Tag Archives: vernon coaker

How Parliament walked eyes wide open into the Bob Ashford mess

Would-be Labour Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Bob Ashford is rightly getting a positive press and sympathy from across the political spectrum today for discovering he’s disqualified from standing thanks to a £5 fine he paid 46 years ago.

It is absurd that he can’t stand. It is an absurdity that Parliament deliberately decided to enact, for the ban does not arise from unintended side effects of another measure or from poor drafting. Instead, it was a deliberate decision to introduce an unprecedented restriction on who can stand in the Police …

Posted in Election law | Also tagged , and | 11 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Suzanne Fletcher
    This article has taken the final nail off the coffin lid. It started at Michael Meadowcroft's funeral last week, hearing his words repeated, his values restate...
  • Chloe
    I wonder how tempting it might be for Labour to call an early GE. Support for the cost of living crisis are only incremental , the early prison release scheme c...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    Having grown up in Communist Poland, I never take freedom for granted, which is why this piece strongly resonates. What drew me to the Lib Dems was not tactics ...
  • Jana
    Yes, two good second place performances for us to feel good about. Unfortunately, however, a very good night for Reform with 3 wins and 2 second places across t...
  • Nigel Jones
    Yes we need to think through and articulate our Lib dem approach to economics and the way we order society. I see the occasional attempt at this on LDV but out ...