Tag Archives: julia goldsworthy

Stephen Tall

Lib Dems on air over the weekend

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th November 2007 - 5:19 pm

Quick alert for those wanting to see/hear Lib Dem MPs live on air in the next three days:

  • Tonight (Fri), Lynne Featherstone will be on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions at 8.00 pm;
  • On Sunday, Vince Cable will be on ITV1’s GMTV Sunday Programme at 6.00 am – if you don’t want to get up specially James Graham has the hot preview;
  • On Sunday night, Sarah Teather will be on BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour at (some point from) 10.00 pm; and
  • On Monday morning, Julia Goldsworthy will be on Five’s The Wright Stuff at 9.00 am.

    • Happy viewing/listening.

    Posted in Lib Dem TV and News | 2 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    How the MPs are lining up (UPDATED)

    By Stephen Tall | Thu 22nd November 2007 - 11:25 am

    By popular request, here’s the current list of which Lib Dem MPs have declared for which leadership candidate so far. (Originally compiled with the help of Jonathan Isaby of The Daily Telegraph.)

    The list shows that Nick has attracted two MPs who supported Chris as leader in 2006: Greg Mulholland and Stephen Williams; and eight who supported Simon Hughes (all listed below). Chris has attracted one former Ming Campbell backer – Tom Brake – and three MPs who supported Simon Hughes last time.

    Eight MPs have stated they will not declare for any candidate; four have yet – so far as I’m aware – to state their intentions.

    As we continue to note, the number of MPs who declare for any one candidate is, in one sense, irrelevant: we are a one-member-one-vote party. Clearly, however, MPs’ endorsements will carry some influence with party members, especially among non-activists.

    The full list appears below:

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Who are your favourite (and least favourite) non-Lib Dem bloggers

    By Stephen Tall | Tue 20th November 2007 - 8:45 am

    A new poll is coming to LDV: who are your favourite, and least favourite, non-Lib Dem bloggers. Nominations are now open, so please feel free to use the comments thread. (Self-nomination is allowed, Iain.)

    There’s still chance, by the way, to vote in the LDV poll asking who you would have voted for, given the chance, among those Lib Dem MPs who ruled themselves out of the leadership race. Eyes right, if you’ve not yet cast your ballot.

    Julia Goldsworthy and Charles Kennedy are currently neck-and-neck, with David Laws and Steve Webb not far behind. (I have to say I think Vince’s …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged , and | 24 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    How the MPs are lining up (UPDATED)

    By Stephen Tall | Thu 25th October 2007 - 2:57 pm

    I’m grateful to Jonathan Isaby of The Daily Telegraph, who has compiled (and allowed me to reproduce here) his up-to-date list of which Lib Dem MPs have declared for which leadership candidate so far.

    Jonathan comments: “Below are my most up-to-date lists, which suggest that Huhne now cannot possibly overtake Clegg in terms of MPs declaring. Brackets state where they went in the 2006 election.”

    The list shows that Nick has attracted two MPs who supported Chris as leader in 2006: Greg Mulholland and Stephen Williams; and seven who supported Simon Hughes (all listed below). Chris has attracted one former Ming Campbell backer – Tom Brake – and two MPs who supported Simon Hughes last time.

    Nine MPs have stated they will not declare for any candidate; 14 have yet to state their intentions.

    As was pointed out in the comments on yesterday’s thread, the number of MPs who declare for any one candidate is, in one sense, irrelevant: we are a one-member-one-vote party. Clearly, however, MPs’ endorsements will carry some influence with party members, especially among non-activists.

    It will also influence how the media perceives, and then reports, the strengths of the respective leadership campaigns. Though, of course, being seen as the favourite is not always the most comfortable of positions, as Ming Campbell discovered last time. Lib Dems do love an underdog.

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 26 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    New poll: the alternative leadership contest

    By Stephen Tall | Tue 23rd October 2007 - 10:55 am

    Barring something remarkable taking place between now and close of nominations, the coming leadership campaign will be a two-horse race between Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne.

    A number of potential candidates have ruled themselves out of the race despite messages of support from many party members. So the new poll question is simple:

    “Of those MPs who’ve ruled themselves out of standing, who would you have voted for given the chance?”

    – Vince Cable
    – Ed Davey
    – Lynne Featherstone
    – Julia Goldsworthy
    – John Hemming
    – Simon Hughes
    – Charles Kennedy
    – Susan Kramer
    – David Laws
    – Steve Webb

    Feel free to mount a write-in campaign for any MPs …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Leadership Election and Voice polls | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    The race for the leadership: who’s in, who’s not

    By Stephen Tall | Wed 17th October 2007 - 5:10 pm

    Here’s the current position as I understand it, with links where I have them.

