A press release from the Liberal Democrats today announces that ‘Big beasts return to Lib Dem front line as Farron announces election campaign team‘.
I’m not sure whether Jo Swinson, Vince Cable and Ed Davey like being referred to as beasts – what sort might they be?
But here is the full list of the new General Election Campaign Team:
| Leader | Tim Farron |
| President | Baroness Sal Brinton |
| Chancellor | Vince Cable |
| Foreign Affairs | Tom Brake |
| Defence | Baroness Judith Jolly |
| Europe; International Trade | Nick Clegg |
| Europe | Baroness Sarah Ludford |
| Home Affairs | Lord Brian Paddick |
| Health | Norman Lamb |
| Education | Sarah Olney |
| Work and Pensions | Baroness Cathy Bakewell |
| Business | Baroness Susan Kramer |
| Energy and Climate Change | Lynne Featherstone |
| Local Government | Baroness Kath Pinnock |
| Transport | Baroness Jenny Randerson |
| Environment and Rural Affairs | Baroness Kate Parminter |
| International Development | Baroness Shas Sheehan |
| Culture Media and Sport | Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter |
| Equalities | Baroness Lorely Burt |
| Northern Ireland | Baroness Alison Suttie |
| Young People | Daisy Cooper |
| Europe/ALDE Liaison | Catherine Bearder MEP |
| London | Caroline Pidgeon MLA |
| Justice | Lord Jonathan Marks |
| Refugees | Amna Ahmad |
| First Secretary of State | Alistair Carmichael |
| Election Campaign Spokesperson | Ed Davey |
| Election Campaign Spokesperson | Eluned Parrott |
| Election Campaign Spokesperson | Jo Swinson |
| Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats | Mark Williams |
| Cabinet Secretary for Education in Wales | Kirsty Williams AM |
| Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats | Willie Rennie |
| Leader in the House of Lords | Lord Dick Newby |
| Chief Whip in the House of Lords | Ben Stoneham |
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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23 Comments
After todays “Cable” news about supporting Labour this press release is most unfortunate. We seem to be extreemely good at causing ourself major problems. The Conservatives must be laughing all the way to the ballot box.
What is the candidate for Twickenham doing about retracting?
I heard Sarah Olney on Any Questions, last Friday. She cut Nigel Farage down in short order. Very impressive.
@ theakes
stop following “Tweety Bird facing Sylvester the Cat”-like Tory frames about what is happening in the election campaign!
That this kind of thing should happen was always in the cards; The Economist (Print edition) talked about such manoeuvres (and the “Progressive Coalition”-option) two or three weeks ago.
If you win with around 40% and the start whining about what parties scoring 27 and 18% do, you have NOT got a thick skin (what about the bluster of May and her team being hardnosed and tough nuts?).
And remember, in 1997 just such a coalitition between Blair and Ashdown helped British politics as a whole get rid of corrupt and loudmouth Tories like the Hamiltons! Good riddance that was!
I agree that Corbyns political character makes formal deals like in 1997 unwise ( and he would not be seen dead with us, he admires dictator Chavez and Mélenchon too much) ; but being pragmatic in your constituency should not be dismissed…
Big Beasts, Heavyweights, or both? In any case, it’s an impressive list. It’s a shame Danny Alexander is not included. Now that he has a senior banking job, is he completely out of politics?
@theakes: I agree that Vince Cable’s reported comments are a worry. It should surely be inconceivable to back someone on Corbyn’s front bench however like-minded they may appear to be. And is there really no chance of the Lib Dems performing well in Ealing, given they did so in 2010?
Bernard Aris – I agree, I’m currently in SE Asia and following the GE campaign on LDV and the Beeb News website, and VC’s comments merited only a tiny mention. What he said seems quite pragmatic to me and does not contradict Tim’s firm assertion that there will be no formal alliances between parties. The Tories and their press friends will make a fuss about anything they can, warranted or not, and this election will not be suitable for those of a nervous disposition.
21 women and only 13 men. Not very balanced
…….oh, and Vive la France by the way!!
How very strange – a General Election Campaign Team with no campaigners.
Not so strange, Bill. It was ever thus.
