Lest we forget Labour leadership elections are conducted under the alternative vote system, which is the finest voting system known to anyone woman born.
Expect regular AV threads between now and the result.
I am more excited that Christmas is nearly here and of course in Chez Urquhart that means watching the best Christmas movie ever....
The Empire Strikes Back?
Well that film has more snow in it than Die Hard.
Die Hard is not a Christmas film, think about it, the lead character sneaks around at night in tower hiding from Alan Rickman, Die Hard is a Harry Potter film.
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Starmer is by far the most credible potential Labour leader on offer, the brightest and the most centrist, great news for the Tories if he does not get it
Starmer would seem very unlikely to reverse Labours fortunes in the north. He could make some impact on remania but that depends on Johnson not pivoting to bigger spending and taking that ground from them.
Not sure how much his popularity with members is simply a by product of them not wanting Brexit to happen. Once it does happen does his popularity shrink?
Starmer would be the candidate most feared by the Tories - he's the closest to a Blair that Labour has right now.
For all the current Blair hate, he was an exceptional politician. Starmer is just a reasonable and intelligent lawyer, he has done nothing to deserve comparisons with Blair. Blair didnt win landslides by just being reasonable and not loony left.
Oh don’t get me wrong, he’s a thousand miles away from being Blair. But he’s a million miles closer than most of the other lightweight nonentities mentioned today.
Lest we forget Labour leadership elections are conducted under the alternative vote system, which is the finest voting system known to anyone woman born.
Expect regular AV threads between now and the result.
Don't get ahead of yourself. Quite conceivably there may not be a contested Labour leadership election. For there to be more than one candidate, then according to David Herdson at least one of the big 4 unions will have to nominate a different candidate than the others, otherwise there will be only one candidate getting more than 5% of nominations from affiliated organisations.
Lest we forget Labour leadership elections are conducted under the alternative vote system, which is the finest voting system known to anyone woman born.
Expect regular AV threads between now and the result.
I am more excited that Christmas is nearly here and of course in Chez Urquhart that means watching the best Christmas movie ever....
Bruce Willis: [Last lines] Die Hard... is NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE! It's a goddamn Bruce Willis movie! So yippie-ki-yay to every one of you motherfuckers! Goodnight!
Incidentally, anyone know the correct share of the vote for last week? Wiki figures look wrong when you look at Con and Lab votes compared to total votes, both higher than they state. Thanks.
Are you comparing UK or GB shares? Both are on the wiki page for polling for the next GE.
Lest we forget Labour leadership elections are conducted under the alternative vote system, which is the finest voting system known to anyone woman born.
Expect regular AV threads between now and the result.
I am more excited that Christmas is nearly here and of course in Chez Urquhart that means watching the best Christmas movie ever....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj-YK3JJCIU
Love Actually?
The last person I want to see on my moving picture box is Hugh Grant !!!
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Surely everything the Lib Dems have done in the last four years has been laying the groundwork for the triumphal return of Nick Clegg to UK politics.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
Been looking at 1st time incumbency if anyone's interested! Labour took 28 seats from Con in 2017. In those, 24 had below average drop in Labour vote and only 4 higher. Average drop in all 28 was 4.3% compared to 7.9% nationally. Managed to retain 14 of the 28 seats even though Lab to Con swing in 2019 was bigger than Con to Lab in 2017 nationally. Conclusion is that 1st time incumbency is alive and well. All other things being equal, should make it pretty tough for Labour to claw back all the 50 seats they lost to Con last week. Especially if the new MP's concentrate on their constituencies for the next 4½ years. Or, the new Blair could be around the corner and they'll win them all and many more...…………….
It would be interesting to know how strong the Tory organisation is in those red wall seats.
Normally it’s rare for any MP to get elected for the first time by gaining a marginal seat without pretty good backup, that organisation then enabling them - if they give it due attention - to do the between-election spadework needed to get that incumbency vote. But I’d be a little surprised if the Tory organisation in Wakefield and the rest is particularly strong, but others might actually know?
It won't be but Boris seems to know that and will be throwing bones in the directions of the appropriate seats.
I suspect Teesside is going to do very well out if Government investment in the next 5 years.
Seeing as this site is a font of all knowledge any mid size quoted companies that are well placed to do well out of such investment?
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Or if they can get the recession dealt with early enough...
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
Credit to TSE for his insight on Hallam.
But North Norfolk (15% swing against LD) was by far the worst LD result of the night.
Been looking at 1st time incumbency if anyone's interested! Labour took 28 seats from Con in 2017. In those, 24 had below average drop in Labour vote and only 4 higher. Average drop in all 28 was 4.3% compared to 7.9% nationally. Managed to retain 14 of the 28 seats even though Lab to Con swing in 2019 was bigger than Con to Lab in 2017 nationally. Conclusion is that 1st time incumbency is alive and well. All other things being equal, should make it pretty tough for Labour to claw back all the 50 seats they lost to Con last week. Especially if the new MP's concentrate on their constituencies for the next 4½ years. Or, the new Blair could be around the corner and they'll win them all and many more...…………….
