Tag Archives: Lord oakeshott

Guardian revelations about Clegg, Cable and the Lib Dem election catastrophe

Well, as the ballot papers get sent out in the leadership election, the Guardian publishes a series of revelations tonight about the last year of the coalition and the aftermath of the European elections.

Apparently Nick Clegg was ready to resign in the wake of the European elections and was talked out of it by, among others, Paddy Ashdown and Tim Farron. Certainly at the time, the feedback that Federal Executive members gave at our post Euro disaster meeting was that there was no appetite in the wider party for a leadership election, but they did want things to change.

Vince Cable, it transpires, did know about the Oakeshott polls.

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++Breaking: Lord Oakeshott resigns from the Liberal Democrats

Matthew Oakeshott speaking at Lib Dem conference, Brighton 2007

The Guardian reports that Lord Oakeshott has dramatically resigned from the Liberal Democrats. Here is his resignation statement:

I am today taking leave of absence from the House of Lords and resigning as a member of the Liberal Democrats. I am sure the Party is heading for disaster if it keeps Nick Clegg; and I must not get in the way of the many brave Liberal Democrats fighting for change.

I leave, with a heavy heart, the party I helped to found with such high hopes

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Mark Pack’s verdict on those ICM polls: “not sensible figures for anyone to draw a conclusion from”

Mark PackMy former co-editor here at LibDemVoice, Mark Pack, has been taking a detailed look in his latest Liberal Democrat Newswire at those ICM constituency polls commissioned by Lord Oakeshott. Here’s his take on them:

It’s not only the attempted anonymous funding of the polls that’s questionable. So too is the way they were worded. Even reputable pollsters such as ICM given their clients some discretion over question wording, and in this case it was a matter of misleading by omission rather than an outrageously worded question in its own right.

The

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Oakeshott: Jeremy Hunt should have resigned

There is widespread press coverage today about this. For example, the Independent reports:

A senior Liberal Democrat has said culture secretary Jeremy Hunt should have resigned following his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry about News Corp’s failed takeover of BSkyB.

Lord Oakeshott, who was one of Vince Cable’s closest colleagues when the business secretary was overseeing News Corp’s ill-fated bid, said Rupert Murdoch’s empire was treated differently from other firms by the Government and criticised Mr Hunt, saying “no self-respecting minister” would have stayed in his post.

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