The initial exit polls have been published just as the polls closed. They show the Torys on somehting well over 300, Labour on 255 and the Lib Dems getting somewhere in the mid-60’s If the Tories were much above 300 seats in the House of Commons they could pretty much get business done with the help of the Ulster Unionists and perhaps a few other…
Live election coverage on the BBC
Starting at 22:00 British Summer Time the BBC is streaming their election coverage online. Additional live coverage on BBC Radio 4. BBC One – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/election2010/liveevent/ Radio 4 – http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/
Finally, Polling day is here
Any general election day is something of a celebration of democracy: this one feels a little different, for only the second time in the last thirty years we may see a change of government. As I wrote a few weeks ago, this feel different from 1997, the mood is a lot darker and there is not the feeling of better days to come that was…
Who am I putting an “X” next too?
Labour has had something of a deathbed conversion to a principal of Proportional Representation. An idea that the Lib Dems have held dear for many elections. This election has become more than who leads, but also something of a referendum on PR and its merits. The Lib Dems have waged a very intense and successful campaign over the last month; a significant amount of credit…
A tough day
Today was an emotional day, it’s the first birthday since mum succumbed to breast cancer and she has been on my mind a lot. Today I got a card from dad, he wrote in the card “Happy Birthday. We are very proud to have you as a son” This has been a rough day, this evening after I opened the card was especially tough. Most…
Fear
Sitting talking to a friend of mine tonight, it has been a very long afternoon and evening. We race cars against each other and have done for a long time; we talked of what makes racing so special for those who get it. I don’t think I’ve ever slept well the night before a race. No matter if it was a minor club road rally…
13 Years with a Labour majority
“What I’m interested in is the big poll on 6 May, when people really have to choose five more years of Gordon Brown – the uncertainty, the bickering, the haggling of a hung parliament – or a decisive clean break with the Conservatives.” David Cameroon Is it really as simple as that? Perhaps it is, but a hung parliament could potentially force debate and compromise….
An interesting week in politics
It’s been an interesting week in the UK, Lib Dem Nick Clegg clearly won the first debate. For me this was because he used straightforward language and stayed away from the forced sloganeering that permeates politics. He did not have anything really new to say, but was consistent and it was not exactly the venue for spontaneous announcements. However Gordon Brown may have given Nick…
Spring time is here
I think most people have a happy place; one of mine is the North Downs in southern England. A couple of weeks ago among all the pressure and emotion I made a couple of hours for myself to walk along the North Downs Way near Guildford from Newlands Corner over St Martha and back the long way. It’s couple of hours with a decent amount…
Fun with stats – Hamilton v’s Button
A lot of people (me, Jackie Stewart, Eddie Jordan and all of my more informed racing friends) though Lewis Hamilton was going to crush Jenson Button this year. So far that’s not happened and I started looking through the results of the first four races and was rather surprised. I accept its early days, we are not even a quarter of the way through the…