Author Archives: Paul Walter

Full results from last night’s by-elections

By Paul Walter | Fri 24th January 2020 - 11:30 am

There were four seats up for grabs in Brent, two of them in one ward – Barnhill.

Well done to all our candidates, Anton Georgiou, Jyotshna Patel, Michael Brooke and Larry Ngan and their teams who worked so hard in the run-up to yesterday.

Here are the results from the Brent Council website:

Posted in News | 6 Comments

Greenpeace climate change petition – shouldn’t we be doing this sort of thing rather than still having “STOP BREXIT” on our home page?

By Paul Walter | Wed 22nd January 2020 - 10:55 am

The home page of the Liberal Democrat website, 10:55 22nd January 2020
This week, Greenpeace UK have collected almost 600,000 signatures for their petition to the government to act now on Climate Change.

The text of the petition gives a succinct list of initiatives which the government should be embarking on now to minimise the climate emergency:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged climate change, featured and greenpeace | 16 Comments

Good luck to our candidates and teams in by-elections tomorrow!

By Paul Walter | Wed 22nd January 2020 - 9:30 am

Amazing to welcome @LibDems leader @EdwardJDavey to Alperton today to launch my campaign to be the next councillor for this area. It’s time to end Labour neglect in Brent. Alperton needs a councillor who will work hard for our community and deliver for residents. #Anton4Alperton pic.twitter.com/mZfumqxlsW

— Cllr Anton Georgiou 🔶 (@anton_georgiou) January 4, 2020

There are four seats on Brent Council, London, up for grabs in by-elections tomorrow. These contests have been caused by the resignations of four Labour councillors.

Posted in Council by-elections and Local government | Tagged brent, cornwall and local council by-elections | 1 Comment

Did we spend 2019 expecting a 1980s-style realignment of politics?

By Paul Walter | Tue 21st January 2020 - 9:40 am

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At conference you have all sorts of conversation and all sorts of unusual things happen. I could tell a tale or two but I am reserving them for my (never to be written) memoirs.

In September 2018, excitement in the party was high. One almost needed a brown paper bag handy to breathe into, should things get overly hyperventilatory.

The gist of the excitement was:

We have to be more relevant! There are rich people going round with large truck loads of cash, looking for somewhere to dump it.

We’ve got to be in on the conversations to set up a new centre party, otherwise we will be sidelined and irrelevant.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Change UK and SDP | 21 Comments

Lib Dem peers inflict defeats on government’s Brexit bill

By Paul Walter | Mon 20th January 2020 - 11:13 pm

The Guardian reports:

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has received a setback in the Lords after three amendments to the bill were passed.

In the government’s first parliamentary defeat since the general election, peers voted for EU citizens to have the right to be given official documentation if they lawfully reside in the UK after Brexit.

They backed a cross-party amendment to the withdrawal agreement bill allowing for physical proof of status.

Posted in News | Tagged eu withdrawal bill and house of lords | 10 Comments

Javid is cutting the UK’s nose off to spite our faces

By Paul Walter | Mon 20th January 2020 - 1:00 pm

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Last week, the Chancellor Sajid Javid sat down in the Pickles sandwich bar, Westminster, for an interview with the Financial Times. You can read the interview in full here, but you may have to subscribe or join the FT’s trial membership scheme.

In it, he talked tough about the UK post-Brexit trading scenario. Hopefully, this is pre-negotiation chatter, but what he said was alarming nonetheless:

There will not be alignment, we will not be a ruletaker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union — and we will do this by the end of the year.

He said there would be no Treasury support for the big manufacturing sectors to adjust to the new trade rules. Rather peevishly he added that they had had since 2016 to prepare for the new scenario. Of course, they have not known what the Sam Hill they were needing to prepare for during those three years.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged sajid javid and trade negotiations with EU | 34 Comments

LibDems failed to shift enough Tory remainers – Electoral Calculus on 2017->2019 voter migration

By Paul Walter | Sun 19th January 2020 - 11:25 am

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Martin Baxter’s Electoral Calculus website has an excellent Infographic on Voter migration 2017 – 2019. Using human figures (voters) to represent one percentage point of the voters, he not only shows where 2017 voters and non-voters went in 2019, he also graphically shows 2016 EU referendum preferences.

His conclusion on the LibDems is interesting:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2019 general election | 37 Comments

Kicked into the long grass – the Lib Dem leadership election

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 8:30 pm

18.6 Should the post of Leader become vacant before the election of a new Leader, the Acting Leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons and the President of the Party shall jointly assume the responsibilities of Leader of the Party until the new Leader is elected.
Federal Liberal Democrat Constitution

This afternoon, the party announced the timetable for the election of a new leader of the party. This was agreed at the first meeting of the Federal Board chaired by our new President and current co-leader of the party, Mark Pack.

