So who is David Heath?

Following my earlier post and also my post on uk.politics.electoral, one or two more bloggers are starting to talk about the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leadership election.

Liberal England is backing David Heath, but frankly he has the lowest profile of any of the three candidates. He has only been in the front line of Liberal Democrat spokespersons for a year, but wasn't one of the MPs who publicly forced Charles Kennedy to stand down (of the contenders, only Vincent Cable was), so one wonders whether he would be able to take a stand against incompetence. Perhaps there's more on his website but at the moment one has to wonder why he is considered the best in the field.

Oh and already someone has made the following observation:

But if he wins I suppose we had better be ready for beard & sandals jokes.

On a more serious point, can someone explain just what the existance of a formally elected post of Deputy Leader of a political party actually achieves? Other than designating someone to mind the shop if the leader gets run over by a bus (or stabbed in the front by colleagues), what does this post contribute?

Still party elections are always fun (unless one is a candidate backed by Lembit Öpik) and can generate a lot of good material for bloggers so perhaps there is some short-term benefit after all!

Greater ministerial accountability or mere profiling?

Thanks to Mary Reid I've learnt that David Miliband has become the first minister to start a blog.

Sadly Not So Very New Labour have made media management such a fine art form that one invariably asks whether Miliband has genuinely done this in the hope that it will

help bridge the gap - the growing and potentially dangerous gap - between politicians and the public

or is just a means to boost his profile at large for the forthcoming contest to succeed Tony Blair against Old Man Brown. I hope it's the former, in which case this is an encouraging development.

And then there were three...

Nominations for the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leadership election have now closed and there are just three candidates contesting it. The other three previously reported have declined to run and so the Lib Dems are left with:

• Vincent Cable
• David Heath
• Matthew Taylor

Lembit Öpik now has the opportunity to decide which of these three candidates sinks first. So who does Jonah least want?

The ULU election results are in

Some of you may have noticed that I was recently a candidate in the University of London Union elections. Tonight the results were declared.

First off a huge congratulation to Vicki Slater, current President of Queen Mary Students' Union, who was elected as President with a huge 783 votes. This election attracted hundreds more votes than any other and Vicki's result is nothing short of spectacular.

Congratulations also especially to Rob Park (Chair of Council), Daniel Snowdon (Welfare & Student Affairs) and Laura Purll (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans Students' Officer) - all good mates, as well as to Jim Hunkin (Finance, Services & Operations), Michael Neville (Sports & Societies), John Kenchington (London Student Editor), Jennie Cowan (Environment & Ethics Officer), Matthew Mak (Medical Students' Officer), James Juggapah (Men's Officer), Chris Heathcote (Officer without portfolio), Sanchia Smithson (Racial Equaliy Officer), Nicky Grant (Students With Disabilities Officer) and Joanna Fried (Women's Officer).

No doubt over the coming months there'll be more about the team, either on this blog or else in London Student.

The full results are as follows:

President

Tony Percy 272
Joe Robertson WITHDRAWN
Vicki Slater 783 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 78

TOTAL 1133

Finance, Services & Operations

Jim Hunkin 378 ELECTED
Razual Karim 311
Re-Open Nominations 47

TOTAL 736


Welfare & Student Affairs

Daniel Snowdon 455 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 144

TOTAL 599


Sports & Societies

Round 1

Louis Appiah 136 ELIMINATED
Mike Neville 251
Sebastian Slater 260
Re-Open Nominations 46

TOTAL 693

Round 2

Mike Neville +56 307
Sebastian Slater +39.00 299 ELIMINATED
Re-Open Nominations +11.00 57

Non-transferable 30

TOTAL 693

Round 3

Mike Neville +203.00 510 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations +24.00 81

Non-transferable +72 102

TOTAL 693

London Student Editor

Round 1

Chaminda Jayanetti 263 ELIMINATED
John Kenchington 312
Re-Open Nominations 50

TOTAL 625

Round 2

John Kenchington +148 460 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations +41.00 91

Non-transferable +74 74

TOTAL 625

Chair of Council

Rob Park 372 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 104

TOTAL 476


Environment & Ethics Officer

Jennie Cowan 333 ELECTED
Rees Howell 194
Re-Open Nominations 45

TOTAL 572


Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans Officer

Laura Purll 383 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 99

TOTAL 482

Medical Students' Officer

Simon Lammy 205
Matthew Mak 265 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 36

TOTAL 506


Men's Officer

James Juggapah 349 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 90

TOTAL 439



Officer without Portfolio

Chris Heathcote 338 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 86

TOTAL 424



Postgraduate Students' Officer

Tim Roll-Pickering 359 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 87

TOTAL 446


Racial Equality Officer

Sanchia Smithson 372 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 84

TOTAL 456

Students With Disabilities Officer

Nicky Grant 370 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 60

TOTAL 430

Women's Officer

Joanna Fried 423 ELECTED
Re-Open Nominations 82

TOTAL 505

Unbelievable

Over on Tory Convert's blog a post about the absurdities of public sector union monopoly practices in France.

