Friday, May 02, 2008
Live Blog VI: Campaign Directors go to Crewe?
There is news coming through that Tory Area Campaign Directors have been told to report to Gwneth Dunwoody's constituency of Crewe and Nantwich tomorrow. Yes there is an election happening now, but we have another one coming very shortly.
Want to go to a party?
There is a rather amusing "post-election party" rumour doing the rounds. Apparently, Team Boris had sent out an email to a select few invitees for a party to celebrate (or commiserate) tomorrow. Unfortunately, one of the invitees thought it would be a good idea to forward it to over 300 other people. There are now panicking chequebook holders apparently realizing that the room can't hold the number and the whole place will be overwhelmed!
Still.... free booze!
Live Blog V: Girffin and Barnbrook at Thurrock
Nick Griffin and Richard Barnbrook are at the Thurrock count. They are apparently in good moods.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Live Blog IV: Boris gets a hug from Ann Summers staff
Am hearing some very amusing news from Bexleyheath and Bromley. Apparently Boris was in Bexleyheath today and one of the members of staff from Ann Summers ran out into the street and gave him a huge hug and kiss on the cheek.I'm sure he thought she was a "rock chick"! (that is what the interesting thing pictured is called)
Live Blog IV: Turnout hitting 70% and above?
I've talked about the turnout more than once today, but the word on the street is that Labour's GLA member, Janet Arnold (Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest) may not be in a good position. Apparently the constituency has had turnout somewhere between 70% and 80% excluding postal votes in some wards!
That is a stupidly high turnout for what is, in effect, a local election in a safe Labour seat. I'm not saying that the vote that has turned out is not Labour votes, but there is a real buzz coming from Tories in the area and the candidate Alexander Ellis is feeling rather good right now based on the canvassing and knocking up operation.
I've also heard a tale from Greenwich and Lewisham that a presiding officer was concerned that they didn't actually have enough ballots to handle the queuing voters.
That is a stupidly high turnout for what is, in effect, a local election in a safe Labour seat. I'm not saying that the vote that has turned out is not Labour votes, but there is a real buzz coming from Tories in the area and the candidate Alexander Ellis is feeling rather good right now based on the canvassing and knocking up operation.
I've also heard a tale from Greenwich and Lewisham that a presiding officer was concerned that they didn't actually have enough ballots to handle the queuing voters.
Live Blog III: The celebrity knock-up
Have just heard that the Tory candidate for Greenwich and Lewisham, Andy Jennings, has just been knocking on the LBC radio presenter Nick Ferrari's door and received a warm and positive welcome.
The theme for the day also appears to be that turnout is impressing everyone across London. Should anyone have any other tales of celebrities being canvassed and knocked do share.
The theme for the day also appears to be that turnout is impressing everyone across London. Should anyone have any other tales of celebrities being canvassed and knocked do share.
Council taxpayers fund Labour campaigning?
Over in the borough of Greenwich, we not only have to put up with Ken Livingstone's Londoner propaganda rag, but we also have to put up with the Labour controlled Rotten Borough rag called 'Greenwich Time'.
I mention this because by a happy and strange coincidence the paid deliverers from Council Tax money are out delivering the paper today, on polling day, to remind us all just how great the Labour Party is for us.
They are of course very careful with their wording but this sort of behaviour from the Labour Party around here this is par for the course. Purdah really means very little to them, and if they can find a way to skirt close to the dodgy side then their leader will do it.
Live blog II: MOre from SE London
Apparently Eltham, a marginal Parliamentary constituency held by Labour, was very busy this morning and had quite a lot of people through the doors by 8am. No sign of the Labour Party there either and just one blue councillor telling at the station.
Live blog I: Turnout looking good?
A quick report from the front line from me. Have spent the morning down in South East London at one of the polling station and had a chat with the presiding officer in between a bit of telling. He was really surprised at the strength of the turnout in the polling district. It was looking close to 30% of the district by midday.
Have also been on the hunt for the Labour Party in my car and I can't seem to find them anywhere. We have a theory that the central campaign may have ordered the outer boroughs to give up on them, and get as many people into Zone 1 and 2 as possible.
The BNP are out in Welling (no surprise there) with a big van and picture of Barnbrook on the side begging for votes. I shall be off out again shortly to another campaign committee room to see how things are going turn-out wise. Thus far I have had only one negative response about the Tories.
If anyone has anymore stories about what is going on where they are just email me whilst I'm on the move.
Have also been on the hunt for the Labour Party in my car and I can't seem to find them anywhere. We have a theory that the central campaign may have ordered the outer boroughs to give up on them, and get as many people into Zone 1 and 2 as possible.
The BNP are out in Welling (no surprise there) with a big van and picture of Barnbrook on the side begging for votes. I shall be off out again shortly to another campaign committee room to see how things are going turn-out wise. Thus far I have had only one negative response about the Tories.