Nominations will open on May 11th, which is the Monday after the elections on May 7th. Nominations will close on May 28th with ballots opening on June 18th and closing on July 15th, after which the new leader will be announced.

I’m not privy to the Federal Board discussions but it does not take a mind-reader to, at least, pick out some of the themes behind this decision.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured and leadership election 2020 | 19 Comments

Should we be prouder and more vocal about our membership of the Council of Europe?

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 4:00 pm

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Should we celebrate Europe Day every May 5th?

An LDV reader, John Probert (who has the rare distinction of being a remaining former councillor on Middlesex County Council) has made a suggestion along these lines.

After January 31st we will still be members of the Council of Europe, who celebrate Europe Day on May 5th (EU members celebrate it on May 9th).

Such a celebration would publicise the fact that we remain members of the Council of Europe, which was first suggested under such a name by Churchill in a wartime broadcast on 21st March 1943.

Its Statute says:

The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged council of europe | 7 Comments

+++Timetable to elect new leader set out

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 2:16 pm

The Liberal Democrats have today agreed the timetable to elect the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.

At a meeting today of the party’s Federal Board in London, the party agreed to open nominations for candidates on the 11th of May and close them on the 28th of May.

The ballot will then open on the 18th of June and close on the 15th of July, after which the party will announce the next leader.

In the meantime, Ed Davey MP and Party President Mark Pack will continue as joint acting leaders of the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking after the meeting, Liberal Democrat Party …

Posted in News | 14 Comments

Annoyance of LibDem MPs over power of “new sexy people” in 2019 election decisions – Five candidates ready for party leadership contest – Timetable today

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th January 2020 - 9:00 am

Ailbhe Rea has written a long article on the Liberal Democrats for the New Statesman.

There are some interesting points about the 2019 election covered, based on reported conversations with our MPs:

Posted in News | Tagged 2019 general election, chuka umunna, Jo Swinson and leadership election 2020 | 40 Comments

Vote share increase for Tara Murray in Bristol

By Paul Walter | Fri 17th January 2020 - 12:36 pm

Well done to Tara Murray and team (above with Ed Davey) for an impressive vote share increase in the Brislington East by-election in Bristol yesterday.

The result was:

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Will we ever move forward if failure is seen to be richly rewarded?

By Paul Walter | Sun 12th January 2020 - 9:44 am

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I worked in the computer industry for my career.

I count myself lucky that I survived in a job that long.

But you have to be careful in industry.

I should imagine if a business manager spread a budget of £20 million over five times the area it should have been spread, with the result of modest failure rather than modest success, then she/he would be consigned to a dusty office with “special projects” written on the door for the rest of their career.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Devil's advocacy and liberal democats | 122 Comments

Rumour: Jo Swinson set to be awarded a peerage

By Paul Walter | Fri 10th January 2020 - 4:55 pm

This fortnight’s edition of Private Eye is proving to be quite a goldmine. I thoroughly recommend buying a copy at your local newsagent or similar outlet.

Posted in News | Tagged featured, honours list, house of lords and Jo Swinson | 48 Comments

“Her disastrous miscalculation” – Sir Nick Harvey’s view on Jo Swinson’s support for December election

By Paul Walter | Fri 10th January 2020 - 9:50 am

Former North Devon MP, Sir Nick Harvey stood down as Liberal Democrat party chief executive shortly before 20th October last year.

In this fortnight’s Private Eye, a letter from Nick is published which severely criticises a decision made by the then party leader, Jo Swinson, soon after he left the role on 28th October.

Posted in News | Tagged 2019 general election, featured, Jo Swinson and sir nick harvey | 99 Comments

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? – the full list

By Paul Walter | Wed 8th January 2020 - 11:20 am

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I suppose that it is very easy to get into the mindset that politics is everything in life. But it turns out that there is life outside of Westminster.

I read the other day that former Labour Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, is training to become a gym instructor.

That started me thinking about what had happened to our vast number of MPs from before the election in 2015.

Stephen Gilbert, former MP for St Austell and Newquay, for example. Whatever happened to him after he posted a “Gone Surfing” post-it note on his Twitter account in 2015? Well, it turns out he’s a teacher.

I then thought I’d better find about some of the others and, before I knew it, I was launching a vast spreadsheet and had started a huge task.

Anyway, here is the result of my researches, in alphabetical order. If you spot any omissions or errors, please let me know in the comments below:

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged 2015 general election and featured | 23 Comments

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? – third and final excerpt

By Paul Walter | Tue 7th January 2020 - 11:00 am

Embed from Getty Images

I suppose that it is very easy to get into the mindset that politics is everything in life. But it turns out that there is life outside of Westminster.

I read the other day that former Labour Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, is training to become a gym instructor.

That started me thinking about what had happened to our vast number of MPs from before the election in 2015.

