Thursday, 18th December 2014

[Tubby Isaacs]

Last poll of the year, blah, blah, Cameron on his holidays with all the headaches, blah.

Nicky Robinson?

[AngryAsWell]

Can't help but think if your losing Fraser Nelson - The Times They Are-a-Changing.....

Fraser Nelson ‏@FraserNelson · Dec 15
Cameron today misled us about having "halved" the deficit. Here's what happened when his spokesman was confronted: http://specc.ie/1wACj1g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

The Prime Minister, 48, was throwing shapes in an open-necked collar and jeans, and dancing went on until 3am.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... quers.html

I apologise.

[Tizme1]

Evening all,

Sorry rather late in the day but as promised, these are the 12 seats the Greens are targeting;

Brighton
Bristol West
Norwich South
Cambridge
St Ives
Solihull
Holburn and St Pancras
Sheffield Central
Liverpool Riverside
Oxford East
York Central
Reading East

Thank you Tizme. Is Natalie Bennett the Green candidate for Holborn & St Pancras again? Those should be some interesting hustings if so.

Yes it is Natalie again - hence it has to be a target seat, particularly with Frank Dobson standing down. With Keir Starmer for Labour, it should indeed be an interesting battle. I may see if I can get along to some hustings events. Also hoping to go to some of the Uxbridge hustings. Our candidate Graham Lee does a lot of the printing for local Green parties [including for Watford]. Its a fascinating set up he has. Obviously its not one of our target seats but given there will be a lot of media attention, it could be good for the Greens if Graham comes across well.

[RogerOThornhill]

Evening all,

Sorry rather late in the day but as promised, these are the 12 seats the Greens are targeting;

Brighton
Bristol West
Norwich South
Cambridge
St Ives
Solihull
Holburn and St Pancras
Sheffield Central
Liverpool Riverside
Oxford East
York Central
Reading East

Thank you Tizme. Is Natalie Bennett the Green candidate for Holborn & St Pancras again? Those should be some interesting hustings if so.

She'll be up against Keir Starmer then...she only got 1,400-odd votes last time round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holborn_an ... _the_2010s

[Tubby Isaacs]

Can't quite believe Pickles' "let's shit on the seaside" cuts.

Tweeted Douglas Carswell, who should know a fair bit about coastal communities. It should be dynamite for UKIP.

[Tizme1]

Evening all,

Sorry rather late in the day but as promised, these are the 12 seats the Greens are targeting;

Brighton
Bristol West
Norwich South
Cambridge
St Ives
Solihull
Holburn and St Pancras
Sheffield Central
Liverpool Riverside
Oxford East
York Central
Reading East

Thanks! Fair play for not targetting Stroud, where you're strong locally but which has a left-wing Labour candidate.

It's a very studenty list though, isn't it?

Obviously we're going to defend Brighton. We've had good support in Norwich for a long time so that's another given. Bristol West we've had a huge explosion of support - much of it coming from the Lib dems you'll no doubt be pleased to know. Those are the top three targets really. Holburn is another obvious choice as it's Natalie's target seat.

The others are showing good or potential local support and as you say, are mostly very studenty. It makes sense for us to target those seats because a lot of our support is coming from young people.

A lot of analysis has gone in to the choices as you might imagine. We aren't a wealthy party and don't have millionaire backers like UKIP. We have to target wisely. I'm sure you'll all be pleased that our top 5 targets [other than Brighton obviously] are all Lib dem seats.

I'd like to think that any Labour supporters in our target seats would consider voting Green tactically in the same way that many of us will vote Labour tactically. Obviously that won't happen in seats where Labour are in with a good shout but you know, maybe Labour voters could consider it.

When it comes to Greens supporting Labour in areas where we are weak and Labour are strong, I really think this will be the last election where we do that if Labour do get in, and we don't see a much more socially just and environmentally aware government. Miliband has to be better than Blair for us to keep lending our support. That obviously is my opinion based on mainly anecdotal stuff. But with a smattering of awareness regarding our tactical approach - e.g not targeting Stroud.

