Mark Pack

David Cameron: one today

By Mark Pack | Wed 6th December 2006 - 9:00 am

It’s one year since David Cameron became leader of the Conservative party. There has been, is and will be plenty of stuff about this anniversary, so I’ll just point out this animation.

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Will Howells

Spring Conference: register now for lowest price

By Will Howells | Tue 5th December 2006 - 11:35 pm

The advanced discount conference registration rate (£45 for spring only, £79 for both 2007 conferences) lasts until next Friday, December 15th, so for the lowest price you should register as soon as possible.

Both events return to the locations of this year’s: Spring Conference will be in Harrogate, 2nd-4th March, and Autumn Conference will be back in Brighton, 15th-20th September.

For more details and to register online, visit http://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/

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Mark Pack

Fourth Conservative Parliamentary candidate in trouble

By Mark Pack | Tue 5th December 2006 - 11:45 am

Chester, Westmorland and Lonsdale, North Norfolk and now Plymouth … it’s clearly not a good time to be a Conservative Parliamentary candidate.

Chester – Tories call their own candidate an embarrassment and want to oust him.
Westmorland – Tories oust candidate (sort of)
North Norfolk – problems with homophobia in the selection campaign (oh, and the new candidate, Trevor Ivory, is – according to The Samaritans – “beyond the pale”)

and now …

Plymouth Sutton – where the person voted for in the selection contest, er …, doesn’t get to be the candidate

 

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Mark Pack

What will Liberal Democrats be doing at Christmas?

By Mark Pack | Tue 5th December 2006 - 10:00 am

The party’s asked a group of leading members for their top two books/DVDs etc to enjoy over the festive season. You can see what Ming Campbell and others recommend at www.libdems.org.uk/support/christmas.html

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The Voice

Lib Dems gain councillor; Tories lose Dover?

By The Voice | Mon 4th December 2006 - 10:04 pm

News reaches us that a Conservative councillor on Tory-run Dover District Council has defected to the Liberal Democrats.

We understand this would leave the Conservatives with a minority administration and the possibility of losing control entirely.

Update: The Dover Liberal Democrats site has the full story.

Cllr Paul Dawkins has resigned from the Conservatives and joined the Liberal Democrats. He said: “We need to restore political balance to the Council to make it more responsive to local needs. The Lib Dems will give me the opportunity of working with a committed team, something that I that I have not had previously.”

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Mark Pack

David Cameron’s environmental record

By Mark Pack | Mon 4th December 2006 - 12:27 pm

The Daily Mirror has a good round-up today of the reality behind Cameron’s claims to be serious about the environment:

1 HIS CAR: David Cameron switched to a supposedly green Lexus GS, which is more polluting than the 10 best selling models in the UK.

2 GREEN TAXES: The Conservatives were silent during the debate on the recent Finance Bill on fuel duty, vehicle excise duty, climate change levy, land fill tax and aggregates levy.

3 NUCLEAR POWER: Cameron avoided the tricky issue by shunting the decision off to his policy commissions, which is not due to report until 2007. And Scottish Tories voted in May for the building of new nuclear power stations north of the border.

4 COMPANY LAW REFORM BILL: Shadow ministers in the Lords voted against measures in the Company Law Reform Bill requiring companies to give greater regard to the environment.

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The Voice

More PPCs selected – and should Lib Dem Voice carry PPC ads?

By The Voice | Mon 4th December 2006 - 12:00 pm

Congratulations to the three selected candidates in Newcastle, promising new Lib Dem territory thanks to recent great local election results:

  • Newcastle Central – Gareth Kane
  • Newcastle East – Stephen Psallidas
  • Newcastle North – Ron Beadle

These selections, plus Winchester and Woking appear in the updated PPC list.

Now a question – I haven’t yet posted up last week’s PPC ads, and no-one has complained. Is that information useful, or should LDV carry only news of seats that have selected?

