"Ummuna...had been distressed by newspapers pursuing relatives of his girlfriend, including her 102-year-old grandmother" might have something to do with it
The interesting thing about the Chukka story is that it is so obvious that it is his enemies in the Labour party who have done this to him - and used the press to do it, the wicked press that they wanted to control a la Leveson to prevent this sort of stuff happening. Oh, the irony!
That doesn't bode well for future harmony within Labour even once they've chosen a leader.
I don't give two hoots about his private life. It's a shame if it's something that he felt he couldn't tell his family. The only thing I would say is that parents and family often know or guess more than you might think and - unless they are complete bastards - are far more forgiving and accepting than you might anticipate. I hope so, for his sake.
If it is true that members of his own party have raised issues about his sexuality to destroy his campaign, then that would reflect extremely badly on Labour. It seems to have gone feral.
It's interesting to note that the exit poll was apparently showing a swing to the Conservatives in the East Midlands sufficient to allow them to pick up seats from Labour, but in fact the actual regional swing of 0.20% to the Tories wouldn't have been enough to pick up any seats. In the event they did take Derby North but not Gedling, Nottingham South, Derbyshire NE as the exit poll was implying.
The BBC were very poor on the Jubillee events. They used people like Richard E Granf who knew nothing and cared less about Royalty or boats. If they have lost favour then I am not surprised.
Wasn't just him, they had Fearne Cotton, Tess Daly and Matt Baker messing up left, right and centre. Even chief lovely Stephne Fry said it was bloody awful.
It's interesting to note that the exit poll was apparently showing a swing to the Conservatives in the East Midlands sufficient to allow them to pick up seats from Labour, but in fact the actual regional swing of 0.20% to the Tories wouldn't have been enough to pick up any seats. In the event they did take Derby North but not Gedling, Nottingham South, Derbyshire NE as the exit poll was implying.
The interesting thing about the Chukka story is that it is so obvious that it is his enemies in the Labour party who have done this to him - and used the press to do it, the wicked press that they wanted to control a la Leveson to prevent this sort of stuff happening. Oh, the irony!
That doesn't bode well for future harmony within Labour even once they've chosen a leader.
I don't give two hoots about his private life. It's a shame if it's something that he felt he couldn't tell his family. The only thing I would say is that parents and family often know or guess more than you might think and - unless they are complete bastards - are far more forgiving and accepting than you might anticipate. I hope so, for his sake.
If it is true that members of his own party have raised issues about his sexuality to destroy his campaign, then that would reflect extremely badly on Labour. It seems to have gone feral.
Sexuality? But doesn't he have a girlfriend?
Perhaps he would have been better off with a railway atlas...
A masterpiece of understatement from Carswell. ie - ''At times, Ukip has failed to strike the right tone'' He is in the wrong party.
Ironically he was in the right party with the Conservatives. The Conservatives and Labour are both broad churches that can host a wide array of views; the Conservatives are a party that can find a home for both Dan Hannan and Ken Clarke, while letting both speak their minds.
As UKIP have expanded it now seems to still be a narrow church for a set view with little room for deviation. If UKIP are to grow to be a serious party, they need to be able to tolerate some diversity of both personality and beliefs. A party has a core of guiding principles but not everyone is going to be a carbon copy of each other, a drone cut from an identikit.
Poor choice of politicians. Supposedly Hannan turned down an offer to join UKIP as they could not guarantee him first place on the London list for the EU elections. Gerard Batten wouldn't budge so Hannan didn't join.
Deliberate choice of politicians. Hannan has spoken his views for years and been forthright and unrestrained. Has UKIP given its politicians the same freedom?
The interesting thing about the Chukka story is that it is so obvious that it is his enemies in the Labour party who have done this to him - and used the press to do it, the wicked press that they wanted to control a la Leveson to prevent this sort of stuff happening. Oh, the irony!
That doesn't bode well for future harmony within Labour even once they've chosen a leader.
I don't give two hoots about his private life. It's a shame if it's something that he felt he couldn't tell his family. The only thing I would say is that parents and family often know or guess more than you might think and - unless they are complete bastards - are far more forgiving and accepting than you might anticipate. I hope so, for his sake.
If it is true that members of his own party have raised issues about his sexuality to destroy his campaign, then that would reflect extremely badly on Labour. It seems to have gone feral.
Sexuality? But doesn't he have a girlfriend?
Chuka is widely rumoured to be bisexual. It's a shame that that has any bearing at all on his ability to lead the party, if true.
Thanks. I believe it is originally from a TED talk. I think it very funny, and all too true. I always wondered how the David Koresh's, Charlie Mansons and Jim Jones of the world managed it. This makes a lot of sense. It does not matter if the leader is a crackpot, so long as there is that first and second follower...