If anyone has anymore stories about what is going on where they are just email me whilst I'm on the move.
London gets its chance to kick Livingstone - and not a moment to soon
Well it is finally here. The day has arrived where London gets a chance to kick out a 1970s political throwback who plays at the politics of division rather than the politics of hope and change. If you go to the ballot box today in London remember this as you vote for the Mayoralty.
Livingstone has consistently shown himself to be someone that misleads the electorate in order to win support. He misled over fare increases before, and as the news has shown in the last week, he's doing it again having secretly agreed fares will go up.
His campaign started out deliberately taking quotes from Boris Johnson articles out of context. Then as it progressed it started to say Boris was committed to doing things that he had never said. The Livingstone campaign has tried to ingratiate itself with the Muslim vote by falsely claiming Boris wants to ban the Koran as well.
It has misled Union members by trying to suggest Boris plans to strip them of rights that he would not have in his power to do. It has falsely claimed that free pensioner travel would be scrapped under a Boris mayoralty. At every turn of his campaign it has been about negatively portraying Boris Johnson, and as each turn failed the opinion polls reflected what was probably a reaction to those political games.
The negative campaign by Jowell and Livingstone this week, having failed to successfully label Boris a racist, an Islamophobe or an evil stealing of bus passes, has now fallen back on the line that Boris is a "joke" candidate. The desperation within that final push is clear. They have nothing positive to say because the Labour Party knows that it is on the slide.
This was perfectly exemplified by what could only be a classic piece of astroturfing in the "politically neutral" free sheet called the London Paper yesterday. In the column called "More or Bore" where reader write in hoping to be published we were subjected to someone saying they weren't sure who they should vote for but it closed with the summary that you shouldn't vote for Boris because you think he would be an "hilarious Mayor".
Most interestingly in the following pages you were presented with a full page Livingstone advert that was also pushing the "you might think it's funny to vote for Boris but it really isn't a joke" line. Call me cynical if you must, but the connection between the two smacked of a classic double-hit attack attempt. It's quite easy to do, you buy an advert page, and then you get activist after activist to send a column in that subtly pushes the same line with the hope one gets published.
The idea that Boris Johnson is a "joke candidate" is the real joke in that line though. The man has a towering intellect and is by no means not serious. To quote Andrew Gilligan, "it is better to have a serious man being a buffoon than a buffoon pretending to b a serious man". That is real choice today in London. A man who has been shown to have extremely questionable ethics about how to execute power in office, or a man that wants to get things done and genuinely change London for the better.
Livingstone has consistently shown himself to be someone that misleads the electorate in order to win support. He misled over fare increases before, and as the news has shown in the last week, he's doing it again having secretly agreed fares will go up.
His campaign started out deliberately taking quotes from Boris Johnson articles out of context. Then as it progressed it started to say Boris was committed to doing things that he had never said. The Livingstone campaign has tried to ingratiate itself with the Muslim vote by falsely claiming Boris wants to ban the Koran as well.
It has misled Union members by trying to suggest Boris plans to strip them of rights that he would not have in his power to do. It has falsely claimed that free pensioner travel would be scrapped under a Boris mayoralty. At every turn of his campaign it has been about negatively portraying Boris Johnson, and as each turn failed the opinion polls reflected what was probably a reaction to those political games.
The negative campaign by Jowell and Livingstone this week, having failed to successfully label Boris a racist, an Islamophobe or an evil stealing of bus passes, has now fallen back on the line that Boris is a "joke" candidate. The desperation within that final push is clear. They have nothing positive to say because the Labour Party knows that it is on the slide.
This was perfectly exemplified by what could only be a classic piece of astroturfing in the "politically neutral" free sheet called the London Paper yesterday. In the column called "More or Bore" where reader write in hoping to be published we were subjected to someone saying they weren't sure who they should vote for but it closed with the summary that you shouldn't vote for Boris because you think he would be an "hilarious Mayor".
Most interestingly in the following pages you were presented with a full page Livingstone advert that was also pushing the "you might think it's funny to vote for Boris but it really isn't a joke" line. Call me cynical if you must, but the connection between the two smacked of a classic double-hit attack attempt. It's quite easy to do, you buy an advert page, and then you get activist after activist to send a column in that subtly pushes the same line with the hope one gets published.
The idea that Boris Johnson is a "joke candidate" is the real joke in that line though. The man has a towering intellect and is by no means not serious. To quote Andrew Gilligan, "it is better to have a serious man being a buffoon than a buffoon pretending to b a serious man". That is real choice today in London. A man who has been shown to have extremely questionable ethics about how to execute power in office, or a man that wants to get things done and genuinely change London for the better.
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