    Declared:

    Chris Huhne
    John Hemming

    Actively considering:

    Nick Clegg
    Steve Webb

    Unlikely:

    Charles Kennedy

    Ruled out:

    Vince Cable
    Ed Davey
    Lynne Featherstone
    Julia Goldsworthy
    Simon Hughes
    Susan Kramer
    David Laws

    (For those interested, the current betting prices can be found here.)

    Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged , , , and | 34 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    The race to succeed Ming starts today

    By Stephen Tall | Wed 17th October 2007 - 9:03 am

    Who will run? That will be the fascinating question which will be answered in the days ahead. Here’s some of the press speculation today:

    Lib Dem leadership bids expected     (BBC)

    Charles Kennedy May Run For Leader Again (Glasgow Daily Record)

    Two outsiders may run for Lib Dem leader (Daily Telegraph)

    Huhne set to launch Lib Dem leadership challenge (Liverpool Daily Echo)

    Please use the comments to highlight other stories we may have missed.

    Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged and | 26 Comments
    James Graham

    Why Lib Dems should support the Citizens’ Convention Bill

    By James Graham | Tue 26th June 2007 - 1:32 pm

    Today, Unlock Democracy has launched its campaign for a Citizens’ Convention Bill. The Bill will be presented to the House of Commons today by Lib Dem Treasury Spokesperson Julia Goldsworthy MP, and it is set for its second reading debate this Friday.

    The idea behind this Bill is simple: there is now broad, cross-party support for the principle that Britain’s democracy needs to be renewed, and that the people themselves must be at the centre of any new reform.

    Gordon Brown launched his leadership bid pledging to “build a shared national consensus for a programme of constitutional reform.” Sir Menzies Campbell subsequently called on Brown to establish “a broadly-based Convention” which “should involve not just the political parties but also members of the public.”

    Last week, the Power Inquiry launched its new campaign calling for just such a process in a statement that was signed by 101 individuals and organisations, including – among others – Baroness Shirley Williams and prominent Lib Dem supporter Claire Rayner.

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged | 1 Comment

    Opinion: So just how strongly did the Lib Dems oppose the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill?

    By Hywel Morgan | Sun 20th May 2007 - 12:34 pm

    “This is unacceptable” said Ming Campbell in an email to party members and supporters on the eve of this bill being given its third reading in the Commons.

    But having watched this bill progress through the Commons I’ve not been hugely impressed by the Lib Dem commitment to oppose it.

    To take it in stages.  This bill received an unopposed second reading.  I’m not an expert on the minutiae of Parliamentary procedure but according to the committee stages of this bill, it could have been blocked if it had it received an objection from a single member.

    The bill then passed to the committee stage.  You would expect that a bill which the party considered to be unacceptable would be strongly opposed at committee stage.

    Yet not a single amendment was put.  Not a single vote was called for.

    Indeed to read Nick Harvey’s comments there wasn’t even a Lib Dem MP on the committee.

    “I agreed to serve on the Committee to provide some of the insight that I have gained through my work on the House of Commons Commission and the Members Estimate Committee. I am not here as a party spokesman; I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that this is a House matter on which Members must make their own judgments. I would not expect party Whips to seek to get involved in it.”

    (Nick Harvey – Committee stage – 7th February 2007)

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 20 Comments
    Mark Pack

    The Sustainable Communities Bill

    By Mark Pack | Wed 13th December 2006 - 12:49 pm

    The latest Lib Dem MP to appear on YouTube is Julia Goldsworthy, who has done a piece about the Sustainable Communities Bill:

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Lib Dem TV and News | Also tagged | 3 Comments
    Advert

    Recent Comments

    • expats
      ANYONE claiming that Starmer's emphasis on immigration were not the same as Powell's should read Enoch Powell's actual words... Referring to 'The White British...
    • Mark Johnston
      An interesting idea. Possibly with merit. Before I could be pursuaded, I need to know how it fits with our vce-president role. Since the VP position was created...
    • Nick Baird
      @slamdac, @Greg Hyde and others - it's perfectly possible to be appalled by Starmer's inflammatory anti-immigrant rhetoric without also thinking that ~700k is t...
    • Matt (Bristol)
      Dave Allen, it needs to also be said that Brexit, touted as the solution to immigration (whether naievely or disingenuously or maliciously) has increased our im...
    • David Allen
      "The problem that Labour (and apparently Ed Davey) fail to grasp is that we don’t have an immigration problem, we have a xenophobia problem." We have both ...