Posted in News and Selection news | 10 Comments
The Voice

CentreForum: Lucky timing, or conspiracy of international proportions?

By The Voice | Mon 4th December 2006 - 9:00 am

Oh OK, so it’s lucky timing.

Today’s unveiling of the Trident white paper (see our sort-of-advanced warning here) represents something of a timing coup for liberal think-tank CentreForum, for this evening they meet in Parliament for a long-planned discussion on… you guessed it… Trident.

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Campbell on Trident: ‘today is not the day’

By the founding editor | Mon 4th December 2006 - 8:21 am

Menzies CampbellToday Menzies Campbell will call for no final decision on Trident before 2014, while halving our capability to one hundred warheads and three submarines before then.

“There is no need to rush to judgement on a replacement for Trident.

“The decision can be delayed, as the Defence Select Committee has already concluded.

“We can maintain the present system with half the number of warheads and still provide the necessary insurance for Britain’s security, while making a real contribution to the cause of multilateral disarmament.”

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Former Labour defecter defects back to Labour

By the founding editor | Sun 3rd December 2006 - 6:00 pm

Andy Mayer has a very good take on a recent defection from the Liberal Democrat group in Southwark.

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Mark Pack

Homophobia amongst North Norfolk’s Tories?

By Mark Pack | Sun 3rd December 2006 - 2:31 pm

It looks as if during the selection of the Conservative candidate for North Norfolk, one of their members got up and asked this question:

“Could we be assured that neither of the candidates is a homosexual?”

I have no idea which of the candidates this question was aimed at or whether it is true (and couldn’t care less – whether a candidate has matching socks probably tells you more about their suitability to be an MP that whether or not they are gay). 

If it’s true (and the source for this is a series of comments on Iain Dale’s blog) it’s a disgraceful …

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UPDATED: PPC news: Winchester & Woking select

By the founding editor | Sun 3rd December 2006 - 11:27 am

Martin TodCongratulations to Martin Tod in Winchester, former marketing guru for Vodafone, now Internet Campaigns consultant for the Liberal Democrats. He has a tough sell on his hands, but if anyone can do it, he can.

Local Councillor David Spender has blogged the result. Martin saw off Sarah Carr, Sue Farrant, Gary Lawson and Justine McGuinness to secure the selection.

Update: True to form, Martin Tod is off to a flying start with the launch of www.winningwinchester.com!

Also congratulations to Cllr Rosie Sharpley, selected as the PPC for Woking. Rosie has been a Woking councillor for 18 years and is currently a member of the Lib Dem exec running Woking Borough Council.

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Mark Pack

Double Tory candidate trouble

By Mark Pack | Sat 2nd December 2006 - 5:49 pm

Exhibit A from the nice, new, hug-a-hoodie Cameron party:

Trevor Ivory has been selected as the Conservative candidate in North Norfolk. This is the man who was described by the Samaritans as “beyond the pale” for making “inexcusable” comments about suicide. (He made a “joke” about Tony Blair commiting suicide and the country cheering up as a result).

Exhibit B from the nice, new, hug-a-hoodie Cameron party:

Richard Bell has been ousted as the Conservative candidate in Westmorland and Lonsdale.

There’s a less than flattering account of the proceedings in several comments on Iain Dale’s blog, though reasons seem to be thin on …

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New North-West Lib Dem team elected

By the founding editor | Sat 2nd December 2006 - 9:00 am

Continuing our series on new regional executives, the North West region executive has been posted up.

Congratulations to all those elected.

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Mark Pack

Cameron joins the Liberal Democrats

By Mark Pack | Fri 1st December 2006 - 11:56 pm

Yup, Cameron has joined the party.

Peter over at Liberal Review has the full story.

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Full timetable for MEP selections announced

By the founding editor | Fri 1st December 2006 - 7:49 pm

The full timetable for selecting candidates to run in the next European Parliament elections has been announced and can be found in our members-only discussion board.

If you aren’t yet registered for the members-only area you can do so here.