I then thought I’d better find about some of the others and, before I knew it, I was launching a vast spreadsheet and had started a huge task.

Anyway, here is the third and final part of my researches, from P to W in alphabetical order (Part 1 is available here and part two is here). If you spot any omissions or errors, please let me know in the comments below:

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged 2015 general election | 12 Comments

Alastair Campbell plays his annual bagpipe lament to Charles Kennedy at his graveside

By Paul Walter | Tue 7th January 2020 - 9:30 am

This is quite something. Handkerchieves at the ready. Thank you to @JohnPugh2017 who retweeted this.

Posted in News | Tagged alistair campbell and charles kennedy | 5 Comments

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? (2)

By Paul Walter | Mon 6th January 2020 - 4:30 pm

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I suppose that it is very easy to get into the mindset that politics is everything in life. But it turns out that there is life outside of Westminster.

I read the other day that former Labour Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, is training to become a gym instructor.

That started me thinking about what had happened to our vast number of MPs from before the election in 2015.

I then thought I’d better find about some of the others and, before I knew it, I was launching a vast spreadsheet and had started a huge task.

Anyway, here is the second part of my researches, from H to M in alphabetical order (Part 1 is available here). If you spot any omissions or errors, please let me know in the comments below:

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged 2015 general election | 3 Comments

Music news: Two albums released by former Lib Dem MPs

By Paul Walter | Mon 6th January 2020 - 3:00 pm

During my researches for my “Class of 2015” articles, I have been delighted to find that two of our MPs from the “Class of 2015” have released musical albums.

Norman Baker, who lost his Lewes seat in 2015 and previously recorded with his band “The Reform Club”, has released a solo album called “Staying Blue” which is available widely on Angel Air Records. A couple of the tracks are on YouTube including “Shipping Forecast” (above) which includes a snippet of the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast and these classic lines:

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged greg mulholland and norman baker | 1 Comment

Reminder: there’s still time to get the early bird discount for the York Spring Conference

By Paul Walter | Sun 5th January 2020 - 1:04 pm

This is a gentle reminder that you can still take advantage of the “early bird” discount if you register before January 7th – that’s this coming Tuesday – for the York Spring Conference.

Due to feedback from our esteemed LDV editor, Caron, the deadline was extended especially to allow people sufficient time after the hard work of the election.

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged 2020 York spring conference | Leave a comment

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? (1)

By Paul Walter | Sat 4th January 2020 - 1:32 pm

Embed from Getty Images

I suppose that it is very easy to get into the mindset that politics is everything in life. But it turns out that there is life outside of Westminster.

I read the other day that former Labour Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, is training to become a gym instructor.

That started me thinking about what had happened to our vast number of MPs from before the election in 2015.

I then thought I’d better find about some of the others and, before I knew it, I was launching a vast spreadsheet and had started a huge task.

Anyway, here is the first part of my researches, starting in alphabetical order. If you spot any omissions or errors, please let me know in the comments below:

Posted in Liberal History | Tagged general election 2015 | 15 Comments

2019 was the party’s least efficient General Election campaign

By Paul Walter | Thu 19th December 2019 - 12:45 pm

If the objective of a general election is to win the most Commons’ seats we can (which I assume it is), then 2019 was the least efficient general election in the party’s history.

That is, if you define efficiency as garnering votes in such a geographical way so that we maximise the number of seats we win. The figures are as follows:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2019 general election and featured | 33 Comments

Our party co-leaders want to hear from us

By Paul Walter | Thu 19th December 2019 - 11:15 am

Our current co-leaders, Sal Brinton and Ed Davey, have written to party members asking for their initial thoughts on the general election campaign and results.

They write:

…we know we have a lot of work to do and many lessons to learn.

In the new year, we’ll be conducting a full independent review of this election. This will include a chance for you to give us all of your views on what worked, what didn’t, and what we need to do differently in the future.

But we also want to give you a chance to share your views before the Christmas break.

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged 2019 general election | 29 Comments

We did dreadfully badly amongst lower earners and those without university degrees – poll of 13,000 voters on election day

By Paul Walter | Mon 16th December 2019 - 7:23 pm

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Lord Ashcroft has published the results of a poll his organisation conducted with 13,000 voters on election day.

The output from the 29 questions gives some interesting insights and can be read here, complete with clear graphs and downloadable xls data tables.

A few observations from me. Based on this sample:

It is noticeable that a high proportion of our voters were “AB” in socio-economic terms. 15% of ABs voted for us (two points of the across-the-board total of 12% in this poll). But

…

Posted in News | Tagged 2019 general election | 66 Comments

9am update

By Paul Walter | Fri 13th December 2019 - 10:08 am

This email has come into members’ inboxes from Shaun Roberts, the party’s Director of Campaigns and Elections:

I’m tired, I’m sad and I’m frustrated, (member).

