The Lib Dems could have beaten Roger Gale

Written by Matt B · first published 27/04/2010

The Liberal Democrats missed the opportunity to snipe a Conservative safe seat this election

A guide for low budget Liberal Democrats fighting seats they are unlikely to win. Just because you have little or no budget does not mean that you shouldn't give the safe seat's margins a sound thrashing. This is your guide to some of the things you could and should be doing.

With just a little knowledge and low cost effort Laura Murphy could have beaten Roger Gale in the general elections for what is a very safe Conservative seat.

This is how.

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Labour candidate gives up?

Written by Matt B · first published 26/04/2010

Michael Britton's spectacular lack of ambition in the face of fairly long odds should be an example to us all... or not.

Please feel free to suggest alternative text. The best ideas will be published.

Michael Britton has given up

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Why voting Lib-Dem in Thanet might be a bad idea.

Written by Matt B · first published 26/04/2010

Actually I am starting to feel like voting in Thanet Might be a bad idea. The only people that it might be worth voting for are random fringe party candidates with no hope of getting more than a tiny fraction of the votes.

I have no intention of voting Conservative having seen more to convince me not to recently than to convince me I have anything to gane.

I have little intention of voting Labour other than Gorden Brown showed a tiny inclination towards transparency by asking Sir Tim Berners Lee for help. Sadly though, Labour could not even be bothered to show us a picture of their North Thanet candidate which shows us how much they value our vote, opinion and interests. (Not at all, I'd say).

I have a swiftly deminishing inclination to vote Liberal Democrats because it seems that locally the Lib Dems have all the interest in Thanet of a well roasted turnip on a silver plate somewhere in Outer Mongolia.

Take, for example, Peter Bucklitsch who is standing for South Thanet. His evry small online contribution brags about getting elelcted on a few random councils and how he can identify much better with the needs and aspirations of the constituency. Which is all well and good except that he expects us to write to him (and presumably visit him) in Sandwich.

Peter Bucklitsch: a quick update you are standing for Thanet, mate. Get your backside over here right now!

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» Continue Reading: Why voting Lib-Dem in Thanet might be a bad idea.

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Will we have a Liberal Democrat Government?

Written by Matt B · first published 24/04/2010

Latest polls suggest that there may be sufficient support for a landslide victory.

'Sun' censored poll that showed support for Lib Dems claims the Independent. The article goes on to say that Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) may have enough support to form a majority government.

'Sun' censored poll that showed support for Lib Dems -UK Politics, UK - The Independent

The Sun newspaper failed to publish a YouGov poll showing that voters fear a Liberal Democrat government less than a Conservative or Labour one.

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YouGov also found that if people thought Mr Clegg's party had a significant chance of winning the election, it would win 49 per cent of the votes, with the Tories winning 25 per cent and Labour just 19 per cent. One in four people Labour and one in six Tory supporters say they would switch to the Liberal Democrats in these circumstances. The party would be ahead among both men and women, in every age and social group, and in every region. On a uniform swing across Britain, that would give the Liberal Democrats 548 MPs, Labour 41 and the Tories 25.

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Roger Gale vs Stephen Ladyman: The Party Line

Written by Matt B · first published 18/04/2010

When voting for an MP it helps to know if they are likely to think for themselves or just do what the party tells them to do. Let's see how North and South Thanet stack up

Ladyman is a party man rated as having nver rebelled whereas Gale hardly ever rebels. What does this mean in English?

In short both North and South Thanet have been reprisented by MPs that mroe or less always do as they are told but that North Thanet (Conservative) has sometimes gone against the flow.

Will this impact on votes? Probably not.

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Roger Gale: Pro-Smoking and Anti-Gay

Written by Matt B · first published 17/04/2010

Is North Thanet's long standing MP (Roger Gale) a pro-smoking, anti-gay, environmentalist with little interest in democracy? (You tell me).

According to theyworkforyou.com Roger Gale Voted very strongly against equal gay rights and moderately against introducing a smoking ban. On the other hand he has voted very strongly for a hunting ban and for laws that stop climate change.

