Category Archives: General Election

Stephen Tall

Place your guesses now – the LDV General Election prediction competition

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th May 2010 - 6:15 pm

With just over 12 hours until polls open, it’s time to launch the LDV election prediction competition to our readers: enough of the speculating it’s time to pin your colours to the mast. What do you think will happen in the 2010 general election on 6th May?

All you have to do to be crowned LDV’s 2010 soothsayer is give your answers to the following four questions:

    1. What will be the shares of the popular UK vote recorded by the three main parties in the general election?

    2. How many Lib Dem MPs will be elected?

    3. Who will be Prime Minister at

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Stephen Tall

The 2010 Election: politicians and voters united in deferring the reality of savage cuts

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th May 2010 - 4:15 pm

Cross-posted from the International Business Times:

If I were one of the legions of undecided waverers up and down the country still making up my mind who to vote for I would feel just a little cheated by this election campaign.

For almost four weeks the politicians from all three major parties have argued and debated and discussed, but still none has answered the fundamental question: how is the UK going to cut the deficit over the course of the next parliament?

For sure, all have talked a good game. Lib Dems, Labour and Tories have all declared that their …

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Stephen Tall

Where’s the British Jon Stewart?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th May 2010 - 3:45 pm

I don’t think even our most politically obsessed reader would be able to complain about the quantity of election coverage over the past month. Quality’s another issue, of course – and yes I am looking at you BBC1’s This Week, with your ridiculous Abbott and Portillo pantomime.

But there is one area where this election has found TV severely lacking: intelligent political comedy.

True, there’s Have I Got News For You, still (amazingly) fresh and funny after 21 years on screen. But such has been the pace of this election campaign, that its weekly appearances have nearly always been playing …

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NewsHound

LibLink: Jonathan Freedland – Trust me, I’m Nick Clegg: How the also-ran stole the show

By NewsHound | Wed 5th May 2010 - 2:10 pm

There’s a fascinating on-the-campaign-trail profile of Nick Clegg by Jonathan Freedland in today’s Guardian highlighting quite how extraordinary has been the Lib Dem leader’s breakthrough in the 2010 general election, completely outshining both Gordon Brown and David Cameron:

In little over three short weeks, Clegg has gone from a face barely recognised outside the Westminster village to a phenomenon. Where once his party had to beg for attention, he now has to fend off questions not just from a British press pack at last treating the Lib Dems with respect, but from CNN and a clutch of other foreign reporters, who

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Nick Clegg MP

Nick Clegg writes … It may be just a small cross on the ballot paper but it is a big opportunity

By Nick Clegg MP | Wed 5th May 2010 - 11:20 am

The ballot boxes are being put in place, the polling stations are being prepared, and voting starts in less than 24 hours. But this election is still wide open. We have before us the most incredible opportunity to transform our country for the better and to put fairness back into our society.

So in these last few hours, let me say to everyone who has felt that sense of excitement in the last few weeks at the idea that real change might be possible: we have to turn excitement into votes. Change is coming, but only if you choose it.

Change has …

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Stephen Tall

Labour split on tactical voting advice to supporters

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th May 2010 - 10:25 am

Labour embarked on an odd campaigning trick yesterday. Two of Labour’s most senior (and tribally partisan) figures – Ed Balls and Peter Hain – called publicly on Labour voters to lend their support to the Lib Dems in those seats where the choice is Lib Dem or Tory. It’s inconceible that Ed Balls in particular would do so without the explicit consent of Gordon Brown.

In public Gordon Brown makes the case for a “maximum Labour vote” – how could he do otherwise as party leader? Yet the mixed signals will have given their cue to many Labour …

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The Voice

Nick Clegg’s personal message to Lib Dems: “We are rewriting the election script”

By The Voice | Wed 5th May 2010 - 9:45 am

I’ve just finished a great day campaigning in Liverpool, Glasgow and London. Everywhere I go, and especially in our key seats, it is obvious our support is growing by the day.

Volunteers are walking in off the streets to offer to deliver leaflets, knock on doors and make phone calls – doing their bit to make change happen.

Experienced campaigners across the country are telling me this is an election like never before for our party. The old rules have been torn up and we are rewriting the election script.

