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Author Archives: Mark Pack

Mark was the Liberal Democrat Head of Innovations until June 2009 and is now at Blue Rubicon. He also lectures at City University and is co-author of 101 Ways To Win An Election. He blogs at www.markpack.org.uk and is on Twitter as @markpack. He likes chocolate. Lots of it.
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101 Ways To Win An Election: now available for Kindle

By Mark Pack | Fri 27th July 2012 - 10:25 am

You may have noticed my excitement as the book I wrote with Ed Maxfield finally appeared, started being shipped to buyers and even made it to bookshop shelves.

Quite a few people have asked whether it would be available as an e-book, which was the plan but has taken a little while to sort.

The good news is that first of the e-book versions is now out – for the Kindle. As with the paperback, it’s packed full of tips on how to win an election …

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Posted in Books | Tagged ed maxfield | 1 Comment

Local liberal heroes: Flick Rea

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th July 2012 - 10:25 am

A while back, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten – such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP.

There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure – those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are often unacknowledged in the wider party.

Today it is the turn of Camden councillor Flick Rea.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged camden liberal democrats, flick rea and local liberal heroes | 4 Comments

Vince Cable on the economy, George Osborne and his own ambitions

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th July 2012 - 9:14 am

From last night’s Newsnight:

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Posted in News and YouTube | Tagged economy, george osborne, matthew oakeshott and vince cable | 3 Comments

Today’s news is: Let’s all be shocked by the blatantly obvious

By Mark Pack | Wed 25th July 2012 - 10:25 am

Story one.

Dear politician, do you think people should knowingly assist others in breaking the law? What, you say ‘no they shouldn’t’? Hold the front page, I’ve got a scoop!

Story two.

Dear politician, might you want to lead your party one day? What, you might!? Hold the front page again. This is an amazing scoop discovering a politician who would fancy leading their party.

Story three.

Dear politician, if there is another hung Parliament, would you take the same approach as you did to the last one? What, you would? OMG! Someone saying they would do the same thing again! Unthinkable! …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david gauke, journalism, nick clegg and vince cable | 5 Comments

Gender quotas get legal backing in Ireland

By Mark Pack | Tue 24th July 2012 - 8:50 am

Interesting news from Ireland on the long-running question of male dominance of elected Parliamentary posts:

GENDER QUOTAS are set to become law after the Electoral Amendment (Political Funding) Bill 2011 passed all stages in the Dáil yesterday.

The legislation, which has yet to be signed by the President, will halve State funding to parties unless 30 per cent of their candidates at the next general election are women. This figure will rise to 40 per cent at subsequent general elections…

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Posted in Election law and News | Tagged candidate selection rules, gender balance and republic of ireland | 5 Comments

Court bid to get Woking election result overturned

By Mark Pack | Sat 21st July 2012 - 5:31 pm

Get Surrey reports:

Woking Borough Council (WBC) will appear at the High Court later this month after an application was made to declare an election result invalid.

Labour hopeful Mohammad Ali, who came second at the borough council election for the Maybury and Sheerwater ward in May, has submitted the claim, highlighting what he calls ‘persistent electoral irregularities’ including the number of postal votes in the area and rejected ballots.

Continue reading »

Posted in Election law | Tagged mohammad ali and woking borough council | 5 Comments

A campaign thought for the weekend

By Mark Pack | Sat 21st July 2012 - 10:55 am

The latest Ofcom survey shows that 94% of UK households use mobile phones.

Now consider what proportion of UK households have a usable letterbox for delivery of campaign leaflets; i.e. exclude those rural homes without a letterbox, those urban blocks of flats with just a door to push leaflets under, the multiple occupancy houses with a communal hallway but no personal letterboxes and so on.

And then there’s that property on the electoral register which, despite you circling the block four times, taking a peak from the skies …

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Posted in Campaign Corner | 10 Comments

Government publishes implementation plan for individual electoral registration

By Mark Pack | Fri 20th July 2012 - 9:25 am

This week the Cabinet Office has published its detailed implementation plan for the introduction of individual electoral registration in England, Scotland and Wales. (Northern Ireland already uses it.)

Individual electoral registration has long been pushed for by the Electoral Commission and supported by all three of the main political parties. However, getting the details right is important as this is one of those issues where the administrative details can completely wreck the policy if got wrong.