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The Voice

Lib Dems haven’t heard the last of Michael Brown

By The Voice | Fri 1st December 2006 - 7:18 pm

Prison life can be lonely, and word reaches Lib Dem Voice that controversial former Lib Dem donor Michael Brown has taken to talking to the press from prison – we’re told he has been forcefully putting “his side of the story”

More column inches still to come…

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Mark Pack

Will Ian Lewis shortly be eating a hat?

By Mark Pack | Fri 1st December 2006 - 6:18 pm

Who is Ian Lewis you may well think. Well, before today I didn’t know him either – but his dietary habits have suddenly got my interest.

And it’s all because of the infighting amongst Chester City Conservatives. As the local paper reports:

CONSERVATIVE members of Chester City Council have branded their own party’s parliamentary candidate an embarrassment … The decision to censure Mr Offer was backed unanimously by the 22 members of the 27-strong group who were present.

As for Ian Lewis and the eating of hats:

Last week, regional press officer Ian Lewis told The Chronicle ‘I will eat my hat’ if Mr

…

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Will Howells

Council by-elections: net gain of four seats

By Will Howells | Fri 1st December 2006 - 11:46 am

In addition to the excellent result in Newcastle, Liberal Democrats took four further council seats last night: two that had previously been held by independents and two from Labour. We lost one seat to the Tories, on Havant District Council, reflecting their win in the same ward in May.

The gains from Labour were in Newcastle, Maidstone and Tewkesbury, where Labour came a poor fourth, with other pickups in the Sutton South ward of East Lindsey DC and the Whittington ward of Shropshire County Council. Labour’s majority was significantly cut in a Lab/LD two-way fight in Durham. The Conservatives gained …

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Mark Pack

Newcastle: Labour lose seat to Lib Dems; Tories 4th

By Mark Pack | Fri 1st December 2006 - 12:02 am

The Liberal Democrats have taken a seat off Labour in a by-election in Lemington ward.

The result was:

  • Lib Dem: 1180 (47%)
  • Labour: 815 (32%)
  • BNP: 383 (15%)
  • Cons: 147 (6%)

The Labour councillor whose death resulted in the by-election had been elected in 2004, when the result was:

  • Labour: 1,595, 1,526, 1,421 (53%)
  • Lib Dem: 661, 656, 639 (22%)
  • Cons: 429, 420, 384 (14%)
  • National Front: 350 (12%)

Swing to the Lib Dems from Labour since 2004: 23%
Swing to the Lib Dems from the Tories since 2004: 17%

(Note: the ward has been fought once since 2004, but that was a straight Labour – Lib Dem contest, which the Lib Dems won, …

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Will Howells

Cameron labelled an undeserving icon

By Will Howells | Thu 30th November 2006 - 4:58 pm

Readers of Arena have given David Cameron the thumbs down, listing him fourth in a poll for the men’s magazine’s “Anti-Icon of the Year”.

Sky News reports that Cameron was picked as an “undeserving icon” for “attracting ridicule for his ‘hug a hoodie’ campaign and for cycling to the House of Commons while a gas guzzling car followed behind with his briefcase.”

He was held in fourth place by the salubrious company of Syed Ahmed from The Apprentice, comedian Russell Brand and occasional musician Pete Doherty, who topped the poll with 38% of the vote.

Posted in Polls | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Whitehall Press Offices told: ‘clear the decks’ on Monday

By The Voice | Thu 30th November 2006 - 12:24 pm

Major announcement coming…

Posted in News | 13 Comments
Mark Pack

More Tory trouble on party funding

By Mark Pack | Thu 30th November 2006 - 10:04 am

From The Times:

The Conservative Party was last night under the spotlight over its massive debts to backers with overseas addresses and ‘non-trading’ companies. Several of the firms which lent money to the Tories are operating in tax havens or countries noted for banking secrecy.

