Tag Archives: local elections

Opinion: How much does geographical accident influence politics?

By Mark Thompson | Published 20th December 2011 - 4:23 pm

I have been wondering for a while how much of a role geographical accident plays in politics.

When I first decided to get involved with politics a few years back I chose the Liberal Democrats because they were the party that most closely matched my views. In my local area, the party did not have any council seats but there are a small group of very dedicated and experienced local members and campaigners who have fought a number of local and national elections with alacrity since I joined.

The situation, though, has got me thinking about how political careers are nurtured and …

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Posted in Op-eds | 6 Comments

“Thursday is decision day” – Charles Kennedy’s eve of poll message to members and supporters

By Helen Duffett | Published 4th May 2011 - 5:53 pm

Charles Kennedy MP has emailed Liberal Democrat members and supporters with a “get out and vote” (and “get out the vote”) message, ahead of tomorrow’s elections and referendum:

Tomorrow you have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have your say on how we elect our MPs to Westminster. Important elections are also taking place across the country for the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament & local councils. Thursday is Decision Day.

When I was first elected in 1983, the idea of changing our voting system for Westminster elections seemed important, but the chance seemed remote. When the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were established, neither

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Nick Clegg’s speech in Sheffield on the difference that Liberal Democrat councils are making

By Nick Thornsby | Published 20th April 2011 - 12:55 pm

On Saturday, Nick Clegg delivered a speech to local party activists in Sheffield on the difference that Liberal Democrat councils across Britain are making. It’s a good speech which expands on many of the examples that we started to hear at conference in Sheffield last month about how Liberal Democrat councils are using innovative techniques to keep service and job losses to a minimum in these difficult financial times.

Here’s the speech in full:

The Liberal Democrats have a long, proud and successful history in local government.

We run some of the nation’s biggest cities and some of the most effective councils across

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , | 9 Comments

Preparing for the AV referendum: standing more local election candidates

By Mark Pack | Published 17th June 2010 - 9:50 am

The connection between standing local election candidates and the AV referendum may not seem obvious at first, so imagine this scenario…

It’s quite likely that the referendum will be held on the same day as local elections, such as the May 2011 local elections.

The arguments over electoral reform will attract to the ballot box some people who don’t usually vote in local elections. If the pro-AV campaign goes well (and it starts with a lead) many of those people will be well disposed towards Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

And what will they find when they get handed another …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 4 Comments

Local election roundup from ALDC

By Helen Duffett | Published 15th May 2010 - 10:20 am

The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors has reported back on last week’s council election results:

Just as the General Election produced a mixed bag of results, so did this year’s council elections. Although overall we had a net loss of 135 seats and control of a number of councils, the outcome was far more complex.

The results in metropolitan and London councils saw a net loss of 52 and 77 seats respectively losing overall control of Richmond upon Thames, Liverpool, Rochdale and Sheffield in the process. However, in unitary councils and the English districts we lost just 5 and 1

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 2 Comments

New figures reveal which candidates do the most campaigning

By Mark Pack | Published 19th November 2009 - 11:50 am

Figures revealing which party’s candidates were most likely to do leafleting, canvassing, internet campaigning and a set of other activities have just been published by the Electoral Commission.

The Commission carried out a survey of local election candidates from the June 2009 campaign and found:

  • Conservative candidates were most likely to have produced a campaign leaflet (98% versus 70% for Lib Dems and 60% for Labour)
  • Labour and Conservative candidates were equally likely to have had telephone canvassing in their campaign (27% each, with 21% for the Lib Dems)
  • On average, Conservative candidates spent 21 hours a week campaigning during the campaign (excluding

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 16 Comments

The mess enveloping the law over local election candidates

By Mark Pack | Published 30th June 2009 - 8:50 am

Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire:

The question of who can stand for election to a local council should be clearly defined and easy to understand – so that those new to politics can be candidates, so that voters don’t end up with a false choice where not all the candidates are actually allowed to be candidates and so that elections can be about choices between people and policies, rather than battles between lawyers.

In England and Wales the law was last codified and laid down in the 1972 Local Government Act. With the passage now of nearly forty years, plus frequent subsequent legislation which gave the opportunity to clarify any ambiguities, matters should now be clear.

Alas, though, a combination of poor drafting, changing interpretations and equivocation from the Electoral Commission has left part of the law in an ambiguous mess.

