The Tories thus far seem a little lackadaisical in terms of their approach to the Clacton by-election. Perhaps this is just for show; play down expectations and then come up the home stretch strong. However, I’m starting to think this may be an overestimation of their game plan. October 9th has been chosen as the […]
My vision of what the Clacton by-election will be like
Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton, resigned from the Conservative Party yesterday to join UKIP. He also said he will be resigning his seat, thus forcing a by-election. I’ve had a vision for how I think the whole thing will play out, so here goes. A date is set for November 6th. First item of business […]
All the rumours are true: the Better Together PPB that is horrifically crap
I’m not a rabid Scottish nationalist by any means. In fact, on balance I’d rather Scotland stayed in the Union, mostly because I fear for the chaos that might ensue, in all parts of what was the United Kingdom, in independence’s wake. So I do not offer the following critique for political reasons, but […]
I’m just going to say it: I really like John Bercow
The Speaker of the House of Commons seems to fill lots of people in Westminster with outright bile these days; they call him arrogant and in extremis say that the Rt Hon Bercow is trying to start some sort of revolution from the inside. His list of enemies is growing all the time, particularly with […]
Clegg: The Movie – why are Channel 4 making this exactly?
It was announced yesterday that Channel 4 are to produce a one-off, feature length programme to be entitled Coalition, centred on the events surrounding and shortly after the 2010 general election, with Nick Clegg as the main character. There has been plenty of debate around who would portray the Deputy Prime Minister, ranging from the […]
Pricing up the Cornish holiday
I spent last week in Cornwall on holidays and loved it. I have to admit upfront to having a bit of a thing for the place. Partly it’s the country’s independent mindedness (literally – it has far more non-party affiliated councillors than any other part of England), partly its extremity (geographically, I mean), and also […]
The ticket that might explode: cutting up Boris Johnson’s bid for Westminster
BoJo has finally come clean and admitted what we all knew a long time ago, namely he’s going to become an MP again in 2015. It’s worth noting that he did so in the context of the most Eurosceptic speech he’s ever delivered, so he’s clearly eying up the leadership of the Conservative Party, and […]
Baroness Warsi and a matter of principle
Yesterday, Baroness Warsi resigned from government. She tweeted that this was due to the current government policy and engagement with the war in Gaza. “With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza,” she said. As you would expect, […]
Belgian neutrality goes forth: the First World War and the Tory narrative
WWI memorials are the rage at the moment, the centenary of Britain joining what remains possibly the world’s most horrible conflict being today. The Prime Minister has given a speech on the matter, citing the fact that Britons a century ago went into battle because there was “an important principle at stake”, that being the […]
Women in the workforce: the real reason for the economic recovery
There was an amusing twitter argument between Fraser Nelson and Jonathan Portes Monday evening. For those who missed it, I’ll summarise: Nelson: There are more people in work than economists ever dreamed. It must be because the government’s welfare reforms are driving people to look for work instead of lounging about watching Jeremy Kyle. Portes: […]