Is John Denham our next PM?

A member of the Labour Cabinet publicly criticising their leader in an attempt to gradually erode his reputation and trigger a leadership contest? Surely not.

John Denham, the skills and innovation secretary, said Labour's reluctance to acknowledge failings has led to their voters losing faith. Peter Mandelson has already had a go with the knife by attacking him on the 10p tax rate, calling it a "very big mistake".

I have only one concern...that these stories are going to become regular over the next 4 months and over the summer in the lead-up to the labour conference. I'm just not sure I can bear the excitement. Will Milliband stand or will the Times campaign smearing his family win the day? Who else is there in the party who will come to Gordon's rescue?

Jeremy Browne MP "talks a lot of good sense"

Reading Jeremy Browne’s column in the local paper today was a more enjoyable experience than usual. In a much better written article than his conservative opponent [and also cheaper as Jeremy’s is printed for free without fail each and every week] Jeremy argues that there is a very fine balance between building affordable and social housing with destroying green spaces. He basically says yes you may not like it if more housing is built on your street but I don’t have planning powers, can’t oppose every single application for housing and besides, young people in the town can’t even afford a flat. A balance must be struck.

Like someone once told me on an unrelated point, “Jeremy talks a lot of good sense, not like Jackie Ballard. She only seemed to care about the poor or black people.”

Yes. Quite. So, anyway, lets move on...

A week ago I wrote a post on affordable housing after reading a letter Andy Mayer had written to Lib Dem News denying all knowledge of a crisis in social housing. This post now has a total of 15 comments and if you want to join the debate you are most welcome.

Andy wanted us to acknowledge other factors which have led to a housing shortage such as immigration. I do understand his general point about not forgetting the general housing crisis to focus on, well, ‘the poor’, but surely we must direct a certain amount of attention towards the lower end of the housing market otherwise the market will eat itself? People will buy to let as they know there is no shortage of poor people gagging to rent a 2 bed house. That is the reason why we now have a housing crash. People have been using it as a way to make themselves rich, instead of using the stock market. To end that, to solve that, surely we must work from the bottom upwards?

Prince Harry is cool!

It’s always awkward when there are more people than seats to accommodate them, like when you only have a two seater sofa and all your friends end up coming back from the pub with you, only to scatter onto the floor and the arms of the sofa. It’s difficult to look cool sitting on the arms as they were designed to stop you falling off the main part of the sofa rather than provide comfort for your derrière. It soon becomes uncomfortable, especially if male I can imagine, and the elevated position the ‘seat’ provides over your friends can become a bit embarrassing and can make you feel conspicuous when they all start staring at you.

Spare a thought, then, for Prince Harry, who even at the best of times isn’t the most relaxed of posh chaps. Too reserved even to dance alongside his brother at Princess Diana’s birthday celebration recently, you have to feel for the man. Here he is, obviously having arrived too late for a seat and balancing on the edge of the sofa. In fact he’s managing it quite well, especially with his hand in his pocket.

Well done Harry!

Bendy Wendy

Another gratifyingly dodgy and shady story surfaces and gasps for air on the BBC website about the Scottish Labour Leader, Wendy Alexander, providing me with a glorious opportunity to publish an awful picture of her. It wasn't hard to find one. How this woman manages to squeeze her face into an array of positions to rival Lee Evans with a pile of elastic bands is beyond me. It's great when the hair lifts up in the breeze, a bit like Boris hair or your uncle's combover wafting in the wind. Classic.

Oh, sorry, back to the story. Oh, never mind, I've lost interest now. I'll leave it to Alex Salmond to sum up:

"...Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said something now "had to give".

He added: "The positions of Wendy Alexander and the prime minister are incompatible. This claimed agreement is clearly not there.

"Either she has to go, he has to go or they both have to go and I suspect he wants to stay so I think she's now in a very difficult position.""

Got it? Look, I've found another one...

Caption contest?

