To my friends, colleagues comrads in the UK (Did I cover everybody?)
Again, I will say it till I turn blue in the face. Be grateful that your political system allows for a viable Third Party. Support Charles Kennedy. We have no such person in the states.

Kennedy hails 'party of future'
Charles Kennedy has pledged to hold Labour to account as the "real alternative" in the next Parliament.
The Lib Dem leader said Labour's reduced majority meant the government could no longer "ride rough-shod" over people's views and instincts.

The Tories were relegated to south east England, while the Lib Dems were a national party of the future, he said.

Mr Kennedy thanked party workers for helping to achieve victories in 62 seats - the highest since the 1920s.


Charles Kennedy has every reason to be delighted with the Liberal Democrat's performance in the general election
Nick Assinder
Political Correspondent


The party fared particularly well against Labour, taking 12 seats, but also lost more seats to the Conservatives than they gained.

Of the three main parties, the Lib Dems have seen the biggest rise in their share of the vote. It could reach 23%, up from 18.3% in 2001.

Speaking on the steps of his party's headquarters in central London, Mr Kennedy congratulated Tony Blair on achieving a third Labour term.

But he warned there were "serious questions for the quality of democracy" when a winner was generated with such a low level of support.

He said: "Overall this general election has clearly resulted in a new House of Commons which I think will be healthier in the party political sense than what the last eight years have been.

"The government cannot ride rough-shod over people's instincts, people's inspirations and people's views and we will have a major role to play in that.

"If you look at where we have gained seats in this election, with a view to the next general election, well-poised to begin the task of providing the real alternative to this Labour government."

Rethink dismissed

He also predicted that "when the tide goes out" as it inevitably would with Labour, the Lib Dems would emerge as the credible alternative.

Mr Kennedy also dismissed suggestions that he should now rethink polices like higher taxes for the rich and local income taxes to win over Tory voters.

Policies like this would serve the Lib Dems well in the longer term, he said.

Speaking just after he was returned to his Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency Mr Kennedy said the era of three-party politics had begun across the UK.

Labour has won an historic third term but with a greatly reduced majority - which the BBC predicts will fall from 167 in 2001 to 66.

The Conservatives have made a significant step towards recovery, Michael Howard said, but added that he would resign as party leader once the Tories had decided how and when to elect a replacement.


LIB DEM FACTFILE
Lib Dem gains: East Dunbartonshire, Hornsey and Wood Green, Ceredigion, Cardiff Central, Birmingham Yardley, Manchester Withington, Rochdale, Leeds North West, Bristol West, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Taunton, Solihull, Westmorland and Lonsdale, Cambridge, Falmouth and Camborne
Lib Dem losses: Newbury, Leicester South, Guildford, Devon West and Torridge, Weston-super-Mare, Ludlow
The party won 52 seats in 2001

BBC political editor Andrew Marr said taking more than 60 seats would represent an "historic moment" for the party.
The Lib Dems had their first gain in East Dunbartonshire, before unseating Labour ex-minister Barbara Roche on a 15% swing in Hornsey and Wood Green.

The party went on to win constituencies including Birmingham Yardley, Cardiff Central, Manchester Withington and Cambridge from Labour.

The Lib Dems have also taken Ceredigion from Plaid Cymru by just 219 votes.


BEST LIBERAL ELECTION RESULTS
2001 - 52 MPs
1929 - 59 MPs
1923 - 158 MPs (incl speaker)
1918 - 163 MPs
1910 (Dec) - 272 MPs (Lib win)

Sarah Teather, the youngest MP in the last Parliament at 29, retained the Brent East seat she won for the Lib Dems in a by-election in 2003.

However, the party has seen Leicester South, another by-election gain, return to Labour.

Meanwhile the Conservatives have taken Newbury, Guildford, Ludlow and Devon West and Torridge from the Lib Dems.

The Lib Dems largely failed in their "decapitation" strategy to topple top Tories, with Theresa May, David Davis and Oliver Letwin all holding on to their seats.

However, Shadow education secretary Tim Collins was unseated as the Lib Dems took Westmorland and Lonsdale from the Conservatives.


Constituencies retained by the Lib Dems include Torbay, which was strongly contested by the Tories, and Cheadle, the country's most marginal seat.

The Lib Dems had hoped their stance on issues such as Iraq, tuition fees and local taxation would win over former loyal Labour supporters.

At the end of the last Parliament, Labour had 410 MPs, the Conservatives 164 and the Liberal Democrats 54.

The Lib Dems won 52 seats in the 2001 election, adding two more with by-election wins in Brent East and Leicester South.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_p...age/4518803.stm

Published: 2005/05/06 12:16:31 GMT

© BBC MMV

I will say it till i'm blue in the face: we know who he is, jamesleo. We know the stats, and believe it or not we even know what he looks like. And in our very safe Tory constituency, my husband voted Lib Dem - might as well add to the anti-Bliar numbers after all, though it had no meaningful impact whatsoever.

But it's a sad fact of the electoral system here that until we get proportional representation, the Lib Dems, in real terms, will remain marginalised despite the number of votes they receive.

I will also add that it is not about supporting Charles Kennedy - it's about the party. Kennedy is not the strong and dynamic leader the Lib Dems really need, IMHO - and whether down to new-dad's sleep deprivation or something more sinister, his befuddled appearance during the past couple of weeks was not the accomplished and confident pushing-home-of-the-advantage that the party really needed.

They want to get Lembit Opik up there he's fab!

Not that smarmbucket.

If anyone doesn't know who he is. Imagine a very smug person (who's just taken a pill to give himself a permanent orgasm) facing sideways-on in a wind-tunnel .Now imagine the expression on his face.That's Lembit Opik

Doesn't Lembit Opik campaign against asteriods hitting earth?

