Whittington's Diary

I raise a paw in welcome to anyone who has reached me because of James Graham's article on the Lib Dem blogosphere.

My original blog, which he describes as the very first Lib Dem Blog, can be found here.

I am flattered that people are still coming here although the election has been over for three weeks. Personally, I am now considering a number of offers - for instance a chat show on French television.

If you would like to read Susan Kramer's maiden speech in the Commons, click here.

And if you want some topical reading try Liberal England, the blog of my helper Jonathan Calder.

Susan Kramer (Liberal Democrat) 24,011
Marco Forgione (Conservative) 20,280
James Butler (Labour) 4,768
James Page (Green) 1,379
Peter Dul (UKIP) 458
Peter Flower (Christian Peoples Alliance) 288
Margaret Harrison (Independent) 83
George Weiss (Vote for Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket) 63
Richard Meacock (Independent)

Majority 3,731
Turnout 72.8%

I went to the bookies today to have a look at the odds in Richmond Park. I am afraid they have got it about right:

Liberal Democrat Party 1/4
Conservative Party 7/2
Labour Party 100/1

No fortunes to be made there

Talking of the bookies, here is a message for any greyhounds who may be reading this:

IT'S NOT A REAL HARE. IT'S POWERED BY ELECTRICITY. THEY'LL NEVER LET YOU CATCH IT.

I don't know why I bother.

Richard Allan reports an extraordinary advertisement for a Tory council candidate in Sheffield:

The Lib Dems, they say incorrectly but in line with their other wild claims about our policies, want to impose a dog tax. The reason for this is to make dogs homeless. They want dogs to be homeless because the Lib Dem Leader is Scottish. Because he is Scottish he likes haggis. Haggis, they say (presumably they are not concerned about the Scots vote in Sheffield), is made of dog meat and there is a shortage of dogs. If you vote Lib Dem then by January 25th next year (they helpfully explain that this is Burns Night) all the dogs in Sheffield will have been turned into haggis.

Speaking in a purely personal capacity, this sounds an excellent idea to me. But apparently it is not party policy.

Richard thinks it is meant to be funny. I suppose the lesson is that you have to be rather an odd person to be a Tory activist these days. So there leaflets will be increasingly, er, barking.

Incidentally, I was pleased to see Jeremy Thorpe returning to the political fray. Now there was a Liberal who knew how to deal with dogs.

Hello to Mitsa, who keeps an eye on Peter Black AM.

Phwoar!!

I changed at Earls Court this morning to hear Tony Blair speaking in Wimbledon. "Vote Lib Dem and let a Tory in," he says.

Let's look at the result in Richmond Park last time:

Liberal Democrat 23,444
Conservative 18,480
Labour 5,541
Greens 1,223
UKIP 348
Independent 115

You don't need a degree in hard sums to see that if every Labour supporter in Richmond Park voted Lib Dem, the Tories would lose even more heavily.

Reader's voice: But what about the national picture?

Whittington replies: It's a Bank Holiday. I don't have time for higher mathematics. But as a special favour I shall point you towards this blog posting. It proves that no amount of Labour voters switching to the Lib Dems could bring about a majority Tory government.

The Lib Dem candidate in Birmingham Yardley - one of their top target seats - is John Hemming. According to his own blog, he pays the food bills for six cats. (No nonsense about ownership, you will note.)

What a splendid man! I hope he wins on Thursday.

I sneak into a high-level meeting at Tory Central Office.

It’s not like the old one in Smith Square: it is over a coffee bar. I was just making a few observations to Tim Collins about school discipline when he was called away to make a skinny latte for someone.

Lynton Crosby is very pleased with life. Apparently his strategy revolves around making everyone think that the Tories have no chance.

And it is going very well. All over the country Tory candidates are sending out leaflets that give the impression that they are designed to appeal to elderly Mosleyites and nobody else.

He reveals his new poster. It is a giant photo of Michael Howard with the slogan “Vote for this drongo? I’d rather have me todger sawn off with a rusty tin of Fosters!”

“That should lull the bastards,” he enthuses.

Howard asks if this is really necessary. Crosby asks what else he proposes.

“You don’t expect people to vote for you because they trust you or like your policies, do you Michael?”