It's shocking how much influence Jim Jones had in San Francisco politics prior to the Jonestown episode.
It's interesting to note that the exit poll was apparently showing a swing to the Conservatives in the East Midlands sufficient to allow them to pick up seats from Labour, but in fact the actual regional swing of 0.20% to the Tories wouldn't have been enough to pick up any seats. In the event they did take Derby North but not Gedling, Nottingham South, Derbyshire NE as the exit poll was implying.
It's interesting to note that the exit poll was apparently showing a swing to the Conservatives in the East Midlands sufficient to allow them to pick up seats from Labour, but in fact the actual regional swing of 0.20% to the Tories wouldn't have been enough to pick up any seats. In the event they did take Derby North but not Gedling, Nottingham South, Derbyshire NE as the exit poll was implying.
Coming tomorrow morning Henry G Manson's analysis and top tip for the LAB leadership
I suppose it's too much to hope that HenryG will be tipping Jon Cruddas tomorrow to win the Labour leadership contest after I backed him a couple of days ago with Betfair at decimal odds of 460, admittedly for a rather modest stake of 3p.
Liz Kendall: "We could be out of power for ever" according to Sky News paper review.
What a load of nonsense.
Was that a quote from the Guardian? If so it was a partial quote and referring to the remainder of Labour doing a SLAB and taking its vote for granted.
The interesting thing about the Chukka story is that it is so obvious that it is his enemies in the Labour party who have done this to him - and used the press to do it, the wicked press that they wanted to control a la Leveson to prevent this sort of stuff happening. Oh, the irony!
That doesn't bode well for future harmony within Labour even once they've chosen a leader.
I don't give two hoots about his private life. It's a shame if it's something that he felt he couldn't tell his family. The only thing I would say is that parents and family often know or guess more than you might think and - unless they are complete bastards - are far more forgiving and accepting than you might anticipate. I hope so, for his sake.
If it is true that members of his own party have raised issues about his sexuality to destroy his campaign, then that would reflect extremely badly on Labour. It seems to have gone feral.
Sexuality? But doesn't he have a girlfriend?
Perhaps he would have been better off with a railway atlas...
To compensate for the lack of Opinion polls, went back to my old habits - did Birmingham to Derby and back by rail this afternoon. Strictly speaking, the route I did for the first time was Tamworth to Derby, as I had already done Brum to Tamworth last year.
Was that a quote from the Guardian? If so it was a partial quote and referring to the remainder of Labour doing a SLAB and taking its vote for granted.
Mr Crosby said that Britain’s political class is dominated by “a bunch of people, most of whom live inside the M25 who could never live on the £26,000 that is the average annual earnings of people in this country”. “It wasn’t just Ed Miliband’s Labour Party that revealed itself as out of touch and remote from the people who are the backbone of Britain. It was a failure for the Westminster-centric ‘Eddie the Expert’ and ‘Clarrie the Commentator’ who were tested and found wanting.
Coming tomorrow morning Henry G Manson's analysis and top tip for the LAB leadership
I suppose it's too much to hope that HenryG will be tipping Jon Cruddas tomorrow to win the Labour leadership contest after I backed him a couple of days ago with Betfair at decimal odds of 460, admittedly for a rather modest stake of 3p.
He may tip Carswell as he defects to Labour, seeing himself as their new saviour.
He singled out Tim Mongomerie, a columnist for The Times who used to work for Iain Duncan Smith, the current Work and Pensions Secretary. “I’ve been around politics a long time." Mr Crosby said." And I’ve seen people entitled to comment as they wish but some of the commentators, who claimed to be Conservative supporters - like Tim Montgomerie from The Times [also Iain Duncan Smith's former chief of staff] - I think in the end, became slightly gratuitous participants.
The Masters, as CBS man Jim Nantz (Nick Faldo's golf commentary partner) says each year is 'A tradition unlike any other'.
At the Preakness, another tradition unlike any other has been banned - the running of the urinals.
They have a row of about 2 dozen portapotties linked together. The idea is that contestants - presumably in various stages of being high or drunk, climb the end portapotty and then try to run along the roofs of the row to the other end without falling, all the while being pelted with cans of beer and other stuff.
Liz Kendall: "We could be out of power for ever" according to Sky News paper review.
Is that supposed to motivate the party?
Seriously, she could be right but it's a remote chance. The Conservatives will lose power at some point and when they do, who will replace them as the government? UKIP? The Lib Dems? The Greens? Some new party? Because unless it is one of those, it'll be Labour.
In one of Labour's best regions in England the number of votes cast fell slightly which probably wasn't a good sign for them.
