Solihull goes blue with green tinges!

The Conservative Party has gained six seats to regain its position as majority party on Solihull Council. Previously Solihull was run by a Liberal Democrat/Labour Coalition. It is interesting to see that the BBC has not caught up with local coalition deals preferring to retain the nebulous "No Overall Control" label. NOC gives the impression of a council out of control, or at best not quite in control of things!

The total votes cast for candidates (numbers in brackets) were -

Conservatives (17) 30,321
Liberal Democrats (15) 12,980
Labour (17) 11,076
Greens (17) 4,972
Solihull and Meriden Residents Association (17) 3,728
English Democrats (4) 746
UK Independence Party (3) 447
British National Party (2) 305

The council looks like this now -

Conservative Party - 29 (up 6)
Liberal Democrat Party - 12 (down 4)
Labour Party - 6 (down 2)
Green Party - 3 (up 2)
Independent Liberal Democrat - 1 (no change)

So the Conservatives have a 5 seat majority.

Whilst the Conservatives did very well, it has to be said that the Green Party is putting down roots. In fact they already did this and two more shoots sprung up. Also SAMRA - Solihull and Meriden Residents Association - have broken out of the also rans club by doing quite well in Blythe Valley and the Shirley wards, where they robbed the Liberal Democrats of a seat or two. As for the BNP, they've shrunk and sunk and leave little trace of their venture into Solihull politics.

Your country needs you, says David Cameron

David Cameron today has given a rousing speech in Birmingham about the future and how we all tackle this debt problem.

The "beating, radical heart" of the government was shifting power away from the centre to ordinary people, allowing them more choice over services, greater transparency about state spending and greater ability to get involved in running and shaping local services in their communities, he said.

"We are the radicals now, breaking apart the old system with a massive transfer of power from the state to citizens, politicians to people, government to society," he told the conference. Cameron also warned banks that they must "repay the favour" from taxpayers who had bailed them out by restoring lending to British businesses. "There's another way we are getting behind business – by sorting out the banks," he said. "Taxpayers bailed you out. Now it's time for you to repay the favour and start lending to Britain's small businesses again."

I do hope he's got the bottle to deal with these money-changing leviathans. Business needs a government that will be capable of instilling confidence in society. No good having a Big Society if those making it up are all quivering at the knees. Sorting out the banks? Well let's get to grips with what these gamblers are doing whilst sitting at their computers all day, schizophrenically counting bonus bucks as they watch thin air money whizzing past their eyes.

Transparency, honesty and accountability. Maybe this is the chance for the Rev.Stephen Green, formerly of HSBC, to stand up now, as his country needs him, to purge banking of its Las Vegas promiscuity and return it to an honourable estate.

No canvassers knocked on my door!

This has been a deadly quiet election in Solihull. A prized marginal between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, and I've not been so much as bothered by a political person. No canvassers, a few furtive leafleters, a couple of mobile advertising hoardings (for the Residents Party) and the glimpse of Nick Clegg in the council house car park talking to the TV cameras. I spotted him from the top of the No.5 bus. That was weeks ago!

All quiet on the Western Front. And all fronts, it would appear. All I've got to go on is the poster count and on that Lorely Burt beats Maggie Throup ten to one. It's hardly scientific.

I hope we turn more conservative tomorrow as a country. I still have some lingering doubts about David Cameron. It's not been helped by Simon Cowell's reasons for supporting the Conservatives. After all, it was Cowell who started off sneering at the sight of Susan Boyle as she walked out on stage. His gut instincts let him down there for a moment. I have no doubt David Cameron will do OK as prime minister. It's some of his ideas I'm at issue with.

I never thought it would come to this, but here is a conservative, a basic type of High Church, High Tory who has been wondering where the Modern Conservative party is going. For instance, if David Cameron becomes prime minister, will he use his office as an influence over fairness in appointing bishops? I bet that's not crossed his mind. Is there any room left in the party for traditional-minded people. Or are they to be harangued on a weekly basis as "old-fashioned" and "out-of-touch"?

