Mark Pack

Thursday’s extra bonus: the local elections

By Mark Pack | Wed 5th May 2010 - 9:20 am

Put a backbench MP and a ruling group councillor together and they’ll often tease each other about who really has the more power – with the councillor often coming off the better. “I’ll see your ministerial questions and raise you a £500m budget” and so on.

So we certainly shouldn’t forget the other elections on Thursday:

  • All the seats in the 32 London boroughs
  • One third of the seats in the 36 Mets
  • One third of the seats in 20 unitary authorities
  • Half the seats in 7 district councils
  • One third of the seats in 70 district councils
  • Four Mayors

A happy side-effect of the strong general …

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Posted in Local government | Tagged | 6 Comments
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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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Posted in General Election and Polls | 22 Comments
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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Posted in General Election and News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Police asked to investigate Young Britons’ Foundation

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 8:00 pm

The leafleting and press advertising campaign against a hung Parliament by the Young Britons’ Foundation has run into a mini-blizzard of legal queries and complaints

Given at least one newspaper advertisement today and how widespread the leafleting campaign has been (as partly documented by Paul Walters), including several reports that at least some of the leafleting is being carried out by paid-for delivery firms, it is extremely likely that the YBF has incurred costs in excess of the £10,000 limit.

However, whilst this would require registration as a “third party” with the Commission, and the Young Britons’ Foundation Chief Executive …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
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Mark Pack

Xbox owners back Lib Dems over Conservatives and Labour

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 7:20 pm

The Times has the story:

Naturally, when every conversation you hear in the real world seems to have something to do with the General Election, Microsoft are getting in on the act online too.

Their far from rigorous voting preference poll is open to gamers of any age, and as far as we can tell in any country.

Nevertheless, as these screengrabs show, it’s clear that Cleggmania is intensely powerful among the young web-literate demographic that populates the virtual worlds of Twitter, Facebook and Xbox Live.

You can read the full story here.

Posted in News | 1 Comment
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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Posted in General Election | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
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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Posted in General Election | Tagged | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Second Bournemouth Conservative councillor switches

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 5:20 pm

Paul Hughes has become the second Bournemouth Conservative councillor to switch to the Liberal Democrats in a matter of weeks. In late April Michael Griffiths switched, criticising a “ruling clique”. Today it’s been the turn of Paul Hughes.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Andy Coulson under fire over fresh phone-hacking allegations

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

The Guardian reports:

David Cameron’s close adviser, Andy Coulson, has come under fresh attack after the disclosure of new evidence of the News of the World’s role in the illegal interception of the royal household’s voicemail messages during his time as editor.

The evidence is in the outline for a book planned by the private investigator at the centre of the affair, Glenn Mulcaire. The outline was written before Mulcaire signed a deal with the paper which stopped the book’s publication and gagged him from speaking about the scandal.

The outline directly contradicts the News of the World’s claim that Mulcaire broke the

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

When is an arrest not an arrest? The curious case of Kathryn Smith

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 3:20 pm

The News Shopper reports:

Labour parliamentary candidate for Gravesham Kathryn Smith has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after crashing her car into a roundabout.

The incident reportedly took place in University Way, Dartford, at the junction of Joyce Green Lane, at around 10pm on Monday.

It is understood she was breathalysed at the scene and asked to provide a blood sample…

A Kent Police spokewsoman said: “A 49-year-old woman from Welling has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving following a road traffic collision on April 26.” …

In a statement to News Shopper, Miss Smith denied she had been arrested.

Curious.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
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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Posted in General Election and LibLink | Tagged | 2 Comments
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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Posted in General Election | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
Mark Pack

Socks review

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 1:20 pm

By this point in a campaign blisters on feet and holes in socks are a common occurrence. So on your behalf dear reader I’ve been trying out some Liberal Democrat socks from My Favourite Socks:

Lib Dem socks

News to report so far: each sock comes supplied with the right number of holes (one). Testing putting them in and taking them out of my washing machine has so far resulted in no lost socks. As an added bonus the logo bird is the right (new) logo rather than the old …

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Posted in News | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

What the public thinks should happen in a hung Parliament

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 12:35 pm

Only one in five voters think David Cameron should try to form a minority government if his party is the largest but short of an overall majority after Thursday’s general election.

The finding comes in a YouGov poll for The Sun which finds that 37% think in such circumstances Cameron should try to form a “grand coalition” with Labour and Lib Dems and a further 24% think he should “seek to work with the Liberal Democrats”. Only 20% said he should “seek to form a minority government, without doing any deals with any other party”.

Although The Sun has previously …

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Posted in Polls | Tagged , and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Labour: give us 21 years to get a majority elected House of Lords

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th May 2010 - 11:20 am

Over the Bank Holiday, I thought I’d check exactly what Labour’s manifesto says about getting a House of Lords where at least a majority of its members are elected. After 13 years in power with repeated commissions,  studies and votes on the matter, not to mention senior Labour figures proclaiming their commitment to having at least some democracy in the Lords, you’ve have thought they’d be planning to get a move on.