Thanks Andy,
NE Split almost exactly like Wales:
Left-wing 50.5% Right-wing 42.0 Centre/others 7.5
Interesting, although I'm not sure I'd categorise all of UKIP's supporters as right-wing. A lot of them are rather left-wing on economic matters, especially in the north.
Liz Kendall: "We could be out of power for ever" according to Sky News paper review.
Is that supposed to motivate the party?
Seriously, she could be right but it's a remote chance. The Conservatives will lose power at some point and when they do, who will replace them as the government? UKIP? The Lib Dems? The Greens? Some new party? Because unless it is one of those, it'll be Labour.
In my opinion the Tories "maxed out" their vote at this election. The threat of a Lab/SNP coalition pushed some voters in their direction who wouldn't usually vote Conservative and probably won't do so again. To illustrate the point, they were just 5.8 points below what they polled in 1983, a time when large numbers of working-class women used to vote Conservative (not so common today) and when the ethnic minority electorate was much smaller. I think the trend we've seen in recent elections of the combined Con/Lab share declining will probably resume at the next election. So Kendall is possibly being a bit pessimistic about Labour's chances, although it's obviously better to be over-cautious rather than complacent as Ed appears to have been.
Interesting, although I'm not sure I'd categorise all of UKIP's supporters as right-wing. A lot of them are rather left-wing on economic matters, especially in the north.
I'm doing this split by party voted for. UKIP seem to be a right-wing populist party.
Interesting, although I'm not sure I'd categorise all of UKIP's supporters as right-wing. A lot of them are rather left-wing on economic matters, especially in the north.
I'm doing this split by party voted for. UKIP seem to be a right-wing populist party.
I'll move on to other regions tomorrow. They've probably already been done by someone else somewhere or other, but I like to do them anyway because it means I get a better understanding of the results.
Liz Kendall: "We could be out of power for ever" according to Sky News paper review.
Is that supposed to motivate the party?
Seriously, she could be right but it's a remote chance. The Conservatives will lose power at some point and when they do, who will replace them as the government? UKIP? The Lib Dems? The Greens? Some new party? Because unless it is one of those, it'll be Labour.
In my opinion the Tories "maxed out" their vote at this election. The threat of a Lab/SNP coalition pushed some voters in their direction who wouldn't usually vote Conservative and probably won't do so again. To illustrate the point, they were just 5.8 points below what they polled in 1983, a time when large numbers of working-class women used to vote Conservative (not so common today) and when the ethnic minority electorate was much smaller. I think the trend we've seen in recent elections of the combined Con/Lab share declining will probably resume at the next election. So Kendall is possibly being a bit pessimistic about Labour's chances, although it's obviously better to be over-cautious rather than complacent as Ed appears to have been.
The Tories have only maxed out if we remain in multi-party politics. It is quite possible in the near-to-mid term that in fact the UK - or at least England and Wales - essentially revert to 2-party politics. If the LibDems are seen to no longer be a protest party, then their raison d'être has largely gone, and their voters will naturally go to either Labour or Conservatives, except those who find another protest party, most likely the Greens in England. If the Europe issue is addressed in a manner that the bulk of the population accepts the results, the economy continues to recover and immigration is addressed satisfactorily, then UKIP's raison d'être is gone too. In that scenario, we are back to Conservatives and Labour, unless Labour splits to a centre left and further left parties.
Interesting, although I'm not sure I'd categorise all of UKIP's supporters as right-wing. A lot of them are rather left-wing on economic matters, especially in the north.
I'm doing this split by party voted for. UKIP seem to be a right-wing populist party.
"Today our left-wing politicians in particular are constantly insisting that their craven-hearted and obsequious foreign policy necessarily results from the disarmament of Germany, whereas the truth is that this is the policy of traitors [...] But the politicians of the Right deserve exactly the same reproach. It was through their miserable cowardice that those ruffians [...] who came into power in 1918 were able to rob the nation of its arms.[12]"
I'll move on to other regions tomorrow. They've probably already been done by someone else somewhere or other, but I like to do them anyway because it means I get a better understanding of the results.
Much appreciated - I was thinking of doing my own spreadsheets but maybe later
And here was me popping into PB.com and having only one question left to ask about this thread topic.. Can the Libdems really afford a by-election of any kind, never mind one that sees their last Leader disappearing off to pastures new and reducing their numbers even further to the size that will just require a people carrier? Nick Clegg is currently caught between a rock and a hard place.
And here was me putting into PB.com and having only one question about this thread topic.. Can the Libdems really afford a by-election of any kind, never mind one that sees their last Leader disappearing off to pastures new and reducing their numbers even further to the size that will just require a people carrier? Nick Clegg is currently caught between a rock and a hard place.