[Tizme1]

Evening all,

Sorry rather late in the day but as promised, these are the 12 seats the Greens are targeting;

Brighton
Bristol West
Norwich South
Cambridge
St Ives
Solihull
Holburn and St Pancras
Sheffield Central
Liverpool Riverside
Oxford East
York Central
Reading East

Thank you Tizme. Is Natalie Bennett the Green candidate for Holborn & St Pancras again? Those should be some interesting hustings if so.

She'll be up against Keir Starmer then...she only got 1,400-odd votes last time round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holborn_an ... _the_2010s

True. But as party leader she has a higher profile now. Plus has continued to work for the Green cause in the area. And of course Frank Dobson is standing down so in theory that will reduce Labour support. That said, I think Keir Starmer is a strong candidate for Labour but Natalie announced her candidacy long before.

[rebeccariots2]

More on that Janice Atkinson story:

MEP behind Ukip's welfare policy chased for child support
http://www.channel4.com/news/ukip-janic ... ld-support

[TechnicalEphemera]

Can't help but think if your losing Fraser Nelson - The Times They Are-a-Changing.....

Fraser Nelson ‏@FraserNelson · Dec 15
Cameron today misled us about having "halved" the deficit. Here's what happened when his spokesman was confronted: http://specc.ie/1wACj1g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They appear to have lost The Spectator, or at least a chunk of it. The IPSOS Mori Poll is the only one to show a decent Tory lead, and that is almost certainly down to their stupid turnout model.

YouGov, ICM showing a widening Labour lead, maybe the slow burn that is the fallout from the Autumn statement. It has changed the argument, and not in the way Osborne expected.

The Nottingham NHS story is a shocker as well, can't think that is going to play well for them.

I expect the gap will close over Christmas as people forget about politics, but I don't see much good for Dave this side of March.

[rebeccariots2]

Evening all,
When it comes to Greens supporting Labour in areas where we are weak and Labour are strong, I really think this will be the last election where we do that if Labour do get in, and we don't see a much more socially just and environmentally aware government. Miliband has to be better than Blair for us to keep lending our support. That obviously is my opinion based on mainly anecdotal stuff. But with a smattering of awareness regarding our tactical approach - e.g not targeting Stroud.

I want better than better than Blair ... and I think an awful lot of other people do too. I want different. I'm rather hoping that if Miliband / Labour gets in - he might do quite pioneering and radical things re working with other groups and parties in key areas. I think the way things go in Scotland means the way of working is going to have be different - even within the overall Labour party.

[Tubby Isaacs]

When it comes to Greens supporting Labour in areas where we are weak and Labour are strong, I really think this will be the last election where we do that if Labour do get in, and we don't see a much more socially just and environmentally aware government. Miliband has to be better than Blair for us to keep lending our support. That obviously is my opinion based on mainly anecdotal stuff. But with a smattering of awareness regarding our tactical approach - e.g not targeting Stroud.

I think that's exactly right.

David Drew does seem to be rather provocative to the Greens in Stroud, for reasons I can't understand. If he carries on, I think you're well within your rights to go for that seat too.

[rebeccariots2]

Rather late - something in the G on the SPAD saga.

Home secretary’s special advisers removed from parliamentary list
Tory leadership feud exposed after advisers suspended from candidate list for refusing to canvass in Rochester byelection
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... byelection

[Tubby Isaacs]

Jeremy Hunt seems to be doing a "bad things in marginals" tour, like Govey with free schools.

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2 ... necessary/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bedford.