But oh boy.

Under Labour’s manifesto it’ll take one Parliament (typically 4 years) to get to a one-third elected House of Lords.

Then it will take another full Parliament (typically another …

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Anthony Tuffin

Opinion: Go for STV!

By Anthony Tuffin | Tue 4th May 2010 - 10:00 am

I liked it when a woman asked Gordon Brown in a radio phone-in whether he would support the Tories or Lib Dems if no party had an overall majority and Labour came third. However, to be realistic, the chances are with our ridiculous voting system that Labour will come at least second in seats even if it is third in votes. So, if no party has an overall majority, the Lib Dems are more likely than any other to hold the balance. How would they use it? Could they achieve PR by STV with it? …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 20 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Andrew Duff – Europe gripped by UK election

By NewsHound | Tue 4th May 2010 - 8:45 am

Over at the Financial Times, Lib Dem MEP Andrew Duff offers a European perspective on the UK’s general election – and finds the continent as gripped as the rest of us by Thursday’s national poll:

In Brussels and across Europe there has been a surge of interest in the British general election campaign. People had more or less accepted that David Cameron would form a Conservative government, probably with a large majority, but now the outcome looks far from certain. …

Yet the thing that has galvanised continental political interest is the exposure of the iniquity of British electoral procedure. That Mr

…

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Posted in Europe / International and LibLink | Tagged | 3 Comments
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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Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 9 Comments
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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Posted in General Election and Polls | 24 Comments
Stephen Tall

The LDV Bank Holiday Monday caption competition – the “Nick Clegg meets Tardis” edition

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 9:15 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader …


(Photo: Alex Folkes).

Here’s Nick Clegg campaigning with the Lib Dems’ Manchester Withington MP John Leech at a primary school – but what do you reckon Nick’s saying, or the kids (or John) are thinking?

The winner of our most recent caption competition, the “David Cameron sucks bitter lemon” edition – according to The Voice’s judging panel of one – was this one by Jen.

Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged and | 16 Comments
The Voice

LDVideo: “A liberal believes quite simply in fairness”

By The Voice | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 8:20 pm

Nick Clegg addressed CitizensUK in London this afternoon, an event designed to bring together organisations campaigning for enhanced civil society. Here’s an extract of what he said:

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged and | 2 Comments
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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Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

“Labour candidate in court on careless driving charge”

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 7:20 pm

The Herald reports:

A Labour candidate in a key target seat is to appear in court next month after being charged with careless driving.

Thomas Docherty, who is fighting the marginal Dunfermline and West Fife constituency, is alleged to have skipped a red light on June 18 last year, at Carnegie Drive in Dunfermline…

He is trying to win back a constituency his party lost to the Liberal Democrats in a by-election in 2006. Labour won the seat at the 2005 General Election with a majority of more than 11,500.

You can read the full story here.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
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.

Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 4 Comments
Christopher Lomax

Opinion: The Lib Dems are now the only party of science

By Christopher Lomax | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 5:15 pm

Not that the press seem to have noticed, but international science journal Nature has just reported that one of the 22 prominent scientists who put his name to a letter to the Independent may not vote for them. Why is this relevant?

In 2001 and 2005 Labour won the science vote by a walkover. Nature’s survey reveals that this is no longer the case.

To scientists and engineers, the solution to the financial crisis is clear. Science, maths, engineering and technology must be at the heart of the project to rebuild our economy. A paradigm shift is needed inside …

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Posted in Op-eds | 9 Comments
Mark Pack

When is a late surge not a late surge? (aka how Reuters gets the news wrong)

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 4:08 pm

When all the changes in party support in an opinion poll are within the margin of error. Pretty obvious stuff you’d have thought, but take a look at the Reuters headline for its new marginal seats poll:

Poll shows late surge for Conservatives in swing seats

Now look at the actual vote shares:

Conservative 36% (+1)
Labour 36% (-2)
Lib Dem 20% (-1)

In other words, all the changes are within the margin of error. This is not a poll result that justifies the “surge” headline, even though curiously Reuters does rightly describe the Lib Dem share as “steady” which is a fair description for …

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Posted in Polls | Tagged | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Right Said Fred’s Lib Dem Party anthem 2010

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 3:45 pm

All together now:

Give us a shot, cos we’re sick of this lot … Are you all tired of the norm? Well now is the time for reform … Cameron and Brown, well take a look at ’em now, We’re going to rock those cats out of town”

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Posted in YouTube | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Postal ballots are not the same as postal vote application forms

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd May 2010 - 2:20 pm

The Guardian today seems to confuse application forms for postal votes with the actual ballot papers that postal voters receive:

At the weekend David Monks, head of elections for the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, called for a ban on political parties handling postal votes amid fears that activists are collecting ballot papers before forwarding them on in order to record the results in their canvassing process. This breaches a national code of conduct, but is not illegal.

Activists taking postal ballot papers and then recording the voting intention from them would leave them open to legal action (e.g. undue …

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Posted in Election law | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
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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Posted in General Election | 43 Comments
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