Do we need a new House of Commons Chamber?

Posted by on Mar 25, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 8 comments There are 649 MPs , yet only room for 427  MPs to sit in the House of Commons Chamber.  On television we often see them standing during popular sessions, like the Budget and PMQs.  It’s not an ideal working arrangement, and I wonder what can be done to accommodate all our honourable ladies and gentlemen. Could any changes could be made to the present historic chamber which would enable...
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How solar savvy are you?

Posted by on Mar 17, 2011 in Blog, Environment | 11 comments I was planning to write this post before the devastation of Japan’s nuclear power plant which has now focused people’s minds on the value of renewable energy. My question is, how solar savvy are you? I’ve learnt quite a bit about solar power recently following a meeting with a potential client.  He is an eco builder who has invested considerably in solar panels in the hope of...
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Len Gibbs’ countdown to Welsh referendum

Posted by on Feb 21, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 5 comments With only 10 days to the Welsh referendum which will decide on the Assembly’s law making powers, I asked maverick activist Len Gibbs how his “March 3 is Vote NO! Day” campaign was fairing, and this is his update: Winning is everything. And we are in to win! Ridiculous really, just a handful of ordinary people taking on 100% of the MPs and AMs and the might of the political...
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Len Gibbs registers with Electoral Commission for Welsh referendum

Posted by on Feb 12, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 10 comments This larger than life pink helium pig took to the streets of Wales today as the official mascot for the True Wales group which is opposed to the Welsh Assembly having extra legislative powers – a decision which will be voted on in a referendum on 3 March. I recently met their maverick spokesman Len Gibbs who told me: “The pig came out at Newport and was filmed for the Politics Show...
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The Electoral Commission and Welsh political activists

Posted by on Feb 1, 2011 in Blog, Politics, PR client | 5 comments The Electoral Commission may want to consider revising its regulations following the refusal of political activists to register as a lead opposition party for the Welsh Assembly referendum on devolution on 3 March. Apparently, this is permitted within the present rules. Yesterday I met key campaigner Len Gibbs from the True Wales group responsible for this and which is fiercely opposed to the...
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How Cameron should reach out to grassroots

Posted by on Jan 29, 2011 in Politics | 5 comments While speculation continues about who Andy Coulson’s successor will be, a couple of reports  caught my attention today. The first was the front page story in PR Week which states that Andy Coulson helped push through “a radical restructure of the Downing Street comms operation” just days before his resignation as comms director. The new structure will see the merger of Number...
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Why Public School Boys Run Britain

Posted by on Jan 26, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 4 comments I’ll be watching Andrew Neil’s BBC 2 programme this evening, Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain. The focus will naturally be on David Cameron and Nick Clegg who both had a privileged education. Let’s separate the words “public school” and “boys” and examine these two issues separately. The education these two political leaders had –...
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An evening with John Gummer and climate change

Posted by on Jan 21, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 15 comments I was curious to discover what John Gummer had been doing since stepping down as a Conservative MP at the last general election to champion climate change. So I was only too happy to accept an invitation to hear him speak to Cambridge university students and city supporters last night, and join them afterwards for a fine fish supper at Loch Fynes. Now Lord Deben, I found him a passionate,...
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A brief encounter with Michael Crick

Posted by on Nov 25, 2010 in Blog, Politics | 2 comments My pulse rate increased when I spotted Newsnight’s terrier Michael Crick sitting a few inches from me in a Westminster coffee bar. I was passing time there as I was early for an event in the House of Lords to promote Abbeyfield’s future care home strategy in the UK, and I wondered if I should seize the moment and invite Michael along. Michael had his head down and was flickering with...
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David Ruffley’s neighbourhood coalition

Posted by on Nov 24, 2010 in Blog, Politics | 2 comments We all know you can choose your friends, but not your neighbours. It means that suddenly the Lib Dem and Conservative coalition has a whole new meaning as Tory MP David Ruffley has inadvertently moved next door to his former Lib Dem parliamentary rival David Chappell in a village near Bury St Edmunds. It could prove a little bit awkward, especially if they both contest the next general...
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Will Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi be freed today?

Posted by on Nov 12, 2010 in Blog, Politics | 2 comments This is terrific news. There are reports that military authorities have signed an order authorising the release of Burma’s jailed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a woman whose dignity in adversity and oppression has won her worldwide admiration. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent more than 15 years in detention, most of it under house arrest at her home, for her political beliefs and...
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Conservative child benefit cuts

Posted by on Oct 6, 2010 in Conservative Party Conference | 13 comments What a wonderful picture of David and Samantha Cameron with their new baby daughter. And families, of course, was the hot topic at this week’s Conservative Party Conference. I am also confused at government plans that from 2013, will remove child benefit from families with at least one parent earning more than about £44,000 a year, but it will not affect families where two parents earn...
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Harriet Harman: the guilt of working mothers

Posted by on Sep 25, 2010 in Women MPs | 13 comments Harriet Harman should be congratulated for keeping together a tight-knit Labour Party for almost 5 months. She hands over her reigns this evening when the new Labour leader is announced. In an interview in today’s Times, she is credited with forcing through equalities law to improve maternity leave and childcare provision. Yet Harman feels that women’s equality is slipping backwards,...
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Should we have part-time MPs?

