabilities and also very handy for PDAs, phones …

Continue reading »

Posted in Conference | Also tagged accessibility, contribute, fringe, fringe guide, Jo Swinson, party website and real women | Leave a comment

LDV Weekend Meme: your favourite blog-posts

By Stephen Tall | Sat 8th August 2009 - 10:30 am

The Lib Dem blog awards are with us again – and one of the categories is ‘Best posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (since 1st September 2008)’. This is actually my favourite award for the simple reason that it recognises writing talent, pure and simple. By which I don’t mean that the prose has to be worthy of a Booker nomination; rather that the article has to attract, engage and provoke readers – elevate our thinking, if you like.

All of which musing prompted me to ask my LDV colleagues – and myself – to self-nominate the favourite articles we’ve posted here on the site. Here’s what we said:

Continue reading »

Posted in LDV meme | Also tagged alex foster, blog of the year awards, featured, Lib Dem Blogs, Mark Pack and stephen tall | 11 Comments

Twitter and the rise of new media

By Mark Thompson | Sat 20th June 2009 - 1:55 pm

Something fascinating happened yesterday. I was browsing through one of the internet forums I regularly visit when I noticed someone posting that people should go to the Daily Mail poll page on their website and vote yes to the poll that asks “Should gypsies jump the queue on the NHS?” in order to mess with them.

When I got to the page and duly voted “Yes” I was astonished to see that the poll was at 93% Yes and 7% No. The forum I refer to has nowhere near enough people to make a dent in the thousands who vote in …

Continue reading »

Posted in News and Online politics | Also tagged andrew mackay, daily mail, graham linehan, iran, krishnan guru-murthy, lynne featherstone, Mark Pack, mark thompson, martin tod, paul waugh, richard allan and twitter | 8 Comments

Welcome to the latest member of our team

By Mark Pack | Sun 14th September 2008 - 9:41 pm

Sealed over a conversation in the conference bar – blogger Helen Duffett has joined the Liberal Democrat Voice team. Welcome Helen, and we promise we won’t find too much for you to do…

Helen Duffett and Stephen Tall

Posted in Site news | 1 Comment