Today it has been revealed that our outgoing Prime Minister is leaving us a hanging stink bomb in the proverbial air - the Church taking control of 100 City Academies. Gee, great. So with a new Prime Minister with an avowedly Christian "moral compass" and the Conservatives pledging to expand the Academies programme once in power, it looks like we're saved if we do, saved if we don't.

Faith schools may have a reputation for academic excellence, but at what cost? Parents will do anything to get their children a good education, we all know that, but in my opinion the faith element is neither here nor there. It's the funding and support, not the ethics, that makes faith schools so good and makes parents so eager to enroll their kids. The discipline found in them can certainly be replicated without the dimension of morning sermons. Indeed, if Tony Blair was leaving us with 200 new City Academies funded by Tesco Academies Services Ltd, they would be just as good (actually I'd rather have a generation of compulsive shoppers than religious fundamentalists come out of this scheme... though maybe that's just me).

Of course I have little objection to privately funded faith schools on a libertarian principle. If the demand is there, it should be an option with the proviso that there remains some standardised curriculum control. I simply disagree that state-run schools should be allowed to be "bought" by the highest bidder - too often those with a vested interest in warping the minds of children - and then funded by the taxpayer forevermore. If the Church wants to run schools, it should do so entirely out of its own pocket. If rich old evangelical fundamentalists want to buy schools and to teach creationism in them, why on earth should we be both facilitating them and then footing the bill?

Tony Blair has a lot to answer for. And if the Conservatives carry on this ludicrous angle to the scheme, so will we.

I'm afraid the blog is going to have to take a backseat for a little while, as I wrestle with exams and a new job. So stay tuned and I'll be back in a little while.

EDIT: Or, ya know, back intermittently!

... as 282 Labour MPs decide to back an uncontestable Gordon Brown...

It's probably not fashionable to say it, but I've been appalled by the media reaction to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Iain Dale has lead the way today by vocalising something that has been bothering me, and probably many others. He rightly points out that splashing the face and name of the suspect all over the papers today, even though no charge has been made, goes right to the heart of everything that's wrong with our national press. Perhaps Robert Murat will turn out to be guilty. But perhaps he won't. The fact is, we don't know. So whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Trial by media is no way to decide guilt. Too often it is used in such a manner nowadays.

Then there is the part which has been bugging me since the story broke; the endless parade of celebrities attaching their faces (Ronaldo, Beckham, Gordon Brown, Wayne Rooney) or at least their names to the story. That really does reek to me. No doubt they're saddened by what has happened, but why do they need to say so on television? It has nothing to do with them. Ergo their appearances can be nothing more than self-publicity and I find that sick. By all means, they're welcome to give their money to the campaign, but the moment their goodwill becomes a saintly badge in the public domain, they're not doing it for Madeleine or her family, they're doing it for themselves. That's just plain wrong.

When Gordon Brown went on the news to do his condolence/publicity-stunt for the Madeleine story, my first thought was that there was no way David Cameron would do that. Just like the Big Brother racism debate, Gordon was first to comment and Dave the first to criticise the celebrity scrum for a spot on the news. So far I'm glad to see I'm right about David Cameron in that he has said nothing on this story. He has more sense and principle than many give him credit for.

My point is, we need to examine the reaction of the media to these types of stories. It is always too frenzied, too hysterical and has too much emphasis on the reaction of "those that matter", ie celebrities and politicians. This is not conducive to the campaign to find Madeleine and, as Iain Dale points out, it can lead to the potential ruination of lives, as demonstrated by the Steve Wright incident.

I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on some reading before exams get underway. At the moment I'm reading 'Parliamentary Socialism' by Ralph Miliband (father of current governmeet Ministers Ed and young David), and it really does bring the current struggles in the Labour Party into perspective.

The challenge of John McDonnell for the leadership against Gordon Brown is symptomatic of an age old struggle in the party that has existed since its inception. It's often said that Tony Blair broke the party's links to the trade unions. Certainly, he did, to some extent. But I would argue that the way some of the trade unions have decided to throw themselves behind John McDonnell is a vivid demonstration of the age-old split between the far left and moderate left in the party.

"This left-wing activist element in the Labour Party and the trade unions has always been in a minority. It has seldom been able to post effective challenge to the Labour leaders and it has never come near to capturing the Labour movement's commanding heights. Even so, organised or unorganised, it has been a force with which the Labour leaders have always had to reckon, and to which they have often been forced to make concessions; in various ways, the Left within the Labour Party has at least reduced the leaders' freedom of action."

