The Voice

Nick Clegg’s message to party members

By The Voice | Mon 10th May 2010 - 10:38 pm

Via email:

Over the past four days we have been working flat out to deliver an agreement that can provide stable government for Britain that can last.

As you know we believed it was right that the Conservative Party, as the party with the most seats and votes, should have the first right to seek to form a government and we entered into discussions with them accordingly.

Our talks with the Conservatives have made progress but so far we have been unable to agree a comprehensive partnership agreement for a full Parliament.

I strongly believe we need a government that lasts so that it …

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Posted in News | 161 Comments
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Opinion: Lib Dems can make government work

By Eoin O'Malley | Mon 10th May 2010 - 8:45 pm

The recent election must have been a major disappointment to the Liberal Democrats – but that doesn’t matter because they have the ‘whip-hand’ in government formation. The party has ‘walk-away value’.

If they don’t like a deal with the Conservatives they have other options (Labour & LibDems, with SDLP and Alliance brings you to 320). The Tories on the other hand don’t really have other palatable options other than a minority administration, which Cameron has already indicated he doesn’t prefer. This makes the Lib Dems (despite their size) much stronger than any other party. This is akin to the position …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | 49 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg makes statement: “We need a government that lasts”

By The Voice | Mon 10th May 2010 - 6:40 pm

Nick Clegg has just issued the following statement:

Over the past four days we have been working flat out to deliver an agreement that can provide stable government that can last.

“The talks with the Conservatives have been very constructive and I am grateful to David Cameron and his team for the effort they have put in. But so far we have been unable to agree a comprehensive partnership agreement for a full Parliament.

“We need a government that lasts which is why we believe, in the light of the state of talks with the Conservative Party, the only responsible thing to do

…

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Posted in News | 91 Comments
Mark Pack

A day to be proud of our party

By Mark Pack | Mon 10th May 2010 - 5:49 pm

Whatever final deal is negotiated, it won’t contain everything Liberal Democrats will want. It will involve some major compromises – and so it should in a democracy, given that we didn’t win a majority or the most seats.

But from what we’ve seen today and over the weekend, Liberal Democrats should be proud of just how well our negotiating team is working on our behalf.

They have a tough job – the issue that many members hold most dear (electoral reform) is also the one that it is hardest to win concessions on from from the Conservatives and is the one on …

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Posted in Op-eds | 78 Comments
The Voice

Gordon Brown to resign, Lib Dems to open formal talks with Labour

By The Voice | Mon 10th May 2010 - 5:35 pm

Gordon Brown has within the past hour announced he will be standing down as leader of the Labour party at their autumn conference – but hopes to remain as Prime Minister of a Lib-Lab coalition alliance until that time:

If it becomes clear that the national interest, which is stable and principled government, can be best served by forming a coalition between the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats, then I believe I should discharge that duty to form that government which would in my view command a majority in the House of Commons in the Queen’s speech and any other

…

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Posted in News | 57 Comments
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Ed Randall

Opinion: The British electorate did not speak with one voice – but we must

By Ed Randall | Mon 10th May 2010 - 4:00 pm

The British electorate has spoken!

On Thursday, and (given the numbers of postal votes cast in the 2010 General Election) for many days before, the British electorate ‘spoke’. But it didn’t speak with one voice.

For decades our electoral system has suppressed dissent and aided those who dismiss fundamental disagreements as ill-considered discontents. First past the post in UK parliamentary elections has been a variant on Henry Ford’s famous maxim – you can have any colour, providing it’s black.

But the British electorate isn’t made up of post box red or royal blue electors. It has been multi-coloured for a long time …

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Posted in Op-eds | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem members think about talking to the Tories: LDV poll results

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th May 2010 - 2:25 pm

Lib Dem Voice has been conducting a survey today of party members registered on our members’ forum asking them for their views of the discussions that have been taking place between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. Here’s what you’ve told us …

  • 89% support Nick Clegg’s decision to let the party with the most votes and most seats try and form a government;
  • 90% support Nick Clegg’s decision to enter into discussions with the Conservative party on that basis;
  • 80% say that significant progress on electoral reform is a deal-breaker;
  • 98% rate Nick Clegg’s performance during the campaign as effective or very effective, with Vince Cable scoring 85%.

Full results below:

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Posted in General Election and LDV Members poll | Tagged | 91 Comments
Mark Pack

How not to woo the Liberal Democrats, lesson no.94

By Mark Pack | Mon 10th May 2010 - 12:27 pm

A Guardian story shows perfectly how badly the Labour Party is approaching the question of trying to persuade Liberal Democrats that a deal should be done with it:

One of the most enthusiastic proponents of electoral reform in the Labour cabinet argued: “The Liberals have got to realise two things. First, the chances of winning a referendum with a Cameron-led government are minimal. Labour will sit on its hands, the media will be against, and so will the Tory party.