Everybody

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Stephen Tall

Pollwatch Day 29 #GE2010 – Lib Dems at 24-28% in today’s polls

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th May 2010 - 11:45 pm

Three polls published tonight:

    ComRes for Indy/ITV … CON 37%(nc), LAB 29%(nc), LIB DEM 26%(nc)
    YouGov in the Sun … CON 35%(nc), LAB 30%(+2), LIB DEM 24%(-4)
    Harris in Metro … CON 36%(+4), LAB 26%(+1), LIB DEM 28%(-2)

What to make of those? The YouGov poll is the least good news for the Lib Dems, showing a sharp 4% drop in support. It’s hard to see anything that’s happened in the last 24 hours triggering such a sudden dip, so this may turn out to be an outlier caused perhaps by the difficulties of polling over a bank holiday weekend. Of course, it may …

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Mark Pack

Former Blair speechwriter says “Vote Lib Dem”

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 9:20 pm

Another interesting straw in the wind is the column in today’s Evening Standard from Andrew Neather, speechwriter to Tony Blair 2001-2. It ends:

PR is what we need, for future elections not to render results as illogical as 1983, 2005, or, I fear, this Thursday. Nick Clegg is right: only such thoroughgoing reform will break up the cosy Labour-Conservative duopoly of power. And if you doubt that deep down it’s cosy, check out those expenses receipts.

The system is rigged. There is only one real option for voters who want to change it – and as a lifelong Labour and Green voter,

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Stephen Tall

Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q1, 2010). Make today the day you donate.

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th May 2010 - 8:15 pm

The Electoral Commission has today published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised just over £1.9 million in the first three months of this year. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.

By comparison, the party raised £3.7m in the first quarter of 2005 (leading up to that year’s general election) – but that did of course include that £2.4m donation from Michael Brown. If we exclude that one-off donation, which had to be spent immediately under the terms of the gift agreement, the Lib Dems have raised considerably more this time around.

Our figures are of course dwarfed by the Tories and Labour fundraising among their friends in big business and the trade unions. Labour has raised £3.6m during this election campaign alone, the Tories a further £4.43m. The Lib Dems: £200k. And yet our party is level-pegging with Labour in the polls, and just a notch or two behind the Tories. You want to know which party genuinely understands the concept of value-for-money? Go figure.

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Stephen Tall

Stephen Fry urges a vote for Lib Dem MP Evan Harris

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th May 2010 - 6:35 pm

Stephen Fry, once a staunch Labour supporter, has already dropped hints during this election campaign that he’s thinking of voting Lib Dem … After the rightwing press’s desperate smear tirade at the height of ‘Cleggmania’ he declared “Frankly I’m tempted to vote Lib Dem now. If we let the Telegraph and Mail win, well, freedom and Britain die.”

Well, Mr Fry didn’t quite make it onto the Lib Dems’ list of celebrity endorsements announced yesterday, but he has thrown his weight fully behind one Lib Dem, Oxford West and Abingdon’s Dr Evan Harris. Neil Fawcett’s Liberal Dose blog quotes …

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The Voice

Nick launches “My personal guarantee”

By The Voice | Tue 4th May 2010 - 5:51 pm

Nick Clegg has just launched ‘My Personal Guarantee’, a pledge that will run in leaflets and newspaper advertisements ahead of polling day. Here’s what it says:

This is my personal guarantee that I will use all the support you give me on Thursday to deliver fairness in Britain.

“We need a fairer tax system. I will use your votes to cut taxes for those at the bottom and in the middle and close the loopholes for those at the top.

“We need to support our children. I will use your votes to ensure

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NewsHound

LibLink: Vince Cable – The Gaffe: it’s a spectre that haunts us all

By NewsHound | Tue 4th May 2010 - 2:05 pm

Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable takes a look at the hard reality of being a politician during a gruelling election campaign. Here’s an excerpt:

Mostly elections are a punishing schedule of interviews, meetings, encounters with voters and lots of travel. I am often asked if I enjoy it. It seems ungracious to say no but enjoy is not the word I would choose. Perhaps there is a parallel with extreme sports, the same combination of adrenaline and the knowledge that disaster is potentially just seconds away.

Vince then gives us an insight into his last …

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The Voice

Paddy & Nick slam retired defence chiefs’ Lib Dem slurs

By The Voice | Tue 4th May 2010 - 1:45 pm

Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown united today in condemning three retired members of the defence establishment who have a letter published in today’s Times attempting to frighten voters away from voting Lib Dem with crude warnings what perils await Britain if the party gains power.