I'm going off to vote soon. I'll need a steady hand with that pencil!

Ed Balls in traffic crime shame!

Well, it may not be a crime to many. Also not much shame in it either. Ed Balls was caught using his mobile phone whilst driving a car and has been fined the princely sum of £60. I doubt very much if he is ashamed of his behaviour. This particular law, that of not using your mobile phone whilst driving, is flouted on a daily basis. Those I spot are usually either the arrogant types or the selfish types. Either way, these people are the sort that only obey the laws they want to obey.

Ed Balls has a touch of arrogance about him. It is inconceivable that it did not cross his mind to think that he shouldn't be talking on a phone in a car before he did so. He just thought he could get away with it. He thought "why not?" and just did it anyway. Is this the sort of man who should be in Parliament?

The Conservatives are targeting so-called safe Labour seats. Ed Balls' seat is one of them. It's a pity he wasn't given a more suitable punishment than a £60 fine. How about the stocks for ten days? Then put in an ample supply of rubber balls for chucking at him. Nothing hard or hurtful, you know. Just enough to let him get the message.

In some ways Ed Balls lives up to his name. Not in the way most would think. No, definitely more like a rubber ball. Whatever shame befalls him he bounces back. Whether it be MPs' expenses, sacking people, policy detail, cabinet confidentiality or just taking the law into his own hands, Ed Balls bounces along with a cheery smile (or is it a smirk?).

Well, let's hope the Conservatives can bowl him a googly. Then his rubber balls won't come a bouncin' back!

Let David Cameron be himself!

The Conservative Party has suffered too much in recent years from wannabee Warwick the Kingmakers running around spinning a yarn here and slipping in a soundbit there. Each leader since Margaret Thatcher was bundled out of office has been "advised" on speech delivery, body language and everything from hairstyles to walking styles. Now I hear, to my great delight, that the public are pleased to see the real David Cameron. The more they see and hear the better they like it. And who wouldn't? This is definitely not a political X Factor. The only x's we want are in a ballot box.

So, rather like the Queen of Hearts would say, "off with their heads", and let's do away with these backroom boys, and girls no doubt, who have put David Cameron in a straight jacket. A loosened up Dave is coming to town, folks!

Secular society raises its ugly head

It would appear that the Conservative Party is no longer the Church of England at prayer. If fact, it is no longer the party of traditional values. Just as Tony Blair jumped on a vacuous pile of cliches in order to dupe the electorate in 1997, the Tories are rummaging around in the leftovers of the pile.

It is one thing to want to be as fair as possible to competing interests. All political parties have to be coalitions. However, when it comes to the rights of people, some are more equal than others. I certainly don't want to live in a country where homosexuals are pilloried for their lifestyle. Live and let live. However, that particular lifestyle is not consistent with traditional Christian teaching.

The Conservative Party is slavishly adopting the New Labour securalist agenda. Under Harriet Harman's purge of Christian doctrine one can only be a Christian in church. Isn't it weird? People like Harman used to bleat that Christians only went to church on Sundays, implying they got up to all manner of unchristian stuff on weekdays. Now they want Christians to keep the Gospel hidden in the vestry so as not to upset the New Labour horse.

The Mayor of Antrim, Adrian Watson, has been barred from standing as joint UUP/Tory candidate because of his views on gay couples staying in his guest house. He is quite rightly upset seeing as Chris Grayling has amplified similar views.

David Cameron needs to get a grip. He is fast becoming a man, not of principle, but of expediency. Much like Blair, who masters expediency over principle to a tee. Many people are upset about all this. I have my doubts about David Cameron and I don't like doubting people if I have to. He never really explained his need to divest his house of wisteria at the taxpayers' expense. And he railed against colleagues who he saw as far worse culprits. It all smacks of a schoolboy trying to explain away a misdemeanour to the headmaster. "There are loads of boys doing things worse than me, sir!".