It would be interesting to know how strong the Tory organisation is in those red wall seats.
Normally it’s rare for any MP to get elected for the first time by gaining a marginal seat without pretty good backup, that organisation then enabling them - if they give it due attention - to do the between-election spadework needed to get that incumbency vote. But I’d be a little surprised if the Tory organisation in Wakefield and the rest is particularly strong, but others might actually know?
Apparently the new Tory MP for Wakefield is the world's first openly gay Muslim politician.
One interesting aspect of the tory pivot to build a blue wall. What will happen to all those southern shires? Obviously with Corbyn in the picture they would always stay blue. But if the tories really do enact a big pitch leftwards on economics, increased spending, investment in the North etc, are any of those southern seats that Blair won in 1997 vulnerable to going yellow perhaps? Or maybe some sort of Farage Reform right wing party taking votes. Probably not in the short term but as the tories reorient themselves to the North it shouldn't be forgotten that politics abhors a vacuum and they've lost Southern seats before.
By the time the Blue Wall crumbles Boris will have had his fun, so it will be up to his successor to deal with it.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
I like Starmer - he is a serious, intelligent and articulate man of substance. But I don't think he has the salesman skills necessary to be an effective leader in today's media environment. He needs to be an integral part of the shadow Cabinet, however. I suspect that one of the non-London women will be the best candidate, which one I don't know. The key thing is that the Left accept that the public won't vote for a full on Socialist manifesto, and accept that the party needs to come to its policy positions via weight of argument not weight of numbers. I don't think Labour had a bad election campaign. We had an unpopular leader, a too extreme manifesto and faced an impossible choice on Brexit. The media were a factor but there's no point harping on about it, better to figure out how Blair era Labour was able to neutralise it. I actually think Labour can win the next election, as long as we put our house in order. If the government screw things up - especially on Brexit where they are taking huge risks with the economy - then Labour can win in 2024.
I think that's a bit optimistic, but it's worth remembering that back in 2005 there were questions about how the Conservatives would ever win another election and even whether the Lib Dems might overtake them/the Lib Dems offering the real opposition to Labour.
What happened after that was a combination of things largely beyond Labour's control (worldwide financial crash - we could have been better prepared, but we did not stand out as being excessively badly hit compared to other nations) and the Conservatives choosing a reasonably telegenic and moderate leader who got them a second hearing with people who wouldn't have voted for Howard or IDS.
Much the same in 1997 (though Blair was particularly good at appealing beyond Labour's base and some Tory wounds, particularly the infighting on Europe, were self-inflicted). We'll have another big recession. It will likely be tied (rightly or wrongly) to Brexit. If Labour have chosen someone halfway competent then they'll have a good chance. Of course, neither, or at least only one of those things, may have happened by the next election.
Note I said "can" not "will"! I agree with you entirely. Opposition's don't win elections, governments lose them. But oppositions also need to look electable as well as waiting for the government to screw things up. I don't think Brexiteers really appreciate how difficult what they are proposing to do is, there is a good chance it will go tits up and then Labour need to be ready to sweep in, pin it all on the Tories and reap the rewards. Of course if Brexit turns out to be a great success then Labour are screwed. We'll just have to see how it all plays out.
Lest we forget Labour leadership elections are conducted under the alternative vote system, which is the finest voting system known to anyone woman born.
Expect regular AV threads between now and the result.
Sounds like a good reason to only have two candidates on the ballot!
Been looking at 1st time incumbency if anyone's interested! Labour took 28 seats from Con in 2017. In those, 24 had below average drop in Labour vote and only 4 higher. Average drop in all 28 was 4.3% compared to 7.9% nationally. Managed to retain 14 of the 28 seats even though Lab to Con swing in 2019 was bigger than Con to Lab in 2017 nationally. Conclusion is that 1st time incumbency is alive and well. All other things being equal, should make it pretty tough for Labour to claw back all the 50 seats they lost to Con last week. Especially if the new MP's concentrate on their constituencies for the next 4½ years. Or, the new Blair could be around the corner and they'll win them all and many more...…………….
It would be interesting to know how strong the Tory organisation is in those red wall seats.
Normally it’s rare for any MP to get elected for the first time by gaining a marginal seat without pretty good backup, that organisation then enabling them - if they give it due attention - to do the between-election spadework needed to get that incumbency vote. But I’d be a little surprised if the Tory organisation in Wakefield and the rest is particularly strong, but others might actually know?
Apparently the new Tory MP for Wakefield is the world's first openly gay Muslim politician.
Sorry but Google takes me straight to Baron Alli, 20 years ago.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
I’m afraid it’s the mark of a populist that the eeeeevil media is always out to get them. Corbyn is a populist as much as Trump, he’s just a socialist populist as opposed to being a right-wing one.