The letter has just three signatories: Peter Clarke, Sir Richard Dearlove, and Lord Guthrie. Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown issued a masterly put-down of the trio in the Times:

Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, the former Lib Dem leader who helped to draw up the party’s defence and national security policies, responded to today’s letter, saying:

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Stephen Tall

Would Ed Balls vote for the Lib Dems’ Norman Lamb?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th May 2010 - 7:45 am

That seems to be the implication of Labour’s education secretary’s interview in the New Statesman, where he says:

For Balls, defeating the Tories is the top priority. Given this, what is his advice to Lib Dem supporters in the 100 or so Tory-Labour marginals? “I urge Lib Dem voters to bite their lip and back us.” But what about Labour supporters in Tory-Lib Dem marginals? “I always want the Labour candidate to win, but I recognise there’s an issue in places like North Norfolk, where my family live, where Norman Lamb is fighting the Tories, who are in second

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Stephen Tall

Pollwatch Day 28 #GE2010 – Lib Dems at 26-28% in today’s polls

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 10:05 pm

Thre polls published tonight:

    YouGov in the Sun … CON 35%(+1) LAB 28% (nc) LIB DEM 28% (-1)
    Opinium in the Express … CON 33%(-1), LAB 28%(+3), LIB DEM 27%(-1)
    ComRes for the Indy/ITV … CON 37%(-1), LAB 29%(+1), LIB DEM 26%(+1)

And one other poll by a non-BPC polling companies, with figures as follows:

    RNB Research … CON 37%, LAB 28%, LIB DEM 26%

Anthony Wells’ UK Polling Report ‘poll of polls’ shows:

    CON 35%, LAB 27%, LIB DEM 28%

With the Tories just 7-8% ahead of the Lib Dems and Labour, David Cameron will be pinning his hopes on his party out-performing their rivals …

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Stephen Tall

Today’s Lib Dem Flashmobs – a planned, spontaneous, orderly uprising. All very liberal.

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 7:55 pm

LDV reported on Saturday that the independent Lib Dem Facebook fan group LibDem2010.com – now numbering well over 163,000 members – had hit upon the idea of organising ‘Flashmobs’ up and down the country to demonstrate the support for Nick Clegg’s party.

Well, here’s the result from Trafalgar Square, where scores of Cleggites actually followed through with the idea to spontaneously chant “I agree with Nick”.

LibDem2010.com’s creator Ben Stockman posted the following message of thanks to those supporters who made it happen:

Ben Stockman … personally thanks all of the people that rocked up to Trafalgar Square earlier to make our flashmob such a success, and an even bigger thanks to all those people who then went to various local constituencies to campaign on behalf of their local candidates. x

To get a flavour of what actually transpired in Trafalgar Square today, enjoy the following Flashmob video:

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Mark Pack

Weirdest comment by a mainstream politician so far

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 6:16 pm

The prize surely goes to Richard Ali, Conservative candidate for Burnley:

I’ve got balls and I know how to use them.

The comment was made at a local student hustings.

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Mark Pack

Liberal Democrats unveil high-profile supporters

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 1:20 pm

The degree to which celebrity endorses for a political party really help is often debated. There is the occasional figure who, through their popularity and respect in which they are held, almost certainly does have an impact on people. More generally, it’s the overall pattern which helps show which way the political winds are blowing.

On both scores, it’s good to see the latest set of high-profile people who have come out as voting Liberal Democrat this time:

Floella Benjamin – presenter and children’s rights campaigner: “I am supporting the Liberal Democrats because one of their key pledges is to give all

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Stephen Tall

3 to see: Lib Dem #GE2010 campaign coverage (3/5/10)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 11:00 am

Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign’s going? Here are today’s must-reads …

Clegg’s journey to the promised land (The Independent)
A profile of Nick Clegg’s campaign:

… when he arrives at Oxford Brookes University the hundreds of students packing the hall greet him, if not like a rock idol, with an excitement seldom, if ever, generated by a British politician in these times. The journalists squeezed into the front of the bus include two senior German correspondents urged by their offices to explain the Clegg phenomenon. … It is as if Clegg realises, at least subconsciously,

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Mark Pack

Clegg makes bold pitch for northern working class

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 10:50 am

So reports The Times:

Nick Clegg mounted his most sustained assault on the Labour heartlands yesterday with a journey from Burnley to Redcar in which he pitched the Liberal Democrats as the party of the northern working class.

It was a bold thrust from a Westminster School old boy at the head of a party that has thrived in more prosperous parts, and he seemed to recognise the scale of the task as he made his appeal in a church in Burnley. “I understand that for some people it feels like almost a betrayal not to vote Labour but to start investing

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Stephen Tall

Pollwatch Day 27 #GE2010 – Lib Dems at 28/29% in today’s polls, as Tory support slips

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd May 2010 - 11:20 pm

Two polls published tonight:

    YouGov in the Sun … CON 34%(-1) LAB 28% (+1) LIB DEM 29% (+1)
    ICM in the Guardian … CON 33%(-3), LAB 28%(-1), LIB DEM 28%(+1)

So, after the excitement of today’s rightwing press salivating at the inevitable Tory election victory to come, we’re back to where we were at the end of last week … the Tories at c.33%, and Lib Dems and Labour tussling it out for second place on 28-29%, firmly back in hung parliament territory.

