Why bother being in government? What’s the point, exactly? While inadvertently pondering this question aloud in front of Telegraph journalists, the best answer Vince Cable could come up with was that it allowed him to bash Rupert Murdoch. Unfortunately, by making this claim, Vince has talked himself out of the opportunity to bash Rupert Murdoch. [...]
Filed under: jonathanbirch, journalism, libdems on December 22nd, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Track the course of the polls since the General Election, and you see a beautifully symmetric picture. At the top, Labour, seven points adrift in May, are neck and neck with the Tories. Below, the Liberal Democrats, level with Labour on the eve of the election, are in a dance of death with the thin [...]
Filed under: jonathanbirch, libdems, nickclegg, ukpolitics on November 30th, 2010 | No Comments »
No matter how hard I try, I can’t help defending the Liberal Democrats, a party for which I have no political affection. But, as students gather for more protests today, they once again need a reality check.
No single party won the general election, and the formation of a coalition government means that no party can [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized, electoralreform, libdems, tuitionfees on November 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
After the thrill of the election campaign and the euphoria of the first TV debate came the disappointment of election night for the Lib Dems as they lost seats and failed to make great inroads into the vote share. Given that they now sit in government, with five ministers around the cabinet table and (at [...]
Filed under: conservatives, libdems, nickclegg on September 22nd, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Before the election, a ministerial post must have seemed a distant pipe dream to Clare Fellow Julian Huppert. Now, a few dramatic weeks later, it still is, but the pipe is considerably shorter.
19 Liberal Democrats have jobs in David Cameron’s government. As the new Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge (and one of four Clareites [...]
Filed under: jonathanbirch, libdems, ukpolitics on June 10th, 2010 | No Comments »
When the exit polls came in on election night I saw the same reaction from everyone watching: total shock. Their astonishment was not at the projected hung Parliament we had all been expecting, or at the Tory lead over Labour, but at the thought that the Lib Dems, whose ascendancy had apparently been the story [...]
Filed under: conservatives, labour, libdems, ukpolitics on May 22nd, 2010 | No Comments »
An inseparable novelty duo, embraced by an adoring nation in the wake of 90 minutes of TV, and propelled from being rank outsiders to serious contenders. If this election campaign really is the start of “X-Factor politics”, then enter Jedward. Nick Clegg and Vince Cable find themselves and their party at the front of the [...]
Filed under: libdems, nickclegg, ukpolitics on April 30th, 2010 | No Comments »
The surge of support for the Liberal Democrats over the last week is proof of an extraordinary political coup, pulled off by the Labour Party. When people cast their votes on May 6th they will cast them not for or against the government, but for or against the Conservatives. David Cameron is the central figure [...]
Filed under: conservatives, davidcameron, labour, libdems, ukpolitics on April 23rd, 2010 | No Comments »
Creative Commons licensed photo courtesy of Flickr user jackhynes.
Many of us on the left feel jaded by the broken promises of New Labour and betrayed by university fees, private finance initiatives in healthcare and the Iraq War. Yet we are not ready to put our faith in David Cameron who is most politely described as [...]
Filed under: libdems on January 12th, 2010 | No Comments »
What do Nick Clegg and I have in common? Yes, that’s right, we’ve both used the bottom left-hand corner of the Varsity Comment page to offload a few political bugbears. Look in the online Friday 23rd November issue on page 10 and you’ll see it. Someone ought to, if only to make poor Mr Calamity [...]
Filed under: jonathanbirch, libdems, ukpolitics on December 11th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