True, Martin : Whigs and Radicals
Kath Pinnock is a campaigner. Some others too. But I don’t understand the purpose of this list, I must say.
Tony,
For those less familiar with who’s who in the party hierarchy the list does shed light on where influence lies and perhaps why David Ward was summarily dismissed as Bradford East candidate at the behest of Eric Pickles.
Only in febrile pb.com Tory land do Vince’s comments get analysed to death and beyond. And in any case a bit of pragmatism from Vince is fine with me.
Now, are we going to stand down and support the GP in SW Surrey. It’s a big call because we would otherwise be the opposition, but if she would be prepared to liaise with our whips I would say yes.
I saw some people try to get excited on social media about what Vince said, but most of the reaction seemed to be along the lines of “seems reasonable to me” and that the top secret plotting was in fact a public meeting! I’m sure Tory HQ will hope that it will upset people, but most of the outrage is put on by people who would never vote for us.
As firm proponents of electoral reform, we know the current system is broken, and our supporters used to compromising.
@John. If I had my way, we’d stand down for the GP against Hunt. Hunt’s seat should be safe, and he had well over 50% of the vote last time, but the attention of a single independent opponent could shift the balance, or at the very least have him sweating and keep the Tory’s very poor record on health under scrutiny.
What Bill – not a single one of them?
Is there such a thing as a ‘Little Beast’?? 8=o
Last Thursday, I turned up at my polling-station and discovered, to my great annoyance, that there was no Liberal Democrat candidate. I had two choices: spoil my paper or vote Labour. So I voted Labour knowing that the sitting Labour County councillor had defeated a Tory by a narrow margin four years previously. Does that make me a bad Liberal Democrat or a good citizen? If more had done the same, perhaps that Labour man would have held his seat. Labour, even hard Labour, is preferable to the the Tory Mammonite megalomania that is on offer at this election.
@ Sesewnco
1) Walk to your bookshelves,
2) look up the part where you store LibDem stuff,
3) take out a Liberator Songbook from any edition (from the Conferenes’ Glee Club) and
4) look up the song “Losing Deposits”..
At least now you live in a time that you get informed to which party or grouping a candidate belongs…
😉
@ Bill le Breton
‘General Election Campaign Team with no campaigners.’
I’m a bit limited as LibDem members go, but I’ve actually been campaigning with Sarah Ludford, Brian Paddick, Susan Kramer, Shas Sheehan and Caroline Pidgeon.
I don’t think you can find many leading LibDems without a lot of campaigning experience,
@Sesenco
A good citizen. People who get elected are often left with a choice of ‘least worst option’ in the decisions they make. The ordinary voter, who only has make such a decision once a year or so, often has the choice of voting for the one he/she likes best or to keep out the one liked least.
Of course, with a preferential voting system, such as STV or AV, the voter can do both.
Apropos Vince Cable’s comment, there is a world of difference between parties making arrangements or suggesting coalitions on one hand (definitely ruled out by the Lib Dems) and on the other hand individual voters deciding to vote tactically in specific constituencies. Is it not a part of many of our own local campaigns to ask voters to recognise that their first choice has no chance of victory and they should therefore support us? This sort of decision is an inevitable consequence of our ridiculous first past the post voting system. The sooner it is reformed the better.
Ian, yes, but where have we won, that is to say, gained and not squandered in London since 1997? [Sarah O does look a natural, however]
Jones the vote for Tope, Williams, Tope himself, Razzall, Chegwyn for Simon, a person for many more who if I name I’ll be modded, oh and another from Kingston who’ll get me blocked, and Davey before he joined the cabinet and Hitchens what a collosal feat winning Islington was … Islington. These were the campaigners who got scores of people elected. Placed Liberalism and Liberal Democracy in control against all the odds.
And that’s only London.
They’d run a fearsome war-room that lot. And Crosby & Co and Milne couldn’t live with them.
There are probably one or three decent campaigners working in the engine room and having to doff their hat and pull their forelock – but none of them allowed a hand on the tiller of strategy.
We’ve under-performed and gone backwards since 2008.
That is not a co-incidence?
*Reads title*
*Double takes title*
Lol…