Tag Archives: luton

By-election watch: 10/11 April… Luton bringing me sunshine…

Ballot boxThree principal authority by-elections this week, two candidates and one win…

We start with Darlington, where Howard Jones was flying our flag in Lascelles ward, one which we didn’t fight in 2011. Plaudits should go the team there, who have demonstrated that there is a vote for us out there, if we make a case. The Conservatives were pushed into third place, perhaps reflecting national opinion polls that are showing them at their lowest level in this Parliament. The result was;

  • Helen Crumbie (Labour) – 426 votes (63%, -17%)
  • Howard Jones (Liberal Democrat)

Posted in Council by-elections | Also tagged and | 6 Comments

Opinion: Clegg is right on multiculturalism

A matter of hours after his party finished a humiliating sixth in the Barnsley Central by-election, Nick Clegg’s ‘Muscular Liberalism’ speech gave him an opportunity to appease disillusioned party members ahead of the spring conference. Amid the continuous onslaught of accusations of ‘selling out’, Clegg’s defense of multiculturalism showed clear water between his policy and that of the Conservatives.

In this speech, Clegg highlighted an indisputable split in the Coalition Government’s approach to tackling extremism. The deputy prime minister showed that he is unwilling to compromise on the communities agenda that remains the Liberal Democrats’ strongest suit amongst the inevitable compromises …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 16 Comments

Linda Jack writes: Nick Clegg – demonstrating what he’s for

Yesterday evening, at an event to celebrate the “ennoblement” of Lord Qurban Hussain I was reminded of the heady days of the leader’s debates when Nick Clegg totally caught the imagination of the country. The Chiltern Hotel in Luton was packed and there was a palpable sense of excitement and genuine warmth towards Nick. Those from minority communities in this country understand the integrity of Nick’s position when he talks about multiculturalism- no fancy words – just a history of putting his money where his mouth is.

Earlier in the day Nick had chosen Luton as the place to make …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 18 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    British politics since the 2008 crash has been a contest between establishment Governments and insurgent opponents. The Tory and Labour establishment parties h...
  • Kevin Hawkins
    I have frequently commented on Lib Dem Voice that we should not take one week’s by-election results (or even several week’s results) seriously. We have goo...
  • Dan Falchikov
    Well said: "David Howarth’s Being Liberal explores the Liberal disposition: open-minded, suspicious of abuses of power, uncomfortable with hierarchy, treatin...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    This is the clearest statement of the case I have read in a while, and "competence is not a destination" is the line worth repeating. One worked example from ...
  • Simon McGrath
    @jennie "“Liberals have always been suspicious of too much power in too few hands.” *looks at direction of travel of internal party mechanisms the last fiv...