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Hughes hits out at News of the World phone-tapper

By the founding editor | Wed 29th November 2006 - 1:43 pm

Simon HughesGlenn Mulcaire is reported to be the journalist who tapped Simon Hughes‘ phone messages, leading to his high-profile “outing” during the leadership campaign of 2006.

Commenting on the opening of the ‘royal phone tapping’ trial today, Simon Hughes said:

Intercepting personal voicemail messages is a completely unacceptable breach of privacy – whether the victim is a royal prince, a politician, or someone completely out of the public eye. 

People who leave messages and those intended to receive them are all entitled to have private conversations. We live in an age where invasions of privacy are becoming more frequent. This does not make the practice any more acceptable. 

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Will Howells

Cable better Chancellor than Osborne say political studies academics

By Will Howells | Wed 29th November 2006 - 10:41 am

Members of the Political Studies Association polled by Ipsos MORI in advance of last night’s PSA Awards rated Dr Vincent Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Shadow Chancellor, as a more capable potential Chancellor of the Exchequer than Tory Shadow Chancellor George Osborne.

Gordon Brown, the incumbent, took 68% of the response to the question “Who do you think would make the most capable Chancellor of the Exchequer?” Eight percent of the nearly 300 academics polled said Vince Cable, twice as many as the 4% support for George Osborne.

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Mark Pack

Conservatives keep their funding secret – again

By Mark Pack | Tue 28th November 2006 - 9:33 pm

Today’s headlines have been caught by the massive debts run up by the Conservative and Labour parties.

Full marks in the irony department to Tory HQ for unveiling a website calling people in debt tossers just before the publication of figures showing their own huge debts.

Buried in the figures are a few interesting snippets, such as the Tory party’s reliance on a £3.6 million loan from an overseas company – and as it is based in the British Virgin Islands, it has to publish almost no information about its activities.

So once again they’ve been using a funding method which allows them to …

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The Voice

UKIP leader in desperate fishing expedition: ‘No difference between the parties, so you may as well join us’

By The Voice | Tue 28th November 2006 - 1:32 pm

Farage“Dear Councillor,

“There does not seem to be very much difference between our three main parties these days.  This is hardly surprising as 75% of our laws are now made by the EU with little or no input from Westminster.

“As you must realise local government is in a poor state too with a new unelected layer of Regional Assemblies and voter disenchantment.

“In UKIP we believe that it is essential for the UK to become self-governing again and for voters to want to participate.  We are developing as a broadly based real party of …

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Mark Pack

Nick Clegg on the Freedom Bill

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th November 2006 - 10:52 pm

Nick has an article out today on the eGov monitor website about the Liberal Democrat proposals for a “Freedom Bill” which would axe unnecessary laws.

You can read more about the laws the Liberal Democrats would axe – and nominate your own – on the party’s website and you can watch Nick’s speech from conference where he launched the plans:

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The Voice

Jenny Tonge faces ‘show-down’ with whips today

By The Voice | Mon 27th November 2006 - 12:19 pm

Jenny TongeThe BBC reports that “A Liberal Democrat peer is to face party whips over claims she repeated remarks critical of the political influence of the “pro-Israeli lobby”… The party has the power to withdraw the whip (removing her from the Lib Dem group of peers in the House of Lords) after the hearing on Monday, if it is unsatisfied with her explanation.”

Following Jenny’s rebuke by the party leader last month which prompted a heated debate on Lib Dem Voice, Baroness Tonge contacted us to say: “My original …

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The Voice

Canal cuts are nuts, says Huhne

By The Voice | Mon 27th November 2006 - 12:00 pm

WebsiteA new campaign against Defra’s environmental budget cuts, which has meant a 7% cut to British Waterways funds in the last year with the loss of 180 jobs, has been announced.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said:

“These redundancies show Defra’s budget cuts beginning to bite. Our canal networks will suffer as a result, together with a whole range of environmental and rural services.

“These cuts put our canals and waterways under threat, impacting on a wide range of users including boat owners, holidaymakers, anglers and ramblers. Canals are also …

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