Now this book was written in 1961, so it's hardly an up to date look at the dynamics within the Labour Party. But it remains as true as ever. Gordon Brown most certainly embodies the statist "extra-parliamentary Left" as Miliband categorises it, and John McDonnell the historically undertrodden far-left wing, which must always influence rather than rule. Miliband states the adaptation to external factors, such as the interference of historical, economic and social events, as well as the ability to respond to what the other parties are doing, which comes naturally to the less dogmatic and more moderate left, have always kept the far-left from making serious strides into the leadership.

I personally don't think McDonnell stands a chance against Gordon Brown. The the desire for an adaptive leadership which will appeal to the maximum number of voters will prevent him from getting far, just as it always has. It's just interesting to frame his inevitable failure into a historic perspective to explain why it is simply not possible for the far-left to ever really get a grip on the party, however hard McDonnell tries.

I continue to read...

Here's an interesting story. A potential Gordon Brown initiative I actually like? Wow. Hold the phone.

Rumours abound that Gordon Brown is going to alter convention to make the Church of England's appointment of Bishops and Archbishops independent:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has told senior colleagues that he intends to give the church control over its own senior appointments. At the moment the Prime Minister plays a major role in the appointment of diocesan bishops and has the sole right to nominate deans of most English cathedrals. Mr Brown himself hinted at lifting control of the ecclesiastical appointments in a speech to the Fabian Society last year. Until 1976 the church had no formal role in the appointment of bishops at all, although it was consulted as a matter of courtesy. Thirty years ago, however, James Callaghan then Prime Minister established the Crown Appointments Commission, now renamed the Crown Nominations Commission, which draws up a shortlist of two names which it may offer in order of preference. The Prime Minister chooses either of the names or seeks other names from the Commission. Tony Blair used this veto at least once in 1997 to turn down both candidates proposed for the diocese of Liverpool.

The Prime Minister's appointment secretary plays an active role in the whole process and is a non-voting member of the Commission.

Sources close to Mr Brown, who is a member of the Church of Scotland, indicated that he will introduce the change by producing a memorandum of agreement with the Church’s General Synod. One source said: "Brown does not need to introduce any legislation or take up any parliamentary time in this matter. He is simply altering convention."

The plans seem to be a bit muddled at the moment, but overall I like the idea. Then again, any measures to disentangle the church from the state are obviously going to meet with approval from me.

I think it would not only do our political system good to have the church disestablished, it would do the church a great deal of good too. Politics can so easily muddy the waters of a body seeking be a spiritual guardian to the nation. It can tend to make the church seem like little more than just another pressure group and I'm not sure that's healthy. After all, the whole point is that its power is supposed to come from the "divine" so it shouldn't need government patronage to lead. Then there is also the argument that disestablishment in Wales and Scotland hasn't done it any harm, so England should have no fear of following suit.

It does make me wonder for the future of the House of Lords though. Giving the Church power to appoint its own leaders is an obvious step towards getting rid of the Lords Spiritual. Perhaps this means that Gordon Brown intends to go through with plans to create elected Lords. After all, it would be a virtual impossibility to elect Bishops so they would have to be removed from the chamber at some point. That would make it somewhat ludicrous for the vetting process to still go through the Prime Minister in anything other than a cursory fashion.

Looks like Gordon Brown's constitutional wrecking ball is going to be pretty far reaching if everything goes according to plan...

Today's headlines about Gordon Brown's various plans for his Premiership are interesting, if rather dull, since he is only reannouncing plans he announced last September, despite all the fuss.

The worst one has to be, of course, his plans to introduce a written constitution. I can't think of anything more damaging than a new Prime Minister with only a few years (for certain) to make his mark embarking on an ill-advised ego-inspired demolition the UK's constitutional settlement.

As we grow ever nearer the end of the process to separate the Law Lords from the House of Lords, creating a 12-man "Supreme Court", you have to ask, if we're going to have a written Constitution and an elected second chamber as well, why don't we just pledge allegiance to the bloody flag and have done with it?

