Tories outspent Labour by £14.3m in election year

This is the stark news reported today by BBC News, using data from the Electoral Commission:

The Conservatives outspent Labour by nearly £15m in 2010, according to the Electoral Commission.

In the period, which includes the general election, the Conservatives spent £49.2m - some £6m more than they collected in income. Labour spent £34.9m, including £1.05 from the Co-operative Party, an affiliated organisation.

The Liberal Democrats spent just under £10m, with the SNP on £2.2m and Plaid Cymru on £932,708

The commission said it was considering whether to impose sanctions on the BNP after it failed to submit its accounts. The party - which is already facing financial difficulties - could be fined up to £20,000 for late submission under new powers handed to the commission to prevent abuses. The BNP has been given 28 days to file its 2010 accounts or provide a reasonable explanation for why they are late. The party was not available for comment.

The Christian Party also failed to submit its accounts by the deadline and faces similar sanctions.

Electoral Commission chairman Peter Wardle said: "This is not acceptable. We have commenced formal case reviews into the circumstances.

"If we are satisfied that the rules have been broken and the parties concerned do not have a reasonable excuse, we will use our new powers to impose sanctions in accordance with our published enforcement policy, to ensure future compliance with the law."

Both parties could also be issued with a compliance notice, demanding that they hand over all financial documentation and appoint an auditor, at their own expense, to examine them.

The BNP was criticised last year by the electoral watchdog for failing to keep a proper record of who was donating money to it - but it could not take any action at that stage as it lacked sufficient powers.

Twelve parties, with expenditure of more than £250,000 in 2010, have submitted their accounts to the Electoral Commission.

The Labour Party has seen donations from wealthy individuals all but dry up since Tony Blair stood down as its leader and is now mostly reliant on support from the trade unions.

Figures released in December showed that the Conservatives had spent twice as much as Labour on campaigning at last year's general election. The Conservatives spent £16.6m, less than their £17.8m outlay in 2005. Labour's expenditure more than halved from £17.9m in 2005 to £8m.

A £14.3m overspend and the Conservatives still couldn't win the election outright! These figures are also fraught with significance for the Labour Party and its leadership...

BBC News: Miliband vows to 'refound' the Labour Party

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12891694

BBC News: Miliband launches cross-party alternative vote push

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12888126

Don't rule out a Lib/Lab pact

Norman Smith, chief political correspondent for BBC Radio 4, has posted a thought-provoking article on the BBC News website (excerpt follows):

The political marriage between Nick Clegg and David Cameron may be so strong that the idea of a future Lib/Lab Coalition looks rather fanciful.

And yet there are those in both parties who are gently blowing on the flickering embers of Lib/Lab cooperation. Significantly a dozen or so Lib Dem former Parliamentary candidates and councillors have now decided to join the Labour Party's policy review. This is an unprecedented step.

Many in both parties will probably be intensely suspicious of the move. Some Lib Dems will suspect their colleagues are simply being used by Labour. Some in Labour will be deeply sceptical about allowing their political enemies to contribute to their next manifesto.

But Richard Grayson, the Lib Dem's former head of policy who is among those joining Labour's review, says it is simply about breaking down tribal divisions on the left and sharing ideas. It is, of course, also about building firmer bridges between Labour and the Lib Dems and opening up the possibility that after the next election the two parties could work together.

"We have to think about the prospect of a different coalition in the foreseeable future," says Mr Grayson. "There has been much talk of 'the new politics' but unless we are prepared to engage with Labour then there is a danger that 'new politics' will simply mean working with the Conservatives."

 Read the rest...!

Observer: Miliband to give public say in Labour leader contests

An article in The Observer this morning that ticks a number of boxes for Unit 1 students—from a Labour Party perspective, at least:

Ed Miliband wants to give public a say in future Labour leadership contests

In a speech to Labour's national policy forum, he declared Labour the "people's party" and said it had to become more "rooted" in the lives of the electorate if it was to regain support and respect. "A hundred years ago, when we were founded, people's allegiances were much more likely to be inherited rather than chosen," he said. "Today the world is very different. People are much more likely to choose that allegiance rather than inherit it."

Labour, stressed Miliband, could not survive as a "party of declining membership" but had to relaunch itself as a "genuine community organisation" that embraced non-members.

Miliband, who has been criticised privately by some Labour MPs for not making his mark on the leadership rapidly or firmly enough, insisted that union members would remain a vital part of decision-making. But aides said he was keen to see the public involved in future as well.