Boris is a populist as well. But he gets away with it more because he does that affable chuntering when he’s being critical of the media so he manages to divert attention. Look at what a lot of the Tories have been saying about the BBC and Channel 4 in this election and you see that they’re just as bad.
I would also point out that if both parties are criticising the media for how hard done by they were, that probably means the media was doing something right.
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Surely everything the Lib Dems have done in the last four years has been laying the groundwork for the triumphal return of Nick Clegg to UK politics.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
Nick Clegg? After he went from describing himself as a Liberal Democrat, to taking the Danegeld from one of the most evil corporations on the planet?
Been looking at 1st time incumbency if anyone's interested! Labour took 28 seats from Con in 2017. In those, 24 had below average drop in Labour vote and only 4 higher. Average drop in all 28 was 4.3% compared to 7.9% nationally. Managed to retain 14 of the 28 seats even though Lab to Con swing in 2019 was bigger than Con to Lab in 2017 nationally. Conclusion is that 1st time incumbency is alive and well. All other things being equal, should make it pretty tough for Labour to claw back all the 50 seats they lost to Con last week. Especially if the new MP's concentrate on their constituencies for the next 4½ years. Or, the new Blair could be around the corner and they'll win them all and many more...…………….
It would be interesting to know how strong the Tory organisation is in those red wall seats.
Normally it’s rare for any MP to get elected for the first time by gaining a marginal seat without pretty good backup, that organisation then enabling them - if they give it due attention - to do the between-election spadework needed to get that incumbency vote. But I’d be a little surprised if the Tory organisation in Wakefield and the rest is particularly strong, but others might actually know?
Apparently the new Tory MP for Wakefield is the world's first openly gay Muslim politician.
Sorry but Google takes me straight to Baron Alli, 20 years ago.
She's just too old and jaded. Efforts are already under way at Lib Dem HQ to produce a clone who can be kept in seclusion without any education or contact with other human beings before being elected leader of the party and achieving victory in the 2038 election.
Like many others, I'm also going to be taking a break from politics. I think it's been a very long year and now we all need some time to reflect on it. See you lot in the new year.
Been looking at 1st time incumbency if anyone's interested! Labour took 28 seats from Con in 2017. In those, 24 had below average drop in Labour vote and only 4 higher. Average drop in all 28 was 4.3% compared to 7.9% nationally. Managed to retain 14 of the 28 seats even though Lab to Con swing in 2019 was bigger than Con to Lab in 2017 nationally. Conclusion is that 1st time incumbency is alive and well. All other things being equal, should make it pretty tough for Labour to claw back all the 50 seats they lost to Con last week. Especially if the new MP's concentrate on their constituencies for the next 4½ years. Or, the new Blair could be around the corner and they'll win them all and many more...…………….
It would be interesting to know how strong the Tory organisation is in those red wall seats.
Normally it’s rare for any MP to get elected for the first time by gaining a marginal seat without pretty good backup, that organisation then enabling them - if they give it due attention - to do the between-election spadework needed to get that incumbency vote. But I’d be a little surprised if the Tory organisation in Wakefield and the rest is particularly strong, but others might actually know?
Apparently the new Tory MP for Wakefield is the world's first openly gay Muslim politician.
Sorry but Google takes me straight to Baron Alli, 20 years ago.
Elected politician?
The post I was replying to said "the world's first openly gay Muslim politician." Easily misunderstood, perhaps.
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Surely everything the Lib Dems have done in the last four years has been laying the groundwork for the triumphal return of Nick Clegg to UK politics.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
Just learned something new about Sheffield Hallam!
Richard Allan was the Lib Dem MP in Sheffield Hallam from 1997 to 2005, before making way for Nick Clegg.
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Surely everything the Lib Dems have done in the last four years has been laying the groundwork for the triumphal return of Nick Clegg to UK politics.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
Nick Clegg? After he went from describing himself as a Liberal Democrat, to taking the Danegeld from one of the most evil corporations on the planet?
You'll be laughing on the other side of your face when every Facebook account in the universe is telling you to vote for Nick Clegg!
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Surely everything the Lib Dems have done in the last four years has been laying the groundwork for the triumphal return of Nick Clegg to UK politics.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
Nick Clegg? After he went from describing himself as a Liberal Democrat, to taking the Danegeld from one of the most evil corporations on the planet?
Taking the Danegeld ? You might want to work on the historical metaphors...
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
Note I said "can" not "will"! I agree with you entirely. Opposition's don't win elections, governments lose them. But oppositions also need to look electable as well as waiting for the government to screw things up. I don't think Brexiteers really appreciate how difficult what they are proposing to do is, there is a good chance it will go tits up and then Labour need to be ready to sweep in, pin it all on the Tories and reap the rewards. Of course if Brexit turns out to be a great success then Labour are screwed. We'll just have to see how it all plays out.