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Posted in Local government | Also tagged | 10 Comments

And the winners are…

By Stephen Tall | Published 14th June 2009 - 12:00 pm

Back on 2nd June, LDV launched our election prediction competition, inviting readers to put their reputations on the line and tell us what they thought would happen in the 4th June English local and European elections. Here are the questions with the actual results in bold:

1. Predict the Liberal Democrat share of the vote in the European elections. 14%
2. Predict the turnout in the European elections. 34.5%
3. Predict the Liberal Democrat lead over Labour in the local elections (if you think the results will be LD 25%, Lab 22%, your answer is +3%. If you think it will be the other way around, your answer is -3%). +5%
4. Predict how many local authorities the Liberal Democrats will have majority control of on 5th June. 1 (Bristol)
5. Predict the net loss/gain of Lib Dem councillors. -2 (BBC figures)

I’ve now had chance to mark the competition, summing the differences between readers’ answers and the results, resulting in the following league table:

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Nick Clegg in conversation with Iain Dale

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th June 2009 - 3:20 pm

Everyone’s favourite Tory blogger Iain Dale interviewed Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on Friday morning about the party’s performance in the English local elections – you can listen to the 7-minute podcast version below:

Posted in News | Also tagged , | 1 Comment

The Great Expectations Game

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th June 2009 - 1:45 pm

Earlier this week, I blogged about the ‘expectations game’, the way in which post-election analysis can be spun, and speculated that the Lib Dems were being set up for a fall. In fact, though, the reporting of the party’s performance has been generally fair. For instance, here’s Tony Travers in today’s Guardian:

The national equivalent vote share put the Conservatives on 38%, the Liberal Dems on 28%, Labour on 23% and “others” on 11%. Compared with 2008, the Tories are down five points, Labour down one point, the Lib Dems up one point and Others up by

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , | 29 Comments

Local elections ’09: the LDV verdict

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th June 2009 - 9:00 am

What to make of 4th June’s local elections in England, how to sum it up? The clichés are easy: a mixed bag, a curate’s egg, et bloody cetera. The reality is simpler, in my view: Thursday’s local elections were, generally, pretty damn good for the Lib Dems. That’s not to gloss over the disappointments – and, yes, there most definitely were some (of which more, later) – but nor should those setbacks allow us to discount the very clear successes which were achieved either.

Let’s start with the good:

  • 1. The Liberal Democrats came second, with a nationally projected vote according to

…

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Posted in Local government, Op-eds | 37 Comments

BBC national projected vote share

By Alex Foster | Published 5th June 2009 - 3:38 pm

Interesting set of vote share results from the BBC based on the first few hundred council seat results, where they are giving the following numbers:

Lib Dem – 28% (2005: 28% 2008: 25% )
Tory – 38% (2005: 31% 2008: 44%)
Labour – 23% (2005: 33% 2008: 24%)

Labour’s result is one of the lowest they have ever seen.

The context of those old results is all important. Labour have plumetted 10% from the last time these seats were contested, with the loss of the general election day boost hitting them as hard as the political climate.

The Tory vote share has …

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Posted in News | 8 Comments

Local elections – Friday open thread

By Stephen Tall | Published 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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Posted in Conference, Europe / International, LDV Awards, News, Parliament, Party Presidency | 130 Comments

Lib Dems gain control of Bristol Council

By Mark Pack | Published 5th June 2009 - 3:03 am

The first big electoral news is good for the Liberal Democrats: four gains from Labour in Bristol have given the LibDems overall control of the council. Labour won just 2 wards out of 23 on the night, compared with 10 out of 24 in 2007.

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Local elections – overnight open thread

By The Voice | Published 5th June 2009 - 1:05 am

Most local election results won’t be declared until well into Friday, but a handful of councils are counting overnight – so please use this thread to update Lib Dem Voice readers with what’s happening near you, or links to emerging stories elsewhere.

Update 3: Looks like solid results Eastleigh (no scope for gains given how many seats we already hold!). Bristol looking good with several gains.

Update 2: News of gains against the Conservatives in Eastbourne and Norfolk.

Update: News from Bristol sounds very positive for the Lib Dems and absolutely disastrous for Labour, with Tories making little progress.

Posted in News | 59 Comments