15.37 Dhanda did very well and has done himself a huge amount of good. 7.5/10
15.35 Dhanda has some wacky ideas, but delivers them charmingly.
15.32 Parmjit Dhanda has won my vote by wearing a Duchamp tie!
15.31 Short speech from Sir Alan Haselhurst but it got good cheers. 8/10.
15.27 Apologies. Had to take phone call so missed most of Sir Patrick.
15.19 Sir Patrick Cormack mentions Bannockburn. Not sure that was wise.
15.17 Too long. I can't remember much Michael Lord said. Said he hadn't campaigned or canvassed colleagues. Whaddamistakadamaka. 6/10.
15.12 Michael Lord rather pedestrian. He needed to be extraordinary.
15.09 Less eloquent than I would have expected from Richard Shepherd. 6/10.
15.04 Richard Shepherd gets off to a nervous start.
15.02 Bercow slightly lost his way towards the end, but delivered a powerful performance. Not sure if it will have convinced many Tories. 8.5/10.
15.01 I take it back. Bercow did have notes. They were being held and shown to him by Julian Lewis to his left.
14.59 Bercow had a dodgy start, but has delivered a stormer. No notes, passionate and full of content.
14.54 I nearly fell asleep. Woeful. 5/10.
14.51 Sir Alan Beith is unlucky in having to follow Widdecombe. He is speaking too quickly and reading from notes.
14.50 Widdecombe sits down having made a very powerful speech. Will have swung a few doubters I suspect. 8.5/10.
14.48 Widdecombe speaking from the heart without notes. House receiving it well. I wonder...
14.44 Widders: "I am unique". No one's arguing!
14.43 George Young was very good. Lots of content and ideas. 8/10.May well have swung some doubters.
14.38 George Young kicks off with some good titter-raising jokes. "I'm in the Conservative Party, not run by the Conservative Party".
14.37 Beckett 6/10. Competent, but hardly radical, with no 'hear hears' at any point except the end.
14.36 I have just tweeted to Tom Harris: "I dare you to pinch her bottom..."
14.31 Margaret Beckett's opening joke falls flat and fails to raise even a titter.
14.25 Ladbrokes are quoting Sir Alan Haselhurst at 12/1, down from 40/1 on Friday. They tell me they had a large number of bets after I placed my own on Friday afternoon. I shall have to bear in mind in future how easy it is to influence a betting market!
14.20 Only ten minutes to go before the speeches start. I'm told they are restricted to 8 minutes each, so the voting won't start until about 3.45pm. I wonder what proportion of MPs will be listening to the hustings speeches with a completely open mind.
Shall I provide a quick table of which one claimed which expenses?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Yes.
ReplyDeleteVerity ... a taste!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/5595209/Race-for-the-Speakers-chair-candidate-odds.html
Has Bercow made his nominations public yet?
ReplyDeleteAs a good Conserrvative I hope Beckett wins. The whole sordid deal that was done as part of the reshuffle will be exposed again and the electors will see it as the Labour old guard just sticking 2 fingers up to their concerns and at the next election will vote accordingly.
ReplyDeleteEvery time we see her on TV will be a reminder!
And the House will look so much better for all those floral hanging baskets she will put up.
If you backed at 40-1 and it's now 12-1 you should try and hedge the bet right away. That's free money right there
ReplyDeleteTories with countryside constituencies and who are thinking of voting for Beckett would do well to recall her disasterous tenure at DEFRA and the misery she heaped upon the farming community. They, and all other MPs, might then reflect on her expenses claims and watch her being booed on Question Time:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4zayqxFYFk
They might then come to the conclusion, reached by (probably) 80% of voters, that she is an absolutely ludicrous choice.
Iain - take the money and run! Beckett was atrocious by the way.
ReplyDeleteWho was that very fidgety chap sitting behind Ma Beckett as she droned on? Most distracting.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Young doing a good speech here I think...
ReplyDeleteWiddy is fab, but you just couldn't listen to that voice hour after hour up until the next election..
ReplyDeleteWiddecombe is not spelling out her main advantage which is that if she is retiring she doesn't need to worry about her personal popularity.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that the Labour benches, after 12 years of craven troughing, do one last single right thing.
ReplyDeleteSir Alan Beith, drone, what a bore!
ReplyDeleteWiddy IS fab, and spoke well - albeit an octave too high. I fear that Iain's earlier observation that an interim Speaker does no favours to new MPs come the next GE who will not have much knowledge of the contenders (and are likely to be whipped into line).
ReplyDeleteGod, I wish the annoying commentary was muted!
