Monday, December 18, 2006
Hold the Front Page: LibDems Reshuffle Team for 'Snap Election'
The LibDems believe that Gordon Brown might call a snap election in October. Ming Campbell has therefore reshuffled his team. It's interesting that Steve Webb has been appointed to write the manifesto. Webb is one of the more left wing and cerebral LibDem MPs. Ed Davey swaps positions with Norman Lamb, who becomes Health Spokesman, while Davey becomes Ming's Chief of Staff. Susan Kramer moved to becomes DTI spokesman, while Lynne Featherstone joins the front bench top team at International Affairs.
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18 comments:
Earth shattering news, obviously. And what of the Lib Dem spokesman on Northern Ireland and Wales?
You forgot to mention that Lembit Opik was promoted to Ugandan Affairs.
Who can remember now those halcyon day of 'equidistance' between a right wing tory party and a leftish labour party...
"Lynne Featherstone joins the front bench top team at International Affairs."
let's hope she doesn't encounter too many 'cheeky boys'!
Clever use of the raised eyebrow of punctuation's canon to poor scorn on an old gentleman's dream of a 'Snap Election'. But you miss the lead from the BBC's characterising Lynne's new job 'International Affairs' and therefore clearly linking it as I do to Lembit's new twin project(s).
There'll be no election - not unless they can ram party funding down the throats of a resisting public - none of them have the funds to run their campaigns.
The Second Coming has unexpectedly kicked-off, and a frantic Cardinal bursts in on the Pontiff, explaining that The Top Man is in St Peter's Square on a donkey. "What shall we do?"
"Try to LOOK busy", says His Holiness
What makes me laugh, (as a Lib Dem staffer) is that the first I heard of this re-shuffle was looking on the BBC website.
I hear Lemsip is to be made Shadow Chancellorperson in recognition of his great statemanship, gravitas, financial acumen, personal sensitivity and vast popularity with the proletariat. Vince Cable will become Spokesperson for Cheeky Bottoms.
Damn! Anonymous got to it first.
Cheeky boy!
Is an election in 10 months time a snap election ? It reminds me of Adrian Mole's description of the navy leaving Portsmouth for a surprise attack on the Falklands.
Cameron's on the "snap election" demand-requirement malarkey now, one sees from tonight's meeja (Dave claiming that Brown as PM would lack legitimacy, thus a general election is required)...
Revealing in a couple of aspects:
a) Dave's scared of Gordon (no other reason to attack a potential Brown PM-ship on the most quasi- of procedural grounds)
b) Dave's got an inadequate grasp of UK parliamentary politics (ain't no Presidential system here, Dave)
c) loads of other people are already pointing and giggling at Dave because of all of the above, and
d) Dave's revealing a lack of confidence in his own policies, team and strategy...
Me? I just like staying up all night with the tame screws, watching the results come in over a hot cuppa...
Are there actually any libertarians in the Lib Dems?
A left-wing Lib Dem manifesto is, of course, good for the Tories. It will ensure the South goes blue while other parts of the country are prevented from going red.
Then we will have Cameron in charge and things might marginally improve. Or at least things won't get worse so quickly.
Why would the Lib Dems be full of libertarians? It's a liberal party not a libertarian party.
Good point re Lib Dems anonymous. Why should they be libertarian or even for that matter liberals? They are just a bunch of ambitious (but not very able) chancers, plus those damaged ones, gathered together in antipathy to everything else that's on offer. Sometimes the damaged ones - designed to support the shifty "intellectuals" actually end up getting elected. And as the MLF points out if they were previously unemployed they will then "da da" be able to afford a cleaner. Or if like Leech elected to two positions by even stranger quirks and dishonesties they will be able to afford a washerwoman, a boxing body guard and leafleteer, and a 'lazy Glover' carpet bagging careerist to boot. And a cleaner to cover up. And let's hope soon a wedding. If not a nifty sports car.
I see from the Boundary Commission's site that they submitted the general review of English constituencies to the LC on 31st October. They also make the point that they expect the new constituencies to be in place early in 2007.
Now call me a cynical old sod, but could it be that someone in nuLab is calculating whether some delay in ratifying the new constituencies combined with an early election to canonise St Gordy may just be the way for nuSleaze to hang on to a majority?
Perish the thought. I'll get my coat.
Libertarian LibDems: there's some of us, but we aren't a libertarian party, because we're a broad coalition, like all parties.
Liberalism takes on aspects of the old Whiggs, the Peelites, the Radicals, JS Mill, LT Hobhouse, Lloyd-George, Hayek, Beveridge and Keyenes (and many more).
There is no 'Libertarian party' in the UK. I doubt one would ever get off the ground. We need to influence public opinion and educate rather than try and win elections.
Only reason that Webb is in charge of the manifesto is because he spoke in favour of the radical (and what was seen as "right-wing") tax policies at the conference.
This wont make the manifesto "left-wing", it'll be a continuation of the path that Ming's lot are succesfully moving on.
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