Well, y’know, I’m personally convinced that Michael Martin must have been finally convinced to quit when he saw the overwhelming result of LDV’s over-night poll showing 85% of readers thought he should quit now. So much more likely than that the Prime Minister instructed him to resign voluntarily.
Here, for the record,is what you said in response to the question, “Do you think the Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin should resign over his handling of the MPs’ expenses row?”
>> 85% (137 votes) – The Speaker should resign now – reform cannot wait until the general election.
>> 9% (15) – The Speaker should announce now he will resign at the next election – his forced resignation now would set a dangerous precedent.
>> 4% (7) – The Speaker should not feel obliged to resign – he is being made a scapegoat for the failings of individual MPs.
>> 1% (2) – Don’t know / Other
Total Votes: 161. Poll ran: 17th-18th May 2009
Kudos to Tory MP Douglas Carswell for having the courage to start the early day motion which triggered the Speaker’s downfall; also to Nick Clegg for taking the risk of using his position as leader of the third largest party to call for the Speaker’s head. There were potential pitfalls for both in doing what they did, but they will feel justified by the events of today.
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4 Comments
What is this nonsense Carswell and other people have started spouting about having open primaries for the selection of parliamentary candidates? It’s a ridiculous idea and totally unworkable.
Do they seriously expect the public to go out and vote in six-odd primary elections in their constituency before the actual election? Instead of changing to a workable and fair voting system, they’re proposing to make it even more complicated but with all the unfairness of the existing system.
Could it be an effort to stave off calls for STV/PR? Or is it just ignorance?
And what is this country’s obsession with copying everything the Americans do?
“What is this nonsense Carswell and other people have started spouting…”
Ha! Colour me surprised!
“Could it be an effort to stave off calls for STV/PR?”
Yup, predicted exactly this from the Tories this morning on my blog.
So what was the result of the poll on nuclear power? Will there be a post about it?
Yes, there will be – in the next couple of days when MPs’ expenses / the Speaker aren’t dominating everything.