Interestingly Roger Gale, whose majority was 7,634 votes seems to have voted both ways or not at all on the subjects of a wholly elected House of Lords and transparent Parliament while being strongly against the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

Mr Gale also voted very strongly for the Iraq war.

So is this good, bad or indifferent?

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Stephen Ladyman: Pro-Gay and Pro-War

Written by Matt B · first published 16/04/2010

Is South Thanet's last MP (Stephen Ladyman) a pro-war, anti-democratic, totalitarian? (You tell me)

Stephen Ladyman has, according to theyworkforyou.com shown himself to be against climate change prevention laws and very strongly for anti-terror laws (which included holding suspects without charge for long periods of time) and for a the introduction of ID cards (something that opponents fear will impact on civil liberties).

While he was opposing laws to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords Stephen Ladyman has also voted strongly against a wholly elected House of Lords and against a transparent Parliament. Reform, it seems, does not suit Stephen Ladyman at all well (in that he seems to be in agreement with Roger Gale).

Stephen Ladyman also supported the war and strongly opposed any investigation into the war.

Does this sound like a man who loves his secrets, power and privilege to you? Has he voted in a way that represents what you think? Is his record good, bad or indifferent? Tell me.

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Thanet's �160,000 Czech/Roma Integration plan

Written by Matt B · first published 15/04/2010

�160,000 is being spent on "Czech/Roma Integration" in Thanet by the home office according to Alan Campbell.

Quite what this "intergration" might be or even what is meant by "Czech/Roma Integration" remains another question entirely.

The information was mentioned in a written answer to Stephen Ladyman (South Thanet, Labour) from Alan Campbell (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Tynemouth, Labour) back at the beginning of march.

If anyone would like to clarify what this actually means I would be most grateful.

Czech/Roma Integration - �70,000 in respect of year one (2009-10) and �90,000 provisionally awarded for year two (2010-11) focused which is specifically Thanet Alan Campbell (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Tynemouth, Labour); Written answers and statements, 5 March 2010

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23 complaints about Thanet's councillors

Written by Matt B · first published 14/04/2010

According to an unnamed report the Thanet Times suggests that more complaints were made about Thanet District Councillors than anything else.

The article, a filler on page 3, headlined "Councillors turn on each other" suggests the second highest number of complaints was about parish councillors by members of the public about whom a grand total of 6 complaints over the unspecified time period were received.

Over that same time period Thanet District Councillors had 23 complaints made about them by other councillors. Even factoring for the number of complaints outgoing leader Sandy Ezekiel famously has amassed that's still a fair few complaints.

Sadly Thanet Times reporters have forgotten what they learned in school and failed to cite their sources. If anyone knows what report the Thanet Times staff are talking about a fair few people would be interested in finding out.

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Got votes?

Written by Matt B · first published 10/04/2010

Tunbridge Wells hip posh crew Golly Gosh on why you need to register to vote. And yes their council did employ them to make this. Odds of Thanet District Council fronting up cash for a similar campaign around here?

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Thanet's Water Will Be Fine. Yes, I'm Still Being Serious.

Written by Matt B · first published 08/04/2010

The Thanet Star � Thanet's Water Will Be Fine. No, I'm Being Serious.

Given the remaining hurdles and a large portion of the crowd booing the runner it's not looking favourable. Were I a director of a company involved in this application I would be chasing hard for a quick exit strategy.

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Back then I said that Thanet's water would be safe. I observed that Michael Child along with a number of quality non bloggers) have been carrying out the highly thankless task of chasing red paper and getting the facts established.

A year and a half later and nothing has happened.

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Ding dong the witch is... actually nothing has changed yet

Written by Matt B · first published 07/04/2010

With Sandy departing us to spend time with the fish what does the future hold?

This publication has never shied away from the glaringly obvious (that Sandy was not the right fellow for the job) but now that he is gone, or at least going... eventually... maybe...

Now that his days are allegedly numbered what is next for Thanet?

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Did he jump or was he pushed?

Written by Matt B · first published 06/04/2010

Anyone remember this? Seems strangely foreboding now.

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