Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
The options for British government
May 11th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Con-Dem-nation or a rainbow coaliition without Brown. You know my preference.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The General Election analysed
May 9th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Now that the dust has settled on the most fascinating British General Election in a generation, what is the outcome? In terms of seats and votes won, the result was as follows: Conservative Party: 306 seats (up 97) with a voting share of 36.1% (up 3.8%) Labour Party: 258 seats (down 91) with a voting […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The Lib Dem triple lock
May 9th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Following the UK General Election which resulted in a hung Parliament, before there can be any special agreement between the Liberal Democrats and either the Conservatives or Labour, the Lib Dems have to address their so-called ‘triple lock’. What is this? Established by the party in 1998 – when talk of an arrangement between Paddy […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Election results in my locality
May 8th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Like everyone in Britain, I’m waiting to see what sort of government the country will have for the next few months, if not years. Like most Labour supporters, I’m hoping that we might yet see a Labour-Liberal coalition government. Meanwhile, as a Labour supporter, my gloom at the national result is tempered by some fantastic […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The Mick Jagger election
May 7th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
A few results are still awaited in the UK’s General Election 2010 but the broad contours are now clear. I think that my old friend Professor Peter Hennessy had it right on BBC television when he called this “the Mick Jagger election” since almost all the political parties can’t get no satisfaction. The Conservatives have […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)
Where there’s no election
May 6th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Here in the UK, we have a General election today as we elect a new House of Commons. The House of Commons previously had 646 seats which increases to 650 seats at this General Election (the number varies slightly from time to time to reflect population change). However, today there is voting in 649 seats […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Four votes and four hours
May 6th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Here in the UK, it’s election day and I’ve cast four votes for the Labour Party – one in the General Election and three in the London Borough elections. Also I’ve spent four hours as a teller on a polling station in my Parliamentary constituency of Brent North. The sun was out and voters streamed […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
What I fear; what I hope
May 3rd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This week the British go to the polls in a General Election – the 11th in which I have been a voter. What I fear David Cameron pulls off a Conservative victory with a very small overall majority or a sufficient number of seats short of an overall majority that he decides to rule alone […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
My (Labour Party) parliamentary candidate
May 1st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
For the British General Election, I am a voter in the constituency of Brent North. When we first moved here in 1984, it was a Conservative seat. Since 1997, it has been Labour and the Member of Parliament has been Barry Gardiner. He’s been a very good constituency MP, although he didn’t have a brilliant […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The third leaders’ debate
April 30th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Last night, I watched the third and last of the televised debates between the three main political leaders, this one hosted by the BBC. I’ve watched all three and generally they have been lively and illuminating events. I’ve learned some more about the manifestos and the polices of the three parties and the different approaches […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)