From Gordon Brown to Mr Bean - join the dots

Everyone in Lib Dem Land has been falling over themselves with excitement at the positive coverage generated by Vince’s comic depiction of the Prime Minister.

Yet no one seems to have stated the obvious conclusion.

Earnest Lib Dems spend hours torturing themselves to come up with a narrative that reconciles the conflicts between liberty and equality.  Or they work themselves into a frenzy convincing others that their detailed analysis of their favourite policy is the Holy Grail of election winners.

And the party gets the best coverage it has had for years as a result of a cracking one-liner.

You’re smart - you figure it out…

 

Candidate for the East Midlands

I have been selected in second place on the East Midlands Lib Dems’ list of candidates for the European Parliament elections.

If you helped or supported me, ‘thank you’.  If you didn’t, well, there’s still time because (in the first of many cliches to come) the hard work starts here.  You can visit www.edmaxfield.org.uk and click on the handy ‘make a donation’ button.  Any donations received will be passed straight to the party’s election fund in the region.  You do not need to set up a Paypal account even though their web site tries to make it look like you do.

As expected, Bill Newton Dunn topped the list with three quarters of the first preference votes - a measure of the respect and affection in which he is held.  Veena Hudson was selected in third place with Denise Hawksworth fourth and Deborah Newton-Cooke in fifth.

I was very pleased to finish a clear second in first preference votes and to receive more of Bill’s transfers than any other candidate.  If you are keen, you can see the full results here. 
I am really looking forward to the next 19 months - the first challenge will be making sure we re-elect Bill.  It wont be easy as the region loses a seat at the next set of elections.

Do let me know if can help in any way.

Julie Etchingham

Surprised this didnt seem to attract more blog comment so I thought I would redress the balance a bit.  I knocked together the attached in an idle moment…

 Are you thinking what we are thinking?

For Megson, read Roeder…

Different club, different manager (although Gary Megson worked his magic at City too in the past), same story.  This article says it all. 

 Is there a pithy phrase for the way waste spirals down the toilet bowl - it might be more appropriate than ‘managerial merry-go-round’.

Still, ticket prices might be cheaper in League One…

I’m backing Sherwood Forest

I’m backing Sherwood Forest’s bid to win £50m of lottery funding.

I’m always suspicious of big-money Government projects but the money will go to one of the four projects and I am backing Sherwood Forest because of its commitment to:

• Community access and involvement
• Environmental sustainability
• Expansion of the forest itself
• Promotion of a sense of pride in the locality and the values it represents

You can find out more at www.robinhood.co.uk and I have also joined the group supporting Sherwood’s bid over at www.facebook.com

I’ll be voting for Sherwood Forest when the vote is launched (the companies running the vote say they will not make a profit from the calls and texts.)

Clearly a child genius…

Smiling and purposefully bashing large purple caterpillars - what more is there to life? 

Sick as a Canary

Norwich City have won once in the league and scored twice since my son Noah was born.  The only controlled physical co-ordination he is currently showing is the (very entertaining) ability to spit out a dummy.  But it looks as though he would do a better job in the team than some of the players.

A change is needed.  Not since the Championship winning season have we looked like a team who were committed to playing for the shirt.  Nigel Worthington made the mistake of dumping most of those (Mackay, Roberts etc) and replacing them with 3rd rate foreign players and loan signings.

Can we have our team back please?

 

EPERN report on Romanian Presidential Impeachment Referendum

I’m off to Bucaharest for a few days next month for the climax of their European Parliament elections.

 But, in the meantime, the European Parties, Elections and Referendums Network has published my report on the impeachment referendum held earlier this year.  If you like that sort of thing you can find it here.

New arrival

Many many thanks from myself, Dani and Noah for all the good wishes we have received since Noah arrived on Sunday.  For those who dont yet know he weighs 2.85kg (6lb 5oz), is 48 cm long and will have to suffer his entire life from having Croydon as his place of birth on his birth certificate

Dani and Noah are doing fine (I’m an emotional wreck but that doesnt really matter).

Noah has a Facebook group (thanks Duncan) but in case you are resisting the tide and not joining Facebook, here’s a photo.

East European politics and Paddy Ashdown

Ive recently discovered that my friend Sean Hanley has a blog.  It’s well worth a read if you are interested in East European politics.  He has a book coming out soon but I cant recommend it yet because I am still waiting to be sent a review copy (hint, hint).

 I note he says this about Paddy.  Whether it is an accurate assessment, I couldnt possibly comment…

“There’s a slightly know-all, even sanctimonious edge to Ashdown, but on he’s articulate, to the point and clearly a high calibre politician who knows what he’s talking about. Best Foreign or Defence Secretary we never had.”