Having a written constitution, even a bare bones one, is an indisputable mistake. We simply don't need it. Written constitutions are for new countries in need of an operational framework. The U.S. Constitution has shown us many lessons of why we shouldn't have something like that:

• How often does their constitution get amended? It's taken 200 years for the smallest incremental steps to take place. For example, compare the Dunblane Massacre of 1996 over here with the recent mass murder at Virginia Tech University over there. The right to bear arms is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Here, it took barely a year to have guns banned and, despite not solving all of the problems of gun crime, we haven't had another incident on that scale. It's a simple fact that written constitutions can make passing legislation slower and harder.
• Disproportionate power would be given to the judiciary if our newly made Supreme Court is to be the deciding body on what the constitution does and does not say, as it is in the U.S.
  
• Who gets to write this Constitution? It will inevitably be a document of some controversy and not everyone will agree to its terms. Does any one politician, judge, or indeed Prime Minister, really have the right to be the decider of the entire length and breadth of our values, at a time when the mandate to govern is so flimsy considering how few bother to go out and vote nowadays? This problem is doubly true of an arguably unelected Prime Minister, as Gordon Brown will be. A more unsuitable premier to bring about such a monumental change I can't imagine.
  
• A written constitution safeguards the values of today, not tomorrow. For example, 200 years ago, slavery was perfectly permissible, and hence it was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It took an incredible amount of time and hard work to get that overturned. The scars of this struggle still exist today. My point is, the values of our nation will grow and change as time goes by, and we have no right to straight-jacket future generations.

The only way a written constitution would work here would be to have the process of amendment be made very straightforwards. In which case, what's the point of it? Our current unenshrined constitution is the fluid movement of values, capable of incorporating both precedent and other documents like the Magna Carta's edicts and the Human Rights Act with relative ease.

To force upon us a written constitution would be nothing more than an act of vanity on the part of Gordon Brown; his own little guaranteed footnote in the history books. Quite a selfish start to his premiership, I have to say.

"I Did What I Thought Was Right."

Contrary to popular belief, Tony Blair wasn't the only person to use that line this week.

David Keogh, the civil servant who attempted to leak the top secret memo of a meeting between Blair and Bush in 2004, has been jailed for six months for breaching the Official Secrets Act. His defence was remarkably similar to that of the Prime Minister; he said he did it out of conscience. Keogh believed the memo contained disturbing information which needed to be made known to Parliament. He also knew the risks of his leaking it...

Read more...

It may be a little soon to be opening the bolly, but it does seems like a good day for a bit of reflection. Ten Years. I can hardly believe it's been so long. So many years, so much changed, yet so little actually accomplished when we consider all the promise of those early days.

Tony Blair is cheered into office, a saviour standing at the dawn of a golden age and the youngest Prime Minister to be elected for 185 years. He personally nurses the nation through the trauma of Princess Diana's death. When his party accepts a donation of £1million from Bernie Eccleston to allow the tobacco industry to continue advertising on Formula 1 racing cars, few see it as a sign of things to come...


Blair signs the Stormont Peace Agreement with Bertie Ahern in Northern Ireland. US power giant Enron sponsors the Labour Party conference and gets two reserved tables to itself, causing some consternation within the party. Concerns are expressed over the appointment of Lord Falconer, Tony Blair's former flatmate, to several influential committees over more qualified contenders. In August, William Hague accuses the government of rewarding Labour Party donors with peerages...


Major constitutional changes occur, as devolution of power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland comes into effect, and the White Paper on House of Lords Reform is published. Blair takes a commanding lead on the Kosovo war alongside President Bill Clinton. Tony appoints his close friend, Peter Goldsmith, a Life Peer. Peter Mandelson resigns over his dealings with millionaire Labour MP, Geoffrey Robinson.

Leo Blair is born, making Tony Blair the first serving British Prime Minister to have a child whilst in office. Euan Blair is arrested by the police after a night of binge drinking. The Millennium Dome opens to the public and flops. In June Blair is heckled by the Women's Institute. In September the fuel crisis begins and protests occur right across the country.


New Labour wins a second term in office. The government is accused of accepting illegal bribes and a £1million donation for the Millennium Dome from the Hinduja brothers in exchange for passports, despite them being twice turned down by the previous government. Peter Mandelson resigns again over the affair.


Tony Blair tells Parliament that Saddam Hussein is developing Weapons of Mass Destruction which could be used in only 45 minutes after an order is given. Cherie apologies over the Peter Foster scandal. Several Labour councillors in Doncaster are jailed for corruption. As Blair strengthens British ties with Washington, large scale protests break out against anticipated military action in Iraq.