I wish Cameron could respect those who hold to traditional views. Mr.Watson is not advocating discrimination, just that people's homes, regardless of whether they are used for business, should be places where personal conscience is respected.

Blair to rally Labour supporters

So the Spiv-in-Chief is coming out from the deep recesses of his counting house to speak to the faithful in Sedgefield. Lots of cries of "Tor-Nee" will go up from those who still think he is a saviour of sorts.

The Conservatives think he's got a lot to hide. That counting house has some very odd contraptions in it for counting the cash in a special way. It's got Cameron's lot somewhat excited. However, they should be a bit more circumspect before casting aspersions. After all, Lord Ashcroft sees fit to live and breathe part of his existence in Belize because he fears being a pauper in Britain. If I were confronting Ashcroft I'd tell him straight. Dump this central American existence and be a real John Bull.

Tony Blair was depicted as being a political actor in BBC4's "How To Win An Election" last night. This was predicted in 1964 by Sir Alec Douglas-Home. Or at least the possibility of having an actor in politics. What Home would have made of Blair I do not know. However, Blair is totally unruffled by criticism. He seems to relish the fight. The Conservatives would do well not to give him so many free plot lines for his propaganda.

Cameron's patriotic moves

There was a time in the Sixties when certain opinions were commonplace. One such opinion was that the Labour Party was nothing better that a Trojan horse for the Soviet communists. After all, they sang the Red Flag and they wanted to nationalise most things. Many were closet republicans, a lot were ban-the-bombers and they were keen on dismantling the traditions of the state. In short, they were not patriotic and needed to be defeated. Then the Berlin Wall collapsed and the soviet empire went with it. It seemed little point singing the Red Flag with such gusto, and opponents were less charged by Labour Party views.

Tony Blair and his New Labour control freaks decided that all the commie stuff had to go. If he controlled the party it could look like a new party with fresh ideas. Not really. The icing on the cake changed but the rotten fruit inside just got re-hashed.

Now we have Harriet Harperson pushing so-called equality laws on us, we have a meddlesome mattie in charge of the Charity Commission and quango chiefs all on the fiddle or the cover-up. New Labour is a frightful mixture of control, sleaze, hypocrisy and whitewashing episodes.

So is David Cameron right in saying that it is his patriotic duty to try to remove these people? I suppose it depends on what you think Britain should be and remain as being. A conservative's view of patriotic duty is in honouring and maintaining the institutions of the state. If that duty is challenged by those who want to destroy the institutions, then it is a patriotic duty to stop it. We do live in a changing society but too much change is detrimental.

When it comes to the voting, though, we may have a result that in no way reflects our views. According to the YouGov poll published in the Sunday Times, the Conservative lead over Labour has narrowed to two points. It suggests that 37% would vote Tory, while 35% would opt for Labour and 17% for the Lib Dems. This, the Sunday Times says, could give Labour 317 seats, nine short of an overall majority, with the Tories on a total of 263 MPs. So Gordon Brown could remain prime minister (with some backing from minor parties) even though he did worse in the voting. Do we really want that?

35% would vote Labour it says. But how many does that 35% represent of the total electorate. If the stay-at-homers are the largest group, then active Labour voters are a real minority. Perhaps that's why Harriet Harperson is so keen to promote minority causes. She knows she's a minority in a minority which in turn is in a minority. It's like a television camera looking at its own monitor. All you get is a load of television sets leading to oblivion!

Tory totty won't help Cameron!

Serious commentators are now wondering whether the Conservative Party under David Cameron's leadership can actually win this forthcoming election. All the pointers suggest he won't quite make it. Not that Brown will win either. My guess is that the Conservatives will get around 290 seats making it necessary to do a deal with the LibDems.

But the real message of the election will be the size of the vote for the minor parties and the size of the stay-at-homers group. If these combine to be more than two-thirds then our democracy needs some kind of medication - FAST!

Simon Heffer asks in the Daily Telegraph "Can anyone explain what the Conservative Party stands for?". Currently I'm not sure there will be many rushing to say they know. It seems that several ding-dongs are going on between A-listers and constituency associations. Internal democracy in the Tory Party is on a back burner.