Europe's "abortion capital"

Nadine Dorries wants the abortion time limit to be reduced from 24 weeks to 20. Firstly, why? Secondly, why now? Thirdly, won't this re-introduce backstreet abortions?

Where is the sense in her argument? More babies survive at 24 weeks? That's because of scientific research and medical technology, a fact that doesn't bear any relation to abortion.

"Lib Dem MP Evan Harris, a former hospital doctor, added: "The best research, which looks at every birth rather than a selected sample ... failed to show any reduction since 1995 in the threshold of viability below 24 weeks."

And Health Secretary Alan Johnson said "as an individual", he did not want to see the law changed and believed the original legislation had "stood the test of time". "

What a ridiculous woman.

The list where Brian wins!

Brian didn’t do so badly after all – despite achieving approx 10% in the Mayoral elections, he got a huge amount of second preference votes – the table below reveals just how well he did:

Brian Paddick (Lib Dem) 641,412
Sian Berry (Green) 331,727
Ken Livingstone (Lab) 303,198
Boris Johnson (Con) 257,792
Richard Barnbrook (BNP) 128,609
Gerard Batten (UKIP) 113,651
Alan Craig (Christian choice) 80,140
Matt O’Connor (Eng Dem) 73,538
Lindsey German (Left List) 35,057
Winston McKenzie (Ind) 38,954

I’m quite concerned that the BNP candidate gained 128,609 votes. The mind boggles as to who chose the BNP as their second preference anyway. Who was their first choice? Boris?

Pickled Dale

Eric Pickles MP, the man 'masterminding the conservative campaign' in Crewe and Nantwich, will be live on Iain Dale's blog from 8-9pm. Can you stand the excitement?

Engaged bloggers

I should have known it when a blogger whispered in my ear as I entered the room for the Campaign for Gender Balance Blogging Awards at conference last March.

"Don't worry, you're not going to win."

I'm not used to not winning something I have entered for. More annoying is someone else entering you for a competition, and even more annoying than that is someone entering you into a competition for a piece of writing that stinks! Particularly for a writing competition, which is how I thought of it.

However, a couple of months on I've realised it has nothing to do with writing at one level. This is politics and it helps to know people. Since working in Cowley St a couple of years ago, relatively, I don't know many people in the party. Also helpful is knowing how to use graphics as blogging is a very visual medium. Also helpful is having an ear to the ground as a candidate or an elected member and blogging those little bits of rumour you pick up on the circuit. Also helpful is becoming a new member, a bolt out of the blue, so everyone is highly suspicious of you and wants to hug you close.

Also helpful would be if I got engaged to someone on here, which looking at Lib Dem blogs at the moment would help enormously.

But I don't intend to do that any time soon.

Edward Timpson - working hard for Crewe

According to facebook Elizabeth Shenton was out campaigning yesterday. According to his blog, Edward Timpson was doing anything but. Arrogance or grim resignation to a position in third place?

"Sunday, 04 May, 2008

Taking time out with the family

Well, a bit of a break today. My turn to look after the kids. Well, to be precise, to entertain to the two eldest ones. It's a chance to free my mind a bit and refresh myself ahead of next week and spend some time with my family. We will probably take the kids for a walk and go and see my parents because they haven't seen the children for a few weeks. I might even get time to take the children to Stapeley Water Gardens - which is a great garden centre that also has a mini indoor zoo which goes down well with the Children. But that might have to wait until Monday when they have an open day. I also have a campaign meeting later this evening - so not quite a full day off!"

Twit Twoo!

Recently I discovered Twitter after Lynne gave it a publicity boost when she joined a couple of months ago. At first I thought it would be a bit like facebook. So I have been hugely disappointed. There’s not much you can do on twitter, apart from, well, twitter. Also I just can’t be bothered to attempt to find personal friends or family on there. 12 people follow me and I follow them. OK…what happens now? I thought Iain Dale would be interesting to follow, but that fell a bit flat. I didn’t realise he was such a media luvvie. I did find a journo through him though, Kate Bevan, who’s astonished that her fiancée voted Boris. I didn’t realise profiles were public either! One of the reasons it’s probably not appealing to me is that I don’t want to sign up to the text message service. Then I really will become addicted…

At least with facebook I get messaged out of the blue by interesting people (I suppose there’s just more of a chance with 98 friends and counting) I wouldn’t ordinarily talk to. Searching people out all over again on twitter is too much like hard work.

