mostly david ephgrave

Today, I voted for my local Lib Dem candidate, Sam Collins; the first time I haven't voted for the Labour Party in a General Election. That's not to say I've switched allegiance - I still want Labour in - but I'm thinking tactically. And locally, as Sam would be an absolute asset to Hitchin as our MP. I put this out there in the hope it'll give anyone umming & ahhing over whether to vote tactically the reassurance others are doing it. four out of the five tactical-voting sites in the image below suggest voting Lib Dem in Hitchin & Harpenden; let's get duplicitous Boris Johnson and the Tories out. Remember: endlessly intoning they'll "Get Brexit Done" after all the "dither and delay in Parliament" is simple and memorable, but it's devoid of substance. And it's a lie too, as even accepting the Conservatives' current deal will not be an end to it.  That's my two penn'orths; Ephgrave, over and out....

While they’re by no means a bad political party to vote for - if it weren’t for a recent leader's backtracking on pledges to get into bed with the then-Prime Minister David Cameron in a coalition you might say they had the best ethics - I’d have more faith in them if they proofread their own literature. If you’re going to misspell one word on your leaflet, it best not be the name of the area you part-represent. It’s marginally better than forgetting the party you bat for, or accidentally dropping a massive swear (the word “count” is screaming for a typo) but it’s still not great; spell-check can be a wondrous tool if used correctly; that, or you could ask your mum to cast her eye over it. To be fair, the councillor in question seems a pretty decent chap, who’s lived locally for years (unlike our current MP, Bim Afolami, who was quickly air-dropped in to replace the Machiavellian Peter Lilley when he stepped down / was ex...

You may have missed it, but a General Election took place yesterday. Theresa May may have wished she'd missed it, at least. I didn’t stay up to watch the coverage as I was meant to be gigging tonight, but I have to admit my first thought on checking the BBC News website when I woke up to see a photo of May’s disappointed-looking face below a headline about near-certainty of a hung parliament was, “Good.” It’s what she deserved for attempting to pick the moment she thought the Tories were invincible compared to Corbyn to call an election solely for her party's political gain, and screw the imminence of the Brexit negotiations. What does it matter that we only have two years to work through an intricate administrative process that's surely destined to take longer? Why not throw in a snap election before, to eat into the precious time needed and create a chaotic fallout? Like much of the country, I turned to Twitter to voice my une...

I attempted a little subliminal messaging on Twitter this morning to influence my small collection of followers, but I don’t know if it worked. "If you build it, he will come." It would be bloody lovely if it did, as I’d like Theresa May’s smug ‘calling a General Election at a time when she think she’s impervious’ plan to fall flat on its face. I, for one, wouldn’t be voting for a party that’s so detrimental to the NHS; not for all the shiny shoes in the PM’s Imelda Marcos-style shoe cabinet. I’ll be particularly annoyed if the Tories hold their seat in my local constituency when our candidate - who’s replaced the truly odious Peter Lilley - apparently lives in Kettering, which is over an hour’s drive away; not only this, but his Twitter biog has listed three different addresses in so many weeks (something he hasn’t acknowledged when pressed on the social media site by a number of people, including me). How well will he represent Hitch...