Of course, these results may be quirks, and none of us knows how far to trust polls published over the …

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Stephen Tall

Tory tax priorities: spend £6 billion on the wealthiest 0.8% in the UK

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd May 2010 - 5:20 pm

Small wonder that Tory leader David Cameron publicly rowed back on his inheritaance tax cut for millionaires in last week’s televised debate – Lib Dem research released today shows the Tories’ promise would:

  • cost £6bn over the course of the next Parliament;
  • is aimed at the wealthiest 0.8% of estates in the UK; and
  • would benefit 3,000 of the wealthiest estates in the country every year by almost £250,000

As Vince Cable points out:

At a time when the gap between the richest and poorest is so great, it beggars belief that David Cameron wants to give the

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The Voice

“A once in a generation chance for real change”

By The Voice | Sun 2nd May 2010 - 4:25 pm

That’s the message from Nick Clegg to voters in an interview in today’s Independent on Sunday:

Nick Clegg makes a final appeal to voters today to seize the “once-in-a-generation chance” for real change to Britain’s unbalanced voting system by backing the Liberal Democrats on Thursday. … Mr Clegg, trying to cast the final week of campaigning as a two-horse race between his party and the Tories, claims that Gordon Brown has “written himself out of the script of change” and that the Labour Party is in a fight for its very existence. …

In a direct pitch to voters, he

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Mark Pack

Don’t wake up on May 7th and say ‘I wish I’d done more’

By Mark Pack | Sun 2nd May 2010 - 2:20 pm

So says Chris Huhne:

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Mark Pack

The Observer endorses the Liberal Democrats

By Mark Pack | Sun 2nd May 2010 - 10:11 am

Following on from The Guardian‘s endorsement, The Observer becomes the second newspaper to back the LibDems:

The vital context for this election is the twin crises in our economy and our politics. On both issues most credit accrues to the Liberal Democrats. Their Treasury spokesman Vince Cable was prescient in warning of an unsustainable debt bubble; Nick Clegg pushed for greater openness about expenses long before the scandal erupted.

The Lib Dems have in recent years developed a habit of getting things right. They were first of the big three to embrace environmentalism, first to kick back against the assault on civil

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Stephen Tall

Clegg in the (Lib Dem-supporting) Guardian: “We have taken Labour’s place in UK politics”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 1st May 2010 - 7:20 pm

Today’s Guardian carries an in-depth interview with Nick Clegg (it’s labelled ‘Exclusive’, which seems a rather optimistic boast during an election campaign when the Lib Dem leader gives interviews every day).

Much of what he says will be familiar to readers of his pamphlet, The Liberal Moment, in which Nick made clear that the Tories are our opponents, Labour our rivals. But it may come as a pleasurable surprise for those progressive voters still wavering between Labour and the Lib Dems.

Here are some of Clegg’s quotes:

On the Tories:

What is striking is despite all the blather from Cameron

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Terry Gilbert

Opinion: Yes we can!

By Terry Gilbert | Sat 1st May 2010 - 5:55 pm

Abolition of the unelected House of Lords?

No more has-been Ministers and Bishops in Parliament without YOUR say so?

A truly fair voting system, where you get to choose between several candidates from each party?

Where you can put them in order (with the BNP last!).

A Government which takes the environmental crisis far more seriously than we have seen so far?

A Government which will get rid of Trident?

A Government whose respect for education is ‘bred in the bone’?

All this is possible NEXT WEEK!

If … just one in three current Labour supporters switch to the Liberal Democrats.

Now 1 in 3 is a lot. Maybe …

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The Voice

Why I am voting Lib Dem after 52 years supporting Labour

By The Voice | Sat 1st May 2010 - 3:40 pm

Today the Voice received the following email from a voter in Bristol, which we want to share with our readers:

I have always voted Labour (for 52 years), not blindly but considering the situation carefully over the years. But this time, I am voting Lib Dem, because they are a breath of fresh air compared to the others.

My local contact has been refreshing, both in the literature coming through my letterbox and in the media. There is an elememt of positiveness and hope in the message of the Lib Dems, yes times will be hard. But I do not

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The Voice

Clegg wins the ‘Mumsnet vote’

By The Voice | Sat 1st May 2010 - 1:20 pm

Back in January, Nick Clegg took part in an online chat with the readers of Mumsnet. It seems to have paid off, according to today’s Times:

The Liberal Democrats have won the Mumsnet vote, according to a poll for the parenthood website.

Nick Clegg was supported by 43 per cent of members of the network, compared with 26 per cent supporting Gordon Brown and 22 per cent David Cameron. Five per cent did not know whom to support.

The poll of 1,000 Mumsnet users — who have been wooed assiduously during the general election campiagn — found that 40 per cent

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