Or am I just lazy?

Conference call

Will Brown survive the headlines beyond conference?

The mad case of Maddy

It seems the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is still selling newspapers and attracting wealthy financial backers to the ‘campaign’. Only yesterday reporters were marking the anniversary by broadcasting from Praia De Luge. ITV referred to a bizarre large mannequin of Maddy erected in front of the church where the service was being held to remember her. Although not shown, a glimpse of the madness was just about noticeable in the background – a huge model staring bizarrely and forlornly into the distance. You could not make this case up. Not in my weirdest imagination could I concoct a story as strange as this one.

How much money did that cost? Is that really going to help the local people find Maddy?

UPDATED: Bumper mayoral blog round-up

In no particular order here is a list of the reactions of Lib Dem bloggers since the result was announced on Friday night...what a talented bunch we all are:

Have you really got it Mr Cameron? Alex Folkes

Just how many spoilt ballot papers were there? James Graham

London. Oh. Alix Mortimer

Boris is now the most powerful Tory in the country Meral hates Boris. Really seriously...

So false. So David Cameron. Nich Starling

Tory compares Boris to Mussolini Peter Black AM

The last laugh Paul Walter

We can't complain when the voters vote for other parties Paul Walter

London - more than a little deflating Alex Folkes

Reading the Runes Bridget Fox

The London results Lynne Featherstone hopes Boris doesn't bugger up all the good things that have happened in London and wonders how colleagues will cope with the BNP

London elects a fluffy bunny as mayor Paul Walter thinks Cameron will have Boris strapped into a political chastity belt

Paddick has flipped his lid Jonny Wright reports an Iain Dale story

London....where did we go wrong? Linda Jack muses on our mistakes

Day 2678: Always look on the bright side of life Millennium casts his glassy eye over the results

London - a campaign in review Mark Valladares muses on our mistakes too

The end for London Wit and Wisdom

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London! Meral tries to make the news sink in

My verdict on the Paddick campaign James Graham links to his comment is free article

25% and 11% - it doesn't add up Mary Reid laments the loss of democracy to the media

The Boris win says so much about the sorry state of politics in London Nich Starling

It was the Evening Standard wot won it a result of the media campaign against Paddick

Bexley and Bromley wins it for Boris Duncan Borrowman reflects on the power of Tory PR

It was the Evening Standard wot won it

Yes! Boris is Mayor! Our capital’s figurehead is officially more verbally idiotic than President Bush. Boris-isms will reign supreme in the age of 24/7 news – every word and sentence he splutters will be flashed across everyone’s screens until they finally remember that the Tories aren’t lovable toffs, they really do mean what they say when they joke about the poor and make sexist and racist remarks.

Hail the next year when Boris will make several f**k-ups for the Tory party. None of which, I predict, will accurately be recorded by the Evening Standard, who was the most powerful and vocal Tory constituent in this election, just like the sun in 1992. 10% is a poor showing for Brian, but illustrates perfectly how trying to get elected when the Evening Standard hasn’t even mentioned him is like trying to climb a steep hill coated in Vaseline. He’s also the editor of the Spectator, which, well, kind of helps too. Although how that experience is going to help him run London remains a mystery to me.

Despite not living in London myself I had a great interest in the Mayor election, particularly when it dawned on me that Boris really stood a chance. Giving poor people a percentage off bus fares, for example is one policy that irritated me. No mention of the tube, that’s supposedly going to continue to be for the moneyed middle-classes in the city? Anyone has to admit the reality that buses are far slower and less convenient than the tube.

Keep a record of those Boris-isms – I can see a book on the horizon…I’d certainly write under a pseudonym if I wrote that book!