StephenTall.org

One of the iconic images of the early days of the Coalition — in the midst of the summer haze of the leggeron rose garden bromance — was The Economist’s front cover depicting the Prime Minister as a punk, representing the Coalition’s self-appointed claim to be one of the most radical governments in history. Economically [...]

There now follows a public information film… During the 1940s, the British Council produced more than 120 short films ‘designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played’. They’re now available online, and here’s the Pathe-style feature on the 1945 electoral race in Kettering — or, as it’s described in the British Council [...]

There now follows a public information film… During the 1940s, the British Council produced more than 120 short films ‘designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played’. They’re now available online, and here’s the wonderfully of-its-time feature on local government — or, as it’s described in the British Council Film Department Catalogue: [...]

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader… Here is re-elected London mayor Boris Johnson with his fellow Etonian, Tory leader David Cameron. After this week’s local election results, what do you think might be being said or thought by or about them? And the [...]

Results are still coming in, but the overall picture of this year’s local elections is clear: this has been a second successive disappointing result for the Lib Dems. Here’s a topline summary: National vote share: The projected currently projected share of the national Lib Dem vote is 16%, with Labour on 39% and the Tories [...]

With polls closed, here are my five predictions for the night to come… 1) I won’t win in Headington Hill & Northway, the Oxford City Council ward where I’m a Lib Dem candidate this year. The old adage applies: where you work, you win. This year our resources have been too stretched to contest all seats with equal effort. That’s  [ Read More ]

Those lovely people at Politics.co.uk — the folk who rated this website 10/10, and said it was “one of the top political blogs going” (I point this out merely for the purpose of full disclosure, you understand) — asked me for my thoughts on the Lib Dems’ chances in the upcoming local elections. Here’s what I wrote… A year ago,  [ Read More ]

Sadly I don’t have the pleasure of standing against Ukip candidate Dr Julia Gasper — who has said people who ‘choose’ to be gay should stop ‘complaining about persecution’ — in the elections to Oxford City Council this Thursday. That honour falls to my Lib Dem colleague, Roz Smith, who’s standing for near-by Quarry & Risinghurst. Without apparent irony, Dr  [ Read More ]

It’s exactly 15 years ago today that Tony Blair led New Labour to a landslide general election victory over John Major’s Tories, and Paddy Ashdown saw the Lib Dems secure the largest third party representation in the House of Commons since 1929. Here are three videos to remind you of a quite extraordinary night… The [...]

I suggested earlier today — in my post comparing ‘Brand Clegg’ against Brand Miliband’ — that the Lib Dems had ‘got used over the decades to being happily tolerated, and usually liked to one degree or another, by most people’. I had clearly forgotten this clip from the scorchingly good Election Night Armistice of 1st May, 1997, exactly 15 years  [ Read More ]