A result of French anti-capitalism was revealed in last week's Spectator, in the form of an industrial dispute which bubbled up after the Government decided to give a contract for producing new biometric passports to a private company rather than the state-owned printing company:

In most countries that decision would have been routine but, France being France, a massive row broke out. The state-owned Imprimerie Nationale, the national printers who would traditionally be entrusted with making the passports, were outraged. The company didn’t even own the technology needed to produce the passports, but that didn’t stop the printers' trade union suing. The union bosses claimed that Imprimerie Nationale had a monopoly on passport production. To make sure that the government took notice, a motley crew of communist and socialist activists, local officials — and even an MP — took the law into their own hands and kidnapped the chief executive of the company, holding him hostage for a few hours. Rather than throwing the militants in jail, the spineless French authorities surrendered.

One can only but rejoice that such an absurd scenario can no longer happen in the UK. Why on Earth does the French Government surrender to trade union militants so easily?

Another person stops believing in Labour

Rehman Chishti, former Labour candidate for Horsham, has joined the Conservatie Party. He says:

I'm delighted to have joined the Conservative Party. Under David Cameron, the Conservatives provide hope and inspiration to the public at large who have become disillusioned with New Labour.

Tony Blair's Labour Party increasingly takes voters for granted and is out of touch with modern Britain.

With Not So Very New Labour disintegrating more and more people have found that they no longer believe in Tony or Old Man Brown as they continue to take the country for granted. Meanwhile the Conservative Party continues to go and thrive, reaching out to all parts of the United Kingdom.

Lembit Öpik's chance to sink yet another candidate's hopes

There's another contest taking place that offers Lib Dems the chance to seek support from their colleagues - or in one case to seek to avoid that support! Yes it's the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leadership election. Iain Dale has an assessment of the runners and riders. Which of these Lib Dems will get to stand in for Ming when he's not there?

• Vincent Cable
• Ed Davey
• David Heath
• Susan Kramer
• Matthew Taylor
• Phil Willis

I'm sure I'm not the only person asking who some of them are!

Now the big question that needs answering is which candidate has the support of Lembit Öpik. He publicly backed Charles Kennedy - who was then forced to step down. He publicly backed Mark Oaten - who was then forced to withdraw. He privately supported Chris Huhne - who didn't win. All six candidates must be praying that Öpik doesn't support them!

British Rail were going to build this?!

BBC News reports that in 1973 British Rail patented a plan for a flying saucer to be powered by "controlled thermonuclear fusion reaction". It makes the title of a BBC series set in 1973, "Life on Mars", take on a whole new meaning.

Just imagine though if British Rail had developed these saucers. One could have gone from A to B, seen the sites of the universe and had an experience literally like nothing on earth.

And the service would still have been late and strike ridden whilst the onboard sandwiches would still qualify as a new genetic lifeform.

John Profumo dies

Former MP and Cabinet Minister John Profumo has died. Profumo is sadly best remembered for a scandal in 1963 that led to his resignation from politics and perhaps the downfall of Harold Macmillan's government. But he also held several other distinctions.

Following his disgrace Profumo went to Toynbee Hall in the East End and worked as a volunteer there for over forty years, and is remembered with strong affection. But Profumo is also notable for the very beginning of his political career.

In April 1940 Profumo entered the House of Commons at the age of 25, becoming the youngest MP (the "Baby of the House"). Incidentally until his death he was the surviving former MP who had entered the House the earliest, perhaps best described as the "Grandfather of the House". (The title now passes to the former Common Wealth then Labour MP Ernest Millington, the only MP elected before the 1945 election who is still alive.)

It was in May 1940 that Profumo first made his mark when he was one of the MPs who voted against Neville Chamberlain's government in the famous Norway Debate of May 7 & 8. Two days later Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. A few years ago, on the sixty-third anniversary of the rebellion, Profumo was hailed for his actions by current MPs, including Churchill's grandson. With Profumo's death a political era has now passed.

The West Lothian Question needs sorting now

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Lord Falconer has strongly rejected both an English Parliament and allowing only English MPs to vote on English issues. He claims there is

no demand at all for devolution to England or the English MPs only being able to vote on English issues.

One has to wonder where he's been for the past eight years, although at the moment all his jobs could perhaps explain it.

The West Lothian Question has still to be satisfactorily resolved and it is absurd for Labour Party ministers, the party that benefits the most from this anomaly when forcing things like University top-up fees onto England, to claim that it is irrelevant or that the current system is working. But it is true that electing another set of politicians is not an option that commands popular support, whilst having different categories of MPs with different voting rights would result in confusion and gridlock and Parliament. But there is a precedent for a compromise solution. When Northern Ireland was given its own Parliament back in the early 1920s, the number of Northern Irish MPs at Westminster was cut from twenty-nine to thirteen (later reduced to twelve with the abolition of the University constituencies). Northern Ireland had a reduced number of MPs in exchange for being able to vote on everything and it proved a workable solution at Westminster for fifty years. Why not repeat this and cut the number of Scottish MPs to about forty, with all holding full rights? It wouldn't answer every last point but it could work in a way that none of the other options could.