“Secondly, the Lib Dems have to realise they cannot have anything more than the alternative vote – if they ask for

…

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Posted in Op-eds | 39 Comments
Mark Pack

Looks like Lord Ashcroft flopped again

By Mark Pack | Mon 10th May 2010 - 12:20 pm

Back in March I doubted how good Lord Ashcroft’s target seat operation for the Conservatives might actually be, pointing out:

Here’s his own account of his record supporting target seats at the 2005 general election:

The national swing from Labour to Conservatives was 3.2 per cent, yet the swing in the seats which we supported was 3.8 per cent.
Dirty Politics, Dirty Times by Michael Ashcroft, p.296

You read that right: by his own admission, all his expertise and money achieved was a paltry o.6 per cent extra swing.

Looks like my doubts were right because, as Anthony Wells points out:

The Conservatives performed

…

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Posted in General Election | Tagged | 3 Comments
Antony Hook

Opinion: The linked vote shares of UKIP and the BNP

By Antony Hook | Mon 10th May 2010 - 11:20 am

The 2010 General Election was a failure for Britain’s two openly xenophobic parties.

UKIP stood in 556 constituencies and lost their deposit in 459 (83%). Their vote share varied between 0.65 and Nigel Farage’s 17.3 in Buckingham where none of the three main parties contested the Speaker’s seat. No other UKIP candidate hit double digits.

The average vote share per UKIP candidate was 3.54.

The BNP stood in 338 constituencies and lost their deposit in 267 (80%). Their vote share varied between 0.4 and Nick Griffin’s 14.6 in Barking. Only two other BNP candidates hit double digits.

Eight out UKIP’s …

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Posted in General Election and Op-eds | Tagged and | 15 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems in 1st or 2nd place in almost 300 seats across UK

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th May 2010 - 10:45 am

One of the least known facts about the last parliament, and which deserved to be more widely publicised, was that the Lib Dems were either in first or second place in 250 constituencies across the UK – which made the media’s tired and almost exclusive concentration on Labour and the Tories for most of the last five years all the more irritating.

Well, for all the disappointment of last Thursday’s election results, the party has by one measure at least made a big stride forward, as Anthony Wells’ UK Polling Report makes clear:

The notional 2005 figures had the Lib Dems

…

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Posted in General Election and News | Tagged | 7 Comments
Simon Read

Opinion: Proportional voting

By Simon Read | Mon 10th May 2010 - 9:20 am

I propose a method of voting in the House of Commons which has the effect of proportional representation without any of the complexity.

There are two possible sacred principles in British democracy:

1) A Member of Parliament has one vote;
2) A party’s voting strength in the house should match its share of the countrywide vote.

Each principle has its adherents. Principle (1) seems to be assumed by everyone but never mentioned.

These principles are in fact contradictory, leading to much complexity, so I propose to abandon principle (1) above, leaving us with principle (2).

The mechanism is simple: take the number of votes cast at …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 38 Comments
Stephen Tall

Balanced Parliament discussions: new LDV members’ survey now live

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th May 2010 - 6:24 am

The new LDV members’ survey is now live – and it focuses, unsurprisingly, on the post-election scenario for the Lib Dems. If you are a registered member of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum – and any paid-up party member is welcome to join – then you now have the opportunity to make your views known on what the party should do next. Questions we are asking your opinion on include:

– whether you agree with Nick Clegg’s decision to allow the Tories’ first refusal to form a government;
– whether you agree with Nick Clegg opening talks with the Tories on …

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Posted in News | 23 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #168

By Stephen Tall | Sun 9th May 2010 - 9:45 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 168th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (2nd – 8th May, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

It’s administrative blunders, not fraud, which should worry us most

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th May 2010 - 9:12 pm

The problems with electoral administration ranged far wider than those which caught the headlines. Perhaps the weirdest came in one polling station in Burnley where the caretaker was getting everyone turning up to vote to sign in and out of the building “for health and safety” reasons.

More seriously, there were queues of people left wanting to vote when the polls closed at 10pm last Thursday in Birmingham, Chester, Hackney, Islington, Leeds, Lewisham, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Weybridge. (If you were a voter caught up in these problems, the Electoral Commission wants to hear from you as part of …

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Posted in Election law, Online politics and Op-eds | Tagged and | 10 Comments
Ryan Cullen

Vote for a Change – a Labour front?

