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Bez from the Happy Mondays is going to stand to be an elected MP for Salford.

felix said:
Was the bedroom tax a populist move?
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I would say so, yes. Not trying to appeal to people like me, but definitely an appeal to some people's mean-spirited streak, in a "poor people should not be allowed to have nice things that I cannot afford" way.
felix said:
Was the invasion of Iraq a populist move?
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Again, yes. An ill-judged one, because they overestimated the level of support for war, but it was clearly done with the intent to appeal to belligerence.

When someone stands in this way, they are holding up two fingers to the establishment; saying, effectively, I do not trust any of you to do this job; in fact, I distrust you so much, I am prepared to make <-- this much of an effort --> to keep any of you away from this position. It's a powerful message; but they seem oblivious to it. Which is why we just keep getting more of the same old, same old.
 
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Tbh, rose tinted specs aside, he ain't really the sharpest tool in the box is he? (though he might be the biggest). Plus he isn't a great orator either - can you imagine listening to that whiney manc accent for more than 10 seconds?
 
If he gets a good team behind him he could stand a chance, i would imagine tha the voter turnout in salford would generally be quite low, as labour rend to win by a fucking landslide round here every time, there really is very little point voting, when Labour are winning the seats by around 10,000 votes and the tories and the others get about 500 votes. I could see Bez getting about 1,000 votes but that obviously wont be enough to defeat a credible and decent Labour candidate. I dunno if they have replaced the dreadful Hazel Blears as Labour MP for Salford yet, maybe that's what Bez is going to run for, as Blears stood down / resigned recently, i think. If Labour to allow to him to run for them its a certainty that he will be elected. If he stands as an independent its extremely unlikely.

However, anyone in the 35-45 something age group that doesnt give a shit about politics, or are just proud of him because 'he is one of us from the streets of Salford and isnt he famous now' may make the effort to turn out to vote for him. All this without even knowing what his policies are yet, other than that he has a sensible approach to budgeting and supports the anti-fracking campaign in the hinterlands of Greater Manchester.
 
mydrugbuddy said:
If he gets a good team behind him he could stand a chance, i would imagine tha the voter turnout in salford would generally be quite low, as labour rend to win by a fucking landslide round here every time, there really is very little point voting, when Labour are winning the seats by around 10,000 votes and the tories get about 500 votes.
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Apart from the areas in which the Lib Dems win, like where I live? :)

Obviously I don't live in Salford, but the Lib Dems did pretty well there last time too, with 26.3% of the vote (Labour got 40.1% and the Tories 20.5% ).

If he were to stand as an independent, he'd be in direct competition with the BNP (6.3% ) and UKIP (2.6% ). Which, going by a couple of old interviews, some might argue is his niche.
 
Oh, in that case the figures i quoted only apply to the ward in which i live. Tbh i thought that pretty much the whole of the NW of England was a solid block of Labour Red. I didnt know that the lib dems have a seat in the area. Perhaps certain parts of cheshire also have a more closer run contest of things where there are a lot more affluent people.
 
Cheadle's Lib Dem. Hazel Grove too. You only have to go as far as Sale to find a Conservative seat.

As you say though, it's more or less solid Labour throughout Greater Manchester, but not nearly as solid as it used to be.
 
Do you think these areas will still be Lib Dem though? I really doubt it. Why would anyone vote for them now? Surely, if you're still into the Lib Dems, you'd just vote Tory?

UKIP have beat them at at least one by-election. I think they got humped by a guy in a stupid costume at another one.

The Lib Dems are dead at the next election imo.
 
The Lib Dems gained some support as a protest vote, but jumping into bed with the Tories cost them that support base. What they should have done was force Labour and the Conservatives into a fragile coalition, and made the most of every deciding vote that would have come their way. Or threatened to break up the coalition sooner and force an election. Straight after the disgraceful and obviously rigged AV referendum would have been a good time.

As things are now, I fear they have rendered themselves unelectable for at least a term or two.
 
At least he'd be one politician that wouldn't do u-turns.
He'd just take two steps forward, then two steps backward.



I'll get me coat
 
Yeah, I'd think that at least around my way, a lot of people will be voting green instead of lib dem next time.
 
BecomingJulie said:
The Lib Dems gained some support as a protest vote, but jumping into bed with the Tories cost them that support base. What they should have done was force Labour and the Conservatives into a fragile coalition, and made the most of every deciding vote that would have come their way. Or threatened to break up the coalition sooner and force an election. Straight after the disgraceful and obviously rigged AV referendum would have been a good time.

As things are now, I fear they have rendered themselves unelectable for at least a term or two.
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Completely agree. I don't favour any political party but if forced to vote I always would've gone for Lib Dem. Coalition with the Tories was a stupid idea. I know they must've been keen just to get the small amount of influence over policy they presumably have but they've had to sell out far too many principles to gain whatever that tiny influence is - it feels like a Tory government to me and can't say I've noticed much in the way of a liberal softening of the Tory hard edges. Admittedly it's hard to know how bad they'd've been if in complete control but can't imagine it'd be enough of a difference to convince me that the Lib Dems are in any way trustworthy now.

If forced to vote these days it'd have to be Green probably. I do genuinely quite like some of the Green policies but is even less point voting for them than it would've been for the Lib Dems - at least the latter get local MPs in.
 
I voted Green once out of pity for them so that they woulnt loose their deposit, and also allthough i knew that they didnt stand a cats in hells chance of getting elected, maybe every single vote for them sends a message to the powers that be that the Green policies are important to some people, and that they should bare this in mind. Perhaps thats a bit naive and optimistic.
 
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