Liz Kendall: "We could be out of power for ever" according to Sky News paper review.
Is that supposed to motivate the party?
Seriously, she could be right but it's a remote chance. The Conservatives will lose power at some point and when they do, who will replace them as the government? UKIP? The Lib Dems? The Greens? Some new party? Because unless it is one of those, it'll be Labour.
It's not supposed to motivate them to be happy, it's supposed to motivate them to get their shit together.
It's not particularly far-fetched. The Japanese Social Democrats are now almost completely irrelevant, the LDP are hardly ever out of government and half of the main opposition are dissident factions of the LDP that defected to a new party.
Comments
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154767/Diamond-jubilee-BBC-attacked-inane-celebrity-driven-coverage-Queens-Thames-Pageant.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3083863/It-s-Ed-stone-No-10-tracked-bleak-London-warehouse-boss-stonemasons-carved-reveals-s-true-blue-Tory.html
Estimated cost = £30,000
Could buy some quality artwork for £30k or an EdStone...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11608648/Lynton-Crosby-Betrayal-of-British-voters.html
North East region:
2015:
Lab: 557,100 (46.89%)
Con: 300,943 (25.33%)
UKIP: 198,823 (16.73%)
LD: 77,095 (6.49%)
Greens: 43,051 (3.62%)
Others: 11,201 (0.94%)
TOTAL: 1,188,213
2010:
Lab: 518,261 (43.55%)
Con: 282,347 (23.73%)
LD: 280,468 (23.57%)
UKIP: 32,196 (2.72%)
Greens: 3,787 (0.32%)
Others: 72,864 (6.12%)
TOTAL: 1,189,923
Changes:
Lab: +3.33%
Con: +1.60%
UKIP: +14.03%
LD: -17.08%
Greens: +3.30%
Others: -5.18%
Swing, Con to Lab: 0.87%
In one of Labour's best regions in England the number of votes cast fell slightly which probably wasn't a good sign for them.
All those carriages would look like a summer evening in Central Park.
“It wasn’t just Ed Miliband’s Labour Party that revealed itself as out of touch and remote from the people who are the backbone of Britain. It was a failure for the Westminster-centric ‘Eddie the Expert’ and ‘Clarrie the Commentator’ who were tested and found wanting.
Now here's the Main Event - Romney - Holyfield: get your money on now!
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/15/406986457/mitt-romney-to-fight-evander-holyfield-you-read-that-right
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/15/romney-holyfield-set-to-square-off-in-charity-fight/
The promo video is a hoot
“I’ve been around politics a long time." Mr Crosby said." And I’ve seen people entitled to comment as they wish but some of the commentators, who claimed to be Conservative supporters - like Tim Montgomerie from The Times [also Iain Duncan Smith's former chief of staff] - I think in the end, became slightly gratuitous participants.
NE Split almost exactly like Wales:
Left-wing 50.5%
Right-wing 42.0
Centre/others 7.5
At the Preakness, another tradition unlike any other has been banned - the running of the urinals.
They have a row of about 2 dozen portapotties linked together. The idea is that contestants - presumably in various stages of being high or drunk, climb the end portapotty and then try to run along the roofs of the row to the other end without falling, all the while being pelted with cans of beer and other stuff.
It's not worth watching now.
What would the Preakness be without this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIcyFSYhvV4
Seriously, she could be right but it's a remote chance. The Conservatives will lose power at some point and when they do, who will replace them as the government? UKIP? The Lib Dems? The Greens? Some new party? Because unless it is one of those, it'll be Labour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Independence_Party
Greater London:
2015:
Lab: 1,545,080 (43.69%)
Con: 1,233,386 (34.88%)
UKIP: 286,946 (8.11%)
LD: 272,544 (7.71%)
Greens: 171,652 (4.85%)
Others: 26,622 (0.75%)
TOTAL: 3,536,230
2010:
Lab: 1,245,637 (36.62%)
Con: 1,174,588 (34.53%)
LD: 751,561 (22.10%)
UKIP: 59,452 (1.75%)
Greens: 54,316 (1.60%)
Others: 115,783 (3.40%)
TOTAL: 3,401,317
Changes:
Lab: +7.07%
Con: +0.35%
UKIP: +6.37%
LD: -14.39%
Greens: +3.26%
Others: -2.65%
Swing, Con to Lab: 3.36%
ideological split;
Left 48.5
Right 43.0
Centre 8.5
Not a majority, only a plurality for the Left in London.
- Hitler in Mein Kampf
Edit - also, I only posted to keep Peter on edge
It's not particularly far-fetched. The Japanese Social Democrats are now almost completely irrelevant, the LDP are hardly ever out of government and half of the main opposition are dissident factions of the LDP that defected to a new party.