I think that's right. People are over-analysing things: it's really very simple. This feels to me a bit like the period starting in around 1990: the government then was very unpopular, with very severe self-inflicted wounds such as the poll tax and general arrogance, as well as being tired and complacent. In 1992 voters were wanting a change; they looked at Kinnock and his team but Labour just wasn't quite convincing as an alternative party of government, so Major held on by default.
Blair, Campbell, Mandelson and Brown realised what needed to be done, which was why they put such a massive amount of effort into ensuring they were credible as a serious alternative, with the 'prawn cocktail' initiative and some grown-up policy development, all focus-group tested and stripping out the bonkers stuff. Of course they were helped by Blair's presentational skill, but the team as a whole was credible, it wasn't just him.
Labour will be back in government just as soon as there is an election at which they look like a serious alternative government-in-waiting again. I think it's as simple as that.
The other point to observe is just how incredibly strong the Labour brand is. I find it astonishing that they still managed to clock up a third of all the votes cast, despite having a voter-repellent leader, the weakest front bench of any major party since the war, being mired in anti-Semitism, being seen as weak or worse on terrorism and defence, ducking the central issue of the day, and coming up with a manifesto which was beyond ludicrous, compounded by bizarrely proposing to splurge £58bn on a minor and undeserving cause. Still people voted for them: just think how well they could do if they were seen as decent and half-sane again.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Watch the John Harris "Anywhere but Westminster" and that certainly wasn't the case. Brexit and Corbyn played out time and time again.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Or if they can get the recession dealt with early enough...
A cyclical recession maybe, no chance with a Brexit related was one.
@ThescreamingEagles What do you make of the Sheffield Hallam result ? Must be ripe for a Tory bounce back post Brexit (Only 5k away now). Probably the worst result of the night for the Lib Dems.
I did say that Hallam was looking like a potential Labour hold.
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Surely everything the Lib Dems have done in the last four years has been laying the groundwork for the triumphal return of Nick Clegg to UK politics.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
Nick Clegg? After he went from describing himself as a Liberal Democrat, to taking the Danegeld from one of the most evil corporations on the planet?
Taking the Danegeld ? You might want to work on the historical metaphors...
My history doesn’t go back much further than a list of F1 champions!
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
The "abnormal" people were in the majority voting for remain parties. The "normal" people in the minority just had a better geographic dispersal giving them more MPs and the win.
To go further, the mere fact that a second ref was somehow seen as the "centre ground" on Brexit was quite frankly insulting to the vast majority that voted to leave I reckon. It was a window moved by parliament and the Labour party membership, not shared by the country at large.
The country was and is divided over Brexit. There has never been a vast majority on either side and still isnt. Leave voters were simply both better represented in the GE and geographically their vote was more efficiently dispersed.
And Remain parties won more votes than Leave parties.
Labour wasn't an unequivocally Remain party, nor could it have been with Corbyn at its head and hoping to retain English leave seats.
If we had PR like the rest of Europe we would all now be betting on the outcome of the second EU referendum.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
Lest we forget Labour leadership elections are conducted under the alternative vote system, which is the finest voting system known to anyone woman born.
Expect regular AV threads between now and the result.
I am more excited that Christmas is nearly here and of course in Chez Urquhart that means watching the best Christmas movie ever....
Bruce Willis: [Last lines] Die Hard... is NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE! It's a goddamn Bruce Willis movie! So yippie-ki-yay to every one of you motherfuckers! Goodnight!
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly how did he get on with the assault course on Krypton Factor!
I think Starmer is Labour's Kenneth Baker. He may be talking sense but that annoyingly smug face compares well.
Brexit may have been the catalyst but telling your own voters they're thick racist scum is never a good idea. I felt sorry for Caroline Flint and wonder what Lady Nugee is playing at. Whether she said it or not, I suspect she thinks it. A nice protracted court case would only emphasise this. As Flint is more attractive - I'm on her side.
Have I ever denied being shallow? Ah, now we come back to Keir Baker.
Rail firm claims Greta Thunberg had FIRST CLASS seat after she posts snap of her sat on floor because of ‘overcrowding’
Surely she had even more cause for complaint, if she'd bought an expensive first-class ticket?
No, they gave her one.....
“Thank you for supporting us railroaders in the fight against climate change! We were happy that you travelled with us on Saturday in the ICE 74 ... but it would have been even nicer, had you also reported how friendly and competently you were looked after by our team at your seat in the first class.”
DB confirmed that Greta had travelled first class between the cities of Kassel and Hamburg.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
And many people who voted leave, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts of Johnson, Francois, Cummings and Rees-Mogg.
For someone who (rightly) complains about a large chunk of the electorate being forgotten by politicians, now your side has won it might be a good time to consider that phrasing leavers as "normal" people is unnecessarily divisive.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly how did he get on with the assault course on Krypton Factor!