Heffer says this - "We do have a number of respectable (and, in the shape of the BNP, non-respectable) fringe parties who will hoover up votes from the main ones. The BNP believes it can win a Labour seat or two, and it may be right. The Tories are also finding it desperately hard to gain footholds in big urban areas outside London, with their potential working-class supporters now in some cases edging towards the BNP." The Conservatives have no answer to this.

The trouble is that all the major parties have colluded over their expenses, over the economy, over immigration and over the management of government. The people of the UK feel hurt and aggrieved. They see bankers wallowing in bonuses only available because the dimwitted Labour government saw no reason to curb their greed. I hear angry mutterings in shops, walking about town and from people I use to think mild-mannered conservatives with a small "c".

Simon Heffer also thinks that UKIP can "damage Tory interests, notably in the West Country, where the agricultural and fishing interests have had enough of Brussels, and this damage is potentially huge." The Conservatives need to wake up to the fact that it is not just the Labour Party that the country is cheesed off with, but the whole system of sleaze and spin.

Maybe we need some body scanners for politicians. Get them passing through the warts-and-all machines. "Sorry, Mr.Cameron. Machine says you don't have a clue!" Now there's a thought.

Safe in our beds with Pauline?

Shadow security minister Baroness Pauline Neville Jones was on the Today Programme this morning. She was with the chairman of the Royal United Services Institute, Sir Paul Lever. I got the impression that Pauline was a tad muddled up. She got all muddled over the idea that Islamic terrorists are "home grown". It seem to her like an awkward question. Her claim to be in Afghanistan is apparently based on terrorist training camps. But Gordon Brown is claiming it is about democracy as much as training up the Afghan police. Nobody in political circles has clarity.

Personally I'd feel a lot safer with Sir Paul Lever in charge, but then he's not where Pauline is. Pity!

Gordon Brown told such Dreadful Lies!

MR. 9.3%

What a liar!

Gordon Brown told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes!

Has Mr.Brown ever read Hilaire Belloc's famous poem?

What other fibs and fables should we know about?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6197185/David-Cameron-attacks-Gordon-Browns-cover-up-over-10-per-cent-cuts.html

BNP leader Griffin to be on BBC Question Time?

I had thoughts about this when the BNP was poised to get representation in the European Parliament. Now that they have, the BBC is pondering what to do about asking Nick Griffin, the BNP leader to appear on Question time. The Labour Party has always taken a poncy approach to the BNP. It is this "smell-under-the-nose" look and self-righteous manner that has done much to embolden the BNP. New Labour is significantly worse that most in failing to address the debate. The Conservatives would appear on the programme it seems but they would need to address their current attitudes. Just slagging the BNP off will do no good whatsover. One million people are prepared to support this party in votes and a fair few more may mutter appreciative comments when confronted with political activity they dislike. How many times have I heard "I don't support the BNP but on this they've got a point!" The three main parties have, in effect, created the BNP. If they had addressed the root problems of society there would be no need for a party that can offer "I told you so" slogans as solutions.

Sleaze, corruption, banking crises, these all help to feed fear and revolt. Forget immigration as a cause. MPs themselves have given the BNP far more ammunition than a lorryload of asylum seekers ever will. I sincerely hope that Harriet Harman will divest herself of her "politically correct" hairshirt and use her inate intelligence to think a bit. Just playing to the gallery, one in which Giglamps Rentamouth from the UAF is blinking from, will not do.

However, debate is one thing - violent disruption is another. The so-called Unite Against Fascism (an odd title for a distinctly fascist outfit) is hell-bent on shutting the programme down if Griffin appears. We don't need self-appointed Taliban-lite morons strutting the streets telling us who we should vote for or not. David Cameron is still down as a supporter of this rabble-rousing outfit as are a few other Tory MPs. The Conservative Party needs to be positive in presenting policies that will create opportunity for all citizens and be bold in offering solutions that have some likelihood of succeeding. For instance, immigration must be firm and fair - the EU should not see itself as just a conduit to Dover!

