It is very spooky and very weird, but I seem to have got a Labour twin. Kerron Cross's blog is developing into a mirror image of this one, it seems to me. And good on him! I particularly enjoyed this part of his interview with Paul Burgin who runs the Mars Hill Blog. Can't think why...
Paul Burgin: Why do you take such a dislike of the Lib Dems?
Kerron Cross: I thought you may ask something along these lines, it’s something I’ve become almost famous for. The truth is that I find the Lib Dems campaigning style deeply disingenuous, nasty, deliberately misleading, personal and venal. Having been on the receiving end of it, I thought it was a one-off, but then you realise that not only is the behaviour widespread it’s actually condoned and sent out as standard practise by the party. Every election is a “two-horse race” where “only we can win here”. The ubiquitous bar chart, which is not to scale. Where if no statistics actually support that “only a Lib Dem can win here” so “don’t waste your vote on the Labour/Conservative candidate” then their “private poll shows” that “only we can win here”. They say anything to anyone on the doorstep – whatever you want to hear. Different policies for different parts of the country – even though any policies they do have are kept deliberately low-key or vague. But the most annoying thing is the piety of their spokespeople saying that they “hate ya boo politics”, and “mudslinging” and the behaviour of the other 2 parties. My problem is not so much their negative campaigning, it’s then that they pretend that they do not negatively campaign. The Lib Dem strategy seems to play well with voters in by-elections when voters are looking for a protest vote, but it is also why are they are thoroughly hated by the other 2 parties – more than the Tories and Labour probably hate each other. I mean for me, I can disagree with a Tory fundamentally on everything but still respect them as a person and as a politician, but I can’t say the same for most Lib Dems I know. Which reminds me of one of my favourite Lib Dem lines: “Don’t vote for a politician, vote for a Lib Dem” – what does that mean? Thoroughly horrible and nasty party that deserves to be revealed to the public for what it is.
7 comments:
He has also suffered a similar problem to you getting a chance to stand for election. All women Shortlist have stopped him fighting his home seat it appears. He has been rather unfairly criticised for expressing dismay at this decision imho
Sour grapes this...
Kerron from his time in SW Herts and you from yours in North Norfolk. (beaten by the lovely Norman Lamb)
Get over it kids and stop being such hypocrites.
Kerron's dislike is something of a legend in the circles we move in, which was why I asked him. I also remember helping Hemel Hempstead CLP during the election last year and some from S.W. Herts (where Kerron was the Labour candidate) came to help us. Over some envelope stuffing, one or two believed a myth the Lib Dems were propogating that they were in second place, so I had to swiftly disabuse them of that
Oh and thanks for reprinting part of the interview on your blog! :)
"Over some envelope stuffing, one or two believed a myth the Lib Dems were propogating that they were in second place, so I had to swiftly disabuse them of that"
Didnt the Lib Dems come 2nd??
Yes they did! :(
The result:
Con 23,494
Lib 15,021
Lab 10,466
I checked the Labour Herts SW website (my consitiuency and as part of some research) earlier this year and they were still claiming that Labour were the second largest party in SW Herts, ten months after losing 6% of their vote.
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