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
And many people who voted leave, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts of Johnson, Francois, Cummings and Rees-Mogg.
For someone who (rightly) complains about a large chunk of the electorate being forgotten by politicians, now your side has won it might be a good time to consider that phrasing leavers as "normal" people is unnecessarily divisive.
It's you who is saying that I am phrasing only leavers as normal people. I didn't say anything of the sort.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly how did he get on with the assault course on Krypton Factor!
Rail firm claims Greta Thunberg had FIRST CLASS seat after she posts snap of her sat on floor because of ‘overcrowding’
Surely she had even more cause for complaint, if she'd bought an expensive first-class ticket?
No, they gave her one.....
“Thank you for supporting us railroaders in the fight against climate change! We were happy that you travelled with us on Saturday in the ICE 74 ... but it would have been even nicer, had you also reported how friendly and competently you were looked after by our team at your seat in the first class.”
DB confirmed that Greta had travelled first class between the cities of Kassel and Hamburg.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly how did he get on with the assault course on Krypton Factor!
youtu.be/d8SsvZLcDSY?t=1007
The internet never forgets...
The year’s grand final, so he must have appeared three times!
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
And many people who voted leave, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts of Johnson, Francois, Cummings and Rees-Mogg.
For someone who (rightly) complains about a large chunk of the electorate being forgotten by politicians, now your side has won it might be a good time to consider that phrasing leavers as "normal" people is unnecessarily divisive.
It's you who is saying that I am phrasing only leavers as normal people. I didn't say anything of the sort.
Your statement defined that a normal person "generally" thinks remain tactics are wrong, it is therefore clearly suggesting that remainers are less normal. Over half the country voted for remain parties and the vast majority of them are perfectly normal.
Rail firm claims Greta Thunberg had FIRST CLASS seat after she posts snap of her sat on floor because of ‘overcrowding’
Surely she had even more cause for complaint, if she'd bought an expensive first-class ticket?
No, they gave her one.....
“Thank you for supporting us railroaders in the fight against climate change! We were happy that you travelled with us on Saturday in the ICE 74 ... but it would have been even nicer, had you also reported how friendly and competently you were looked after by our team at your seat in the first class.”
DB confirmed that Greta had travelled first class between the cities of Kassel and Hamburg.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly he was also on Deal or No Deal.
How did he get on?
"WHILE most people in the betting industry have been busy trying to work out impossible races like the Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, one Bet365 employee had his mind on other puzzles recently.
Bet365's Aaron Bell was crowned The Krypton Factor champion on Thursday with an astonishingly high score of 47 and that was after making himself second favourite to win the ITV gameshow.
The trading development manager has been a regular on the telly over the years, notably picking up £25,000 on Deal Or No Deal, and his addiction to gameshows led Bell to naming the tables at his weddings after the programmes he had previously been on.
As well as The Krypton Factor and Deal Or No Deal, Bell has also appeared on Fifteen To One, University Challenge, Eggheads, TV Scrabble, Defectors, Memory Bank, Brainteaser, The Waiting Game and Playing For Time, while his wife made an appearance on Golden Balls.
Bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Hopefully he will now stop signing autographs for the tea ladies and concentrate on pushing the company forward!" "
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Evidence?
They all lost their seats?
That is mere geographic dispersal, the majority voted for remain parties and that is with more Tory remainers than Labour leavers.
To go further, the mere fact that a second ref was somehow seen as the "centre ground" on Brexit was quite frankly insulting to the vast majority that voted to leave I reckon. It was a window moved by parliament and the Labour party membership, not shared by the country at large.
The country was and is divided over Brexit. There has never been a vast majority on either side and still isnt. Leave voters were simply both better represented in the GE and geographically their vote was more efficiently dispersed.
And Remain parties won more votes than Leave parties.
Labour wasn't an unequivocally Remain party, nor could it have been with Corbyn at its head and hoping to retain English leave seats.
If we had PR like the rest of Europe we would all now be betting on the outcome of the second EU referendum.
With PM Johnson and DPM Farage campaigning for Leave.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly he was also on Deal or No Deal.
How did he get on?
"WHILE most people in the betting industry have been busy trying to work out impossible races like the Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, one Bet365 employee had his mind on other puzzles recently.
Bet365's Aaron Bell was crowned The Krypton Factor champion on Thursday with an astonishingly high score of 47 and that was after making himself second favourite to win the ITV gameshow.
The trading development manager has been a regular on the telly over the years, notably picking up £25,000 on Deal Or No Deal, and his addiction to gameshows led Bell to naming the tables at his weddings after the programmes he had previously been on.
As well as The Krypton Factor and Deal Or No Deal, Bell has also appeared on Fifteen To One, University Challenge, Eggheads, TV Scrabble, Defectors, Memory Bank, Brainteaser, The Waiting Game and Playing For Time, while his wife made an appearance on Golden Balls.
Bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Hopefully he will now stop signing autographs for the tea ladies and concentrate on pushing the company forward!" "
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
And many people who voted leave, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts of Johnson, Francois, Cummings and Rees-Mogg.
For someone who (rightly) complains about a large chunk of the electorate being forgotten by politicians, now your side has won it might be a good time to consider that phrasing leavers as "normal" people is unnecessarily divisive.
It's you who is saying that I am phrasing only leavers as normal people. I didn't say anything of the sort.
Your statement defined that a normal person "generally" thinks remain tactics are wrong, it is therefore clearly suggesting that remainers are less normal. Over half the country voted for remain parties and the vast majority of them are perfectly normal.
Well I don't think Remain voters are abnormal. Stretch it as much as you like to take offence, fine by me
Is RLB the lay of the century to be next leader? (apart from the time Boris was)
6/4???!
No. Not if previous live outsider Rayner is in her team. Surely that's an unstoppable (No really, don't laugh) combination ?!
The NorthWest is VERY marginal rich next time round, you could arguably add High Peak to the NW marginals which makes 5 of the top 10 Tory defences in the NW. Another 3 are London and Moray in Scotland.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly he was also on Deal or No Deal.
How did he get on?
"WHILE most people in the betting industry have been busy trying to work out impossible races like the Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, one Bet365 employee had his mind on other puzzles recently.
Bet365's Aaron Bell was crowned The Krypton Factor champion on Thursday with an astonishingly high score of 47 and that was after making himself second favourite to win the ITV gameshow.
The trading development manager has been a regular on the telly over the years, notably picking up £25,000 on Deal Or No Deal, and his addiction to gameshows led Bell to naming the tables at his weddings after the programmes he had previously been on.
As well as The Krypton Factor and Deal Or No Deal, Bell has also appeared on Fifteen To One, University Challenge, Eggheads, TV Scrabble, Defectors, Memory Bank, Brainteaser, The Waiting Game and Playing For Time, while his wife made an appearance on Golden Balls.
Bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Hopefully he will now stop signing autographs for the tea ladies and concentrate on pushing the company forward!" "
There may well be significant online betting legislation either in this parliament or the next, it would be good to have someone who has worked in the industry involved.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Evidence?
They all lost their seats?
Get someone to explain to you how First Past The Post works some time.
Rail firm claims Greta Thunberg had FIRST CLASS seat after she posts snap of her sat on floor because of ‘overcrowding’
Surely she had even more cause for complaint, if she'd bought an expensive first-class ticket?
No, they gave her one.....
“Thank you for supporting us railroaders in the fight against climate change! We were happy that you travelled with us on Saturday in the ICE 74 ... but it would have been even nicer, had you also reported how friendly and competently you were looked after by our team at your seat in the first class.”
DB confirmed that Greta had travelled first class between the cities of Kassel and Hamburg.
Rail firm claims Greta Thunberg had FIRST CLASS seat after she posts snap of her sat on floor because of ‘overcrowding’
Surely she had even more cause for complaint, if she'd bought an expensive first-class ticket?
Odd, you are normally booked on a specific service with a seat reservation on a DB long distance service. Unless she was doing it on a QdL or Land ticket in which case it's regional and local trains only without bookable seats.
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Evidence?
They all lost their seats?
Get someone to explain to you how First Past The Post works some time.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Evidence?
They all lost their seats?
Get someone to explain to you how First Past The Post works some time.
Perhaps the assertion that Jo Swinson lost her seat because of her efforts to block Brexit deserves a nomination for the Annual PB Comedy Award, considering that the pro-Brexit vote in her constituency amounted to 14.5%!
It will be interesting to know how many of those the public could name. Not only do they now have bugger all MPs, they don't even have the likes of Uncle Vice or Norman Lamb.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Evidence?
They all lost their seats?
Get someone to explain to you how First Past The Post works some time.
Perhaps the assertion that Jo Swinson lost her seat because of her efforts to block Brexit deserves a nomination for the Annual PB Comedy Award, considering that the pro-Brexit vote in her constituency amounted to 14.5%!
Perhaps not, as I didnt say it was a pro Brexit vote that cost her, or anyone else, their seats.
It will be interesting to know how many of those the public could name. Not only do they now have bugger all MPs, they don't even have the likes of Uncle Vice or Norman Lamb.
Yep, it really was a catastrophic result for them.
It will be interesting to know how many of those the public could name. Not only do they now have bugger all MPs, they don't even have the likes of Uncle Vice or Norman Lamb.
Perhaps the assertion that Jo Swinson lost her seat because of her efforts to block Brexit deserves a nomination for the Annual PB Comedy Award, considering that the pro-Brexit vote in her constituency amounted to 14.5%!
Though maybe if she hadn't decided to piss all over that 14.5% some of them would have tactically backed her to stop the SNP. And maybe she wouldn't have looked such a clown and more of the constituency would have been proud to be led by a party leader?