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Posted in Election law and News | Tagged electoral commission and electoral registration | 3 Comments

Incredible

By Mark Pack | Thu 19th July 2012 - 8:17 pm

PC Harwood managed to avoid one disciplinary charge by resigning from the Met force on health grounds, then rejoining two days later as a civilian employee. (Sky)

Posted in News | Tagged simon harwood | 32 Comments

The compromiser’s dilemma: House of Lords reform

By Mark Pack | Wed 18th July 2012 - 2:10 pm

You propose something. Someone objects to it, giving many reasons. You offer to make some changes to meet some of the objections. A deal is made and progress is achieved.

A perfectly normal sequence of events, both inside and outside politics and whether the matter is as mundane as what to eat for dinner tomorrow or as public as the wording of Parliamentary legislation.

One big …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged av referendum, constitutional reform, featured, guy lodge, house of lords, lord wakenham, lords reform and michael kenny | 17 Comments

The Politics of Coalition: How the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government Works

By Mark Pack | Mon 16th July 2012 - 2:25 pm

Robert Hazell and Ben Yong’s work, The Politics of Coalition: How the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government Works, is a very readable volume, written mostly in the style of an introductory politics textbook and based on extensive interviews with the participants, including at very senior levels.

The book is well done, readable, comprehensive and has a few gems lurking in the revelations from all the interviews, such as the limited involvement of Andrew Lansley and Paul Burstow in drafting the health section of the Coalition Agreement.

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Posted in Books | Tagged andrew lansley, ben yong, coalition, coalition agreement, featured, paul burstow, robert hazell, tuition fees, ucl constitution unit and vince cable | Leave a comment

Nick Clegg gives the William Beveridge lecture

By Mark Pack | Sat 14th July 2012 - 6:28 pm

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Posted in News | Tagged chris huhne, featured, nick clegg, social liberal forum, social mobility and william beveridge | 7 Comments

A longer watch for the weekend: explanations of electoral bias

By Mark Pack | Sat 14th July 2012 - 9:25 am

Something a little longer for the weekend – a talk explaining how the British electoral system works, and in particular why some parties need more votes to get a winning number of seats than other parties:

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Posted in Election law and YouTube | 2 Comments

Two people wrongly detained after communications interception errors

By Mark Pack | Sat 14th July 2012 - 8:55 am

For the last decade and more, the publication of the Interception of Communication Commissioner’s Annual Reports has gone largely unremarked, even when they have contained news of copious errors or news (by omission) of a Commissioner not investigating evidence of widespread breaking of the rules he is meant to oversee (see my previous posts).

This year, however, with the Draft Communications Bill hanging over us and given a helping hand by a deft MP, it is rather different, as this sampling of coverage shows:

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Posted in News | Tagged draft communications data bill and Interception of Communications Commissioner | 2 Comments

Overnight counting, electoral fraud and the running of elections: a bounty of Electoral Commission reports

By Mark Pack | Fri 13th July 2012 - 9:40 am

The last few days have been busy ones for the Electoral Commission, with most of the headlines caught by their report into when election counts should take place (overnight or the next day):

The Electoral Commission has recommended general election counts should continue to be held overnight.

Before the 2010 election, a number of councils made plans to count votes the day after polling day.

But a campaign by MPs and others resulted in a change of the law requiring counts to start within four hours of the close of polls…

Chair of the Electoral Commission Jenny Watson said: “We are rightly proud

…

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Posted in Election law and News | Tagged electoral commission, london and turnout | 7 Comments

The best reason for House of Lords reform is one almost nobody mentions

By Mark Pack | Tue 10th July 2012 - 4:05 pm

My post from last year is rather relevant again, so here it is with some slight updates:

The voters have cast their verdict and an MP is out of office. What should happen to them next? Most people’s answers are somewhere on the spectrum from the polite (let them tidy up their affairs and see their staff properly treated as their contracts end) through to answers best not published before the watershed.

But our political system has a remarkable answer.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged constitutional reform, featured, house of lords and lords reform | 28 Comments

Why doesn’t Theresa May want mandatory tracking of all cars?

By Mark Pack | Tue 10th July 2012 - 2:25 pm

Because it is an absurd idea may well be your answer to that question even before you’ve reached the end of it. But bear with me a moment.

