Westminster: July 2008 Archives

This is how I read Miliband's article as well. Some of it is very blatant indeed, not even requiring beginners' New Labour Kremlinology.

The Liberals' largest ever donor, Michael Brown, is on the run. He gave the party £2.4m, which funded half of their entire 2005 campaign, but the money was dubious to say the least. 

There's no doubt that the SNP are now the most well-resourced, determined, and effective fighters of elections in Scotland. 

I hear numbers which suggest the SNP has done it.

In their eve-of-poll programme, Newsnight Scotland tonight again had representatives from Labour, the SNP, the Tories and the Liberals. Their lengthy roundup of the campaign showed campaigners from those four parties, plus a moment where The Curran Sisters met. Dr Eileen Duke, our candidate (left), was simply airbrushed out.

When the Glasgow East campaign kicked off, I remembered what one of our activists had said after 2007 - Green placards mysteriously stay up longer in the East of the city, while those around Ibrox, not so much. 

The always-interesting-to-anoraks politicalbetting.com had a striking analysis of the first Glasgow East poll a few days ago. In it Mike pointed out that more than 1% of the final result, a 1% allocated to the SNP, represents the views of a single former Liberal voter.

In the legends of ancient Rome, the name Horatio (or Horatius Cocles) appears writ large. Accounts vary, but they agree on this much. Rome was under threat from an Etruscan army (the Etruscans are coming, the Etruscans are coming!), and Horatio took to the Pons Sublicius to defend the city, eventually single-handed. The Etruscans were defeated, and Rome survived.

Yesterday the BBC held a debate between four of the five parties who represent Glasgow at Holyrood and in the Council. One was omitted for no good reason - us.

So yesterday I took the first of several days off from my job (see above) to go and help out with the Green campaign in Glasgow East. We have an excellent candidate in Dr Eileen Duke (left), 25 years a GP in the city and ever so sensible.

I was particularly amused to put her onto the Daily Mail so they could ask her how she felt about the role she might play in finishing Gordon Brown's career. "New Labour has run its course", she said. How true.

Anyway, it was a day off because I obviously couldn't be paid for Parliamentary work when out campaigning; a proper busman's holiday. And that then meant that the odd MSP-related call I took then also became volunteer work. Lucky I love the job so much..

It's absolutely guaranteed. Either they actually win the seat, in which case you-know-who's smug-o-meter will get dialled up to 11, or not, in which case they'll still have Gordon Brown to kick around a while longer.

Frankly, if I were an SNP strategist, I'd be pulling some of the campaign effort back and hoping for the latter. Like Wendy, he has proved himself not to be up to the job, and I would be surprised if there wasn't a whole bucket-load of regret at SNP HQ about Standards having pushed her just hard enough to resign.