Morning after

[altariel]

I managed to push through till just after Labour got their majority (still up for Twigg). Good to see Rifkind back, sorry about Tim Collins being scalped though. Relief to see turnout probably up over 60% though I dread to think what we might learn about the postal vote. Apparently a bunch of voters in Norfolk staged a sit-down protest when they were stopped from voting after 10pm - I wonder how that turned out. Cambridge now Lib Dem and I think they deserve the seat, they've certainly worked for it (I received three separate pieces of literature on Tuesday, another on Wednesday, and had someone at the door yesterday afternoon). Still trying to find some data on Herts NE (got it now).

Reg Keys' speech was dignified and moving. Blair registered genuine emotion, and I am glad that he listened.

No great surprises. Great relief to see that majority cut. I hope this puts the lid on nonsense like ID cards but I guess it will depend on what the backbenches are like.

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Cambridge now Lib Dem and I think they deserve the seat

Yay! I voted for Shirl way back when, & didn't find Anne Campbell a good constituency MP.

I agree with you about Reg Keys. I think that was my election highlight -- particularly the grave, sorrowful look on Blair's face. If he actually listens to what the real, decent people he's always talking about say to him, he might make a better PM.

I hope this puts the lid on nonsense like ID cards...

Interesting that Howard seemed to be promising to support Blair if he takes action over Tory pledges, which I worry means Blair might get Tory support for some of his wilder schemes, whilst sorely needed electoral reform won't figure.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Interesting that Howard seemed to be promising to support Blair if he takes action over Tory pledges, which I worry means Blair might get Tory support for some of his wilder schemes, whilst sorely needed electoral reform won't figure.

I wonder how that will play out once they get on opposite sides of the arena.

Andy Marr - god love him - just had an interesting piece about the composition of the Labour backbenches, based on some stats of who rebelled in major votes - he was suggesting Blair is going to have to work much harder to ensure support in some areas, negotiate more. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I only caught the end of that presentation, but I liked the quotation along the lines that the only good government was a frightened government. I do so hope that he ceases this 'Always remember, kiddies, Blair Knows Best' style of government & starts courting not only his own backbenchers but also the other parties.

[kathyh]

Reg Keys' speech was dignified and moving. Blair registered genuine emotion, and I am glad that he listened.

I wish I'd seen that, but we were falling asleep by 2.00am (we have no stamina). I was pleased that Tony Blair seems finally to have realised that Iraq was still a real issue with some people and not a concern dreamt up by the media!

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

I thought Tony Blair looked really uncomfortable during Reg Keys' speech

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I suspect it may turn up in the news throughout the day.

I went to bed just after Bethnal Green and Bow was announced, and missed a classic Paxman interview with George Galloway - it's at the BBC website.

[kathyh]

I just saw it. That almost tops the 14 times he asked the then Home Secretary Michael Howard to answer the question!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

My toes curl at the thought of that interview with Howard.

[kathyh]

I was the lucky person who had to catalogue it for the BBC Sound Archive! We didn't normally put TV interviews in but that one was so notorious that we had to.

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

sorry about Tim Collins being scalped though

I have mixed feelings about that. Of all the "decapitation" targets for the Lib Dems, the ones I would really like them to have taken were Michael Howard (which was always unlikely, I thought, I guess immigration plays well for the Tories in Folkestone) and David Davies; Oliver Letwin, Theresa May and Tim Collins are much less odious. But on the positive side, as my parents are in Westmorland and Lonsdale, it's good to see their votes actually meaning something!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I was shallow enough to be sad about Tim Collins because he's a big Doctor Who fan.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

As I've said elsewhere, my mother and Tim Collins do not get on; he wouldn't come to her civic service, which he'd normally attend, when she was mayor, and she's always found him extremely irritating whenever she's had to deal with him. But even she - and I - felt sorry for him when he came on the radio at 5.15 a.m. just after he'd lost on the recount. As she said, it was the first time we'd heard him sound like a dignified, decent person.

The other point I grudgingly chalk up in his favour, apart from Doctor Who, is that he shares my obsession with the unnoticed daily massacre on the UK roads.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a great relief about that majority cut. I missed Reg Key's speech, but I expect I'll catch it on the news.

Thanks for the Herts NE link - every time I tried to find it on the BBC website it seemed to have dropped into a black hole.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It took a while to find the Herts information.