Bercow has to sit with his supporters around him, is he insecure?
ReplyDeleteSorry their is something about John Berk that just annoys me.
ReplyDeleteBercow - by far the slimiest so far.
ReplyDeleteBercow doing crappily unless he finishes very well indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe man to the left of Bercow is holding up his notes for him. Look at the way their eyes point downwards in the same direction every minute or so.
ReplyDeleteBercom has just claimed that Parliament is not corrupt, where has he been for the part 7 weeks?
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoy your blog (and that of Guido), I find it very strange that teh BBC can't cover this real-time.
ReplyDeleteThey have a (radio) digital channel for Parliament, yet it only broadcasts such as Today/Yesterday in Parliament.
Why doesn't it air at important moments ?. It wouldn't need much to support it, just s continuity person to explain what is going on in the gaps in proceedings in the Chamber.
It wouldn't take much for a couple of old war-horses to fill in impartially while votes are counted - just so that listeners know why they should keep listening.
I'd do it for fifty grand. Plus expenses. And a second home. And allowances. But then, I'm not up to being an MP.
Surely Aunty is recording all this stuff, what's so difficult about airing it ?.
Why doesn't the Parliament channel stay on all the time, broadcasting R4 or BBC WS in the down time ?.
Sport seems to have a better idea than Politics, and even that's a bit ropey.
Bercow sounds desperate, he makes my skin crawl... euuww.
ReplyDeleteBercow amateurish compared to the professionalism of George Young.
ReplyDeleteNo notes Iain? His little friend to his left is obviously holding them - or else Mr Bercow is unable to overcome a distracting obsession with his colleagues groin. What a dreadful little man.
ReplyDeleteWhere are you listening to this ?
ReplyDeleteTo Whiffler
ReplyDeleteParliament Channel on iPlayer
I do like Sheperd, he will sort out the commons. Vote for Sheperd!
ReplyDeleteScorching speech from Sheppie that shows up the dull windbaggery of Beith and Bercow...
ReplyDeleteNever seen Shepherd speak before. He comes across as mental.
ReplyDeleteCheers AN.
ReplyDeleteNo can do on iPlayer (courtesy of office Gestapo) - HMG want people to use digital radio, but only computer users are catered for.
B@st@rds.
Sorry, did I say that earlier ?.
B@st@rds !!
Alan Beith boring? Well, that's a turn up for the books, I must say.
ReplyDeleteLord, what a windbag.
ReplyDeleteShepherd for speaker. That was a brilliant speech, I can feel his anger and shame at the recent revelations of the house. He also has a vision to return the balance between legislature and executive.
ReplyDeleteQuite a stench coming from that direction today, all those little piggies packing their sty out.
ReplyDeleteTrying to find a ring leader to speak for them and avoid the abbatoir.
We need guy fawkes now, burn it all down, get rid of the stench, mop up the bacon and start all over again.
Some of them in their speeches even mentioned the word democracy, what a fuckin joke.
I despise every one of them those pigs so out of touch and their to feather their own nests.
It must be Shepherd, or Widdy.
ReplyDeleteNo others seem to be clean (with expenses) or true believers in change & transparency, the rest just talk a very good talk.
It will be a shame if neither of those two are chosen.
I note that there is a common theme among a number of candidates: let the back-benchers have their voices.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic exposure of what REALLY has been happening for the past generation or two.
Vive la Revolution!
Richard Shepherd seems OK! Michael Lord, what a bore!
ReplyDeleteSo far, only possibilities are Anne and Shepherd!
Shepherd miles better than Bercow. Bercow was not polished -just oily.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly strong and serious show from Patrick 'the joker in the pack' Cormack..
ReplyDeleteDale, I am questioning your judgement. Bercow storming?
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should gain an attention span if you can't remember a speech 5 minutes after it finishes.
Sir George Young has been the highest claimer of the Additional Costs Allowance for the past 2 years, and sadly he seems to be very likely the winner. He talks a good talk, but can we trust it?
ReplyDeleteLive coverage of the Speaker’s Election Hustings
ReplyDeleteWell, that looks like a hundred quid down the drain, Mr Dale..
ReplyDeleteBut luckily Iain can afford it with all his 'media whoring' [TM}
"15.27 Apologies. Had to take phone call so missed most of Sir Patrick."
ReplyDeleteLucky you- what a windbag!
Iain, If you stand and win a seat at the next election, i could see you becoming speaker.
ReplyDeleteThe role would suit you, you get a big chair, a robe and you can shout at people when you have had a bad day.