One idea could be to give non-Labour members a share of the vote in future leadership contests – a move that could anger the grassroots.

There were also some ideas about his own profile as leader and future party appeal:

The moves will be seen as Miliband hitting back at critics who say he is in the grip of the unions. Miliband tackled the issue head on, saying a system under which one person could have several votes in a leadership contest by being a party member but also a member of a trade union and another affiliated organisation had to change. He also said his focus would be the "squeezed middle".

Some commentators have suggested that this could be a somewhat fruitless / thankless reorientation, suggesting that in going for the "squeezed middle", Miliband may be going for the wrong group: 

Figures from the 2010 British Election Study, which is carried out by the University of Essex, showed that 35% of the working class did not vote. "Ed Miliband is focusing attention on the 'squeezed middle-class', but if Labour had appealed more to working-class voters, it could have won," said Paul Whiteley, professor of politics at Essex. 

Labour pulls ahead sharply in Guardian/ICM poll

That didn't take long....! Mind you, nothing too fatal yet for the Tories, but I think Nick Clegg might / should be somewhat concerned for the LibDems...

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/22/labour-pulls-ahead-guardian-icm-poll

Labour has pulled ahead sharply in the latest Guardian/ICM poll, as both coalition parties lose support. The findings, published as Ed Miliband returns to Westminster after paternity leave, suggest only a minority of voters believe the coalition is taking Britain in the right direction.

Labour support in a theoretical immediate election has risen to 38%, two points higher than last month and the best in any ICM poll since Gordon Brown cancelled the planned 2007 general election.

Between them the coalition parties have shed five points. Conservative support has dropped three since last month to 36%, while the Liberal Democrats have fallen two points to 14%.

The Lib Dem score is the lowest in the Guardian/ICM series since May 2001, and the lowest in any ICM poll since October 2007.

Ed Miliband sets out 'profound' changes to Labour party

The Guardian has an exclusive first full interview published tonight with Ed Miliband, in which the new Labour leader reveals plans to review organisation and policies since winning the leadership contest...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/21/ed-miliband-profound-changes-labour

Some highlights:

Ed Miliband launches his party on "the hard road back to power", saying it has to move beyond New Labour and commit to changes in policy and organisation as profound as those introduced by Tony Blair in 1994.

He also appears to clash with the shadow chancellor, Alan Johnson, by saying a 50p tax rate for those earning more than £150,000 should be permanent, as a way of creating greater equality in Britain. Making the country more equal, he says, is one of the issues that gets him out of bed in the morning. In his first full interview since becoming party leader, and marking his return to work after two weeks of paternity leave, he discloses:

• A commission on party organisation will be launched this weekend. It will examine the rules under which he was elected party leader, including the role of the unions.

• A policy review will be conducted including commissioned work by independent thinktanks and studies by each shadow cabinet member on the issues in their field. "In terms of policy, but not in terms of values, we start with a blank page," he says.

• The review is likely to include low pay, tough crime measures including asbos, and the "contributory principle" in the welfare state.

• His main priority next May will be the devolved and local elections and not the referendum on the alternative vote. He says the Liberal Democrats should change the referendum date if they really want to win.

• He will stand up for the "squeezed middle classes", a group he claims Cameron does not understand.

 The full interview is to be found here: "Ed Miliband – no huskies, no north pole, but he's in for the long haul". Take a read - this will prove important for current examples / knowledge on Labour Party policies and ideas...

End-of-Term Report for Labour, 1997-2010

Conference time for the Labour Party in Manchester this weekend... As Ed Miliband steps up by a very narrow margin to take the leadership, Polly Toynbee and David Walker provide an extremely useful overview of Labour's achievements (or otherwise) during their time in government:

"The Labour years: Could have done better" (Guardian, 25/09/2010)

Interesting reading - invaluable for an understanding of the legacy that Ed Miliband is inheriting and the challenges that lie ahead for Labour in Opposition. Can they do better next time around? Read it in full.

Blair Speaks Out

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair publishes his memoirs today (September 1st), but not before giving a candid interview and sneak preview to the Guardian newspaper...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/31/tony-blair-gordon-brown-disaster (links to more detailed stories appear on the same page)

Top headline (somewhat predictably):
"I knew Gordon Brown would be a disaster".

Tony Blair defends his decision to involve the UK in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He also expresses regret for the ban on fox hunting and for allowing the passage of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Nothing, however, about his government's failure to complete reform of the House of Lords or adopt a fairer voting system. One wonders why the Guardian didn't report anything on these matters. Stay tuned for more revelations after publication at 8 a.m.!