Imagine a government policy to have mandatory tracking devices in all motor vehicles, which would record all the journeys and store the data. The data would normally be private but could be accessed by the police and others if they subsequently discovered a reason to suspect someone. (You may be able to guess where I am going with this…)

It would cost a fair …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged draft communications data bill, featured, interception modernisation programme, Interception of Communications Commissioner and theresa may | 14 Comments

Albert Einstein, the good liberal

By Mark Pack | Mon 9th July 2012 - 2:25 pm

I’ve commented before that Albert Einstein is a good example of the power of brevity, something some politicians and campaigners forget when insisting they need to write a long story or give a length speech in order to properly explain an issue:

It’s far harder to write clear, precise and brief text than it is to write long, imprecise and waffly pieces. So don’t confuse brevity with dumbing down. Unless of course you think Albert Einstein was a stupid, idiotic scientist for lazily using just using five characters (not even five whole words!) to try to explain complex science when

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged albert einstein | 10 Comments

What to make of the new Electoral Reform Society rules?

By Mark Pack | Sun 8th July 2012 - 4:05 pm

Members of the Electoral Reform Society have been getting a weighty mailing through the post, ahead of a special meeting on 14 July to accept or reject a thorough rewrite of the ERS’s ruling documents such as its Memorandum and Articles of Association, Election Byelaws, Membership Byelaws and the Standing Orders for (Annual) General Meetings.

As the mailing indicates, 13 of the 14 Council members back the change, with one dissenting. As a result, I’ve been taking a read through all the details to see which way to cast my vote.

Overall …

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Posted in News | Tagged electoral reform society | 17 Comments

How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

By Mark Pack | Sun 8th July 2012 - 9:25 am

Why not join hundreds of other Lib Dem Voice readers in getting our latest headlines by email?

Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there’s new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day’s posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want to take a read.

Continue reading »

Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

A striking party funding statistic

By Mark Pack | Sun 8th July 2012 - 7:40 am

From Democratic Audit’s latest, er…, democratic audit:

Posted in News | Tagged democratic audit and party funding | 3 Comments

Local liberal heroes: Anood Al-Samerai

By Mark Pack | Wed 4th July 2012 - 2:20 pm

A while back, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten – such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP.

There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure – those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are often unacknowledged …

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged anood al-samerai, local liberal heroes and southwark liberal democrats | 2 Comments

How leaflets used to look: a Tory attack on Labour’s economic policies, 1931

By Mark Pack | Wed 4th July 2012 - 10:25 am

Today’s leaflet in my series on old election leaflets is a centrally produced Conservative Party leaflet from October 1931. Ramsay MacDonald had led a Labour administration under August 1931 when it split over a Budget and economic crisis. MacDonald earned his place in Labour’s hall of infamy by then forming a National Government with Conservatives and Liberals. Only two Labour colleagues joined MacDonald in this government, so the attacks in this leaflet on “Arthur Henderson and other Socialist ex-Ministers” are, nominally at least, directed at Labour rather than MacDonald and co. in the coalition.

Swap references such as the Empire Marketing Board for current ones and the basic arguments being made in the leaflet are remarkably similar to contemporary politics:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Arthur Henderson, featured, history, how leaflets used to look and Ramsay MacDonald | 6 Comments

You don’t have to be a conference rep to go to conference

By Mark Pack | Tue 3rd July 2012 - 10:50 am

Neither a voting conference rep nor a suited lobbyist need you be to go to Liberal Democrat Party conference, yet amongst party members there is often an implicit assumption that federal party is something for other people rather than something for them.

This is particularly unfortunate when, as with this autumn, the conference venue (Brighton) is within easy travel distance of a large portion of the party’s membership. People can register to go to conference for just one day for £35 (£17 claimants) and get to sample the debates, the fringe and the atmosphere – and if you are within commuting distance all that without having to pay Brighton accommodation prices.

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Posted in Conference | 7 Comments

Tuition fees: new IFS publication says new system “substantially more progressive”

By Mark Pack | Sat 30th June 2012 - 9:25 am

News from the IFS confirms what others, including Money Saving Expert’s Martin Lewis and of course Nick Clegg, have previously argued:

The government’s decision to raise maximum tuition fees to £9,000 will create a system that is “substantially more progressive” than the previous system. That is because the 30% of graduates with the lowest lifetime earnings will be better off under the new arrangements.