By Ryan Cullen | Sun 9th May 2010 - 9:06 pm

LibDemVoice asked this question back when they ran a “tactical voting” website which asked you to vote Labour in over 50% of the seats in the country, including ones in which we were a good second place behind the Conservatives.

Today they have come out with the great idea of performing a DoS on the Cowley Street phone lines by insisting that everyone should have the right to know exactly how the negotiations for a balanced parliament are going.

That’s right, they want to cripple the reception of Liberal Democrats headquarters. Do they really want to know if PR is …

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Posted in News | 23 Comments
Nigel Roberts

Opinion: Fair votes are in our blood

By Nigel Roberts | Sun 9th May 2010 - 5:50 pm

Dear Nick,

As a Founder Member of the Liberal Democrats who was a member of one of the predecessor parties from 1982 onwards it seems to me that the historic time that we have all been waiting for since that date has arrived.

In your Personal Guarantee you said you would use the votes you would be given in order to deliver among other things, Fair Votes. I was therefore honoured to be able to come back to the UK mainland to help in a very small way this election.

I know Fair Votes are in your blood, like nearly all of us.

But …

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Posted in Op-eds | 49 Comments
Simon Dodd

Opinion: The imperative for any agreement to include electoral reform

By Simon Dodd | Sun 9th May 2010 - 4:50 pm

It is imperative that any agreement with any political parties following the election includes electoral reform. On Thursday, the electorate of this country voted for a hung parliament, showing that there was no clear majority supporting one party. The voice of the electorate needs to be listened too and not ignored.

The Liberal Democrats cannot offer a blank cheque to prop up a Conservative administration.

The Conservatives have offered an inquiry into electoral reform. However, the inquiry was held on Thursday. The election showed the need for electoral reform. It is well known that under the current …

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Posted in Op-eds | 21 Comments
Mark Pack

Hung Parliament talks: what will be proposed to Monday’s meetings?

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th May 2010 - 3:50 pm

The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and the Federal Executive are scheduled to meet again on Monday. If a firm proposal is coming out from the talks today, expect it to be put to them both tomorrow. The big question is what might be proposed…?

Right across the party, both from senior to grassroots levels and from social through to economic liberals, there is very strong feeling that significant movements on electoral reform are a must for any arrangement. Given the country’s current economic woes, there is widespread agreement that PR isn’t the only issue at stake, but – for example – …

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 38 Comments
Stephen Tall

Did Labour lose the battle and win the war?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 9th May 2010 - 3:20 pm

Only one of the three major parties emerged from this election with fewer votes than in 2005 and with a lower share of the vote: the Labour party.

In 2005, Tony Blair polled 9,562,122 (35.3%). In 2010, Gordon Brown polled 8,604,358 (29.0%). By contrast the Lib Dems went up from 5,981,874 (22.1%) to 6,827,938 (23.0%), and the Tories up from 8,772,598 (32.3%) to 10,706,647 (36.1%).

The figures do not lie: the Labour party lost this election.

But (and I’m afraid it’s a big but), they retained second place, some 6% and almost two million votes ahead of the Lib Dems. For …

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Posted in Op-eds | 33 Comments
Alex Foster

Communicate with your members

By Alex Foster | Sun 9th May 2010 - 2:00 pm

Just a very quick note to ask local party officers to make sure they are planning some urgent communication with members.

One of the tangible benefits of Cleggmania was a surge in membership and support across the country, so many local parties now have significantly more members than they did before the election. For many of these people, this will be the first members’ newsletter they receive, so do please design your communication with this in mind.

For those of you who are preparing a newsletter, Lib Dem Voice has a regular newsletter insert. The General Election special is …

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Posted in Site news | 9 Comments
The Voice

Party President Ros Scott’s message to Lib Dem members

By The Voice | Sun 9th May 2010 - 1:52 pm

Lib Dem party president Baroness Ros Scott today emailed members with the following message to keep everyone updated on the progress of talks:

Dear Friend,

On Saturday we had a very positive discussion. The Parliamentary Party, Shadow Cabinet and the Federal Executive have fully endorsed the position set out by Nick Clegg.

We will continue to put the national interest first and play a constructive role in providing the stable and good government people deserve.

We have heard what the Labour Party and Gordon Brown are saying but in line with the position Nick Clegg outlined yesterday we are continuing discussions with the Conservative

…

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Posted in General Election | 24 Comments
Iain Roberts

Beer drinking no less than a religion

By Iain Roberts | Sun 9th May 2010 - 11:57 am

Poor men wasting all their money on drink?  Drunken teenagers – boys and girls – lying about in the streets? Drunk bridegrooms?  Yes, Edwardian Britain had them all.