Suspect Beckett may be found hanging from one of her baskets if the House vote for her.
ReplyDeleteYou're not wrong DMC.
ReplyDeleteParmjit Dhanda - repeatedly claimed the wrong amount of mortgage on his expenses.
ReplyDeleteVoted moderately against a transparent government (that's not a good sign).
OOoohh !! Dhanda playing the BNP card and mentioning Facebook - think he's lost a lot of the geriatric MP vote.. And mentioning vox pops...
ReplyDeleteCan't see the MPs rushing for that..
Feel the heat of public opinion ?
'make me continent, but not yet..'
Facebook democracy?
ReplyDeleteGrief Dhanda, what a mess
Dhanda is smart, but he will be seen as a bit too PC by many of the old fart brigade.
ReplyDeleteLook at the man behind Dhanda. He's pissed!
ReplyDeleteTells us all!
Dhanda's setting out his "I could be a Muslim Tony Blair" stall for a future leadership election.
ReplyDeleteDhanda was a bit bonkers, perhaps, but he was right that the speaker should drive reform. Most of the others sounded far too complacent - that may go down well in the house, but won't outside.
ReplyDeleteDale - vote for Parmjit Dhanda because of his tie, eh? Shame about the postive descrimination that he implies he wants. How anyone can describe you as a political commentator beats me.
ReplyDeleteDhanda was the only one that remotely understood the nature of the crisis. If any of the other candidates wins, every MP in the House should expect to lose their seat at the next general election.
ReplyDeleteSince most of them seem to be going on about PR, shpould they not do STV, were they rank the candidates in order of preference and just get it over with quickly.
ReplyDeleteHaselHurst got the biggest cheer from the MPs.
ReplyDeleteMy favourates, Bercow and Dhanda.
Also can i ask the blog, do they have any predictions on who is going to be knocked out first?
As you know, I would never stoop to making personal comments, but the two best looking contenders are Haselhurst and Danda. The two ugliest are, in order, Beckett and ... uh ... nolo contendere.
ReplyDeleteIsn't about time that we elected a new Top Gear presenter
ReplyDeletehttp://moralorder.mediumisthemess.com/blog
Anonymous 3.39, are you deliberately being a prick? The remark was humorous, but I suppose that would pass by an idiot like you, wouldn't it? I despair.
ReplyDeleteMansour Bahrami for Speaker.
ReplyDeleteIain:
ReplyDeleteLot of trolls recently. Must be recently prodded into action by the Speaker's election and Omoron's failure to handle the Iranian protest crisis correctly. They're very much on the defensive.
Iain, I beg of you, please, no matter what the provocation don't stoop to the gutter level of using the 'p' word - it really is crass and chavvy and beneath you.
ReplyDeleteOops, I forgot you were from Essex..
I disagree with your score on Richard Shephard, Iain. I found his speech quite powerful and struck the right tone for me. It's clear how deep his feelings for the house are. Not a good day for Gordon though. All these ingrate would-be speakers wanting to strip him of powers, how very dare they?
ReplyDeleteNice clip of Betty eviscerating some poor backbencher in her pomp. Maybe widdecombe would be a good idea as she'd give any errant members a verbal lashing too!
I, too, thought that Bercow was a smug, oily little man, Richard Shepherd, passionate and sincere.
ReplyDelete(Am I the only person who thinks that Ed Balls has the look of a second-hand car salesman?)
Bercow passionate?
ReplyDeleteBloody Nora Iain,you have not lived mate.
I have watched more interesting flock wallpaper in an indian restaurant than his speech.
I'm afraid I can't understand how Hazelhurst is the right man for the job. He incorrectly said ACA was part of an MP's renumeration, it most certainly shouldn't be ... a slip of a tongue perhaps. But he has been tarred by the expenses stick, his defense was that "everybody has". That's not true. Richard Shepherd has not, and he walks the walk when it comes to transparency. It isn't some bandwagon he gleefully jumped on in the past few weeks.
ReplyDeleteIf Bercow is the self-proclaimed 'reform' candidate, why is his note-handler one of the key anti-FoI/expenses hacks, Julian Lewis?
ReplyDeleteAnd doesn't the fact that each ballot round takes about 90 minutes, potentially keeping us all up until the 'wee small hours', beautifully symbolise all that is wrong with the running of the present House of Commons?
It beats me how anyone can judge a man by his tie. My man-servant claims to have gone to Eton and his 'old school tie' always has soup stains on it (even though he claims to hate the stuff).
ReplyDeletehttp://moralorder.mediumisthemess.com/blog has the low-down.
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