James - the lib dems support banning some public sector strikes. What do you think about that policy?

Back up here.

There is a pill to give you a permanent orgasm?

Holy Jesus, I can't wait to get to England.

a pill to give a permanent orgasm but does it interfere with drinking

i think klf probably needs a little help

but back on topic.

you also have to consider james, that the lib dems are not socialists. Just quite nice people.

While the labour party is no longer socialist it does have an awful lot of members who are.

I thought my discription was quite accurate.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/3815500...mbit_bbc150.jpg

actually ... dis cription was probably right

i didn't know you were a lookist as well klf.

i don't look like that when i have an orgasm.

not to mention knocking off Sian Lloyd. Maybe that's what gives him his permanent coital grin...

I am for permanent orgasms and against asteroids hitting the earth. Does that mean I am a lembit whatever?

Confused in Royal Oak

Oh, why don't we all become Lembit Opik?! But I don't want to shag Sian Lloyd.

The best thing about Lembit Opik that when you first hear his name, you think he ought to be one of those historical conspirators who pretended to be the lost Princes in the Tower, or the bastard son of Richard III, or hatched the Papish Plot...

James - the lib dems support banning some public sector strikes. What do you think about that policy

Welll Graham, as a public employee (Public Employees Federation or PEF)
member mobalizer (maybe shop stewart next year) that sounds like the Taylor Law in the US. Do you in the UK have binding arbitration and collective bargaining.

There is nothing smarmy about the lovely Lembit. He's just a very pleasant chap!
I went to watch the Late Edition with Mata's beau and everyone in the audience agreed what a lovely chap he was.

And yes Graham, he has been known to lobby Parliament about Astoroids (His famous line in the house was "Mr Speaker, I have a problem with Astoroids")
His Grandfather discovered a comet (Opik's Comet) and apparently we're 700 times more likely to be hit by an astoroid than win the national lottery!

can the government do anything about potential asteroid hits?

wouldn't his time be better spent asking questions about ID cards or equal rights legislation?

According to Lempit, they could track them and then all it would take is a little nudge with a rocket (a la Armageddon) and it would go somewhere else. Apparently we're not even tracking them though.
I agree Nevski, but I really don't think that is all he's doing. The people in Wales seem to like him as an MP.
I've just thought - as he's engaged to Sian Lloyd - do you think he's got her moonlighting with all that weather equipment?!

you'll be sorry when a meteorite lands on your head

That wagging finger really scares me Beril - I think it must be a repressed memory of childhood teachers or something!

Nor do I. I'd be really worried if I turned into Lembit Opik everytime I orgasamed...

I agree that there should be more time spent asking questions about things which are relevant, asteroids, IMHO, isn't that far up the list. If they're gonna come, they're gonna come.

I'm also a little dubious as to the facts about a rocket being able to knock an asteroid off course. It strikes me that this is in the same catagory as the emergency instructions and emergency breathing equipment on aeroplanes and NBC [supposedly meant to mean 'Nuclear, Biological and Chemical' - but I think it actually means 'No Bloody Chance'] suits - something to do before you die horribly.

I think Lembit just wants his moment as Bruce Willis!

Yeah that would be right what a loser and his girlfriend has a square head. (may be she's from another planet)

Opportunist tossers the lot of them.

(They bloody well knocked Labour into 3rd place here.)

Funny, thats what most people have been saying about the Labour party...

Of course all political parties are underhand opportunists but when it comes to dishonesty and hypocrisy in my experience most Lib Dems are right down there with the snakes belly.

They need to be all things to all people and will twist distort and even drop their policies to meet the opinion of the person(s) they are talking to.

For example on election eve a very brave Lib Dem council candidate (with minder) carrying literature for the PPC came knocking on my door (this was despite the fact our address was not on the Electoral register - a mistake I put down to keenness rather than stupidity on their part.) I had half an hour to kill, fancied a bit of sport and figured if they were talking to me they wouldn't be bothering anyone else.

I started with what was possibly a leading question on Iraq.I'm not sure you've got that one right. Even if he didn't have WMD Saddam was a bit of a bastard regime change was necessary and Iraq and the world will be a better place without him don't you think?" Much to my surprise TOTAL AGREEMENT with the rider that perhaps it should have been done sooner with the support of the UN. Hmmm

Swiftly on to ID cards "If you've nowt to hide you have nowt to fear" AMAZINGLY TOTAL AGREEMENT except a slight worry about the cost to the taxpayer.

They went on to agree with my none Lib Dem position on every national and local issue I raised with the exception of one. Immigration. I went a bit KLF on this and said that I thought using camps on the Isle of Wight as a holding point for all asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and suspected terrorists would sort out the problem. They got so annoyed by that and my tone I thought I might get a slap. They didn't give an inch though so credit where it's due.

It wasn't until long after they'd gone that I remembered the Lib Dems control the I of W so perhaps I'd have had a different response if I'd suggested the Isle of Dogs instead…who knows.

So there you are just one example of their dishonest political opportunism.

But then in my former of constituency of Wood Green there is Lynne Featherstone MP who fought and beat Barbara Roache with consistency on Iraq, ID cards and a number of important local issues so perhaps there are exceptions to my rule.

However my animosity towards the Lib Dems runs so deep that if I were in a locked room with Lynne and she was unfortunate enough to spontaneously combust I'd still be faced with a real moral dilemma…to piss or not to piss.

btw... do all you lot toss off in front of the bathroom mirror

i think i'd rather not know how i look.. unless it was like thingy in the cafe scene