I welcome the chance for the three main parties to debate with Griffin. He appears ready for it - are they?

Totnes Tories in "open primary" contest

In what is claimed to be the first open primary in Britain, the voters of Totnes are being given the chance to vote for who may be the Conservative candidate at the next election. Three worthies have put their names forward. What I haven't been able to find out is if these three have been formally chosen by a panel of the Conservative Party. It would be nice to think that any Conservative member could put his or her name forward without being vetted beforehand. Then a prospective candidate could announce their intention of standing and mount a campaign. All three are local Devon people. Totnes voters may want that, but will this primary idea exclude those from neighbouring counties or further afield?

It would also be nice to feel that Totnes is not the only constituency to get this democratic honour. As for primaries in Britain, this is probably the first open one but it is not the first closed one. That honour went to Reigate in 1970 when a primary was held between Chris Chattaway and Geoffrey Howe. Chattaway went thataway and Howe won the day.

Norwich North Result - Tories cut the mustard!

So the Conservatives have won by a convincing margin on a low poll. The other thing to note is that UKIP are now in the by-election business with a significant result for them. The Greens may have been seen as doing better and there are still 6,243 people of Norwich prepared to be seduced by a Scottish waffler from Fife!

The Result -

Chloe Smith (Con) 13,591 (39.5%)
Chris Ostrowski (Lab) 6,243 (18.16%)
April Pond (LD) 4,803 (13.97%)
Glenn Tingle (UKIP) 4,068 (11.83%)
Rupert Read (Green) 3,350 (9.74%)
Craig Murray (Ind) 953 (2.77%)
Robert West (BNP) 941 (2.74%)
Bill Holden (Ind) 166 (0.48)
Howling Laud (Loony) 144 (0.42%)
Anne Fryatt (NOTA) 59 (0.17%)
Thomas Burridge (Libertarian) 36 (0.1%)
Peter Baggs (Ind) 23 (0.07%)

We want honesty and transparency in politics

The political elite in Britain have long been used to treating the electorate as morons. Somehow it is seen as an electoral own goal if a politician tells the truth. Lying is not encouraged but spinning the truth to such a degree that it only vaguely ressembles its original status is. Also encouraged is the black art of the political double entendre and the equally absurd habit of deliberately not answering a straight question.

Gordon Brown has been saying recently how much he recognises the public's desire for transparency. Yet he seems incapable of admitting any fault other than to suggest "we are all to blame". Even now he is encouraging his ministers to denigrate the Tories about "swingeing cuts". Everyone knows that the UK is heavily indebted. They know the banks and the government are still sitting on toxic debts. So why, when there is no public money to talk of, the Prime Minister insists that he is going to invest more money. What money? There is no money. He is just gambling on the future tax take of generations to come.

This is the Gordon Brown who sat by whilst the sub-prime scandal exploded around him. Yes it started in America, but it was British banks who were up to their eyeballs in the lending racket. He implies now that he never thought to ask a question. Not one ounce of inquisitive vibes left his body. We must therefore understand that he was either incompetent or a calculating character who hoped it would all blow over.

He never qizzed the bankers, he sought to delude the public, and he blamed others. Now he is acting as an invester with a philanthropic heart. It's all balderdash. He knows it and we know it. Ed Balls is a man where the disingenuous remark is always available. "The Tories are ideologically wedded to cutting spending to fund tax cuts for the few," he warbles. Old style rubbish politics.

George Osborne is right to say that the public wants the truth. We want to know how much the country owes and what taxes have to be raised to pay back our debts. Unless we know, we will not be able to have confidence in the future. That future could be one of selfishness now leaving future generations saddled with a third-world existence or it could be one where we really tackle the root problems and create an economy that is vibrant and entrepreneurially virile!

It's in our hands and it lies with our votes.

