I lost my Montgomeryshire seat in Mid-Wales in 2010 for three reasons; one of which was my fault. Two factors were the national situation and demographic constituency changes. But under my control was my public profile. Bluntly, I didn’t anticipate the electorate’s antipathy towards my celebrity profile. I hadn’t sought fame, but I embraced it. It was fun and, at the time I thought, harmless. How wrong I was! Most constituents still supported me, but my profile energetically motivated my foes to vote, while dissuading my supporters from bothering. So, I lost. Game over. And that was that.
Mine was an unforced error – a needless end to my Parliamentary career. But in truth, if I had my time again, I would NOT live my life differently. I’d handle the publicity differently – separating political messaging from matters not relevant to my role as an MP. Instead, it all got mixed up and I paid the price. Unfortunately, today, the Liberal Democrat leadership is making similar mistakes.
As uninspired Labour tip-toes towards the finish line trying not to drop that fragile vase labelled “reputation”, the Conservatives stagger from self-inflicted blunder to blunder, like a punch-drunk boxer in the final round. Meanwhile, new kids on the block Reform U.K. make hay with fistfuls of charisma, and appeals to rage against the machine – their Leader propelling them to dizzy new heights. Into this electoral firmament enter the Liberal Democrats, and Leader Ed Davey.
With a disillusioned electorate desperately seeking
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Don’t forget that Davey was the twerp when asked ‘can a woman have man parts’ answered ‘it’s complicated’. If he finds primary school biology ‘complicated’ then isn’t qualified to run a bath.
I live near the London to Dover roads. Yesterday I received the Liberal Democrat Candidate’s election leaflet. There is not one single word about illegal immigration to be found from this Parliamentary Candidate – not one. Nothing to see here. We need reform.
“Volodymyr Zelensky made himself famous by playing the piano with his “very private parts” before confounding critics by becoming Ukrainian President.”
Confounding or confirming? Two clown acts.
“… festival of farce..” it has been ever thus. You are too young Mr Opik to know.
Ever since the Social Democrat Party (SDP) merged with the Liberal Party to become the Social Democrat Liberal Party (SDLP) with two leaders and two sets of policies. Later to morph into the Liberal Democrat Party – Lib Dem’s – of today which not for nothing is oft referred to as the Lib Dums.
No mention of their stance on gender in the article. I wonder why?
I saw this moron on TV News doing his campaign bit with a whole lot of Lib Dem Supporters all standing there with little placards with CHANGE on it. ——What does “Change” actually mean? —It means NOTHING. Is this the best slogan they can come up with? Vote for CHANGE??? ha ha aha jeezus.
We want change, not CBDCs.
I forget who here says it regularly, but I fear the ballot box is not the route to salvation.
I’m politically homeless and I cannot in good conscience vote for any of the established parties.
I expect Labour to get in, whatever my vote, so this year mine will be a protest vote. The Tories locked me down and for that they deserve a kicking, and hopefully dismemberment and oblivion
I quite like William Coulston and the SDP, but they’re not standing in my constituency. Reform is an option I’m strongly considering; although the smears in the press are relentless and I don’t see them getting many seats.
I’d enjoy seeing Farage in Westminster simply because so many ‘normal’ people seem to hate him instinctively. He at least is articulate and seemingly honest about how he sees the world which is rare in politics and I can respect that even if I found myself disagreeing with him on specific questions. The media are dead set against him and so are most of the unthinking masses, but I’d enjoy their discomfort.
The last five years have changed me profoundly and my cynicism and anger know no bounds. I’ve seen… Read more »
Dr Robert Malone mentioned on The High Wire that he is friends with Nigel Farage, so that alone is a good enough reason to vote for Reform rather than staying at home.
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Reform are looking at N0 10 for the following election. By then there will be more impoverished and disillusioned people that would’ve ‘woken up’….Can’t they just skip four years of misery and wake up now!
Something profound and catastrophic needs to happen to wake people up, something that can’t be hushed up.
Media neutrality is a farce. Ofcom are a menace.
Balance on most issues is non-existent. Not reporting something is just as biased, as we all learned during the recent “plague”.
I still cannot easily talk about the last few years. Most people roll their eyes and close down.
Yes the subject is so interconnected and multifaceted that often I don’t know where to start.
It’s the BBC that cements people’s belief that they know ‘the Science’, and that they have the answers that used to appear at the back of the book.
Lib dems? Who??
“Clownshow doing the libdems no favours”…
Surely this is an op? One of the many little tessera in the vast mosaic that is the project to discredit sovereign governments beyond redemption, and usher in Global Governance.
Every little helps.
” He’s decent, well-meaning and grasps family challenges from his own experience as a parent. He’s also experienced.”
I don’t think so. In the Cameron-Clegg coalition he was Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and although he opened the international Gastech Expo in London 2012 which is where I met him, he showed his extreme climate change tendency, interfering in public enquiries for windfarm applications and finding for applicants before they had run due process – for “the good of the planet”
A dangerous idealogue.
