Sandy 4 St Albans

The recent election of Deputy Speakers in the House of Commons was not the subject of headlines though it is the first time that democracy has been allowed to sully the process.

The BBC online report coyly noted that “after a series of five votes by MPs, in which other candidates were eliminated in stages, Mr Hoyle emerged with 161 backers, with Mr Evans on 133 and Ms Primarolo on 128. But Mr Evans was the first to gain the 129 votes deemed necessary under the new system.”

The official UK Parliament website comes clean about the “new system” – see http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2010/06/mps-elect-deputy-speakers/

It is the Single Transferable Vote preferred by Liberal Democrats for all elections – funny how it’s good enough for MPs’ internal elections but the best we are going to be offered for Commons elections is the much inferior Alternative Vote.

I expect you knew that.  It’s certainly a relief to the candidates that we have almost reached the finishing post!

This week we had Simon Hughes in his dayglo taxi on Monday – and his magic touch conjured up even more poster boards in prominent locations.

Today Vince Cable came to town.  There’s only one Nick Clegg, there’s only one Vince Cable, there’s only so much they can do in the final day before polling day.  So it is highly significant that the party high command sent Deputy Leader Vince to St Albans for a walkabout in the market and a robust and enjoyable soap-box stump speech outside the Alban Arena.

It is a sign of their desperation that the Conservatives wheeled in a bunch of “students” from outside the city to wave blue placards and heckle – rather feebly I thought.  Given the almost total invisibility of any Conservative posters in the constituency, I remarked that just by being there they doubled the Conservative poster count from five to ten.

Both this morning and later at lunch time, shoppers came up to wish me luck and in  many cases to confirm that they had already voted LibDem by post.  Likewise residents in the street in Bedmond, Primrose Hill, St Albans and Park Street.

Ladbrokes today offers the same odds on me or Mrs Main winning – we are both at 10/11, with Labour drifting to 25/1.

Polls close at 10 pm and we will know the actual result sometime in the early hours of Friday.  Whatever happens, we have made a huge impact in this election – both nationally and locally.  Politics will never be the same.

PS If you need any information on voting or a lift to the polls, please call the Liberal Democrat headquarters on 01727 855523.

Last night’s packed St Albans Abbey hustings demonstrated that there is a huge interest in this election.  The nave was a magnificent and uplifting venue with the evening sun streaming through the west window.

The event was chaired by the Archdeacon, Jonathan Smith.  He began by introducing us based on short descriptions we had provided – some laughter in the audience when Anne Main was described as having a home in St Albans.

The questions were thoroughly stimulating, I hope our answers gave food for thought, at two hours in length the audience sat through a marathon .

We were asked about

- What do we do to reinvolve people in politics? Actually I think Nick Clegg has set this election alight.  We have people of all ages pouring through the door of our office in 9 Hatfield Road, offering help, asking for posters etc.  My facebook pages are buzzing with new friends and supporters.  We just have to maintain the connections after May 6th.

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I’m not letting my hopes run away at the current opinion polls but clearly something is happening.  People want change.  But they suddenly realise it does not have to be pendulum politics, there is a real alternative.

I campaigned for Nick Clegg in the Liberal Democrat leadership election because I believed then that he had the potential to transform British politics. That is exactly what he did in this week’s debate leaving David Cameron and Gordon Brown looking tired and irrelevant.

I wonder if David Cameron remembers being asked to tell a political joke.  He said “Nick Clegg” and thought he was being so funny – and how his sycophants laughed?

I wonder if they are still laughing now.

There has been some really encouraging comment about the Liberal Democrat manifesto in the newspapers and from key commentators.  Here are just a few quotes:

The Lib Dems are well aware of the stakes. For their moment in the spotlight, they chose a focused, costed and serious political message.
The Guardian – 15th April 2010

The Liberal Democrat manifesto contains more extensive and more detailed tax and spending proposals than those of the other main UK parties.
Institute for Fiscal Studies – 14th April 2010

The [Liberal Democrats] deserve credit for costing its promises… unlike the Tories who hid their sums because they know the figures don’t add up.
The Mirror – 15th April 2010

They’ve got by far the most ambitious tax and spending plans
BBC – 14th April 2010

Their manifesto launch today was refreshingly candid in its clear focus on the deficit and the recession, subjects largely fudged by Labour and the Tories in their manifestos this week.
Evening Standard – 14th April 2010

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