And no cynical comments please about just how far down The Guardian’s story this paragraph was placed 🙂

P.S. As it’s the weekend and people may have other things to do, in order to save time I’ve …

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Posted in News | Tagged IFS, martin lewis, nick clegg and tuition fees | 44 Comments

Guardian investigation finds sexual predators in police abusing powers

By Mark Pack | Sat 30th June 2012 - 8:55 am

The Guardian reports:

Sexual predators in the police are abusing their power to target victims of crime they are supposed to be helping, as well as fellow officers and female staff, the Guardian can reveal.

An investigation into the scale and extent of the problem suggests sexual misconduct could be more widespread than previously believed.

The situation raises questions about the efficacy of the police complaints system, the police’s internal whistleblowing procedures, the vetting of officers and a failure to monitor disciplinary offences.

Meanwhile, in other news Theresa May wants to give the police more powers to spy on the public, without requiring any judicial authorisation.

Posted in News | Tagged policing and theresa may | Leave a comment

Three ideological things to do with your members and helpers this summer

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th June 2012 - 4:50 pm

You have a pothole in your road. You suffer from a council like mine and fixing it becomes a long-running saga. You involve a local Liberal Democrat campaigner. They get it sorted. You like them and as a result end up joining the party.

That sort of sequence is pretty common, especially amongst those who then end up being local activists and councillors. But if this is the route you’ve taken, how do you end up finding out what the party actually believes and why?

You get a membership card with part of our constitution’s preamble, a new member pack including …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged dawn barnes | 2 Comments

Lords reform, Labour and the three key tests

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th June 2012 - 9:25 am

Ed Miliband’s decision to insist on Labour backing House of Lords reform at the Second Reading vote in the House of Commons is an important and welcome one. That it was opposed by senior Labour figures such as David Blunkett probably reinforces the views of many Liberal Democrats of Blunkett and co, but it should also remind us that Miliband’s decision and leadership on this is not trivial. It is something House of Lords reformers in all parties should welcome.

More cynical people may wonder if Labour support on the Second Reading will be a distraction tactic from them trying to sink Lords reform at a later date, whether with or without Miliband’s implicit backing. There are three main opportunities for that.

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Posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, david blunkett, ed miliband, house of lords, lords reform and unlock democracy | 14 Comments

How leaflets used to look: Sutton, 1972 – no bar chart but a darn good skull

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th June 2012 - 10:25 am

Welcome to another leaflet from the archives, this time courtesy of Sutton Council leader Ruth Dombey who has kindly provided a copy of the first Focus leaflet put out in Sutton back in 1972. It kicked off the winning Parliamentary by-election campaign for Graham Tope and was put together by Liverpool’s Trevor “Jones the Vote” who pioneered many of the campaign tactics now taken for granted.

Some of the issues may feel rather familiar and given its pioneering nature I think we can forgive the missing apostrophes and question marks… Interesting too both the level of personal detail about Graham and the inclusion of a story about what the Liberal Party believed in.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured, graham tope, history, how leaflets used to look, ruth dombey and sutton liberal democrats | 2 Comments

Housing: the IPPR’s answer

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th June 2012 - 8:25 am

Over the last week I’ve highlighted how the Britain’s love of home ownership is not based on any evidence that high home ownership brings economic success (if anything, the opposite is true), that the proportion of people living in private rented accommodation is on a long-term rise and that changes in property prices in Britain are widening rather than narrowing the huge geographic imbalances. Add to all that the increasing importance that Vince Cable and Nick Clegg, in particular, are giving to the housing market for boosting economic growth, and it is a sector clearly in need of action.

But what action?

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Tagged featured, housing, ippr, land value tax, nick clegg and vince cable | 2 Comments

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Recent Comments

Ruth Bright
Mary's first clarification here is really important as this point frightens many (ie losing a home they CURRENTLY live in to pay for someone else's care)...
David Allen
Mary Reid (your first post on this thread): You're right - IF you want to rely on the tender mercies of your local council to part-fund your partner's care home...
Pawel Urbanski
The choice seems clear – either funding care or protecting inheritances. If the first £10bn is scarce, it should go to carers and domiciliary care, not a cap...
Tristan Ward
"Money is not a resource because it has no direct utility and no intrinsic production value." I think this means that I am better off being paid in kind rath...
Mary Reid
@Rif Winfield. Actually Carer's Allowance is not available at all to a large proportion of family carers - those on State Pension. To quote: "If your pension i...