Cameron's kangaroo court

David Cameron is said to be showing leadership. He is acting decisively in view of the continuing expenses scandal. But is he? I have expressed concern before about his handling of this. I have a lot of admiration for Cameron, but I think he is not showing the fairness that this issue deserves.

Instead of dealing with every MP in the Conservative Party equally and with the same amount of fairness, he is keeping his own chums safely out of harm's way and throwing the old wood and those considered electorally liable out of the window. A kind of partial defenestration.

Let's not forget that Cameron had his own spot of bother with the wisteria. He quickly came running out, puffed himself up and said it was all in error but he understood the problem, blah blah, and would pay the money back. Similar stuff was said by Andrew Lansley (who was asked to stay away from Euro election campaigning for fear of causing a riot!), Alan Duncan, and other shadow cabinet members. No stepping down for them. Others are not so lucky. Sir Peter Viggers goes because he is labelled the "Duck Island MP" and Douglas Hogg goes because he is the "Moat Cleaning MP". Cameron said, in phone calls, that they should go. Why them and not him? Today Andrew MacKay got a similar phone call. Perhaps they can get jobs clearing wisteria?

This smells of favouritism and political manoeuvring. Lord Tebbit has said he thinks that Cameron may be saving the skins of those around him which doesn't look good. Basically, it is helping to massage the reputations of the modernisers whilst the old guard can go hang.

If this goes on much longer, David Cameron will lose the mantle of serious contender for Prime Minister and look like a cheap political dictator, sacking those who get in his way. Politics is not child's play, I realise that, but neither should it retain it's deviousness and deception. The public is crying out for honourable members not toadies and crawlers and the equivalent of teacher's pet. Either Cameron acts fairly and squarely or not at all.

Concerns with Cameron's clean-up campaign

I'm getting restless about David Cameron's political energy. He has always come across as a decent chap, quite straight and honest, and there is a backbone of steel when required. The trouble with steel is that it can get hot and cold.

With this expenses row I'm feeling he is pushing the right buttons but isn't being 100% correct about it. This morning he was "doing the rounds" of the radio stations. John Humphrys asked him about the wisteria. "I paid the money back!" he retorted, quickly. Then tried to move on in a hurry. A lot of this is seemingly like a juggernaut shifting gears on the M1. Cameron talks a good case, but will it deliver fairly? I have my doubts. It's all a bit of a political curate's egg for me.

Why is it OK for him to skate over his wisteria payments but cast a shadowy comment over the moats and beams? He says he is being "robust" and suggests that associations can deselect MPs they fall out of favour with. I rather feel it's a bit unfair on Douglas Hogg that his moat cleaning is seen as being "wrong" but Cameron's wisteria clearance is seen as "right".

David Cameron is leading his party into the new promised land. I don't disagree with that. But he should be more clear about the fairness of that new land and he should be more in tune with the electorate's outrage. It is not so much about the expenses themselves, rather the attitude behind the taking of them. With some MPs there has been a flagrant determination to garner as much as possible whichever way seemed best. It is the cynical abuse of a reasoned and fair system that grates. It is the rank hypocrisy that grates. It would have been better if Cameron had admitted clearly that his own expenses were just as erroneous as others. If he is suggesting that associations can call a meeting for reappraising an MP's candidature then that applies across the parliamentary party.

I think a better solution is for political parties to hold primaries for their candidate selection. Open politics should allow for debate and discussion. If a member doesn't retain the confidence of the party then he/she will not win the ballot for nomination. Proposing a new system is better than vaguely threatening the use of an existing one. A new broom for a new room!

Gordon Brown's convert to the cause!

There's always one, isn't there? Whilst most of Britain is despairing at the financial antics of Gordon Brown (a bit of a dysfunctional Robin Hood!) a Conservative local government leader ups sticks in a paddy and goes over to Labour. Is he a cretin or what?