The thing I don't get about Labour's attack on the media. Anybody would think Boris didn't get any incoming at all...you know like that about not wanting to look at a photo....not doing Andrew Neil interview...the stunt where a lady in burka got to ask him why she thought she looked like a bank robber.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
2019 was only one of two elections I can recall where I felt that the balance of the BBC coverage was clearly against the Conservatives. In this election the desire to Remain overturned normal hostilities. The other was 1997, when the country as a whole was caught up with Blair mania and that extended to the liberal media establishment. These are the exceptions -generally it's Labour that seems to come off the worst.
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
What I find amusing is that Brexit barely registered on the TV vox pops during the election. And yet, the moment the Tories romp home, the media magically find people who are prepared to say it was Brexit what won it.
Because it avoids the truth being discussed..
Normal people, who are generally unimpressed by lawyers finding loopholes that deny what they see as justice being done, were less impressed with the Remain MPs antics in preventing any deal being done than the MPs and their cronies in the echo chamber
"Normal people" as reflected by opinion polls have remained split roughly equally between Leave and Remain ever since the referendum.
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
It's not.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
All's fair if it's legal and tests the robustness of the Constitution (cf prorogation of parliament). For me it was the fanatics of the ERG who frustrated Brexit for so long.
And what have they ended up with before anyone crows at their victory? A path to a united Ireland. Well done them.
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Evidence?
They all lost their seats?
Get someone to explain to you how First Past The Post works some time.
To you it seems. If the voters were impressed with the likes of Swinson, Soubry etc they could have kept their seats. None did.
They voted against the desperate stunts of Swinson to block Brexit - and for the desperate stunts of the SNP? The combined Lib Dem/SNP vote in Swinson's seat totalling 74%?
Surely this election result provides enough ammunition for sensible points to be made by PB Tories, without descending to quite this level of absurdity.
It will be interesting to know how many of those the public could name. Not only do they now have bugger all MPs, they don't even have the likes of Uncle Vice or Norman Lamb.
All's fair if it's legal and tests the robustness of the Constitution (cf prorogation of parliament). For me it was the fanatics of the ERG who frustrated Brexit for so long.
And what have they ended up with before anyone crows at their victory? A path to a united Ireland. Well done them.
They've ended up winning. They've got a deal much more to their liking, a Parliament much more to their liking and will get a final Brexit agreement much more to their liking.
The ERG have won. The idea they "frustrated Brexit" is a fallacy that should have long since been put down now.
As for the path to the united Ireland, that may be relevant if you were talking about the DUP not the ERG. Of those who opposed May's deal the ERG are big winners and the DUP, Tiggers, Labour, Lib Dems and Conservative Remainers are the big losers.
Congressman Jeff van Drew leaving the Democrats and joining the Republicans over Trump’s impeachment.
What.....there has to be more to the story than that? Why would any democrat being going to the Republicans. You would think if anything it would be the other way around.
BBC: "Aaron Bell, now Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is used to being on camera thanks to multiple quiz show appearances. Mr Bell has been on University Challenge, the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect." No mention of his PB connection.
More importantly how did he get on with the assault course on Krypton Factor!
Not sure if common knowledge or not, but apparently the time events on the Krypton factor were heavily edited to make it look like the contestants all finished in similar times. At least one contestant took well over 30 minutes on one of the puzzles, with the audience yelling out advice...
It will be interesting to know how many of those the public could name. Not only do they now have bugger all MPs, they don't even have the likes of Uncle Vice or Norman Lamb.
Uncle Vice is an awesome typo.
Well we all know how he likes to deploy his nuclear weapon...
Comments
I think the Tories could gain it in 2024 but would need a perfect five years for it to happen.
If we can avoid a (Brexit related) recession then it is possible.
Quite possibly in the role of Boris Johnson's catamite, but all the more reason to think his seat is just being kept warm for him.
But North Norfolk (15% swing against LD) was by far the worst LD result of the night.
Nor until previous elections was there special Panorama's on their backgrounds. Cameron got it, Boris got in (in the London Mayoral elections). There was no Jezza special, which done properly would have been absolute killer.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/12/can-new-mp-really-lead-liberal-democrats
Boris is a populist as well. But he gets away with it more because he does that affable chuntering when he’s being critical of the media so he manages to divert attention. Look at what a lot of the Tories have been saying about the BBC and Channel 4 in this election and you see that they’re just as bad.
I would also point out that if both parties are criticising the media for how hard done by they were, that probably means the media was doing something right.
Happy Christmas y'all!
Richard Allan was the Lib Dem MP in Sheffield Hallam from 1997 to 2005, before making way for Nick Clegg.
After leaving parliament he went on to become "head of European regulatory affairs for the technology giant Cisco" and then in 2009 was appointed as "Director of Policy in Europe" (i.e. their head-honcho lobbyist in the EU) for a well-known US-based online social-networking corporation (source: Facebook hires lobbyists to push privacy agenda: Social networking site hopes increase influence with world authorities, The Guardian, 26 June 2009).