The government announces that Britain will not adopt the Euro as its national currency. Parliament votes in favour of War in Iraq and coalition troops make a preemptive strike. Robin Cook and Clare Short resign in protest. Saddam Hussein's forces are overwhelmed and he is captured in September. Tony Blair gives evidence in the Hutton Enquiry over the death of Dr David Kelly. At the end of the year, Blair is admitted to hospital with heart problems.


The Hutton Enquiry retires with no blame attached to Tony Blair or the government. However Labour loses 450 seats in the local elections. Fathers for Justice smuggle condoms filled with purple power into Parliament and pelt Tony Blair from the gallery. The Prime Minister celebrates ten years as leader of the Labour Party but is admitted to hospital once more, this time to undergo heart surgery.


New Labour wins a third term in office. While Blair is leading the G8 summit in Scotland, London is attacked by suicide bombers; 52 are killed and 700 injured. Eyebrows are raised as Cherie Blair pockets far more money for speaking at a charity function in Australia than the charity in question. Tony Blair suffers defeat in the Commons as MPs vote against increasing the length of detention available to the police in the case of terror suspects from 14 days to 90 days.


The government suffers humiliation after having to rely on Conservative MPs to pass its own legislation. There is fury as it becomes known that Cherie Blair has spent nearly £8000 of Labour Party money on her hair. The Cash for Honours investigation gets underway. Tony Blair comes under intense pressure to resign, culminating in an announcement that he will leave within a year. He makes his final Labour Party Conference speech in Manchester.


Labour lose 500 seats in the local elections in England and also lose their position as the natural party of government in Scotland. Tony Blair secures his legacy through his successes in Northern Ireland. He also announces a departure date for our troops in Iraq.

Today Tony Blair announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister on the 27th June. It's a long time yet before he's really going, true. Yet the showmanship of the man has made it feel somewhat akin to a genuine goodbye. I feel vaguely nostalgic today. Not that I'm going to miss him in any way. It's just odd that the process of him finally leaving has actually started, when it has always seemed so far away before.

Tony Blair - President of the World

There's nothing so embarrassing as a politician that just won't go. Tony Blair hasn't announced his departure today at all. He's announced that he's going to announce his departure. What a spectacle!

Read more...

"He's going of his own choice. He's doing it at a time which he thinks is good for the country, is good for the government."
- Peter Mandelson, on Blair announcing his departure, 10th May 2007

What is it About the Left that Makes it Constantly Strive to Enslave?

We have seen the Labour government veer dangerously close to dictatorial behaviour with its insistence on ID Cards and a National Identity Register, the proliferation of CCTV, the NHS Spine, curbs on our historic rights of protest, a Tax Credits system which has wedded millions of people to state dependence... I could go on...

Read more...

A brief foray into the world of music, if I may.

I'm breaking of the singers' code here in praising another singer. Usually us female vocalists are pretty distainful of each other, although it tends to be hidden behind a cultured veneer...

In this instance I have my hand on my heart when I say that this girl is something special. I challenge anyone to listen to her music and not be impressed by the young singer/songwriter (firefox users will need to scroll down to find the link into the site).

Recently Georgina Callaghan has had a pretty traumatic time with her band members swanning off with some girl who used to be in that awful pop band Bewitched. To add insult to injury, they appear to be using her name and her songs without permission. But no matter. Callaghan is bouncing back and going solo once again.

She's performing at Tommy Flynn's, 55 Camden High Street, London on May 11th (this Friday) at 8pm. It's free to get in, so if you can, please go and support this young artist. It's only a matter of time before she's signed and hitting the big time. Then you'll be glad you went.

Tony Blair's Legacy on Crime

If the government were a ship it would currently be a sinking one. Crisis after crisis has shaken the bows and caused the teeth of its crew to rattle. Of all its many and manifest problems, its stewardship of the Home office has been the steady drip drip through creaking boards which has been slowly threatening to drag it under the waves...

Read more...

Meet "Farfour". He's a large mouse with a rather uncanny resemblance to a certain Disney character who appears on Palestinian TV station, Al-Aqsa TV. The station is controlled by the terrorist organisation slash government Hamas.
So what stories does this lovable character have to share with the kids of Palestine? What indeed;

"You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists," Farfour squeaked on a recent episode of the show, which is titled, "Tomorrow's Pioneers."