Councillor Terry Hipsey, leader of the Conservatives on Thurrock Borough Council, told a stunned full council meeting that he was resigning as leader and joining the opposition. He claimed this - "I have resigned as leader of Thurrock Council, and have left the Conservative party to become a Labour councillor. This last week has shown some of the worst examples of David Cameron’s attempt to respond to the recession. I’ve spent the last two-and-a-half years trying to keep this dysfunctional Tory group together. Having some time to reflect, it has become clear this group and the Conservative Party are incapable of making the changes necessary to take Thurrock forward. I’ve been increasingly impressed with the group of Labour councillors locally and the Labour government’s response to the recession nationally." David Cameron has been highlighting all the slow and dilatory responses of this hapless government. Perhaps this new convert to a lost cause just wants to get his hands on some of the make believe money?

So one dysfunctional leader goes to genuflect to another dysfunctional leader! Where has Councillor Hipsey been in the last 18 months? If he's increasingly impressed with taking this country to the brink of ruin he needs quick remedial treatment in a pyschiatric establishment. The man has taken leave of his senses.

Impressed, indeed!!!

New Conservative website

I've been checking out the Conservative Party's new website. Can't seem to find my "local Conservatives" but maybe I clicked the wrong button. It comes across as very user friendly. The Conservative wall has a large number of people saying what they want, most of which is hard to disagree with.

Contrary to what the ridiculous Harriet Harman said about lack of policies, there are a whole host of them. On "Democracy" I would take issue with two points. Address the West Lothian question and give English MPs a decisive say on laws that affect only England does not address that question. It only goes to give another version of a two-tier House of Commons as we already have job-sharing MPs. Either no devolution or everybody gets it. This is one issue the Tories haven't grasped yet.

We are in favour of a substantially elected House of Lords would be totally disastrous. Stuffed with failed MPs, or bagmen, or "issues-driven" cronies of the PM of the day. Not one single elected "Lord" would be any better than the present composition. Plus they would be ratcheting up the democratic challenge! Another issue the Tories haven't grasped yet.

All in all, though, a good accessible website. I still can't find the "locals"!

Labour boat sinks at Henley's political regatta

New Labour is falling apart. Not before time, I'd say. The Henley by-election has given the Labour Party a drubbing. Put their supporters in the same room as Bananaman's lot and the ORMLP could claim to have done reasonably well by comparison. Labour nearly came below the 1,000 vote barrier, a pyschological electric fence. As it was they lost their deposit, trailing behind the Green Party and the BNP.

Gordon Brown is an MP who job shares with an MSP. He leads a government that only managed to secure 20% of the electorate's support at the last general election. Since then, things have got worse. So bad, in fact, that the ineffectual Yvette Cooper was unable to speak any sense last night on BBC Question Time. The Labour vote in Henley probably does represent current opinion in large swathes of England. No wonder they didn't put up a candidate in Haltemprice. Losing a deposit twice would look like recklessness!

The result as it happened - here.

The result in detail -

John Howell - Conservatives, 19,796 (56.95% +3.46%)
Stephen Kearney - Liberal Democrats, 9,680 (27.85% +1.84%)
Mark Stevenson - Greens, 1,321 (3.80% +0.54%)
Timothy Rait - British National Party 1,243 (3.58%)
Richard McKenzie - Labour, 1,066 (3.07% -11.68%)
Chris Adams - UK Independence Party, 843 (2.43%, -0.07%)
Bananaman Owen - Monster Raving Loony Party 242 (0.70%)
Derek Allpass - English Democrats 157 (0.45%)
Amanda Harrington - Independent (Miss Great Britain Party) 128 (0.37%)
Dick Rodgers - The Common Good 121 (0.35%)
Louise Cole - Independent (Miss Great Britain Party) 91 (0.26%)
Harry Bear - The Fur Play Party 73 (0.21%)

Although there was a small swing from LibDems to Conservatives, it was Labour's loss of nearly 12% of the vote that was the significant point. Conservatives, LibDems and Greens can see positive movement. Labour and to a small extent UKIP can see negative movement. I think this is a reasonable mirror image for the next general election.