Reinvigorating European Elections: The Implications of Electing the European Commission (Royal Institute of International Affairs)
UKIP (Free subscription) | yesterday
A major donor to the UK Independence Party has hit out at the Electoral Commission over its decision to push UKIP for the return of a £360,000 donation while allowing the Lib Dems to keep £2.4 million given to them by a criminal now on the run. Former Tory donor and spread betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler, who donated £100,000 to UKIP before the European elections said today: "I...
Liberal Democrat Voice (Free subscription) | yesterday
In June’s European elections, turnout amongst postal voters was 64% in Great Britain. Turnout amongst non-postal voters was 30% – a full 34 percentage points lower. There’s a lesson in there about campaigning… The figures for the different regions were: South East 68% (+34%) South West 68% (+33%) East Midlands 67% (+34%) Eastern 67% (+33%) West Midlands 66% (+35%) Scotland...
David Lindsay (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Or was it Aneurin Bevin? Either way, there was apparently a Labour PPB this week. Yes, I also mananged to miss it. Did anyone, anyone at all, actually see it? Well, enough to notice that the makers did not know the difference between Bevin and Bevan. Seriously. Bevin refused to join the European Coal and Steel Community on the grounds that it was “the blueprint for a federal state” which...
The Cornish Democrat (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Following the Cornish Zetetics call for a coalition of Mebyon Kernow , the Cornish Greens and any other progressive democrats from the Duchy in time for the next general election here's an idea. OK the French Republic is quite different from the United Kingdom, and the problems faced by Brittany and its Celtic sister, Cornwall, are far from identical, but perhaps some ideas can cross the water. To...
Britannia Radio (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
BREAKING NEWSBNP 'will take its first council' at next electionThe British National Party is poised to win control of its first council in Britain to add to its success in the European elections earlier this year.Rabbi ‘offered girls cocaine for sex’Employee drops case against Alan SugarEdinburgh students' Israel boycott failsWoman arrested for wearing tallit at Western WallWales' oldest...
BNP ELECTION RESULTS (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
It is always interesting to see what happens in the back ground at election time. If you need any information it is always best to contact the election officer. Having seen irregularities in other wards in the past, such as Three Rivers and Barnsley I have tried to seek information especially concerning postal ballots. Previous requests to certain councils comes back with varied replies, some of which...
Social Europe Blog (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Ordinary people will only start voting for social democrats once more if they ditch the policies that are making their lives a misery. Social-democratic parties were the main losers of the 2009 European elections. Green parties may have done well in their traditional strongholds (France, Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg), but their scores remain marginal elsewhere. And almost [...]
The Economist (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
The politics of deficits and economic statistics GREEK government statistics are notoriously unreliable. But rarely can the numbers have seemed more erratic than in recent months, when the forecast for this year’s budget deficit more than doubled from 6% to 12.7% of GDP. What went wrong? Electoral politics is a big part of the answer. Tax collection “collapsed almost totally” after...
Labourlist (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
By Mathew Hulbert / @mathewhulbert The 2010 General Election campaign began, in essence if not literally, with a bang today. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion about the Queen's Speech, most of them negative. But regardless of the content of the Royal Address itself, the Commons debate that followed it between the main party leaders shows us what we can expect much, much more of over the next six...
Labourlist (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Glenis Willmott is the leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party . She is an MEP for the East Midlands, and is a former political officer for the GMB . She met Alex Smith on Monday, 16th November, 2009. You spoke at conference about Labour not yet having won the argument on Europe. After the party’s poor showing at the European elections in June, do you still think Europe is comfortable...
Free Public Transit (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Excerpt from the Respect Annual Conference Report . ..A message to the Respect Conference from Peter Cranie, the Green Party candidate in the North West at the European Elections supported by Respect, was read out to an enthusiastic ovation. Motions on electoral alliances, supporting the People’s Charter, the political content of our election campaign and alternative strategies to deal with...
John Rentoul (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
An ICM poll in The Guardian this morning gives the Conservatives a 13-point lead, roughly the same as the 14-point lead in our ComRes poll for The Independent on Sunday at the weekend, and another 14-point lead from YouGov in The Sunday Times . ICM actually shows a narrowing of the gap from 17 points last month, although The Guardian 's report emphasises evidence from other questions that David Cameron...
Londonist (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
Europe couldn't hold him for long, it seems. Nick Griffin, the BNP leader who recently told a Question Time audience he only backed the " non-violent wing " of the Klu Klax Klan, has announced his intention to stand as parliamentary candidate for Barking in next year's general election. An odd choice, perhaps, from a British Nationalist who no longer recognizes London as part of Britain....
Lancaster Unity (Free subscription) | 15/11/2009
Barnbrook for Barking? Apparently not. BNP leader Nick Griffin has said he is going to stand in the Westminster constituency of Barking, east London, in the next general election In June, the party won its first two seats in the European Parliament. Mr Griffin was elected for the North West region while Andrew Brons picked up another BNP seat in Yorkshire and Humber, where it won 10% of the vote. Margaret...
Lancaster Unity (Free subscription) | 15/11/2009
Hungarian neo-fascist MEP Krisztina Morvai blocked from speaking at pro-Palestinian event A close ally of Nick Griffin, leader of the British National party, has been forced to withdraw from speaking at a London conference in support of Palestine amid mounting fury from anti-fascist groups. Several politicians due to speak at the conference, organised by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), were alarmed...
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