The article is part paywalled. That’s a first for DS. I hope it doesn’t backfire.
You have to log in to view it all. Yes I saw that the other day and was a bit confused. I thought it was because I was due donating some more money, lol. If you scroll through the articles when logged out though, some will appear like that. Don’t know why they’ve started doing this either…
Not enough revenue from subscriptions and little or no advertising revenue. I don’t think any of them are getting rich from this. I suspect Luke Johnson might even be keeping it afloat but that’s speculation with no evidence behind it other than he’s fairly rich and one of the directors.
They can’t be blamed for trying to find ways of making money from The Daily Sceptic. It makes me feel better too, that I’m getting value for my £50 a year, rather than paying merely for the privilege of commenting!
Totally agree- hope it works out for us
65 or so years ago, my old mum used to say of Norman Wisdom, “he’s too daft to laugh at.”
I find just the same with the imbecilic Davey.
I used to think the same about Reeves and Mortimer when they first started out, and I really didn’t get their humour, but they soon grew on me like a bad case of Monkeypox and I think they’re both hilarious. Now I’m all about the daftness and appreciate people who can be simultaneously funny and silly. I know we are all different in what we find funny but I’ve never got on with anybody who is completely devoid of humour. There’s a fair few of them on here, evidently. But I’m a ‘glass half full’ person and I’ll never understand these perma-morose/outraged/glum/bitter individuals, who never seem to deviate in their tone, so it’s no wonder we have a clash of personalities, really.
Mogs, whilst Reeves and Mortimer were ‘absurdists,’ they were original and very funny. (‘Er indoors couldn’t stand ’em. Mind you, she never ‘got’ Monty Python). Mortimer is nothing short of a National treasure these days, with his hilarious unscripted tales on ‘8 out of 10 cats,’ and of course, the splendidly bucolic ‘Gone Fishing’ with Paul Whitehouse.
Yes, absolutely. Very hard to pin down one favourite comedian but if someone had a gun to my head I’d have to say Peter Kay as he’s the full package. I loved all his TV shows and he’s ace at stand up. He even got onto the trans bandwagon before it was en vogue. 🙂
‘Two Up Two Down’, haha…his many characters were just class.
Agreed re PK. Honourable mention for Al Murray too, a decade or so ago.
Didn’t Murray stand against Farage once, obviously his Landlord patriot thing was just an ‘act’.
Sean Lock was my favourite of recent years. His series “Fifteen Storeys High” was brilliant.
I did enjoy Jimmy Car, I like dark humour and he hits the spot when people spontaneously laugh then immediately after go ooooh!
His vaccine jibe was unfortunate when you consider the absurdities pushed by the MSM. Low hanging fruit. One thing people should take away from post Lockdowns; ignore celebs!
I detest Jimmy Carr. Nasty piece of work.
Check out the one minute Youtube ‘Rachel Riley as a Viking’. Sean Lock’s comment brought the house down in an 8 out of 10 cats episode. Outrageous (and under-rated). A sad loss.
I saw it.
That’s a challenging w..k
Peter Kay is in a league of his own.
Peter Kay – seconded 👏
Micky Flanagan is quite good.
Can’t beat a bit of Chubs.
Bernard Manning.
Dave Allen without a shadow of doubt
I too was slow to like Reeves and Mortimer – despite, or possibly because of, being a lifelong fan of Spike Milligan – but Bob Mortimer on Would I Lie To You? changed my mind, with his obviously untrue highly implausible stories which turned out to be true!
I am watching the early black & white series of Steptoe & Son. In Sickness & In Health is another good one. They only seem to show the latter late at night so hard to keep up with the series. Both great British classics.
Seconded 👍
What a pity political candidates for office do not focus on connecting with the voters and reflecting on what they hear. Whatever you may think of Farage he does that.
The Uniparty candidates and leaders do not want to engage with voters because they don’t much like them (unless they wear rainbow clotes or are ethnically unusual in their constituency). They don’t want to hear about their policy preferences.
From their manifesto: “Climate change is an existential threat. Urgent action is needed to achieve net zero and avert catastrophe”. Who cares about “Ed Davey” (who he?) – there is your clown show right there.
They all voted for lockdowns too.
”Among the smaller parties, the Lib Dems say climate change is an “existential threat” necessitating “bold, urgent action” that will also cut bills and create “hundreds of thousands” of jobs. Their manifesto aims for 90% renewable power by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2045.”
I guess if that is all going to happen we will not have to worry about Ed Davey on a paddle board, he will be walking on the water by then!
We have now passed the ‘tipping point’ after which it will be ‘too late’ so many times – it’s too late.
Neither liberal nor democratic as COVID showed. All parties currently pursue policies that make us less free, notably net zero which is an economic suicide note. They would only pursue such policies because they hate us or self loathe, and seek to offload that.
The three most well known Uniparty branches are badly named: Labour? Conservative? Unionist? Liberal? Democratic?
I think not five times over.
Well said that man!
He’s doing a great job of keeping the Lib Dems away from power. Excellent.