[rebeccariots2]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 12m12 minutes ago
Ollerton (Nottinghamshire) result:
LAB - 56.4% (+8.7)
CON - 25.7% (-1.5)
UKIP - 16.7% (-8.4)
LDEM - 1.2% (+1.2)

[Tizme1]

I want better than better than Blair ... and I think an awful lot of other people do too. I want different. I'm rather hoping that if Miliband / Labour gets in - he might do quite pioneering and radical things re working with other groups and parties in key areas. I think the way things go in Scotland means the way of working is going to have be different - even within the overall Labour party.

Lets hope so. Sometimes I think Ed really could be a kind of Clem Attlee of our times. Other times I want to shake him. And none of it has anything to do with what he bloody looks like! Obviously it's on a much smaller scale but I work with other parties locally. For instance with the Farm Terrace group, I work an awful lot with the Labour Councillors for the ward in question. Well two of them. The third one doesn't bother to do anything for her constituents. Likewise in the ward I live in, I work with two of the three Lib dem councillors very closely. The third one is a lazy bastard who again doesn't do anything for anyone other than for himself. And in the ward I'll be standing in again, I work with our Green Councillor [natch], plus with one of the Labour Councillors [the other one again doesn't do anything much]. We only have one Tory councillor in the whole of Watford and frankly, she isn't interested in helping her constituents - her only concern is furthering her career. Its my belief that she thinks if Richard Harrington loses in the 2015 g/e she will be the candidate in 2020. Doubt I'll ever have to worry about working with her on anything given she doesn't actually do anything.

[Tizme1]

When it comes to Greens supporting Labour in areas where we are weak and Labour are strong, I really think this will be the last election where we do that if Labour do get in, and we don't see a much more socially just and environmentally aware government. Miliband has to be better than Blair for us to keep lending our support. That obviously is my opinion based on mainly anecdotal stuff. But with a smattering of awareness regarding our tactical approach - e.g not targeting Stroud.

I think that's exactly right.

David Drew does seem to be rather provocative to the Greens in Stroud, for reasons I can't understand. If he carries on, I think you're well within your rights to go for that seat too.

I think there is a feeling that at least he has shown a strong commitment to Stroud over the years and is supposedly [presumably you'll know better than me] a left wing candidate. The only person I know currently living in the area is/was for many years a lib dem. Doesn't discuss politics these days...................

[ErnstRemarx]

Evening all,

Sorry rather late in the day but as promised, these are the 12 seats the Greens are targeting;

Brighton
Bristol West
Norwich South
Cambridge
St Ives
Solihull
Holburn and St Pancras
Sheffield Central
Liverpool Riverside
Oxford East
York Central
Reading East

Thank you Tizme. Is Natalie Bennett the Green candidate for Holborn & St Pancras again? Those should be some interesting hustings if so.

She'll be up against Keir Starmer then...she only got 1,400-odd votes last time round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holborn_an ... _the_2010s

Good luck to her, but I suspect she'll be disappointed on the night.

[Tubby Isaacs]

St James (Kingston) result:
CON - 42.9% (+5.1)
LDEM - 33.0% (+11.0)
LAB - 13.5% (-4.5)
UKIP - 7.9% (-3.8)
GRN - 2.7% (-3.7)

Not sure if in Zac Goldsmith's or Ed Davey's constituency.

[Tizme1]

Thank you Tizme. Is Natalie Bennett the Green candidate for Holborn & St Pancras again? Those should be some interesting hustings if so.

She'll be up against Keir Starmer then...she only got 1,400-odd votes last time round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holborn_an ... _the_2010s

Good luck to her, but I suspect she'll be disappointed on the night.

You might very well say she'll be reasonably OK if she improves her vote from 2010, fairly content if she comes in third, happy if she achieves 2nd, and blown away if she were to win - I couldn't possibly comment.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 12m12 minutes ago
Ollerton (Nottinghamshire) result:
LAB - 56.4% (+8.7)
CON - 25.7% (-1.5)
UKIP - 16.7% (-8.4)
LDEM - 1.2% (+1.2)

Clegg's strategy of pursuing serious voters going well.