Tag Archives: sedgefield by-election

What the media says

By Will Howells | Published 21st July 2007 - 1:52 pm

Two good results for the Lib Dems on Thursday with swings against Labour and two embarrassing third places for David Cameron’s Conservatives. That’s our line – but what does the press think? Here’s a handy guide…

Daily Express, Saturday 21st
“Leading Britain is a grown-up job for a serious politician. Voters have had quite enough of windmills, bicycles, sledges and huskies. They do not care for the dilettante Notting Hill Set which surrounds Mr Cameron. Part-time spokesmen who prefer to make money moonlighting rather than mastering their briefs should be swept away.”

Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph, Saturday 21st
“Frankly, if you can’t even come second in by-elections halfway through the third term of another party’s time in power, things aren’t just wrong. They are catastrophically wrong. The worst mistake Dave can make now, though, is to imagine they can’t get worse. They can. They can get a lot worse.”

Tania Branigan, The Guardian, Saturday 21st
“The third-place finish is a personal blow to David Cameron, who toured the west London constituency five times with political newcomer Tony Lit. The Liberal Democrats also squeezed the Conservatives into third place in Sedgefield.”

Two more views on the by-election results

By Mark Pack | Published 21st July 2007 - 8:55 am

Over on other sites, both Stephen (Guardian) and myself (New Statesman) have pieces about the by-election results. I don’t think either of us are 100% keen on the headlines used

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | 2 Comments

Lib Dems leading the way on Facebook

By Mark Pack | Published 17th July 2007 - 5:01 pm

In a quiet moment in Ealing (no sniggering at the back), I thought it would be interesting to see how much the various parties are using social networking site to support their efforts in the two parliamentary by-elections – and whether my sneaking suspicion that the Liberal Democrats are making the best use of it are true. It’s possible that the other parties have secret groups we don’t know about, but based on what we cansee, here are the stats* – represented for your viewing pleasure in traditional bar chart form, with exciting added 3-D perspective:

Posted in Online politics, Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged ealing southall by-election, facebook | 5 Comments

Conservative candidate switches parties

By Mark Pack | Published 17th July 2007 - 8:20 am

No, it’s not Ealing this time. But rather the 2005 Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Tottenham is backing UKIP in the Sedgefield by-election.

The story particularly caught my eye because I slightly know the person – William Macdougall – from when he was a Conservative councillor in Haringey (yes, they used to have some!) up until 2002. We mainly had some dealings over the redrawing of ward boundaries, as the Lib Dems, Tories and Greens got together to put in a joint proposal. As, in addition to having held senior posts locally and stood for election at both local and Westminster level, he has …

Posted in News, Opposition watch, Parliamentary by-elections | 8 Comments

Razzall and Littlewood on Ming’s future

By Stephen Tall | Published 16th July 2007 - 9:04 pm

The Guardian reports on today’s BBC World at One interviews with former Lib Dem campaign manager, Lord Tim Razzall, and former head of communications, Mark Littlewood, here. Both suggest Ming Campbell’s future would come under the spotlight if the party were to under-perform in the Ealing Southall and Sedgefield by-elections this Thursday.

Posted in News, Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged ealing southall by-election, ed davey, mark littlewood, ming campbell, paul walter | 6 Comments

A Betting Tip?

By Richard Huzzey | Published 14th July 2007 - 2:34 pm

The recent Politicalbetting.com thread suggests good results for us in both by-elections. The regular punters spinning on that site say that Ealing Southall will be a close split between all three main parties. In Sedgefield, there’s speculation that some Labour voters may stay at home, giving Greg Stone a chance to win.

Am I the only one who thinks Labour are less certain to hold Sedgefield than the 1.03 odds currently on Betfair? For a liability of £5.16 I stand to take £172 if voters punish the Brown government and Labour’s thuggish attempts to distrupt democracy. You can …

Posted in Op-eds, Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged ealing southall by-election | 2 Comments

Anti-Crime candidate has run-in with the police

By Mark Pack | Published 14th July 2007 - 9:18 am

One thing you can say about these by-elections, they’re not dull.

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | 5 Comments

Lib Dems closing on Labour in Sedgefield – Mirror

By Mark Pack | Published 13th July 2007 - 11:38 am

“The Tories, a poor second in 2005, are nowhere. But the Liberal Democrats are closing the gap rapidly on Labour … Labour’s fixers are worried”

Paul Routledge in The Mirror. I think you can guess from the rest of the piece that he doesn’t really like us

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Leave a comment

The Battle of Trimdon Green (or “Labour yobs attack lawful Lib Dem campaigners”)

By The Voice | Published 8th July 2007 - 12:34 pm

Thanks to Lib Dem Jonathan Wallace, we have video evidence of Labour party councillors and activists attempting to distrupt the launch of the Lib Dem campaign in Sedgefield by Andrew Stunnell MP. While Lib Dem challenger Greg Stone explained his policies to attending media, the Labour campaign team heckled and forcibly distrupted the event as you can see on YouTube.

The group mocking Greg for being from Newcastle included a Labour councillor from… erm, Newcastle.

Lib Dem Voice has already noted the unorthodox poster techniques apparently used in this campaign, and also the local newspaper’s verdict that Labour …

Posted in Lib Dem TV, Parliamentary by-elections | 10 Comments

Stinging attack on Labour’s Sedgefield campaign by local newspaper

By The Voice | Published 8th July 2007 - 9:55 am

Labour’s taken to trying bully boy tactics to keep other parties from campaigning in Sedgefield, causing the Northern Echo to write:

There were farcical and unpleasant scenes yesterday as Liberal Democrat candidate Greg Stone was prevented from placing a placard on the green at Trimdon by Labour activists … at a time when politics badly needs to refresh its public image, the last thing people want to see is the kind of petty, juvenile behaviour that would earn unruly schoolchildren a stern ticking off.

ASBO anyone?

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Leave a comment

David Cameron and the Labour hoodie

By Mark Pack | Published 7th July 2007 - 4:26 pm

And in news from the other parties in Sedgefield … there’s this clip on YouTube of a confrontation between Labour activists, David Cameron and a hoodie.

Handy hint for Labour person on the right – holding the poster the right way up helps.

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | 6 Comments

Poster campaign dirty tricks allegations – evidence at last

By Mark Pack | Published 7th July 2007 - 7:40 am

So this is how Labour gets posters up.

Meanwhile, Greg Stone has launched his Sedgefield by-election campaign, where yet another photo of Blair and Bush is getting regular use. Look out for the man in the background.

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Leave a comment

Sedgefield Liberal Democrats select Greg Stone

By Will Howells | Published 4th July 2007 - 9:14 am

Sedgefield Liberal Democrats have selected Greg Stone to be their candidate for the parliamentary by-election to succeed Tony Blair. The Sedgefield Liberal Democrats website reports:

Greg is a senior Liberal Democrat Councillor and has lived in the North East since graduating from Newcastle University. Greg is 32 and currently works as an expert in regeneration including eco-friendly projects in the Sedgefield constituency. He previously worked at the University of Teesside.

Commenting, Chief Executive Chris Rennard said:

“I am delighted that Greg Stone has been selected; I am sure that he would be an outstanding MP,

…

Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged chris rennard | 9 Comments

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