"We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."

Children call in to the show, many singing Hamas anthems about fighting Israel...

Charming. He's no Mickey Mouse is he...

Via the Daily Mail, and because it made me laugh:
"Distinctly" and "unamused" are probably the right words to describe the Queen's reaction to President Bush's coquettish wink in her direction. Hilarious.

Is Sarkozy's Victory a Lesson For the Conservative Party?

So it's official. Nicolas Sarkozy has swept to victory in the most ringing endorsement for radical change in France we're ever likely to see...

Read more...

It's a horrifying story, made worse by the fact that is hardly an isolated incident. In Mosul, Iraq, a Kurdish girl who ran away to be with the man she loved, a Muslim, is rounded upon by up to 1000 local men and murdered with the police lending a hand.

From the clips it appears that the girl was first stripped naked to symbolize that she had dishonored her family and her Yezidi religion. She is lying on the road naked while her smashed face is covered with blood and still breathing.

According to the website and footage from the clip a number of armed local police officers were present who in fact helped the crowd to kill the woman rather than preventing the crime. Sometime later the Iraqi army arrived at the scene and refused anyone entry, including the press.

I only watched the first three videos because it was simply too unbearable. So, please, do be warned. The point is that this is yet another reminder not only of the instability of the situation in Iraq, but of the culture war we are fighting. Religion is a powerful motivator towards the most terrible acts mankind is capable of. Mix it with cultural traditions which dictate female inferiority and this is the result; a poor young girl, lured back to her home community by her family, only to be brutally killed and to have it filmed.

The culture war is a difficult one to fight. It's one some of us do not have the stomach for (as demonstrated by the hideous navel gazing some indulged in following President Ahmedinijad's diatribe about Western values towards women). But it's a war we have no choice but to win to stop incidents like this one from continuing to occur worldwide. Whether we do it by example, or by using our fists, either way, we must keep pushing. There is no alternative.

It must be if John Reid really is resigning from the Home Office.

More foreign prisoners set free without being considered for extradition? Another prison places fiasco? Something to do with immigration? What, what is it? Must be something bad if he's jumping without being pushed. I dread to think.

On a related note, does this now mean that Alistair Darling is set to be the next Chancellor? After all, Gordon Brown will no longer need to sideline him just to prove that all the top government positions aren't filled with Scots, provided that he has an English (or Welsh) Home Secretary. It's a possibility. Although, I have to admit, my money is on Ed Balls for Chancellor, purely for the trust that exists between him and Gordon. After all the backstabbing and power struggles, I should think he'll want someone he can trust and, perhaps, play pupetteer to.

So then, the next Home Secretary...? Now that's a tricky one. I have a funny feeling it might be given to a token woman. Not sure which one though, since the New Labour ladies seem to be a uniquely talentless lot.

SCOTLAND: 100,000 votes lost? The SNP in power (kind of)? Say no more about that one.

THE STRESS OF CAMPAIGNING: I know of at least one Conservative candidate who literally dropped dead, in North Lincolnshire, after delivering leaflets. The candidate went home and died in his chair, or so I was told. Actually, one of the candidates I lent a hand to during the course of the campaign collapsed and had to be rushed to hospital a few ago as well. Thankfully she made a full recovery. But it just goes to show just how much some people put into their campaigns.

BEWARE OF THE DOG: A story to send a shiver up the spine of anyone who has ever campaigned. According to the David Anthony Republic blog, a Candidate in Middlesborough had her finger bitten off by a dog whilst putting a leaflet through a door. Having nearly had the same experience myself once or twice, I have to say, my heart goes right out to her.

TOSS OF A COIN: When I heard that Lincoln had gone Tory, I nearly fainted for surprise and happiness (I'm a former resident of the city). Apparently it was a close one. So close in fact that, after three counts, Labour and the Conservatives had exactly the same number of votes. So it went down to a coin toss. How unbearable for those involved, and most especially for the Labour team who called heads and lost.

ELECTION AGENT BLUES: Fellow blogger Gary Wareing lost his Drypool Ward seat in the Hull City Council elections. He states on his blog that his election agent tried to kill him near the end... he's not joking. Bobby drove into the back of his car on the eve of the election. How's that for a run of bad luck?!

