Events dear boy, events (Free subscription) | yesterday
Eric Pickles has outed himself as a former communist. Once-upon-a-time he had a passion for Leon Trotsky and Karl Marx: I was massively inclined that way. It was part of my upbringing. I was a pretty serious young chap. For my 14th birthday I got Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution as a present — and I read the damn thing. Good grief. However, just two years later he changed his...
Times Online (Free subscription) | 21/11/2009
RED alert at Conservative Central Office: Eric Pickles, the bullish Tory party chairman, has outed himself as a former communist.
Not a sheep (Free subscription) | yesterday
Just two Peter Mandelson stories this weekend, but they do, I think, say so much about the man and his motivations. The first is from The Mail and concerns the "Anger at Peter Mandelson's £13m plan for ‘minimalist palace’ after he calls for pay restraint" It seems that: "With its moody lighting, low-slung sofas and plasma TVs, there is only one Cabinet Minister who...
EU Referendum (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
There seems a resolute determination in some quarters of the media to deny reality, something which is especially noticeable in The Daily Telegraph leader today. "The State Opening of Parliament symbolises constitutional continuity," it gushes, its earlier pages offering huge pictures of the Royal procession to the throne. "It is an event intended to reassert the supremacy of Parliament,"...
Politics, PR & Marketing (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Widgets have become quite important in online campaigning. Widgets are simple little devices that allow brands to be promoted across their supporters web sites and various online presences. The problem with this strategy is motivating supporters, or in fact any web user, to want to place that widget on their site. The Conservatives may have found a solution. The General Election Countdown (right) is...
Radical Blues (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Eric Pickles sent me an email today, which was nice of him. It contained a video of the plump one telling viewers why the next election is harder than it might appear.The line that the Tories have to do better than at any election since 1931 has been doing the rounds for some weeks now and in this video Pickles does a good job to refresh the Conservative Party's challenge at the next election and it...
Luke's Blog (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Yesterday's showdown in Swaffham over the attempt by the redneck wing of the Tory Party, AKA the Turnip Taliban, to deselect their PPC for not telling them loudly enough about her fling with a Tory MP, won't be the last bit of Tory infighting over selections. David Cameron seems determined to scrub what few elements of internal party democracy have ever existed in the Tories as he seeks to use the...
Politics.co.uk (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Conservative party chairman Eric Pickles was accused of being a "dictator" after PPC Elizabeth Truss saw off a bid to deselect her last night.
Skuds' Sister's Brother (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
I have heard a lot about Eric Pickles putting adverts onto Spotify to promote the Tory party and I listen to a lot of music on Spotify, but I have not heard the Pickles ad at all. What I have heard many times is the Spotify advert aimed at advertisers, boasting about how they target [...]
Tracey Crouch (Free subscription) | 14/11/2009
Tonight, Chatham & Aylesford Conservatives had its annual dinner at the Larkfield Priory Hotel and we were honoured to have the Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles as our guest speaker. Eric gave a thought provoking and inspiring speech about what we need to do to win the next General Election - returning a Conservative MP for Chatham & Aylesford is an essential step on that road to victory....
Liberal Bureaucracy (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
Gosh, our local Tories do know how to have a good time! Whilst in South West Norfolk, the local Conservative Association has imploded over the question of Liz Truss's affair with Mark Field, somewhat closer to home, the final shortlist for the 27 November open primary for my neighbouring constituency of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich has sparked off a more basic but no less intriguing dispute....
The complete works of TGR Worzel (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
I see Sandra Gidley's seat in Romsey and Southampton North is under great pressure from the Conservatives, obviously because it is a small majority. One of their target seats I'm sure... If you look closely, Romsey and Southampton North is mentioned in the Conservatives Blue Blog today. It seems that lots of new footsoldiers have been recruited to strengthen the campaign team in Romsey and this has...
Labourlist (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
By James Valentine Sir Christopher Kelly's report , out this week, sets out a view of how MPs' expenses should be dealt with in the future. There have already been angry reactions to his recommendations from some MPs. I think the problem for the public isn’t so much the (rather boring) detail of how our representatives get paid as much as their pronouncements about the issue, and what’s...
Reflections (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
Dear Reader Among the general atmosphere of dry rot in Westminster, "change" can be considered a bad word. But when it comes to obstinacy against electoral reform, not all MPs are created equal. Some are worse than others. And we've identified 13 MPs who are the very worst - making up a rogues' gallery of resistance to the change we so urgently need. Help us name and shame them now. Write...
Old Holborn (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
From [ edit ] Old Holborn To [ edit ] The Rt Hon. Ed Balls MP, The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, The Rt Hon Nick Brown MP, The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, The Rt Hon the Lord Mandelson, The Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, The Rt Hon David Cameron MP, The Rt Hon George Osborne MP, The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, The Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP, The Rt Hon William Hague MP...
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