Now I wonder what Nick Clegg is up to now...
Hadn't realised this angle before. Surely not a complete coincidence. The power of networking, eh?
You might want to work on the historical metaphors...
It's also relevant that the influence of both the broadcast media and press is less than ever before, with the rise of alternative news outlets and social media.
So it's ironic that 2019 of all elections is the one in which the far left is trying to blame the media for Corbyn's travails. As ever they are searching for a scapegoat in order to escape their own responsibilities for failure.
Blair, Campbell, Mandelson and Brown realised what needed to be done, which was why they put such a massive amount of effort into ensuring they were credible as a serious alternative, with the 'prawn cocktail' initiative and some grown-up policy development, all focus-group tested and stripping out the bonkers stuff. Of course they were helped by Blair's presentational skill, but the team as a whole was credible, it wasn't just him.
Labour will be back in government just as soon as there is an election at which they look like a serious alternative government-in-waiting again. I think it's as simple as that.
The other point to observe is just how incredibly strong the Labour brand is. I find it astonishing that they still managed to clock up a third of all the votes cast, despite having a voter-repellent leader, the weakest front bench of any major party since the war, being mired in anti-Semitism, being seen as weak or worse on terrorism and defence, ducking the central issue of the day, and coming up with a manifesto which was beyond ludicrous, compounded by bizarrely proposing to splurge £58bn on a minor and undeserving cause. Still people voted for them: just think how well they could do if they were seen as decent and half-sane again.
As you say, certainly a somewhat eclectic congregation for the funeral!
Perhaps it's the screaming tabloid headlines you're thinking of.
Rail firm claims Greta Thunberg had FIRST CLASS seat after she posts snap of her sat on floor because of ‘overcrowding’
Ho, ho, ho...
Many people who voted Remain, and would again, were unimpressed with the desperate stunts pulled by the likes of Soubry, Allen, Chuka, Swinson etc
Brexit may have been the catalyst but telling your own voters they're thick racist scum is never a good idea. I felt sorry for Caroline Flint and wonder what Lady Nugee is playing at. Whether she said it or not, I suspect she thinks it. A nice protracted court case would only emphasise this. As Flint is more attractive - I'm on her side.
Have I ever denied being shallow? Ah, now we come back to Keir Baker.
“Thank you for supporting us railroaders in the fight against climate change! We were happy that you travelled with us on Saturday in the ICE 74 ... but it would have been even nicer, had you also reported how friendly and competently you were looked after by our team at your seat in the first class.”
DB confirmed that Greta had travelled first class between the cities of Kassel and Hamburg.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/15/greta-thunberg-in-twitter-spat-with-german-rail-firm
For someone who (rightly) complains about a large chunk of the electorate being forgotten by politicians, now your side has won it might be a good time to consider that phrasing leavers as "normal" people is unnecessarily divisive.
You were rushing to make a point, perhaps, and missed it?
Has she said she is not standing?
6/4???!
Gotta work that narrative though!
Bet365's Aaron Bell was crowned The Krypton Factor champion on Thursday with an astonishingly high score of 47 and that was after making himself second favourite to win the ITV gameshow.
The trading development manager has been a regular on the telly over the years, notably picking up £25,000 on Deal Or No Deal, and his addiction to gameshows led Bell to naming the tables at his weddings after the programmes he had previously been on.
As well as The Krypton Factor and Deal Or No Deal, Bell has also appeared on Fifteen To One, University Challenge, Eggheads, TV Scrabble, Defectors, Memory Bank, Brainteaser, The Waiting Game and Playing For Time, while his wife made an appearance on Golden Balls.
Bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Hopefully he will now stop signing autographs for the tea ladies and concentrate on pushing the company forward!" "
Also, I wasn't aware that she was of mixed heritage - dad from India (and a Marxist!)
Her pre-parliamentary career is, however, the usual load of wank* you get for too many Labour MPs.
*As I described it on the previous thread.
The NorthWest is VERY marginal rich next time round, you could arguably add High Peak to the NW marginals which makes 5 of the top 10 Tory defences in the NW.
Another 3 are London and Moray in Scotland.
Good reply that seats one wasn't it?!
And what have they ended up with before anyone crows at their victory? A path to a united Ireland. Well done them.
Surely this election result provides enough ammunition for sensible points to be made by PB Tories, without descending to quite this level of absurdity.
Congressman Jeff van Drew leaving the Democrats and joining the Republicans over Trump’s impeachment.
The ERG have won. The idea they "frustrated Brexit" is a fallacy that should have long since been put down now.
As for the path to the united Ireland, that may be relevant if you were talking about the DUP not the ERG. Of those who opposed May's deal the ERG are big winners and the DUP, Tiggers, Labour, Lib Dems and Conservative Remainers are the big losers.