WHEN THE CANDIDATE LOSES (IT): Via Mr Eugenides: Apparently an MSP for the Scottish Senior Citizens' Unity Party "ran amok in a polling station on Thursday evening with a golf club" after losing his seat. What a loser.

I'm sure there must be plenty more minor tales of woe out there. So if you have any local election horror stories, do drop an account in the comments.

When asked in a debate who does not believe in evolution, three GOP Presidential Candidates put their hands up. Tom Tancredo, Mike Huckabee and Senator Sam Brownback all do not believe in evolution. Either they're genuinely stupid, or they're going for the fundie vote. I hope the latter is true, though I have a feeling it isn't considering the men in question.


Senator McCain wins the prize for the best all-things-to-all-men answer. Meanwhile, Huckabee's later elaboration brings painful tears to the eyes:

"If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, I'll accept that....I believe there was a creative process."

"I'm not sure what in the world [believing in evolution] has to do with being president of the United States."

The three in question may not be frontrunners, but we know that their opinions will find a great deal of backing in certain quarters, considering the enormous power wielded by religious fundamentalists in the United States. I find this sort of thing extremely worrying. We have already seen the damage that can be done by having a US President basing his judgement entirely on faith. President Bush has already vetoed much needed stem cell funding and attempted to rewrite the constitution against gay rights, amongst other things. I'm not sure America, and the world at large, can really withstand having yet another ignorant US President.

More on what was said at this debate, here.

Via ConHome:
Unbelievable. How can anyone claim this wasn't an exceptionally good night for the Tories? I'm looking at you, BBC...

"This journey has involved meeting hundreds of people, getting arrested, being laughed at, being hugged, being punched, being physically sick from talking to torture victims, and worst of all, meeting Geoff Hoon..."

This is surely an event for the calendar (I say on my way to see the Spiderman 3 premiere). Finally, a cinema-release documentary highlighting the disgusting erosion of our civil liberties under New Labour. I can't wait.


It's sad but true that, quite often, it takes a media stunt like one of these big-money documentaries to make people sit up and take notice. This is certainly long overdue. I only hope it has been done well enough to get enough attention to make some kind of difference. Then again, dear Boris is in it, so it can't be that bad...!

Is it wrong to wish someone the loss of a council seat on the ground of their shoes matching their jacket?

I experienced just such a moment at the count I attended last night, in Hull East Riding I must admit. Granted it was gone 2 a.m. I had spent four hours in a hall with too few seats and no televisions whatsoever, starved of information of the national scene, and I may have been a tad tetchy.

Incidentally the Liberal Democrat in question did actually lose her seat. But come now, bright yellow plaid shoes and a matching jacket? Then again, our ugly new turquoise rosettes caused us to be the butt of a few jokes so I suppose I can't say anything...

The news that the Lib Dems were doing very well in Hull came in early and did cause some twittered excitement I have to say. When there was a confirmation that they had declared control of the council, everybody merely nodded and admitted it had been a virtual certainty (I said as much last week over on the New Statesman blog). Afterwards I received some excited messages from my Lib Dem friend, each one less coherent than the last as the night wore on.

Clearly they had an exceptionally good night in Hull. Not just in election terms.

The atmosphere at the East Riding count was very friendly, with candidates of all hues mixing together happily (aside from the strangely disinterested English Democrats). David Davis swept in and stuck around to the bitter end to lend his support to our candidates, which was very good of him, considering how long it went on. The Conservatives had one blow as we failed to take South Cottingham (oh how painful that one was, considering how much work we put in), but otherwise we kept all our seats and gained five; exactly the number required to take East Riding Council. Willerby and Kirk Ella Ward, and Dale Ward were our big successes of the night, with all five new Councillors securing very comfortable majorities.

Oh, but of course, I know what you're wondering. What of my standing for council in Hull? I'm not sure of the scores exactly as I didn't actually attend the Hull count - I wanted to support the candidates I've been running around for in the run up - but I do know that I secured the phenomenal number of 108 votes... about the same as the last election in the area, although I don't know what the turnout was. Abysmal but not entirely unexpected, I have to admit! The seat was a Lib Dem stronghold.

So to sum up, it was one hell of a long day but there were some wonderful rewards at the end of it. This weekend there are certain to be parties. Many many parties.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get back into blogging again by throwing myself in at the deep end. Not only will I be writing this one again, I'll be guest blogging over at 18 Doughty Street Monday through Friday next week... Honestly, you're going to get sick of me.