In the run up to the 2015 general election, it was interesting to note that the Independent, the Economist and the Financial Times all made the same endorsement. It was not for a single party, but rather for the continuation of what was then the current two-party coalition government. What these publications were pining for […]
Archives for May 2015
Who will be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats?
With Nick Clegg stepping aside as leader of the Lib Dems, the fight begins immediately for who his successor will be. As it happens, even though the party lost 48 seats in the general election, of the eight that remain the two who were always favourites to be the next leader, Tim Farron and Norman […]
Was going into coalition with the Tories a mistake for the Lib Dems?
There are people both inside and outside of the Liberal Democrats for whom the answer to the above question is obvious. Of course it was, you fool. Were you watching last Thursday? However, I disagree. I don’t think it was a mistake for the Lib Dems to have gone into coalition with the Tories and […]
The government Britain seems to want is a slightly right of centre Labour Party
The Ed Miliband experiment has definitively failed. The 35% strategy was a wash out; the idea that the country had moved leftwards in big enough numbers to secure a parliamentary majority under the current voting system, proven wrong. The more I think about Thursday’s result, the more it brings into view what the country actually […]
Could David Miliband be the next leader of the Labour Party?
Labour are in real trouble. I know coming from a Lb Dem that might sound a bit rich, but hear me out. The result on Thursday was Labour’s worst performance since 1987, and even ’87 was better as at least the party were on the up and came into that election with very little real […]
Holy crap: after a horrible night, we ride into the unknown
Coming into tonight, if I was honest, I figured it was going the Tories’ way. Miliband’s refusal to admit that Labour had overspent on Question Time added to the five pledges stone monument made you think that Labour had blown it. But I never thought they’d be down below 240. Or that the Tories would […]
What campaigning in Cambridge taught me about today’s election result
I decided to go up to Cambridge for a few days to deliver leaflets in the run up to polling day. Why Cambridge when I could have picked several London constituencies is a long story, one I shan’t bore you with. However, I arrived at the rail station Tuesday morning, all ready to go out […]
Is THIS the last hope for the Lib Dems?
People have asked me again and again this election campaign to make a prediction on the number of seats the Lib Dems will end up with on May 8th. I have resisted, because I just have no idea. I made a prediction a long time ago, but it no longer seems relevant. A lot of […]
As the two party system crumbles, the two parties in question cling to it tighter than ever
A few days ago, Ed Miliband had his five key manifesto pledges set in stone. Literally. In a move that has already become the stuff of political and social media legend, he had an 8’6 limestone slab engraved with his own promises to the electorate. Fortunately for him, “I will not do a deal with […]
Why is the professionalisation of politics automatically demonised?
At the end of last week, the Spectator came out with which party they are endorsing for this very shortly to be upon us election. It was, as I fully expected, the Green Party. All kidding aside, there was one sentence in the endorsement article that stuck in my teeth: “Like so many former bag-carriers […]