Every year when we submit our accounts to the Electoral Commission we are also required to provide a ‘Review of Political Activities’ covering the year just gone.The 2011 Review has recently been forwarded to the Commission and here is what it says:“With no General Election in 2011, activity was less intense than last year butContinueContinue reading “Review of 2011”
Tag Archives: elections
The Consolation Prize
On Thursday, voters in Salford decided in favour of having a directly elected mayor. It was also a local decision to call the referendum in the first place. Bristolians are being forced to hold a poll whether they like it or not, under the so-called Localism Act. The £475,000 it will cost has to beContinueContinue reading “The Consolation Prize”
Review of 2010
Every year when we submit our accounts to the Electoral Commission we are also required to provide a ‘Review of Political Activities’ covering the year just gone. The 2010 Review has recently been forwarded to the Commission and here is what it says: During 2010 the Party’s on-line presence was maintained and strengthened. The websiteContinueContinue reading “Review of 2010”
The Infamous Five
In 1945, the Labour Party campaigned to destroy Beveridge’s ‘five giants’ of want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. In 1997 and each subsequent election it tried the same trick, the latest pledges being to “secure the recovery”, “raise family living standards”, “build a high tech economy”, “protect frontline services”, and “strengthen fairness in communities”. AllContinueContinue reading “The Infamous Five”
Playing the Poll Card
“Be you never so high, the Law is above you.”Dr Thomas Fuller, 1733 (and others)No sooner had Phil Woolas been stripped of his Parliamentary seat than politicians and the media started questioning whether it was right for judges to overturn the people’s choice. Democracy in danger? It is a fair question but one with anContinueContinue reading “Playing the Poll Card”
Constituencies & Contrasts
In England, there are two kinds of Parliamentary election. We elect MPs to Westminster using First-Past-The-Post and MEPs to Brussels/Strasbourg using the D’Hondt regional list system.One would think that arguments about fairness would apply equally between the two systems. Not so. The Bill now being railroaded through Parliament will, with very limited exceptions, require allContinueContinue reading “Constituencies & Contrasts”
Remember, Remember
Certain MPs – and former MPs – who voted for the conquest of Iraq are likely to seek extra security after their names were again publicised on the Internet yesterday.We do not condone illegal and arbitrary attacks on the innocent. Nor on the guilty. The mass killing of MPs who voted for mass killing isContinueContinue reading “Remember, Remember”
Killing Community, Killing Democracy
Cornish patriots are gathering today beneath the Tamar Bridge at Saltash to protest against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. There is even serious talk of hunger strikes. What is it that has brought this on?The Bill paves the way for a referendum next May on replacing First-Past-The-Post with the Alternative Vote system. SoContinueContinue reading “Killing Community, Killing Democracy”
Nothing Left Out
Colin Bex has defied the sceptics by conducting his campaign almost wholly by public transport. Today he did need a lift, to fit in three towns in as many hours after an emergency change of plan.Colin arrived by bus in Banbury this afternoon to be interviewed by Banbury Sound, the local radio station covering northContinueContinue reading “Nothing Left Out”
Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense.
So there we have it. Three practically identical guided tours of Fantasy Island, courtesy of the main London parties.Now that the manifestos are out we can see that the all-pervading theme of this election is that the sins of the bankers are to be visited upon the users of public services, even unto the tenthContinueContinue reading “Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense.”
Wessex Regionalists 