Archive for local elections
Preparing for the AV referendum: standing more local election candidates
The connection between standing local election candidates and the AV referendum may not seem obvious at first, so imagine this scenario… It’s quite likely that the referendum will be held on the same day as local elections, such as the May 2011 local elections. The arguments over electoral reform will attract to the ballot box [...]
New figures reveal which candidates do the most campaigning
Figures revealing which party’s candidates were most likely to do leafleting, canvassing, internet campaigning and a set of other activities have just been published by the Electoral Commission.
The Commission carried out a survey of local election candidates from the June 2009 campaign and found:
Conservative candidates were most likely to have produced a campaign leaflet (98% [...]
The mess enveloping the law over local election candidates
Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire:
The question of who can stand for election to a local council should be clearly defined and easy to understand – so that those new to politics can be candidates, so that voters don’t end up with a false choice where not all the candidates are actually allowed to be candidates [...]
Lib Dems gain control of Bristol Council
The first big electoral news is good for the Liberal Democrats: four gains from Labour in Bristol have given the LibDems overall control of the council. Labour won just 2 wards out of 23 on the night, compared with 10 out of 24 in 2007.
“Taunton Conservative Candidate Forced To Apologise For Slurs Following Police Investigation”
From AboutMyArea:
Taunton Conservative Candidate Forced To Apologise For Slurs Following Police Investigation
The Somerset County Council election took a step into the gutter today when Conservative candidate in West Taunton, Nick James, was forced to issue a public apology for personal attacks on his Lib Dem opponent, Alan Paul, and non-political officers of the Council. The [...]
One of the very best Conservative leaflets ever
Feeling tired as we near the end of a hectic campaign? Well, here’s something to bring a smile to your face. Quite simply, one of the very best Conservative leaflets ever (though it’s headline isn’t in this class). It’s from 2000 I believe:
(Click on thumbnail for larger version.)
Polly Toynbee: vote Liberal Democrat
Things are indeed achanging in the Guardian Media Group. Sunday say The Observer unequivocally urge its readers to vote Liberal Democrat for the first time. And now Polly Toynbee is urging a vote for the Liberal Democrats in the European elections and in many local elections too:
Throw out bad councils, and vote for Lib Dems [...]
Postal voting woes in West Sussex
Another tail of postal voting trouble; this time from West Sussex. In the Henfield ward ballot papers were printed and sent out to postal voters with the UKIP logo next to the Liberal Democrat candidate and with the Liberal Democrat logo against the Labour candidate. Corrected ballot papers have now been sent out.
UPDATE: Things also [...]
The Observer says: vote Liberal Democrat
From today’s leader:
Nick Clegg is the most instinctively European leader at Westminster. That is currently a lonely position, but the Lib Dems have a decent record of taking minority stands that are later vindicated. On the environment, on civil liberties and on the mounting debt bubble, the Lib Dems were quietly but consistently ahead of [...]
How not to do postal votes
All things considered, not the wisest of choices by the new Wiltshire Council to send out examples of how to complete your ballot paper which show someone voting Conservative:
A particularly odd decision given how common instructions are which show dummy party and candidate names.