Posted by on Sep 12, 2010 in Women MPs | 3 comments Should we have part-time MPs to encourage more women parliamentarians? It is not the first time I have heard this suggestion, and it was one of the ideas given in evidence at the latest Speaker’s Conference which considered how to modernise and attract more diverse members. Green MP Caroline Lucas has now made the suggestion at her party’s autumn conference saying it would enable MPs...
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Why are we reducing reuse of recyclables?

Posted by on Sep 6, 2010 in Environment | 4 comments In my garden I have a little table I bought for 50p from my local recycling centre in Grunty Fen (yes, really!). My son bought a few discarded golf clubs there for 50p which he sold on in true entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve often seen people searching out bargains at the site for a few pence. The last time I went to the Grunty Fen centre, it had a shed full of discarded items which it was...
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Czech women MPs display their sex appeal

Posted by on Sep 4, 2010 in Women MPs | 5 comments Newly elected women MPs in the Czech Republic proudly display their femininity and sex appeal in come-to-bed poses for a racy new 2011 calendar. In the May election, women won more seats than every before during their national elections in late May when 44 women were voted into the lower house, a proportional increase from 17% to 22%. The calendar was produced by the Public Affairs party, a new...
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William Hague and smutty minds

Posted by on Sep 2, 2010 in Politics | 24 comments Since when has it become a shameful act for two male colleagues to share a room? Why was it naive if needs must? I don’t feel William Hague was compromised, except by the smutty minds of those who enjoy spreading salacious rumours about an innocent act. I think William Hague is terrific; he is a decent man through and through and won (I believe) the largest vote share in the country at this...
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David Cameron should not have lost his bottle over free milk

Posted by on Aug 9, 2010 in Politics | 8 comments I do not think David Cameron should have given in to the media onslaught and “milk snatcher” headlines over his Public Health Minister, Anne Milton’s, annoucement to scrap free milk for the under-5s, saving the government £50 million. I would have thought it was exactly the kind of cut Cameron was seeking. The Nursery Milk scheme allows children under five in approved day care ...
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We all love a good loser, but ….

Posted by on Jun 21, 2010 in 2010 general election, updates | 2 comments The post-election parties are still in full swing. While it’s great to celebrate a victory, our unsuccessful parliamentary candidates are also showing their appreciation to those who supported them in the gruelling run-up to May’s general election. Last night I joined fellow Tories to share a Pimm’s with Cambridge’s Conservative candidate Nick Hillman who had an astounding...
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Will John Bercow’s reform plans for parliament include more women MPs?

Posted by on Jun 6, 2010 in Women MPs | 5 comments I know I won’t be the only person keen to hear what John Bercow says in the Hansard Society’s Speaker’s Lecture this week entitled “Reform in a new Parliament: Reviving the Chamber“.I want to see if he will keep his word about the need to increase women parliamentarians which was reviewed recently for Speaker’s Conference – only the sixth to have taken place...
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A new dawn for our democracy

Posted by on May 18, 2010 in Politics | 3 comments A huge weight rests on the shoulders of these 226 newly elected MPs in shaping our future democracy to modernise and help restore public trust in Parliament; they make up more than a third of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons. The new MPs know this too, and that their days there could be numbered if boundary changes are pushed through to reduce the number of MPs by 10% by the next...
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Liam Byrne’s tasteless words – no money left, good luck!

Posted by on May 18, 2010 in Politics, updates | 4 comments Quote of the day: On April 6th, the day that Gordon Brown called the election, Liam Byrne,  wrote this email for his successor in the Treasury: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam.” He might regard those tasteless words as a joke, but his crass sentiment sums up the arrogance of Labour and why the country faces £6...
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Hazel Blears for Speaker?

Posted by on May 17, 2010 in Politics | 6 comments Nadine Dorries reminds us that the process for choosing a new Speaker of the House of Commons starts tomorrow, the first day Parliament returns to business. She would clearly like to see the back of John Bercow, reminding us how he was chosen almost entirely by the Labour Party to “stick it to the Tories”, and states: The Speaker will need to be authoritative, wise, knowledgeable and...
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Quote of the day from David Blunkett

Posted by on May 11, 2010 in 2010 general election | 9 comments David Blunkett tells the BBC: Any deal with Labour would be “a coalition of the defeated“.
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A small increase of women MPs

Posted by on May 8, 2010 in 2010 general election, Women MPs | 2 comments  Because I believe you are all longing to know how many women were elected into Parliament, this is the breakdown, courtesy of the Centre for Women and Democracy. Don’t hold your breath, it’s not earth shattering: a total of 142 women were elected (22%), a small increase of the 126 women in situ before the election (19.5%) – a net gain of just 16, or 2.5%. The biggest...
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