Five Days that Changed Britain
Five Days that Changed Britain is a BBC documentary, produced and hosted by BBC correspondent Nick Robinson, that looks at how the coalition government came about. It reveals some interesting facts about what went on in the various party camps immediately following the inconclusive 6 May 2010 election. Here are some of the highlights. Day [...]
On manifestos and political reality
When the Liberal Democrats finally reached an agreement with the Conservative party, many wondered how the party could back the Conservatives’ plan for immediate and deep cuts to deal with Britain’s deficit and debt. The party had campaigned arguing that yes, cuts would be necessary, but that they shouldn’t be implemented before 2011-2012, lest they [...]
Differences in election management
One of the political reform bills tabled last week by the UK Coalition Government was the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. The Constituencies part of that Bill is looking into rejigging the size and number of constituencies in the UK, reducing the number from the current 650 to 600, and making them of a [...]
Clowns to the left, jokers to the right
As this parliamentary session comes to a close (the House of Commons adjourns tomorrow for a short summer break), there has been much speculation in the British media about the fate of the coalition and possible political realignment. In the Guardian, Paul Goodman calls it a coalition of four, not two: It is usually viewed [...]
Comment system changed
This blog is now using Disqus for its comments. If you want to post a comment, you will have to sign up with Disqus, if you don’t already have a profile with them. This is a very simple procedure, and has many benefits. The advantages of Disqus are many: Claim your comments: Now you can [...]
Fixed-term parliaments: the bill
As the current session of the UK parliament draws to an end (they adjourn on 27 July 2010), the Coalition government finally tabled its two political reform bills: the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill and the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. I will focus on the former; at 158 pages, I’ve not yet managed to read [...]
On truth in politics
According to American journalist Michael Kinsley, a gaffe is what happens when a politician accidentally tells the truth, or inadvertently says something publicly that they privately believe is true, but would ordinarily not say publicly because they believe it is politically harmful. There are ample examples of politicians caught in such situations. During the recent [...]
Government and e-democracy
Governments haven’t been the quickest to embrace the internet as a means to expand and facilitate public consultation, beyond the ubiquitous “Contact Us” forms on websites, and the ability to submit briefs by email. Even something as simple as a petition, at least here in Canada, still has to be submitted the old-fashioned way: on [...]
Political realignment revisited: from coalition to merger?
In one of my earliest posts, I looked at the issue of political realignment in the United Kingdom. Apparently, I’m not alone in my hypothetical postulating. The editor of The Spectator, Fraser Nelson, recently wrote about David Cameron realigning Conservative party politics. Nelson writes: There is an analysis emerging in Tory circles, which I suspect [...]
Coalitionising
Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, delivered a very interesting lecture earlier this week. In his lecture, Sir Gus discussed the way in which recent economic thinking – on behavioural economics, wellbeing and the role of trust – is helping to strengthen the work of the civil service in supporting the government, including taking forward [...]
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On procedure and politics by Radical Centrist is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