In 6 seats, we were less than a thousand votes away from winning. That is agonising. Some of these campaigns saw increases in vote share of 20-30% – an extraordinary leap forward, achieved by hard work from fantastic teams.

Posted in News | Tagged 2019 general election | 49 Comments

5am update

By Paul Walter | Fri 13th December 2019 - 5:16 am

Party members have just received this email from James Gurling, Chair of the Federal Communications and Elections committee:

…This is not the email I had hoped to be sending you.

We wake this morning to a double blow. A Conservative majority Government, hell bent on pushing Brexit through, and the loss of our Leader, Jo Swinson from Parliament.

Posted in News | 31 Comments

OPEN THREAD: Your thoughts on the election campaign and the results as they come in

By Paul Walter | Thu 12th December 2019 - 10:01 pm

via GIPHY

Bat shit crazy.

Getting up in the dark to deliver “Good Mornings” for two hours before dawn.

This task was leavened by a vague blob in the darkness besides the A4. He was a blob of anoraks, waterproof trousers and ski hats at 7am in front of me as he approached a 4*4 which had arrived to collect him for work:

You must have covered a lot of ground

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured and general election 2019 | 175 Comments

Two earthly halves locked in a downward spiral

By Paul Walter | Wed 11th December 2019 - 2:30 pm

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Jeremy Clarkson recently became a climate change believer when he experienced a dry lake in Cambodia.

I recently experienced something of the bush fire season in Australia. As well as all-pervasive smoke in most of Queensland and New South Wales, ABC Radio news is a constant stream of news on the bush fires – hundreds of them raging all the time. And it is still their spring.

Without trying to rehearse the dangers of climate change, I have one particular fear.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged australia, cambodia, climate change and jeremy clarkson | 20 Comments

Tammy Duckworth and the importance of second chamber reform

By Paul Walter | Wed 11th December 2019 - 9:30 am

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One issue that has not come up during this campaign, but should have, is second chamber reform.

Firstly, may I say that our House of Lords has many, many fine members and does a fantastic job.

But there is a problem. We can’t get rid of it. It fails on the five democratic questions that dear old Tony Benn used to repeat endlessly:

What power have you got?

Where did you get it from?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged tammy duckworth and us senate | 5 Comments

Op-eds

Will the real Green party that cared about people and planet please stand up? (Kobe Bibbon)
We need better conversations on AI and the environment (Josh Matthews)
How to spot a Racist (Ben Rich)
Councils must help music – so music can help their communities flourish (Charlie Clinton & Josh Matthews)
Welcome to the Brexit argument, Prime Minister! (Dr Anthony Harris)

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Vince Cable writes: Drill, baby, drill…or not

Lib Dems must do better on Burnham

Britain should be proud, but never afraid of the stranger

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Author Archives: Paul Walter

Full results from last night’s by-elections

Greenpeace climate change petition – shouldn’t we be doing this sort of thing rather than still having “STOP BREXIT” on our home page?

Good luck to our candidates and teams in by-elections tomorrow!

Did we spend 2019 expecting a 1980s-style realignment of politics?

Lib Dem peers inflict defeats on government’s Brexit bill

Javid is cutting the UK’s nose off to spite our faces

LibDems failed to shift enough Tory remainers – Electoral Calculus on 2017->2019 voter migration

Kicked into the long grass – the Lib Dem leadership election

Should we be prouder and more vocal about our membership of the Council of Europe?

+++Timetable to elect new leader set out

Annoyance of LibDem MPs over power of “new sexy people” in 2019 election decisions – Five candidates ready for party leadership contest – Timetable today

Vote share increase for Tara Murray in Bristol

Will we ever move forward if failure is seen to be richly rewarded?

Rumour: Jo Swinson set to be awarded a peerage

“Her disastrous miscalculation” – Sir Nick Harvey’s view on Jo Swinson’s support for December election

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? – the full list

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? – third and final excerpt

Alastair Campbell plays his annual bagpipe lament to Charles Kennedy at his graveside

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? (2)

Music news: Two albums released by former Lib Dem MPs

Reminder: there’s still time to get the early bird discount for the York Spring Conference

Whatever happened to the class of 2015? (1)

2019 was the party’s least efficient General Election campaign

Our party co-leaders want to hear from us

We did dreadfully badly amongst lower earners and those without university degrees – poll of 13,000 voters on election day

9am update

5am update

OPEN THREAD: Your thoughts on the election campaign and the results as they come in

Two earthly halves locked in a downward spiral

Tammy Duckworth and the importance of second chamber reform

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Vince Cable writes: Drill, baby, drill…or not

Lib Dems must do better on Burnham

Britain should be proud, but never afraid of the stranger

Lib Dem Women: Amplifying women’s voices at Conference

Author Archives: Paul Walter

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