Author Archives: Mark Pack

Benedict Brogan reports that the new Labour General Secretary has quit and won’t be taking up the job after all.

Here’s some of the benchmarks the media set for the Liberal Democrats:

Financial Times: any gains would be “good performance”
Daily Telegraph: loses of  less than 50 would make for a “good night”
Daily Mail: loses of less than 50 would make for a “good day”

… whilst the average prediction from readers of this site was for 34 loses.

And the results? With around two-thirds in, the party is on a net gain of 8.

Er, it’s not exactly good is it? Having a graph that has 25% lower than 23% isn’t the most helpful of graphs. I’m not sure that “American” accent was a great idea either. But really … compared with the results available from numerous places on the internet, was the BBC coverage up to the standards you would expect of an organisation with so many resources to deploy to cover an event?

Liberal Democrats are seen as the best on climate change, most united and least sleazy.

The poll also asked whether various politicians are an asset or liability for their party. The public’s verdict:

Cameron +44
Clegg +16
Brown -10

On two key personal ratings, Nick Clegg scored best:

Too concerned with public relations and spin?
Cameron 57%
Brown 52%
Clegg 33%

Arrogant?
Brown 52%
Cameron 46%
Clegg 22%

The local newspaper reports:

‘Mayor-Elect’, Councillor Robin Parker, will be investigated after trying to use his influence as a Councillor to get Jean Ashworth sacked from her job at Rochdale Infirmary. The complaint to the Standards Board related to a series of emails that Councillor Parker sent to health bosses demanding that Councillor Ashworth be disciplined.

For more on this story, see my previous posting.

Interesting information to be found if you read the latest proxy votes list for Thursday’s Winchester Council elections. Since the news broke that a Conservative activist in Whiteley ward, John Hall, has been charged by the police with false registration information, false proxy voting application and making a false instrument, the council has issued the final list of proxy votes for Thursday’s elections.

Comparing this list with the previous list shows that six proxy votes in the Whiteley ward are no more. Of the six, two had John Hall down as the person to cast their vote. Another two had his …

I blogged yesterday about a couple of serious holes in the argument in John Rentoul’s piece for The Independent, in which he argued that the party’s fortunes had not increased under Nick Clegg’s leadership. Ironic really then that the newspaper carrying an opinion poll tomorrow showing the Liberal Democrats up three points to their highest rating with that pollster for a year should be … The Independent. Ho hum.

Nick Clegg used a speech to the 4Children conference today to attack Labour’s record on childcare and early years education:

The sad truth is that, in Britain today, opportunity is in short supply for too many children.

A child’s chances in life are more determined by his parents’ income than anywhere else in the developed world. Social mobility is grinding to a halt. Inequality is rising…

It is absolutely vital that our approach is not prescriptive. Because every family is different.
And it is clear that when services are designed to make life easy for government, or local councils, instead of families, far too many people fall through the gaps.

Ed Davey thinks not.

This time it’s Hampshire where the police are taking a close interest in the election tactics of Conservative Party members:

POLICE have charged a political activist with attempting to rig one of Thursday’s local elections.

John Hall, who has been campaigning for the Conservatives in Whiteley, is accused of applying for a proxy vote without the person’s permission.

The fiercely-contested Winchester City Council ward was won by the Tories at the last election by tightest of margins, beating the Liberal Democrats by just 19 votes…

Hall has been charged with false registration information, false proxy voting application and making a false instrument.

UPDATE: Liz …

More news on the Swansea nominations paper story – the police have made an arrest:

TORY ARRESTED IN FRAUD ROW
The man at the centre of an election fraud row has been arrested.Tory Norman Whitlock has been accused of forging signatures on the nomination forms of Uplands Conservative candidate Simon Bright.

Following yesterday’s double reports of Conservatives in trouble with the police (in Slough and Swansea) today brings news of a third legal incident involving the Conservative Party. This time, it’s Sutton. (What is it about places starting with an S?)

The time: Wednesday 16 April, approximately 3pm
The place: near a front door in the London Borough of Sutton

An aggrieved resident takes up the story:

“I was watering plants in the space near our front door when I heard the sound of the letterbox flap. I looked round to see a hand take out the Sutton Gazette … I waited …

Norman Whitlock, the Conservative candidate in Swansea facing allegations of forged signatures on nomination paperwork, has now quit the party.

The background: earlier this year a special election court ruled that Eshaq Khan and his supporters carried out “corrupt and illegal practices” to secure his election as a Conservative councillor in Slough. Subsequently, five people were charged by the police with electoral fraud offences, including both Eshaq Khan and the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Mohammed Aziz.

And now … after dawn raids, four more people have been arrested by the police on suspicions of perjury and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

News reaches me that the police are now investigating allegations of forged signatures on a Conservative candidate’s nomination papers in Swansea.

At issue is the nomination paper collected by Norman Whitlock, one of the four Conservative candidates in Uplands ward. Local Liberal Democrats called for an investigation after several residents said that their were down as signatures on a nomination paper, but had not actually signed it. The residents then lodged statements with the council, who have now called in the police.

(Corrected as per Peter Black’s comment below – thanks Peter.)

Brian Hendley is the Labour candidate in Davenport and Cale Green ward, Stockport Council. Given his background, this raises some questions as to what standards we expect of councillors and would-be councillors:

“Striking Dr Hendley off the medical register on Friday, committee chairman Professor Kenneth Hobbs said: ‘The consequences of your failings were that the lives of patients under your care were put at risk. The nature of the findings against you, both on this occasion and on your previous appearance before the committee, are extremely serious. It would not be safe to allow you to continue in medical practice.'” (BBC, …

Huge project, budget goes horribly wrong. Not much of a surprise there given the track-record of many large projects in Britain, but I do love some of the details as to how the budgets for the 2012 London Olympics went wrong:

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) were criticised for omitting security, tax and contingency costs.

Security? It’s not as if you ever hear the Home Secretary worrying about security. Tax? Never heard of anyone having to pay such a thing. Contingency? Nothing ever goes wrong you know.