Here’s a contempory account of the problem:

“Beer drinking is no less than a religion to the average East Ender.”

In these words, the Rev Richard Free of St Cuthberts, Millwall epitomises a terrible indictment of the condition of the East End of London.

the working man will go to public houses and lay his golden sovereigns on the counter, with instructions that he is to have drink as long as the money lasts.

When he

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Nadine Dorries: expense claims questioned in Sunday Times

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th May 2010 - 8:50 am

Welcome shortly to the new Parliament, where not everything has changed:

NADINE DORRIES, the Conservative MP, faces the first expenses complaint of the new parliament after a row about a £10,000 claim she paid to a friend’s company.

Her former Commons researcher, Peter Hand, is writing to John Lyon, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, questioning whether the claim can be justified.

The complaint will undermine hopes that the expenses controversy can be consigned to the last parliament.

Dorries, who last week retained her mid-Bedfordshire seat, claimed the money for an annual report in 2007 on her performance as an MP, and consultancy services, but

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

A selection of blogger responses

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th May 2010 - 10:10 pm

Here’s a selection of what Liberal Democrat bloggers have been saying this afternoon and evening about the prospects for this coming Parliament:

All Four of Our Cast-Iron Priorities: Deal. Anything Less: No Deal. (Alex Wilcock) – ” If we do a deal, it has to be for a formal coalition, for a fixed term, published out in the open. Otherwise the Prime Minister can just cut and run with a new election for party advantage, and we’re stuffed.”

Selling STV in multi member constituencies to tribal Tories (Jennie Rigg) – “Multi member constituencies are the traditional British way of doing …

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Posted in News | 28 Comments
Tony Greaves

Opinion: Post-election blues

By Tony Greaves | Sat 8th May 2010 - 9:03 pm

This is the worst possible election result for Liberal Democrats but we have to make the best of it.

A majority for one party would have left us in our usual comfort zone of simple opposition.

The expected gain of 40 seats or more would have left us with real momentum and a genuine balance of power in the Commons – the chance to turn the screw in negotiations with the other two parties and act as the catalyst for substantial political reform including STV.

Even a Lib-Lab majority in the Commons, with no Lib-Con majority, would have provided the chance (and the …

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Posted in Op-eds | 52 Comments
Mark Pack

The party’s formal statement on talks

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th May 2010 - 8:43 pm

From David Laws:

“We have had a very positive discussion. The Parliamentary party and shadow cabinet have fully endorsed the position set out by Nick Clegg.

“We will continue to put the national interest first and play a constructive role in providing the stable and good government people deserve.

“We have heard what the Labour Party and Gordon Brown are saying but in line with the position Nick Clegg outlined yesterday we are continuing discussions with the Conservative Party as the party with the most seats and votes..

“We want to complete this process as soon as possible but people will recognise that …

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Posted in News | 31 Comments
Mark Pack

Welcome to the new bloggers…

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th May 2010 - 5:20 pm

Two blogs have recently joined Ryan’s Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Good luck to the new bloggers, and why not take a moment to pop over to their blogs, take a read and post a comment?

Whether you are a new or experience blogger yourself, you may also find our compilation of “how to blog” posts useful:

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Posted in Online politics | Tagged | 3 Comments
Chris White

Opinion: Did you see it coming?

By Chris White | Sat 8th May 2010 - 4:20 pm

Did you see it coming?

No-one likes someone who says ‘I told you so’.

But I did see it coming.

I remember the bubble bursting in 1992. I recall the way so many people who had wished me luck the previous weekend went into the polling booth and said ‘Nah. It’s cheaper to vote Tory’.

I was also acutely aware this year that the vast majority of activists believed that the surge would be sustained and that the targeting strategy was now irrelevant. The ‘five people smiled at me this morning so I think I can win’ phone call was too frequent.

Had parliamentary candidates …

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Posted in Op-eds | 30 Comments
Ben Stephenson

Opinion: A Letter to Nick Clegg

By Ben Stephenson | Sat 8th May 2010 - 3:45 pm

Dear Nick,

Don’t give away the family silver. Since the formation of the Liberal Party all those years ago, we’ve campaigned for massive overhaul and clear change to the way in which are governments are appointed. Throughout a raft of changes in policy on education, defence, welfare and the economy, the one steadfast within the party has always been that with a quarter of the votes returning ten percent of the seats, the election system in our country simply does not work.

To discuss the notion of a coalition government with the Conservative Party, a party at whose core lies the belief …

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Posted in Op-eds | 76 Comments
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